Hieu Truong, a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in the Department of Mechanical Engineering was recently awarded the prestigious NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship (NSTRF). Hieu is the president of Vietnamese International Student Association (VISA TAMU) and vice president of SAMPE Texas A&M Chapter for the 2013-14 academic year.
The NSTRF is awarded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate as a training grant based on a competitive selection of highly qualified applicants. The fellowship provides the awardee $68,000 per year ($36,000 for stipend, $9,000 for faculty advisor allowance, $10,000 for an on-site experience at a NASA center or R&D lab of choice, $1,000 health insurance and $12,000 for tuition and fees) and can be renewed for up to three additional years. The selected candidates perform research at their respective campuses and at NASA Centers and/or at nonprofit U.S. Research and Development (R&D) laboratories. In addition to the faculty advisor, each student is matched with a NASA researcher who serves as the student’s research collaborator.
Hieu has also been awarded the Zonta International Amelia Earhart Fellowship. The Amelia Earhart Fellowship is awarded annually to women pursuing Ph.D./doctoral degrees in aerospace-related sciences or aerospace-related engineering, and who demonstrate a superior academic record. This fellowship was established in 1938 in honor of famed pilot and Zontian, Amelia Earhart, and is awarded to 35 Fellows around the globe each year.
Hieu is also a recipient of the SAMPE Student Leader Experience Award this year.
Hieu’s co-advisors at Texas A&M are Dr. Ozden Ochoa and Dr. Dimitris Lagoudas. She has been working under their guidance since she began her graduate studies at Texas A&M in 2011. Her work is part of the large Multi-University Research Initiative (MURI) project funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) titled, Synthesis, Characterization and Modeling of Functionally Graded Multifunctional Hybrid Multiscale Composites for Extreme Environments.’
Hieu’s research is directed toward solving the increasing need for lightweight and multifunctional structures and materials that can operate and sustain within extreme environment conditions such as high temperature and pressure. She designs and characterizes hybrid interfaces between shape memory alloys and high temperature polymer-matrix composite materials that aim to be robust and multifunctional, with thermo-mechanical capability and with self-sensing and self-healing properties. She develops computational models across the scales utilizing molecular dynamics, micromechanics and finite element methods to assist the understanding and interpretation of the complex phenomena observed at the interface, and help in designing the interface that meets these specific requirements.