Bunker Hill Community College Student Will Attend MIT with Full Scholarship
Thursday, February 5, 2015
A 2014 graduate of Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) won acceptance, along with a full scholarship, to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the spring semester 2015. Quan Nguyen, the first in his family to attend college, plans to major in chemical-biological engineering and minor in biomedical and materials science.
“We are very proud of Quan,” said BHCC President Pam Y. Eddinger. “This is an impressive achievement for a talented and hard-working student. It is also indicative of what a community college like BHCC can offer today’s students: an excellent start to an academic and personal future with unlimited potential.”
Nguyen has worked at MIT since last summer, first as an intern in the Center for Materials Science and Engineering, and then as a research assistant. This spring he will publish his first research paper, “Self-assembly of Graphene Oxide Nanocoatings for Functional Membranes,” as part of a team led by Dr. Tingying Zeng, a specialist in the Nanomaterials and Electronics Group at MIT. The research involves developing graphene oxide-based nanocoatings, which may have applications in green energy conversion and storage.
Prior to his admission to MIT, Nguyen won an Oberndorf Lifeline to Completion Scholarship of $1,000. He was one of only 20 students in the nation to receive the award. (Additional information at https://www.bhcc.edu/news/2014/october/bunker-hill-community-college-student-wins-oberndorf-scholarship-.html.)
Nguyen was also honored at the Massachusetts State House as one of the “29 Who Shine,” 29 outstanding graduates of Massachusetts public colleges and universities. Nguyen was lauded for his academic performance, leadership and service to the field of health and medicine. (Additional information at https://www.bhcc.edu/news/2014/may/state-house-ceremony-honors-bunker-hill-community-college-graduate.html.) At MIT he hopes to complete a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and go on to a career as a cancer researcher.
For his success in transferring to MIT Nguyen credits several BHCC mentors, including Science and Engineering Department Professors Paul Kasili and JoDe M. Lavine; Student Activities Coordinator Paul Moda; Wick Sloane, Senior Special Programs Coordinator of College Transfer; Thomas Griffin Bartovics, a writing tutor in the Tutoring and Academic Support Center; and Mahesh Thapa, a fellow BHCC graduate who attends MIT.
Nguyen has just begun classes at MIT but is already planning a return to BHCC. “I’d like to come back in the spring and advise the engineering club members on getting into top technical schools,” he said.
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About Bunker Hill Community College
Celebrating 50 years of excellence, Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is Massachusetts' largest community college, annually welcoming a diverse community of around 16,000 students. With campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, BHCC extends its reach across several locations in Greater Boston. BHCC is celebrated for its diversity, boasting a student body where 65% identify as people of color and more than half are women. The College also embraces a global perspective, with over 600 international students representing 90 countries and conversing in more than 65 languages. Our commitment to diversity is further reflected in BHCC's designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI).