*1. Three Tech Students Named Goldwater Scholars* /by Jennifer Donovan, 
director of public relations/

Academically, Michigan Tech is batting 1,000. All three of the 
University's nominees for prestigious Goldwater Scholarships this year 
are winners of the 2009 awards.

John Mark Gubatan, Hansen Nordsiek and Eli Vlaisavljevich, all 
third-year students, were named Goldwater Scholars by the Barry M. 
Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. Gubatan is 
a biochemistry and molecular biology major with a double minor in French 
and Spanish. Nordsiek is majoring in physics, and Vlaisavljevich is a 
biomedical engineering major.

Although Michigan Tech has produced a number of Goldwater Scholars in 
previous years, this is the first time the University has had more than 
one winner in any given year.

Goldwater scholarships--established by Congress to honor the late 
Senator Barry M. Goldwater--are based on academic merit, research 
experience and an intent to pursue a career in science, engineering or 
mathematics. Colleges and universities nominate students for the 
scholarships, which cover up to $7,500 in tuition and fees.

"The Goldwater is one of the more prestigious scholarships you can win 
as an undergraduate in science, engineering or math," said Will 
Cantrell, associate professor of physics and Michigan Tech faculty 
representative for the program. "It is highly competitive."

The Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation 
received 1,079 nominations this year and awarded 278 scholarships. Other 
winners in Michigan include four students at the University of 
Michigan-Ann Arbor, four at Hope College and three at Michigan State 
University.

"Goldwater Scholars usually go on to do very well at getting NSF, NASA, 
DoE and other graduate fellowships," Cantrell noted.


*Eli Vlaisavljevich*
A defenseman on Michigan Tech's hockey team, Vlaisavljevich has twice 
been named to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Academic Team. 
He made the 4.0 GPA Dean's List every semester and received the John 
MacInnes Slide Rule Award for scholastic achievement in 2008. He comes 
from Shoreview, Minn.

Vlaisavljevich has conducted research with Rupak Rajachar, an assistant 
professor of biomedical engineering, under a Summer Undergraduate 
Research Fellowship. "He has been one of the many positive influences I 
have had at Michigan Tech," Vlaisavljevich says of Rajachar. "He taught 
me a lot about his own research, the research field in general and the 
different opportunities that are available for my future."

Vlaisavljevich was invited to give a platform research presentation at 
the 2008 Biomedical Engineering Society Conference. He has been accepted 
to present research at the 2009 Design of Medical Devices Conference 
this month and the ASME Bioengineering conference in June.