NSF Fellowships Back Engineering Research in Wearable Health Tech and Silicon Carbide Circuits

Two U of A students in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) were awarded National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, supporting their continued study and research in STEM fields. 

Abhinav Komanduri and Aidan Donoho were selected for the fellowship, which provides funding for graduate education, including up to three years of support within a five-year period. 

Komanduri, an undergraduate focused on human-computer interaction, said the recognition caught him off guard. 

"My initial reaction was of complete surprise that quickly turned out to be honored and excited. Being named an NSF Graduate Fellow is an incredible honor that gives me the freedom to pursue my research interests." 

His work centers on wearable technology and its role in improving health and well-being. By using embedded systems and Internet of Things technologies, he is exploring ways to monitor physical and mental health outside of traditional clinical settings. 

"My research interests come from how current healthcare solutions are very expensive and restricted to the clinic," he said. "I want to be able to create new ways to record and monitor our physical and mental health using everyday wearable and off-the-shelf hardware." 

Komanduri said that support from the EECS Department, Honors College and College of Engineering helped him pursue his research while also learning how to navigate the challenges of the work. 

"The goal is to provide access and quality to all people," Komanduri said. 

Donoho, whose research focuses on silicon carbide materials and circuit-level design, received the news while traveling back from a competition. 

"I was very surprised at first," he said. "I was driving back from a ballroom competition in Austin when I saw the notification on my watch and immediately handed my phone to my fiancée because I wasn't sure that I had seen the message correctly." 

His work examines device physics and electrostatic reliability, with plans to apply that foundation to analog integrated circuit design. 

"I was drawn to this field because it feels like the base level of electrical engineering," he said. "Every advanced electronic system ultimately depends on how well its circuits are designed." 

Donoho said his time at the university provided both research experience and practical design work in areas such as power electronics and semiconductor devices. 

"One challenge has been balancing rigorous coursework while furthering meaningful research," he said. "Learning to manage time effectively and stay consistent has been key to reaching this point." 

"Even incremental improvements at the circuit level can scale to significant societal impact," Donoho said.