The Semiconductor Research Corporation's Education Alliance announces research opportunities today funded through a major grant by the Intel Foundation for 18 students at Georgia Institute of Technology.

The $98,650 grant to these award recipients is part of a $1.4 million grant by the Intel Foundation managed by SRC Education Alliance's Undergraduate Research Opportunities program (URO).

The URO is an innovative program that 1) provides undergraduates with valuable research experience and mentoring; 2) seeks to attract a diverse student population, including women and other under-represented groups; and 3) empowers the kind of bright, well-educated and experienced scientists and engineers U.S. high-tech companies are clamoring for.

"The collaboration between the Intel Foundation and Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering has been an extremely valuable partnership that led to the successful Opportunity Research Scholars' Program," said Dr. Gary S. May, professor and Steve W. Chaddick School Chair of ECE. "With the support of SRC's Education Alliance, this innovative program of Intel-sponsored undergraduate research teams exposes our students to real-world engineering problems and contributes to our goal of giving them every possibility to succeed."

The following are Georgia Tech award recipients, new and continuing in 2010-2011, their graduating classes and their majors:

-Christina Bins, 2011, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
-Alex Cardwell, 2013, Electrical Engineering
-Penyen Chi, 2012, Computer Engineering
-Brendon Duncombe-Smith, 2013, Electrical Engineering
-Samuel Elia, 2012, Electrical Engineering
-Aaron Fan, 2012, Electrical Engineering
-Trevor Green,2013, Computer Engineering
-Christopher Hilgert, 2013, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
-Brett Ireland, 2012, Computer Engineering
-Justin Jiang, 2013, Electrical Engineering
-Layla Marshall, 2013, Electrical Engineering
-Sebastian Palacios, 2011, Electrical Engineering
-Mark Pinturak, 2013, Computer Engineering
-Pranav Ramesh, 2012, Electrical Engineering
-Adithya Ravichandran, 2011, Electrical Engineering
-Rolando Roca, 2011, Electrical Engineering
-Jeremy Thompson, 2012, Computer Engineering
-Samual Wilson, 2012, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Founded in 1989, the Intel Foundation is a philanthropic organization focused on programs that advance education and improve communities worldwide. By providing funding for national and localized grants, the foundation helps fuel innovation in classrooms, empower women and underserved youth, and enables Intel employees to serve the needs of their communities. The goals of the Intel Foundation are to increase interest in math and science education, and to help develop a diverse U.S. workforce.

The following Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering students have previously received Intel-funded SRC Education Alliance URO grants: Seema Bhandari, Courtney Drewski, Jeremy Jones, Sandhya Rajaraman, Rodrigo Quinteros Sorio, Laura Vogelaar and Vernell Woods.

What they are saying about the SRC Education Alliance URO Program:

"SRCEA's URO program has given me an amazing opportunity to participate in cutting edge research areas as an undergraduate at Georgia Tech. The hands-on experience I have gained by working with graduate students and faculty members on real-world problems has sharpened my problem solving skills while also giving me exposure to research at a top level university. This invaluable experience has shown me that I want to pursue a career in research and has encouraged me to strive for a graduate degree." -- Pranav Ramesh

"The URO grant/Intel & SRCEA partnership has allowed for my participation in undergraduate research at Georgia Tech. Without this opportunity, I would not have known that I wanted to go to graduate school. The availability of this program has also given me valuable skills that I will need to be successful in graduate school." -- Brett Ireland

About the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

The School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) is one of nine schools and departments in the College of Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. All ECE undergraduate and graduate programs are in the top 10 of the most recent college rankings by U.S. News & World Report. Almost 2,400 students are enrolled in the School's graduate and undergraduate programs, and in the last academic year, 677 degrees were awarded.

Over 110 ECE faculty members are involved in 11 areas of research, education, and commercialization--bioengineering, computer systems and software, digital signal processing, electric power, electromagnetics, electronic design and applications, microsystems, optics and photonics, systems and controls, telecommunications, and VLSI systems and digital design.

The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the world's premier research universities. Ranked seventh among U.S. News & World Report's top public universities and the eighth best engineering and information technology university in the world by Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Academic Ranking of World Universities, Georgia Tech's more than 20,000 students are enrolled in its Colleges of Architecture, Computing, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Management and Sciences. Tech is among the nation's top producers of women and minority engineers. The Institute offers research opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students and is home to more than 100 interdisciplinary units plus the Georgia Tech Research Institute.