Eighdi Aung, a student pursuing a PhD in engineering mechanics from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded the Manuel Stein Scholarship. 

The scholarship is awarded to an outstanding student pursuing graduate studies in engineering mechanics. The criteria to be used to select a recipient are those well-reflected in Stein's own lifetime of service to his profession and commitment to his colleagues and students: the potential for scholarly achievements in teaching and research, and a demonstrated dedication to the welfare and well-being of others. 

Aung works in the lab of Nicole Abaid, associate professor in the Department of Mathematics.

According to the nomination letter, Aung is a creative and motivated scientist with a strong commitment to the engineering mechanics community at Virginia Tech. When he completes his PhD, he will deeply understand every aspect of every partof the collective behavior in bats, from experimental design to data collection to model analysis and numerical simulation. He was the 2020-21 outreach chair of the Graduate Engineering Mechanics Society and an active participant in the Mathematical Biology lab group. He has participated in the Virginia Science Festival and was an integral part of an NSF-funded Research Experience for Teachers, collaborating to mentor high school and middle school teachers in a lab environment.