Quenton Bonds, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical Engineering, has been has been awarded a 2009 NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP) fellowship to complete his dissertation research “A Microwave Radiometer and Measurement Test Bed for Close Proximity Non-Invasive Biomedical Sensing Applications.” This year, GRSP expects to award only 170 fellowships from a pool of over 1000 applicants. Annually, NASA scientists and engineers evaluate GRSP applications on the basis of academic transcripts, relevance of research proposals, faculty advisor's recommendations, and the proposed utilization of a NASA Center's research facilities.

GRSP represents the second NASA fellowship awarded to Quenton since his arrival at USF. Previously, he was a recipient of a three-year Harriett Jenkins Predoctoral fellowship (2006 to 2008), and completed research internships at the NASA Ames Research Center near San Francisco, California and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in the Washington, D.C. area. According to Quenton, "the relationship with NASA has been an ideal match with my research interests and those of my USF advisor [Dr. Thomas Weller], because it has given me the opportunity to solve real-world engineering problems. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to complete my Ph.D. work in exactly the area that I have always been interested (wireless technology) and to make a scientific contribution that is interdisciplinary. I am extremely grateful for the financial assistance and mentoring that I have received from NASA."