WARF-Funded Graduate Students

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) plays an essential role in supporting the innovative research and graduate education that are cornerstones of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

The following profiles illustrate the diverse and important ways that WARF contributes to graduate student success at UW–Madison.

WARF-funded student profiles

  • Brandon Tran

    PhD candidate, Computer Science
    Brandon develops energy models for graphics processing units (GPUs) in high-performance computing systems to help researchers get more intelligent information about how much energy different aspects of their computing job require.

  • Mahmudul Hassan

    PhD student, Mechanical Engineering
    Mahmudul is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering specializing in surface polishing of laser additive manufacturing. During the summer of 2023, he was a WARF-supported research assistant on a Research Forward project that explores multi-material additive manufacturing of electrical machines.

  • Gabriela C. Yepes-Rossel

    PhD student, Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies
    Gabriela is a PhD student from Lima, Peru, a playwright, film and theater director, and scholar of Andean theater and performance. Her graduate research applies a gendered and decolonial perspective to drama and performance in the Southern Peruvian Andes.

  • Brandon E.J. Cortez

    PhD student, Electrical and Computer Engineering
    Brandon is a PhD student specializing in electromagnetics and vacuum electronics. His research seeks to push the boundaries of X-ray Communications (XCOM) to enable faster and more effective data transfer.

  • Emily Fornof

    PhD student, Geography
    Emily is a WARF-supported project assistant on the Research Forward project examining climate change and conflict in the Sahel region of West Africa. Her own research looks at how climate change and conflict affect social identities and livelihood practices among livestock herders in Mali.

  • Claire Kilgore

    PhD candidate, Art History
    Claire’s dissertation explores depictions of pregnancy, reproductive anatomy, and childbirth in devotional art from the late Middle Ages. She analyzes what those depictions say about perceptions of the human body, reproductive health, and their connections to philosophy and religion.

  • Fernanda Szewc

    PhD candidate, Clinical Investigation
    Fernanda is a PhD candidate working in the Department of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine and Public Health. She develops cancer treatments that utilize immune cells.

  • Ilhan Bok

    PhD student, Electrical and Computer Engineering
    Ilhan's research on magnetic particle imaging has earned journal articles and campus news coverage for paving the way for scientific advances in brain and organ imaging.

  • Kelsey A. Dalrymple

    PhD candidate, Educational Policy Studies
    Kelsey's research examines the use of social and emotional learning (SEL) with refugee and crisis-affected learners, focusing on the influence of SEL with Burundian refugees in Tanzania.

  • Ned Littlefield

    PhD Candidate, Political Science
    Ned is a PhD candidate in Political Science focused on Latin American Politics. His research analyzes the militarization of law enforcement, a trend throughout Latin America of governments equipping and operating police forces like they do their military forces and deploying their militaries within national borders alongside police forces.

  • More WARF posts