CASE WESTERN RESERVE STUDENTS TAKE HONORS IN GOLDWATER COMPETITION
April 24, 2008
 CLEVELAND-Three undergraduate students at Case Western Reserve University have been actively involved in research, and those scientific endeavors along with their academic achievement, have brought them recognition by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation
Daniel Alt has won prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship to continue his studies in science, mathematics and engineering. Recognized with Honorable Mentions in the competition were Viral Shah and Joshua Hamilton.
The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was established by public law in 1986 to honor the late Senator Goldwater through this premier undergraduate award program that encourages the pursuit of science and engineering. For many award recipients, the Goldwater Scholarship is a step toward other honors such as the Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships and distinguished fellowships like the Fulbright.
Daniel S. Alt
"I am very excited and honored to receive this award," said Alt, from Plain City, Ohio. He is a biomedical engineering major with a specialization in tissue engineering and minors in chemistry, biology and Spanish. He added, "I am also very grateful to all my teachers, professors and principle investigators that have taught me in class or in the lab to prepare me for a future career in research."
Among those research scientists is James Dennis from the department of orthopedics at University Hospitals of Cleveland and the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. During the school year, Alt has been working in Dennis' lab, which is conducting studies on tissue-engineered cartilage. The Goldwater Scholar is testing different adhesives for adhering bones with cartilage and is also testing the mechanical properties of both native and engineered cartilage.
This summer, Alt will expand his research experience through a National Science Foundation REU Fellowship with Horst von Recum in the biomedical engineering department on campus. He plans to investigate refillable polymers for drug delivery.
He also honed his research techniques during the summers of 2006 and 2007 at the Center for Cell and Developmental Biology at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, working in the lab of David Brigstock. This lab examined the role of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in hepatic fibrosis. Alt worked on a surgically induced model of fibrosis and compared the response in CTGF transgenic mice with that in normal mice.
Alt is planning a future career as a researcher and surgeon.
When Alt steps outside the classroom and lab, he is active in intramural sports, playing football, basketball and floor hockey. He is also a member of Koinonia and Tau Beta Pi, engineering honor society.
Joshua Hamilton
 "I was thrilled to be nominated by Case Western Reserve for the Goldwater Scholarship," said Hamilton, of Kansas City, Ks. "To have my work acknowledged on the national level fills me with a sense of pride and accomplishment."
The third-year chemical engineering major, specializing in biochemical engineering, has set his sights on a research career in the pharmaceutical field. Hamilton is on his way through his undergraduate research opportunities at the university over the past two years in the lab of Vernon Anderson in the department of biochemistry collaborating with Donald Feke in the department of chemical engineering.
Hamilton's research focuses on the formation of amyloids, insoluble fibrous protein aggregates formed via the aggregation of partially- or mis-folded amyloid precursor proteins, which are hypothesized to be a major cause of the neuronal cell death that underlies Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases . He has hypothesized a mechanism to account for the aggregation process and has created a computerized simulation or model to account for experimental observations of aggregation. He's also interested in the effect of shear forces and the mechanism by which the shearing effect causes the protein to change shape in such a way as to accelerate the aggregation process.
In addition to his research activities, Hamilton serves as a supplemental instructor leader for "Chemistry of Materials," an introductory course for first-year engineers and will serve the same role for "Organic Chemistry" next year.
He is also active in the engineering honorary society, Tau Beta Pi, where he serves as Bookswap Chair. .He was recently elected the organization?s president.
VIRAL SHAH
 As an undergraduate at Case Western Reserve, Viral Shah, of Tinley Park, Ill., is a renaissance student with interests in science, music and Tae Kwon Do, where he was the 1998 World Champion. He is resident assistant at Carlton Road Complex and founder and president of Education Theatre, a student organization that performs educational demonstrations for students in Cleveland community.
His academic career at the university is his pathway toward a future career in the neurosciences as a medical professional and research scientist.
Since his first year on campus, he has worked as a lab assistant and has been mentored by Stephan Herlitze, a neuroscientist at the university's school of medicine. In Herlitze lab, Shah is working on a project to understand the changes in the brain that produce Spinocerebellar Ataxia type 6 (SCA6), a neurodegenerative diseases similar to Huntington's disease. He has developed transgenic mice that model the disease in order to understand the underlying cause, and the role proteins and small molecules play in reversing or delaying the disease.
Shah also has had research experiences at the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine (2004-06), where he worked with Puneet Opal in neurodegeneration projects on a disease in the SCA6 family; and the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (2004-06) with Richard F. Dods in biochemistry.
About Case Western Reserve University
Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826 and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research, service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering, Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. For more information, visit www.case.edu.
About the Case School of Engineering
A world-class engineering research institution with premier educational programs, the Case School of Engineering is committed to education beyond the classroom, research across disciplines and relationships around the world. Wherever they go, Case faculty, students and alumni consistently lead their fields and benefit society. For more information, visit www.engineering.case.edu.
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