蘑菇视频's Aniruth Ananthanarayanan, Pavan Ahluwalia and Bradley Lin were selected for their research in materials science and human-centered medicine.
Three students from the (TAMS) at the were awarded the , one of the nation鈥檚 highest honors for students pursuing careers in science, engineering and mathematics.
Pavan Ahluwalia, Bradley Lin and Aniruth Ananthanarayanan were selected for their exceptional academic achievement, research excellence and strong potential for future contributions to the fields of materials science, chemistry and health sciences, respectively.
This year鈥檚 honorees bring 蘑菇视频鈥檚 total number of Goldwater Scholars to 79 鈥� the highest
among all Texas universities, public or private.
Pavan Ahluwalia
Pavan Ahluwalia, 2026 Goldwater Scholar, TAMS at 蘑菇视频
Pavan Ahluwalia鈥檚 time in the lab led to his creation of a passivation-coating process for aluminum to mitigate bi-metallic corrosion in copper-aluminum wire bonds. His research promises to speed the production of more reliable and efficient semiconductor devices for autonomous and electric vehicles.
鈥淧rogress in electronics depends on advancements in semiconductor technology, and I am excited to contribute to this cutting-edge area of research,鈥� Ahluwalia said.
Ahluwalia did all this in the Interfacial Electrochemistry and Materials Research Lab led by Oliver Chyan, professor of chemistry, with whom he earned a co-authorship in the peer-reviewed journal Micromachines. While in the lab, Ahluwalia learned advanced scientific techniques and fine-tuned his ability to analyze and characterize different materials.
鈥淒r. Chyan instilled in me a deep appreciation for materials science, the artistry of scientific discovery and the thrill that comes from exploration,鈥� he said.
Ahluwalia鈥檚 interest in the field of materials science began when he was just 11 years old. He was at a science fair when he met Yuri Strzhemechny, who saw enough spark in Ahluwalia鈥檚 project that he offered Ahluwalia an informal apprenticeship at Texas Christian University鈥檚 spectroscopy lab. The experience was an important step in Ahluwalia鈥檚 professional journey, and his ties to Strzhemechny鈥檚 lab have endured, as reflected in his co-authorship of a 2025 paper published in the academic journal Biointerphases on the discovery of the antibacterial properties of gallium oxyhydroxide.
Upon graduating from TAMS, Ahluwalia intends to keep working in semiconductor research and development.
鈥淲ith the recognition that comes with being a Goldwater Scholar, I also hope to continue
guiding younger students and sharing my passion for STEM with others.鈥�
Bradley Lin
Bradley Lin, 2026 Goldwater Scholar, TAMS at 蘑菇视频
Bradley Lin has been hard at work developing safer chemicals in the solvation lab of chemistry professor William Acree. He has co-authored several publications in peer-reviewed journals, including Physics and Chemistry of Liquids, Journal of Solution Chemistry and Journal of Molecular Liquids, among others.
鈥淢y research focuses on identifying safer solvent replacements for hazardous chemicals commonly used in industrial manufacturing processes,鈥� said Lin. 鈥淎fter identification, I conducted laboratory experiments and combined the results with mathematical expressions to develop predictive model equations, which describe how soluble a given chemical will be when paired with a given compound.鈥�
Lin鈥檚 research has contributed data that will improve computer models used to predict how chemicals interact with each other and how they dissolve in solvents. His work will help scientists identify environmentally safe solvents to replace those that can be harmful to ecosystems.
Lin has also volunteered as a peer tutor leader, which has been a deeply rewarding experience.
鈥淓ach week, my fellow tutors and I meet to collaborate on lesson plans and decide which topics to cover,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hrough tutoring, I've formed unexpected connections with students and learned the importance of meeting each student where they are.鈥�
Lin intends to continue researching solubility and chemical thermodynamics at the next institution he attends. He cites the Goldwater Scholarship as a major step forward in his academic career and says it has reinforced his commitment to research.
鈥淚n the distant future, I hope to make immense scientific contributions and possibly
lead a team at a major research university.鈥�
Aniruth Ananthanarayanan
Aniruth Ananthanarayanan, 2026 Goldwater Scholar, TAMS at 蘑菇视频
As a student in the TAMS Early Summer Research Program, and during the academic year, Aniruth Ananthanarayanan worked under Guru Khalsa, assistant professor of physics, to investigate various problems in theoretical physics through the lens of group theory and computational modeling.
鈥淏eing the first person to discover something, to improve something or to transplant a concept from one field into another 鈥� that thrill never gets old.鈥�
Ananthanarayanan also worked closely with Jianguo Liu, associate professor of mathematics at 蘑菇视频, to simulate a network of hospitals to assess the quality of kidney donor-recipient matching across various geographies. This could lead to better transplant outcomes among patients with chronic kidney disease. At the same time, he developed a new text-summarization algorithm that requires fewer computational resources than traditional methods. The projects were published in the academic journals Blood Purification and Procedia Computer Science, respectively, with Ananthanarayanan credited as first author on each.
鈥淟earning to appreciate every tiny improvement and every tiny discovery has been transformative,鈥� he said. 鈥淚've actually started to love the failures too, because every failure teaches you something new, not just about the project, but about yourself and what it means to truly love learning.鈥�
In summer 2025, Ananthanarayanan had the opportunity to join Chi-Fu Jeffrey Yang, a thoracic surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, after reaching out to him to ask about lung cancer research. There, he contributed to studies that tied heavily to his interest in human-centered medicine and his long-term goal of contributing to the elimination of preventable deaths from lung cancer through improved screening technologies.
A top 300 scholar in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, Ananthanarayanan plans to pursue a bachelor of science in bioengineering or computer science at Stanford University. He is also considering an M.D./Ph.D. through a Medical Scientist Training Program to support a long-term career in translational research.
鈥淩esearch isn't just a career path for me,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t's the best way I know to build something lasting and ultimately give back to a world that has given me so much.鈥�
From 鈥� Awards and Recognition