Bunker Hill Community College Student Will Attend MIT with Full Scholarship

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Feb 05, 2015, 11:01 ET

BOSTON, Feb. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A 2014 graduate of Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) won acceptance, along with a full scholarship, to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the spring semester 2015. Quan Nguyen, the first in his family to attend college, plans to major in chemical-biological engineering and minor in biomedical and materials science.

Quan Nguyen, 2014 graduate of Bunker Hill Community College

"We are very proud of Quan," said BHCC President Pam Y. Eddinger. "This is an impressive achievement for a talented and hard-working student. It is also indicative of what a community college like BHCC can offer today's students: an excellent start to an academic and personal future with unlimited potential."

Nguyen has worked at MIT since last summer, first as an intern in the Center for Materials Science and Engineering, and then as a research assistant. This spring he will publish his first research paper, "Self-assembly of Graphene Oxide Nanocoatings for Functional Membranes," as part of a team led by Dr. Tingying Zeng, a specialist in the Nanomaterials and Electronics Group at MIT. The research involves developing graphene oxide-based nanocoatings, which may have applications in green energy conversion and storage.

Prior to his admission to MIT, Nguyen won an Oberndorf Lifeline to Completion Scholarship of $1,000. He was one of only 20 students in the nation to receive the award. (Additional information at http://www.bhcc.mass.edu/news/2014/october/bunker-hill-community-college-student-wins-oberndorf-scholarship-html.)

Nguyen was also honored at the Massachusetts State House as one of the "29 Who Shine," 29 outstanding graduates of Massachusetts public colleges and universities. Nguyen was lauded for his academic performance, leadership and service to the field of health and medicine. (Additional information at http://www.bhcc.mass.edu/news/2014/may/state-house-ceremony-honors-bunker-hill-community-college-graduate.html.) At MIT he hopes to complete a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and go on to a career as a cancer researcher.

For his success in transferring to MIT Nguyen credits several BHCC mentors, including Science and Engineering Department Professors Paul Kasili and JoDe M. Lavine; Student Activities Coordinator Paul Moda; Wick Sloane, Senior Special Programs Coordinator of College Transfer; Thomas Griffin Bartovics, a writing tutor in the Tutoring and Academic Support Center; and Mahesh Thapa, a fellow BHCC graduate who attends MIT.

Nguyen has just begun classes at MIT but is already planning a return to BHCC. "I'd like to come back in the spring and advise the engineering club members on getting into top technical schools," he said.

Media Contact:
Karen M. Norton, Executive Director of Integrated Marketing and Communications
Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA 02129
Phone: (617) 228-2177; Email: [email protected]

Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts. The College enrolls more than 14,000 students on two campuses and at three satellite locations. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Sixty-seven percent of the students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The College also enrolls more than 800 international students who come from approximately 100 countries and speak more than 75 languages.

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