FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
National Science Foundation Awards Fellowship to NYU-Poly Student
Working to Boost Performance of Next-Generation Wireless Networks
NEW YORK, April 6, 2012 – Fraida Fund, an undergraduate at Polytechnic Institute of New
York University (NYU-Poly), has been selected to receive a National Science Foundation (NSF)
Graduate Research Fellowship, a highly competitive award reserved for exceptional students
pursuing research-based graduate degrees. Fund, who will earn her bachelor of science degree in
electrical engineering from NYU-Poly this spring, will enter the PhD program in electrical
engineering this fall.
The Graduate Research Fellowship is a three-year award, providing honorees with an annual
stipend and educational allowance for tuition and fees. Fund will conduct her doctoral research
under the mentorship of NYU-Poly Professor Shivendra Panwar, director of the New York State
Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications (CATT), and Research Assistant
Professor Thanasis Korakis.
As an undergraduate, Fund held an NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates position at
NYU-Poly’s Wireless Internet Center for Advanced Technology (WICAT), where she was
tasked with setting up a fourth-generation (4G) wireless testbed and conducting measurements to
facilitate future experiments. Fund focused on measuring the service quality of applications
running on a 4G network in an urban environment, where buildings can interfere with packet
transmission. Her experiments uncovered frequent instances of packet loss at speeds that
dramatically disrupted real-time, data-heavy applications such as video conferencing. Fund's
research suggests the need for further innovation to improve service and reduce disruptions.
"Fraida's research includes some of the only openly available data highlighting the challenges of
running real-time video applications over 4G channels, and it sets the stage for her to pursue
solutions that may have a significant impact on the industry," Panwar explained.
As part of her doctoral research, Fund proposes to explore the unique problems that affect
wireless systems in cities, and strategies for mitigating these issues.
"Fraida is one of only about 50 graduating electrical engineers in the country to be recognized
with an NSF fellowship, which is further testament to the strength of her skills and her potential
for academic excellence," added Panwar.
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Fund joins a select group of NYU-Poly students who recently received NSF Graduate Research
Fellowships, including Dustyn Roberts, who was honored in 2011 for her work utilizing robots
to study how human joints use energy, and Vladislav Kopman, who received a 2010 fellowship
to further the development of underwater robots capable of interacting with live marine animals.
Both are pursuing PhDs in NYU-Poly’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship is awarded to students who have a history of
outreach and leadership that complements their academic achievements. Fund has spent
two years volunteering at the Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women,
a public school in her native Brooklyn. As part of a program run by the nonprofit Girls, Inc., she
works as a classroom assistant and as an afterschool tutor, helping young women excel in
mathematics, science and technology. Fund explains:“By sharing my experiences as a woman in
engineering, I hope to ‘infect’ these students with my passion for discovery and innovation.”
About Polytechnic Institute of New York University
Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly Polytechnic University), an affiliate of
New York University, is a comprehensive school of engineering, applied sciences, technology
and research, and is rooted in a 158-year tradition of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship:
i2e. The institution, founded in 1854, is the nation’s second-oldest private engineering school. In
addition to its main campus in New York City at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, it
also offers programs at sites throughout the region and around the globe. Globally, NYU-Poly
has programs in Israel, China and is an integral part of NYU's campus in Abu Dhabi. For more
information, visit www.poly.edu.
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Note to Editors:
Photos available at http://research.poly.edu/~resourcespace/?c=760&k=ec8c122711
Contact:
Kathleen Hamilton
718-260-3792 office
347-843-9782 mobile
hamilton@poly.edu