Written by: Tiffany Westry
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University of Alabama at Birmingham senior Luke McClintock has been selected as a first-round finalist for the Hertz Fellowship.
The Hertz Fellowship provides financial support toward graduate education to exceptionally talented students in the applied physical, biological and engineering sciences. Through a rigorous application and interview process, the Hertz Foundation seeks to identify young scientists and engineers with the potential to change the world for the better, and support their research endeavors from an early stage.
McClintock is UAB’s first finalist for this award in nearly a decade.
“Luke’s selection to be interviewed for the Hertz Fellowship speaks highly of the rigorous undergraduate education he has received at UAB,” said Ashley Floyd Kuntz, Ph.D., director of national and international fellowships and scholarships at UAB. “Luke possesses the unique combination of technical expertise and creativity necessary to become an innovator in his field.”
Each year the Fannie & John Hertz Foundation conducts a national search for new Hertz fellows. The foundation selects roughly 150 candidates from more than 600 written applications received. Of those, 50 are selected for a second-round interview. Only 15 to 20 students will be awarded a Hertz Fellowship.
“I am extremely excited and equally nervous about my selection for an interview,” McClintock said. “My research mentor, Dr. Hilton, is doing all he can to help me prepare. There is no telling what the outcome of this interview will be; but win or lose, I am thrilled to have made it this far.”
McClintock’s research interests include the use of high-powered magnets. Under the mentorship of UAB physics professor David Hilton, Ph.D., McClintock has spent time conducting research at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, the largest and highest-powered magnet lab in the world, as well as the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Upon graduating in the spring, McClintock intends to conduct materials research on the advancement of renewable energy technology, specifically in the area of photovoltaics and solar energy, and obtain a doctoral degree in physics.
McClintock is a 2015 Goldwater Scholar and received honorable mention as a sophomore applicant in 2014. He is a student in the UAB Honors College’s University Honors Program and is pursuing a dual degree in physics and chemistry in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences.