Caltech Graduate Student and Alumna Win DOE Fellowship for Computational Science

Cheyanne E. Shariat, a graduate student in astrophysics, and Laura Lewis (BS '23), a Caltech alumna in math and computer science, have been named among 30 recipients of this year's Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF), an honor that is awarded annually to future leaders in the field of high-performance computing.

"We are so pleased to congratulate the 30 new fellows," said Ceren Susut, associate director of science for DOE's Advanced Scientific Computing Research program in a written statement. "Each of these incredibly talented people has demonstrated both outstanding academic achievement and tremendous research potential. Their research topics cover some of the highest priorities of the Department of Energy, including quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and science and engineering for energy and nuclear security."

The fellowship provides an annual stipend, payment of university tuition and fees, and an annual academic allowance for up to four years. It also includes a three-month research practicum at one of 22 DOE-approved sites across the country.

Shariat is currently a first-year astrophysics graduate student at Caltech. He graduated from UCLA in 2024 with a degree in physics. Shariat's work combines theory and observation to study the evolution of systems that contain multiple stars, including binaries and triples.

Lewis graduated from Caltech with a double major in math and computer science in 2023. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a Goldwater Scholarship and a Marshall Scholarship. The latter funded two years of graduate study in the UK, where Lewis first completed Part III of the Mathematical Tripos at the University of Cambridge and spent the second year as a research master's student at the University of Edinburgh. Lewis will continue her work on quantum information as a PhD student at UC Berkeley in the fall.