Grant Heilemans Scholarship Essay

Throughout my life I have always been intrigued by the forefront

of scientific knowledge and yearned to garner the skillset necessary to
make significant contributions. Having recently graduated from UNM,
with my B.S. in electrical engineering, I decided to make my dream a
reality by pursuing a PhD under Dr. Christodoulou. I know this
opportunity will help me gain a knowledge base appropriate for
achieving my goals, and give me a multitude of scenarios to realize my
ambitions as a researcher.
During my undergraduate education I attained a multitude of
opportunities: ranging from a carrier as a professional snowboarder to
research opportunities in applied electromagnetics. Each of these
experiences contributed to my individual and academic growth;
ultimately leading to my research opportunity, in material and antenna
theory, with Dr. Christodoulou. Through the use of experimental
materials, in 3D printing, I will be researching fabrication methods, for
rapid testing of tunable arrays. Along with the purposed fabrication
methods: I have the prospect of inventing new designs that utilize
Liquid Cristal (LC) phase shifters as a means of varying bandwidth and
directionality.
My involvement in the testing and evaluation of hardware and
software has increased exponentially during the last year. My senior
design project allowed me to manufacture, test, and verify the WiFi

harvesting hardware developed by graduate researchers at the

University of Washington; as well as, test and evaluate a traffic
injection algorithm that runs on an Intel Gateway. During this same
time period I was working at UNMs EM infrastructure lab; evaluating
the electromagnetic compatibility of the 8051 instruction set running
on an atmel microprocessors. Now, I am immersing myself in research
concerning the testing and evaluation of 3D printed materials for use
in circuitry and antennas designs. After the evaluation of the material
is completed, I will create innovative designs that will be fabricated
and tested at UNM.
Lastly, through involvement with my senior design sponsors I
have begun to realize my potential as an entrepreneur. The WiFi
harvesting project, developed during my senior design course, will be
utilized by K&A wireless in a product that will go to market. Along with
this, my team won the elevator pitch contest; helping me realize my
capability as a businessman is equivalent to competency as an
engineer. Through my graduate research I hope to produce quality
research and apply for a gambit of patents. I know these
achievements will give me the opportunity to create business
opportunities and potentially become a serial entrepreneur: benefitting
my school and the community at large.