Mines student wins prestigious Goldwater Scholarship

Ethan Perry, a senior majoring in computer science at Colorado School of Mines, has been awarded a 2021-2022 Goldwater Scholarship, one of the preeminent STEM scholarships for undergraduate students.

Perry is one of 410 students across the United States – and one of six in Colorado – to be named Goldwater Scholars. More than 5,000 students applied to the program, which provides financial support of up to $7,500 per year for two years for college sophomores and one year for juniors who intend to pursue research careers in the STEM fields. 

“I’ve been anticipating the Goldwater announcement since fall of 2020, so my anticipation has been building for months,” said Perry, who intends to eventually earn a PhD in computer science. “The Goldwater Scholarship has given me huge enthusiasm moving forward in my plans for research.”

Perry’s specific research focus is in the area of pervasive computing and the Internet of Things (IoT). He hopes to contribute to finding the solutions for some of society’s biggest problems, like climate change, environmental degradation and urban infrastructure.

“The field of computer science has the potential of bringing vast practical benefit to human society,” Perry said. “But it’s also very young and there is much work to be accomplished before we see its full potential.”

Perry has taken full advantage of the resources at Mines to grow his knowledge of his chosen field of study and started conducting research in his first semester as a student. While at Mines, Perry has authored and co-authored several research papers and presented at the 2020 Virtual Undergraduate Research Symposium, discussing his research on algorithms that identify the ideal placement of relay nodes and how the communication ranges of IoT devices can be extended. He cites the immense support of his mentors, Computer Science Professor Qi Han and Assistant Professor Tom Williams and Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Assistant Professor Qin Zhu, as enabling his exploration of computer science as a career.

Established in 1986, the Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency. The scholarship program honors Sen. Barry Goldwater and was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue research careers in the fields of the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics. Goldwater Scholars have impressive academic and research credentials that have garnered the attention of prestigious post-graduate fellowship programs. Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 94 Rhodes Scholarships, 150 Marshall Scholarships, 170 Churchill Scholarships, 109 Hertz Fellowships, and numerous other distinguished awards such as the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.