About Our Fellowships – Livermore Lab Foundation

Inspiring Future STEM Leaders

Our Fellowship Application

Our fellowship application window is now closed. Please check back in the fall for information about the next application cycle. For any questions, contact [email protected]

Pursuing Science in the National Interest

We’re committed to ‘opening the door to the future’ by inspiring the next generation of STEM leaders. LLF supports STEM opportunities that connect aspiring scientists and engineers with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s premier resources and mentors. Our fellowships and research stipends are aimed at fostering the academic and professional journey of undergraduate and graduate students, with a special interest in those with low-income/financial need, and/or first-generation college students. We place LLF Fellows with Lab mentors engaged in the key research areas we fund, aligned with LLNL core competencies such as Earth and Atmospheric Science, Bioscience and Bioengineering, high-performance computing and data science, and more.

LLF provides direct student funding, enabling more time for research and ultimate success in scientific careers. We also offer an enriching summer program tailored for our annual cohort of fellows to facilitate connections, knowledge sharing, skill building and career development. Our program goes beyond building students’ technical skills and exposure to world-class science; it seeks to empower our fellows to consider a rewarding and impactful STEM career and contributes to the nation’s critical STEM pipeline needed to solve issues of national and global importance.

Thank you to our academic and professional partners, STEM donors, and LLNL colleagues, who make these programs possible!

2026 Fellowship Cohort

Melissa Alarcon

KCCD Fellow

UC Merced

Meet Data Science Fellow Nelida Salgado, a senior majoring in Computer Science and Engineering at UC Merced. This past summer, Nelida worked on AI-Based Object and Attribute Discovery in Video Data.

Atzin Anguiano

KCCD Fellow

Bakersfield College

Meet KCCD Fellow Atzin Anguiano, a rising junior at Bakersfield College majoring in Mechanical Engineering. This past summer, Atzin analyzed compression and flexure tests on composite materials, studying how these advanced materials respond to different types of forces and impacts to help develop structures with improved shock mitigation and energy absorption capabilities for applications where durability and protection are critical.

Daniel Atuegwu

RECONNECT Fellow

Odessa College

Meet RECONNECT Fellow Daniel Atuegwu, a rising junior majoring in Mechanical Engineering at Odessa College. This past summer, Daniel worked on Sustainable Data Center Development in California’s Central Valley.

Leonardo Avalos-Ramirez

KCCD Fellow

Bakersfield College

Meet KCCD Fellow Leonardo Avalos-Ramirez, a rising junior at Bakersfield College majoring in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. This past summer, Leonardo supported the Optical Streak Camera Group at the National Ignition Facility by designing mechanical components that enhanced the quality and reliability of critical diagnostic data for fusion experiments.

Zaara Bhatia

Dr. Sydell Perlmutter Gold Fusion Fellow

Harvey Mudd College

Meet Dr. Sydell Perlmutter Gold Fusion Fellow Zaara Bhatia, a rising senior at Harvey Mudd College studying Physics and Computer Science. This past summer, Zaara worked on lithium isotope separation.

Olivia Boyd

HEDS Fellow

University of Chicago

Meet HEDS Fellow Olivia Boyd, a student at the University of Chicago studying Astrophysics and Environmental Science. This past summer, Olivia worked on interrogating the accuracy of black hole spin and mass inferences using Fe K-alpha emission from accretion-powered photoionized plasmas.

Vibha Chandrasekaran

Davis Family Life Sciences Fellow

University of Arizona

Meet Davis Family Life Sciences Fellow Vibha Chandrasekaran, a rising senior at the University of Arizona studying Neuroscience and Cognitive Science with minors in Statistics and Data Science and Entrepreneurship and Innovation. This past summer, Vibha worked on Anomaly Characterization and Baseline ML Modeling for Advanced Biosurveillance.

Olive Colfelt

John S. Foster Jr. Undergraduate Fellow

Wichita State University

Meet John S. Foster Jr. Undergraduate Fellow Olive Colfelt, a rising senior at Wichita State University majoring in Physics with minors in Mathematics, University Honors, and Japanese. This past summer, Olive worked on critical aspects of direct-drive wetted-foam inertial confinement fusion schemes.

Avery Dingee

KCCD Fellow

Bakersfield College

Meet KCCD Fellow Avery Dingee, a rising junior at Bakersfield College majoring in Mechanical Engineering. This past summer, Avery worked on the Secondary Containment Tray Design for a Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Mobile Fluid Storage Rack.

Angeline Felix

KCCD Fellow

Bakersfield College

Meet KCCD Fellow Angeline Felix, a rising junior majoring in Aerospace Engineering at Bakersfield College. This past summer, Angeline worked on designing a temporary fixture tank to apply newly developed coatings to full-size laser mirrors and test increased air knife efficiency.

Arya Ferozy

Physics Fellow

Las Positas College/UC Berkeley

Meet Physics with Phones Fellow Arya Ferozy, a rising junior at Las Positas College majoring in Physics and transferring to UC Berkeley this fall. This past summer, Arya worked on the Physics with Phones project, exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to enhance classroom experiences for students studying physics and make complex concepts more interactive and accessible.

Luis Garcia Rios

John Harvey Space Science Fellow

UC San Diego

Meet John Harvey Space Science Fellow Luis Garcia, a rising senior at UC San Diego majoring in Electrical Engineering. This past summer, Luis worked on updating an older data system used by optical astronomers for spectroscopy.

Angelina Guzman

Kim Cupps Carbon Fellow

UC Davis

Meet Kim Cupps Carbon Fellow Angelina Guzman, a rising senior majoring in Chemical Engineering at UC Davis. This past summer, Angelina worked on optimizing maritime carbon dioxide transportation through gas behavior simulations.

Timothy Hendrickson

HEDS Fellow

Morehouse College

Meet HEDS Fellow Timothy Hendrickson, a junior at Morehouse College majoring in Physics with a minor in Mathematics. This past summer, Timothy worked on [Project Title].

Aadya Huddar

Early Intern Program Fellow

UCLA

Meet Early Internship Program Fellow Aadya Huddar, a freshman at UCLA majoring in Computer Science. This past summer, Aadya worked on bidirectional translation between GPU and CPU programs, compiler optimizations for GPU code, and performance exploration for designated codes.

Vrishan Inukollu

Shuler Data Science Fellow

UC Merced

Meet Data Science Fellow Vrishan Inukollu, a senior majoring in Computer Science and Engineering at UC Merced. This past summer, Vrishan worked on using AI to analyze historical documents and identify lost oil and gas wells.

Cari Johnston

Fusion Fellow

UC Santa Cruz

Meet Fusion Fellow Cari Johnston, a rising senior at UC Santa Cruz majoring in Physics with a minor in Mathematics. This past summer, Cari worked on optical systems used to study and 3D print materials for fusion research at the National Ignition Facility.

Sanah Keswani-Santiago

Davis Family Life Sciences Fellow

UC Davis

Meet Davis Family Life Sciences Fellow Sanah Keswani-Santiago, a rising senior at UC Davis studying Biotechnology and Data Science. This past summer, Sanah worked on Machine Learning to Discover the Genetic Structure of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Kairie Lamayo

Life Sciences Fellow

University of Nevada, Reno

Meet Life Sciences Fellow Kairie Lamayo, a rising senior majoring in Neuroscience at the University of Nevada, Reno. This past summer, Kairie worked on the Invisible Wound project, which investigates gut-brain axis implications in a mouse model of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Rhaegon Madden

HEDS Fellow

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Meet HEDS Fellow Rhaegan Madden, a junior at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University majoring in Physics with a minor in Mathematics. This past summer, Rhaegan worked on the Analysis of Fiber-Based and Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Using Boltzmann Temperature Estimation.

Raymond Magill

RECONNECT Fellow

Odessa College

Meet RECONNECT Fellow Raymond Magill, a rising junior at Odessa College majoring in Geology. This past summer, Raymond worked on the RECONNECT project, utilizing three different machine learning models to monitor earthquake event sizes and help researchers improve how seismic activity is detected, analyzed, and understood to support more accurate earthquake monitoring and hazard assessment.

Celeste Maino

Phsyics Fellow

UC Santa Cruz

Meet Physics Fellow Celeste Maino, a rising senior at UC Santa Cruz majoring in Physics with a minor in Electrical Engineering. This past summer, Celeste worked on performance testing of STJ X-ray cameras.

Jesse Martinez

HEDS Fellow

UC Merced

Meet HEDS Fellow Jesse Martinez, a senior at UC Merced majoring in Physics. This past summer, Jesse worked on Volumetric Additive Manufacturing of 3D Electronics Using Multi-Material Resins.

Shanyeri Mills

HEDS Fellow

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Meet HEDS Fellow Shanyeri Mills, a senior at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University majoring in Physics. This past summer, Shanyeri worked on 2D Spatially and Spectrally Resolved Imaging Using Spherical Crystal for Structured Targets.

Aryanna Perez

HEDS Fellow

UC Merced

Meet HEDS Fellow Aryanna Perez, a junior at UC Merced majoring in Physics. This past summer, Aryanna worked on extracting neutron spectra and gamma-ray signatures from (α,n) reactions for non-proliferation applications.

Saharat Phiphatsirikajorn

Delta College Carbon Fellow

San Joaquin Delta College

Meet Delta College Carbon Fellow Saharat Phiphatsirikajorn, a rising junior majoring in Computer Engineering at San Joaquin Delta College. This past summer, Saharat worked on Next Generation Polymer Research.

Jair Ramirez

KCCD Carbon Fellow

Porterville College

Meet KCCD Fellow Jair Ramirez, a rising junior at Porterville College majoring in Mechanical Engineering. This past summer, Jair worked on the Raman Spectroscopy Project, optically aligning a laser into a fiber to perform gas measurements and compare how different fibers respond.

Reuben Reji

HEDS Fellow

Illinois State University

Meet HEDS Fellow Reuben Reji, a first-year graduate student at Illinois State University studying Physics. This past summer, Reuben worked on Opacity Line Modeling.

Drew Sale

HEDS Fellow

UC Santa Cruz

Meet HEDS Fellow Drew Sale, a junior at the University of California, Santa Cruz majoring in Physics. This past summer, Drew worked on [Project Title].

Nelida Salgado

King Data Science Fellow

UC Merced

Meet Data Science Fellow Nelida Salgado, a senior majoring in Computer Science and Engineering at UC Merced. This past summer, Nelida worked on AI-Based Object and Attribute Discovery in Video Data.

Kyle Schmerge

HEDS Fellow

UC Santa Barbara

Meet HEDS Fellow Kyle Schmerge, a junior at UC Santa Barbara majoring in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Chemistry. This past summer, Kyle worked on improving EUV lithography power efficiency with novel petawatt-class BAT laser technology.

Ruhi Shah

Early Intern Program Fellow

UC Berkeley

Meet Early Internship Program Fellow Ruhi Shah, a student at UC Berkeley majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS). This past summer, Ruhi worked on bidirectional translation between GPU and CPU programs, compiler optimizations for GPU code, and performance exploration for designated codes.

Preston Silva

Early Intern Program Fellow

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Meet Early Internship Program Fellow Preston Silva, a freshman at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo majoring in Computer Science. This past summer, Preston worked on bidirectional translation between GPU and CPU programs, compiler optimizations for GPU code, and performance exploration for designated codes.

Ivan Soto

Delta College Carbon Fellow

San Joaquin Delta College

Meet Delta College Carbon Fellow Ivan Soto, a rising junior majoring in Electrical Engineering at San Joaquin Delta College. This past summer, Ivan worked on the IDEA Project (In-air Drop Encapsulation Apparatus), which creates tiny chemical droplets that are solidified into capsules using UV light to make chemical manufacturing faster, more efficient, and more cost-effective.

London Starks

HEDS Fellow

Florida A&M University

Meet HEDS Fellow London Starks, a first-year master’s student at Florida A&M University majoring in Physics with a minor in Computer Science. This past summer, London worked on Investigating Stellar Structure and Surface Phenomena in Rapidly Rotating Stars Using LESTER.

Reed Michael Upson

Fusion Fellow

UC Berkeley

Meet Fusion Fellow Reed Michael Upson, a rising senior at UC Berkeley majoring in Applied Mathematics with an intended major in Physics. This past summer, Reed worked on Alloy Survivability in Fusion Energy Environments.

Latest STEM News

Expanding Opportunities with Full-Year Fellowships

Thanks to the generosity of the Davis Family, LLF is supporting two Full-Year Fellows in 2025! This unique program extends the traditional 10–12 week summer fellowship through the academic year, allowing students to continue their research remotely with LLNL mentors. By staying engaged, Fellows deepen their expertise, sharpen their skills, and contribute more meaningfully to LLNL’s research ecosystem. Learn more about our fellows Osman Brown, Carbon Fellow, and Danny Humphrey, Life Sciences Fellow.

Livermore and Tracy High School Graduates now in College benefit from Collaboration between Livermore Lab Foundation and Girls Who Code

This summer, the Livermore Lab Foundation welcomed three college students as Early Intern Program Fellows at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who graduated from Livermore and Tracy high schools.

Meet Our 2024 Fusion Fellows

The achievement of ignition by LLNL in December 2022 was groundbreaking. Moving beyond that to the nation’s decadal vision of commercial fusion energy will require, among other things, creating pathways and opportunities for the next generation to work in fusion. In 2023, the Foundation launched an inaugural Fusion Fellowship opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to work with the Inertial Fusion Energy team at LLNL. This summer, LLF was pleased to bring two more fusion fellows to the Lab.

UC Climate Entrepreneurs Fellows

Four UC Climate Entrepreneurs Fellows, recruited by the LLF, came to LLNL for the Summer of 2024 to collaborate with Lab researchers. Students received training, networking, and coaching on entrepreneurship and product development best practices designed to innovate and develop their technology ideas for market.