Aerospace Engineering Student Receives MSC Scholarship

March 26, 2020 - Samueli School undergraduate Thomas Slagle has been awarded a 2020 Measurement Science Conference scholarship. The MSC scholarship program awards students up to $2,000 based on a combination of grades and experience/accomplishments in the application or advancement of measurement science and technology.

Slagle, a third-year aerospace engineering major, works in the lab of materials science and engineering Professor Julie Schoenung on research related to residual stress in metal additive manufacturing.

After taking Schoenung’s Principles of Materials Science class during his freshman year, Slagle decided he wanted to learn more about the subject and joined her research group. He currently focuses on selective laser melting in stainless steel parts, examining how the microstructure and residual stress (stress present in materials in the absence of any external load or force) are influenced by the build process parameters.

Ultimately aspiring to a management career in the aerospace or defense industries, Slagle has participated on the UCI solar car team, serving as chief mechanical engineer, and has worked as an intern in the metrology department at Northrop Grumman. He also was a Hispanic Scholarship Fund recipient in 2017-18.

Receiving the MSC scholarship has been an honor, Slagle said. “It provided me the resources to help cover my tuition and purchase new personal computing equipment that has improved my workflow. I am very thankful for all of the awesome and unique opportunities I have been able to get involved with at UCI and through the Samueli School.”

- Anna Lynn Spitzer