Computational Modeling and Data Analytics program recognizes scholarship recipients at annual awards dinner

A total of 27 students were honored during the Computational Modeling and Data Analytics (CMDA) program’s annual Academic Excellence Celebration held April 10 at the Inn at Virginia Tech.

The largest group of award recipients were granted the Luther & Alice Hamlett Scholarship. Luther Hamlett, who died in 2016, graduated from Virginia Tech in 1945 with a bachelor’s degree in biology before earning his M.D. from the Medical College of Virginia. He and his wife, Alice, who passed away in 2008, were among the College of Science’s most generous donors, setting up — among other things — an endowed scholarship for students majoring in computational modeling and data analytics, which is part of the Academy of Data Science.

Other scholarship awards announced at the dinner included the CMDA Alumni Scholarship and CMDA Outstanding Senior Award, both supported by the CMDA Annual Fund.

Honorees for all three scholarship awards are selected based on their current academic success, as well as contributions to the university and the surrounding community. Recipients of the Hamlett Scholarship and CMDA Alumni Scholarship — which are both open to freshmen, sophomores, and juniors — come from a single pool of student applications.

Meanwhile, the Outstanding Senior Award requires a separate application process which includes faculty support. This year, the honorees included six total recipients, including two fall graduates. Additionally, four separate categories of distinction were created in the spring, honoring excellence in academics, engagement, leadership, and research.

A full list of this year’s CMDA scholarship award winners follows:

HAMLETT SCHOLARSHIP
Smera Ayyagari
Jocelyn Bliton
Romy Brake
Liam Curtis
Yiming Fan
Thomas Garrison
Grace Griffith
Tyler Indoe
Saatvik Pamidimuk
Tuan Phan
Thi Phung
Shiva Pochampally
Sarah Skaggs
Jaasum Suri
Yosna Venkatesh
Yiqing Wang
Jeffrey Zhang
Julia Zherdetski

CMDA ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP
Sophia Jang
Rachel Maternick
Trisha Patil

CMDA OUTSTANDING SENIORS (FALL 2025)
Kyle Fetsko
Ian Russell

CMDA OUTSTANDING SENIORS (SPRING 2026)
Outstanding Senior for Excellence in Academics: Margaret Smith
Outstanding Senior for Excellence in Engagement: Matthew Anderson
Outstanding Senior for Excellence in Leadership: Elisabeth Wasserman
Outstanding Senior for Excellence in Research: Aidan Chadha