LaBreesha Batey saw her mother’s struggles with neuropathy, a debilitating disorder that affects the nerves. The NASA researcher watched her mother push through every obstacle to successfully raise three children, while bravely battling the disease. Now Batey has a chance to help alleviate the problem that affects more than 20 million people in the U.S. 

Engineering Senior Design Day happens every year in every engineering school in the nation, and FAMU-FSU College of engineering is no exception. It is an event filled with college students in suits scurrying through the school— mostly dark, serious suits with the flair of youth, and maybe colorful sneakers or a tie. Some students carry projects in their hands; other prototypes are so large it takes an entire team to cart them into the building.

FAMU-FSU College of Engineering student Claire Jolowsky is the second scholar from Florida State University to receive a Cytec-Solvay fellowship for Advanced Composite Studies. Jolowsky successfully defended her dissertation on her work with materials and will graduate with her doctorate in industrial and mechanical engineering this spring.