May 06, 2008 — Nora Nelson has been named a USC Global Scholar. The Global Scholars program recognizes undergraduates who have excelled in their studies both at home and abroad. Nora will be receiving her Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering, and has studied abroad in Paris through the Engineering Overseas Program, as well as spending a semester at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. Nora has been awarded and has accepted a Provost's Fellowship, which will fund her studies in the PhD program in Biomedical Engineering at USC, starting this Fall.

Israel "Izzy" Morales received the Center for Engineering Diversity Award. This award recognizes a senior who has enhanced our understanding of diversity through academic achievement, leadership and outstanding service to the Center for Engineering Diversity as well as the Viterbi School. Izzy will receive a Bachelors in Biomedical (Electrical) Engineering; he has been a VARC tutor and an officer in SHPE and one of the founders of MAES, as well as conducting research in the Pulse Power lab for the past two years.

Althea Lyman received the Doris M. Gilliland Memorial Service Award, given to the student who has provided the highest quality service to the Viterbi School outside of his/her area of responsibility within a student organization. In addition to her many other accomplishments, Althea has served the Viterbi school as an SI leader, a Viterbi Student Ambassador, and also through the VSOE Academic Integrity Task Force. She also has been actively engaged in research for the past 4 years, working as a member of Dr. Hsiai's lab group on a project to quantify molecular and mechanical factors that induce atherosclerosis; she is a co-author in a peer-reviewed journal paper published in the Annals of Biomedical Engineering. Althea will receive her Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering and join Teach for America.

Bhavraj “Raj” Khalsa received the Neighborhood Service Award. This award honors a graduating senior who has demonstrated a commitment to the surrounding USC community by offering his or her time and talents to enhance programs or projects that benefit our neighborhood. In addition to being President of the IBMISP society, Raj has volunteered with Rancho Los Amigos, Cedars-Sinai, Trojan Health Volunteers and MESA He has also been an active participant in a number of research labs over the past few years; these include the BMES-ERC, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, and Dr. Hsiai's lab.

Yan Lin Lye received the Fred S. Grodins Award for Academic Excellence in Biomedical Engineering. This award recognizes a graduating senior for outstanding academic achievement in the BME program. The eligibility criteria for this award include the highest or close to highest cumulative major and overall GPA in the senior BME class, as well as an established record of participation in bioengineering research and service to the department and/or university. Yan Lin has been a USC Trustee Scholar and has a cumulative GPA of 3.98. She worked in the research lab of Dr. Jesse Yen for 3 years, first developing ultrasound phantoms to see if 3-D ultrasound strain imaging can improve cancer detection. She then helped develop some of the instrumentation for Dr. Yen's ultrasound-based navigation project for abdominal aortic aneurysms. Yan Lin will graduate with a Bachelors in Biomedical (Electrical) Engineering.