UAB Students chosen as Stanford University Innovation Fellows

UAB’s motto is “knowledge that will change your world”. Armed with that knowledge, four UAB students were just selected for a competitive fellowships whose philosophy is that students can change the world.

Haifa Al Harrasi, Alex Plazas, Callista Cox and Joshua Lim have been chosen as University Innovation Fellows by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. The fellowship encourages students to become agents of change on campus through innovation and entrepreneurship.

Fellows enhance their skills in design thinking, a method of solving unstructured problems with innovative ideas. They design and implement activities that enhance the current learning landscape at their university. These activities could be new courses, exciting makerspaces, extracurricular activities, or any other innovative solutions to improve learning.

“I have a deep passion for small businesses and startups. This fellowship provides me the opportunity to bring an entrepreneurial mindset to peers.” – Joshua Lim, UAB junior and University Innovation Fellow

In March, the students had the opportunity to travel to Silicon Valley for the University Innovation Fellows’ annual meet up. They were also required to complete six weeks of online training.

UAB Students Excel in Various Competitive Fellowships

UAB has a rich history of producing students who are competitive in applying for fellowships. The university has had three students named Rhodes Scholars since 2000. Ameen Barghi, who double majored in neuroscience and translational research (a major he designed) is the most recent Rhodes to come from UAB. He joins Neelaksh (Neel) Varshney (2000) and Joshua Carpenter, who was recently named to Mayor Woodfin’s Economic Development Committe.

This year, five UAB students were also selected for the competitive Marshall Scholarship. The scholarship provides funding for American students to pursue a graduate degree in the United Kingdom.