CAAM awards recognize outstanding undergraduates

Nelluveilil receives Michael Ross Franco Award, CAAM-Chevron Prizes go to Joseph Munar and James Fuente.

CAAM awards recognize outstanding undergraduates

Eappen Sebastian Nelluveilil, a senior in computational and applied mathematics (CAAM), has received the 2019 Michael Ross Franco Award, given annually to exemplary undergraduate CAAM majors.

The award was presented Dec. 10 during CAAM’s end-of year luncheon. It carries a prize of $1,000 and is named for Michael Ross Franco, who graduated from Rice with a B.A. in CAAM and mathematics in 2014.

In his senior year, Franco was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He underwent chemotherapy for eight months, completed his course work and graduated on time.

The award was established by Franco’s family “to annually recognize one or more outstanding undergraduate juniors or seniors majoring or minoring in computational and applied mathematics who have demonstrated exemplary performance or excellence in a class and/or undergraduate research.”

After graduation and for the remainder of his cancer treatment, Franco worked at BP’s Center for High-Performance Computing, focused on improving parallel methods for acoustic-wave propagation. He is a fourth-year doctoral student in applied mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley.

The department also awarded CAAM-Chevron Prizes to two CAAM majors, seniors Joseph Munar and James Fuente. Each received a $750 as part of the prize.

The annual CAAM-Chevron Prize for Computational and Applied Mathematics Majors and Minors is awarded for particularly outstanding performances in a class, notable contributions in undergraduate research, or excellence in outreach activity. This prize was established in 2009. Recipients are nominated.