Stony Brook University Student Wins Dr. Mow Shiah Lin Scholarship

October 6, 2006

UPTON, NY - Minhua Shao, a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in electrochemistry at Stony Brook University, has won the second annual Dr. Mow Shiah Lin Scholarship. The Asian Pacific American Association at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory initiated the scholarship, which consists of $1,000 and a plaque, to honor the late distinguished Brookhaven Lab scientist for which it is named.

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Brookhaven Lab biology associate Beth Lin, widow of Mow Shiah Lin, presents Stony Brook University student Minhua Shao with the 2006 Dr. Mow Shiah Lin Scholarship. (click image to download hi-res version)

Mow Shiah Lin began his career at Brookhaven Lab in 1975 as a postdoctoral fellow and advanced to co-lead a research team working with an environmental remediation company to use selected bacteria to convert toxic oil wastes, such as used motor oils, into useful products. In 2001, Lin shared the R&D 100 Award, given by R&D Magazine to the top 100 technological achievements of the year, for a technology to recover silica from geothermal brine. Lin died suddenly due to a brain aneurysm at the height of his career in 2003, and his coworkers, friends, and family contributed funds to establish the scholarship.

In honor of Lin's research, achievements and inventions, the scholarship is granted annually to an Asian immigrant with a student visa who is matriculating toward a graduate degree at an accredited institution of higher education in environmental science, biology, or chemistry, in remembrance of the manner in which Lin began his career.

"I am particularly honored to be a recipient of this prestigious scholarship named after a person I greatly admired and considered my friend," Shao said. "My career goal is to become a research scientist like Dr. Lin in an institute like Brookhaven Lab. I hope my research will help in protecting our environment and improving the lives of people worldwide."

Minhua Shao earned a B.S. in chemistry in 1999 and a M.S. in electrochemistry in 2002, both from Xiamen University in China. Currently a student at Stony Brook University, Shao is working on his thesis research with senior chemist Radoslav Adzic at Brookhaven Lab. Shao's research focuses on designing and developing platinum-free or low-platinum electrocatalysts that will significantly lower the cost of fuel cells. When these low-cost fuel cells become commercially viable, they are expected to help solve the global problem of dwindling energy supplies and help eliminate environmental hazards related to burning fossil fuels, such as air pollution, acid rain, and global warming.

NOTE TO LOCAL EDITORS: Minhua Shao is a resident of Port Jefferson Station, NY.

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