The Roberto Rocca Education Program awarded 11 new Fellowships in 2009 to students from five countries to support their Ph.D. studies at leading universities in the US and Europe.

The 2009 winners were selected from more than 100 applicants through a rigorous process that included a series of interviews with members of the RREP’s Scientific Committee, comprising senior managers of the Tenaris and Ternium companies. This year’s winners bring to 43 the number of Fellowships the Program has awarded since it began awarding Fellowships in 2006.

Dan Krishock, the Program’s Director, stated: “This year’s winners represent an impressive mix of talent and potential. We are proud to have them as our 2009 Fellows. These awards also demonstrate that in spite of the global economic situation the Roberto Rocca Education Program is a long-term commitment.”

Fellows included students studying Metallurgical, Materials Science, Chemical, and Electrical, among other fields, at universities that included Ecole Central Paris, Stanford University, Birmingham University, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Texas. Winners were selected on the basis of their previous professional and academic experience, the quality of their Ph.D. programs and their commitment to the economic and industrial development of their country of origin.

Melissa Duarte, a graduate of the Universidad Javeriana in Colombia who is now carrying out her Ph.D. in Computer and Electrical Engineering at Rice University, stated that this year’s Fellows are “a group of people who have a serious commitment to contribute to the development of their countries of origin and to be leaders in their fields of research. I find this very motivating and inspiring and I'm proud to be part of this group.”

José Luís Mendoza Cortés, who received his Bachelor degree at the Tec de Moneterrey, in Mexico, and who is now a Ph.D. student in Materials Science at the California Institute of Technology, said the Fellowships encourage the winners to strive to achieve excellence. “It was really important for me to know that companies such as Tenaris, Ternium and Techint through the Roberto Rocca Education Program are supporting new talents who will create the technology of the future. It tells me of the social commitment of these companies and strengthens my wishes of continuing in this path,” he stated.