The Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs is pleased to announce Karina Liles has been awarded a GEM National Consortium Fellowship. Liles was selected by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where she will complete the internship component of the fellowship. The GEM program seeks to enhance the value of the nation's human capital by increasing the participation of underrepresented groups at the master's and doctoral levels in engineering and science. The fellowship provides Ms. Liles a stipend, tuition assistance and a paid summer internship in 2015. More than 4,000 GEM Fellowships have been awarded since the program's inception 39 years ago.

Liles is a 2007 graduate of Spelman College where she majored in computer science. She is now in her third year as a Ph.D. candidate at the University of South Carolina under the direction of Dr. Jenay Beer in the College of Engineering and Computing. She is a member of the Upsilon Sigma Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority based in Bennettsville, SC. Liles is also involved with USC Women and Computing Group and the Association of Computing and Machinery. Under the University of South Carolina Assistive Robotics and Technology (ART) Lab, Liles has served as the primary researcher for two projects: Exploring the Potential of Smart Presence for Retirement Community Employees, and Measuring the Effectiveness and Sociability of Ms. An, The Robot Teaching Assistant, for Rural Minority Students.

GEM Fellowship candidates are supported by the University's Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs, established in 1994 to assist students for national fellowship competitions and by the University of South Carolina's GEM advisor, Dr. Mike Matthews of the College of Engineering and Computing. "I am very pleased that GEM has recognized Karina's outstanding potential with this honor, and to have her join the ranks of our previous honorees at USC," says Matthews. 
Learn more about national fellowships and competitions »