The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) presented Fiddler Innovation Fellowship Awards to 29 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and NCSA students in a ceremony on November 6 honoring their outstanding achievements and interdisciplinary contributions to NCSA programs, including Students Pushing Innovation (SPIN), Design for America (DFA) and those who worked with NCSA researchers and NCSA-affiliated faculty during the 2025-26 academic year and summer of 2026.
The awards are part of a $2 million endowment from Jerry Fiddler to the University of Illinois in support of student and faculty interdisciplinary research initiatives through the Illinois Emerging Digital Research and Education in Arts Media (eDream) Institute at NCSA.
The 29 awardees represent students whose outstanding interdisciplinary contributions showcased a wide range of research interests and domains, including machine learning, quantum computing, computational biology, language development, music technology, social and behavioral sciences, urban and neighborhood studies, and scientific visualization.
Abhinav Angirekul’s work with SPIN is a great example of that interdisciplinary range. Inspired by his work on a project with NCSA quantum computing researchers, Angirekul proposed a new project titled “Quantum Error Correction Simulation.” The project gives a new SPIN student the opportunity to build on and extend the research in a new direction, while Angirekul serves as a co-mentor, guiding and supporting the next generation of SPIN students.
Fellow SPIN participants Xiaoxi (Brooke) Chen, Vanessa Ngerjee and Zonghang (Ben) Wu came together from three different units on campus – Curriculum and Instruction and Computer Science, Bioengineering, and Anthropology, respectively – for their project, “Turn Code Into Compassion: Visualize Aging.” Working across disciplinary boundaries, these students contributed to innovative visualizations that improve our understanding of aging and will support the development of new educational materials used to train medical students at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine.
“NCSA is tremendously appreciative of Jerry Fiddler’s generosity that empowers NCSA to help cultivate the next generation of innovators and researchers,” said NCSA Director R. Srikant. “His vision and support provide opportunities for students to pursue bold ideas, explore interdisciplinary approaches, take intellectual risks and develop solutions to scientific or societal challenges.”
There is also a new opportunity associated with Fiddler and NCSA – this time for Illinois faculty members.
The 2027 Fiddler Innovation Faculty Fellowship supports interdisciplinary research that brings together art, science and technology. Projects are solicited that align with the Fiddler Innovation Endowment’s goal to inspire research projects that address important scientific, societal, cultural, humanistic, or global challenges through the integration of visualization techniques with the arts, science and technology.
“NCSA is always seeking to engage with faculty on campus, and the Fiddler Innovation Faculty Fellowship is another great way to strengthen those relationships,” Srikant said.
Many of the Fiddler Innovation Fellowship 2026 cohort worked with faculty at NCSA and other units at Illinois to advance their research goals. Connecting students with technical and domain experts is one way NCSA elevates the work of students just starting their academic careers.
“The accomplishments of this year’s Fiddler Innovation Fellows highlight the value of interdisciplinary research and collaboration among our students, NCSA researchers and NCSA faculty affiliates, said NCSA Assistant Director for Research and Education Olena Kindratenko. “Whether contributing to breakthroughs in quantum computing, developing new approaches to visualizing aging, creating educational resources for 50 million Hausa speakers in West Africa, or working on their own startup venture, these students demonstrate how innovation emerges when individuals with different perspectives and expertise work together.”
Congratulations to all of the 2026 Fiddler Innovation Fellowship awardees!
2026 Fiddler Innovation Fellowship Awardees
- Mithil Salunkhe, Center for Artificial Intelligence Innovation
- Tia Kashyap, REU FoDoMMaT & SPIN
- Yifei Li, Center for Artificial Intelligence Innovation
- Victoria Zhang, CS Distributed REU & SPIN
- Emma Chen, SPIN
- Adaora Mbanefo, SPIN collaborator
- Jia Gill, SPIN collaborator
- Amul Prakash, SPIN
- Anirudh Sunil, SPIN
- Alex Gorczowski, SPIN collaborator and Experimental Music Studios
- Ivan Tang, SPIN
- Xinghan Chen, SPIN
- Abhinav Angirekula, SPIN
- Diyun Zheng, SPIN collaborator and Experimental Music Studios
- Kayla Thach, DFA
- Abigail Chen, DFA
- Jana Lesniak, DFA
- Lhaye Dimarucut, DFA
- Sherwin Bathula, DFA
- Vanessa Ngerjee, SPIN
- Zonghang (Ben) Wu, SPIN
- Xiaoxi (Brooke) Chen, SPIN
- Shashank Satish, SPIN
- Ajay Nagi Reddy Kumdam, SPIN and co-founder of Singularity Gate LLC
- Hyouin (Yueze) Liu, co-founder of Singularity Gate LLC
- Bryan Gworek, doctoral student in biophysics
- Advith Govindarajan, doctoral student in mathematics
- Colter Wehmeier, 2026 doctorate
- Hajara-Yasmin Isa, doctoral student in computer science, TEC Fiddler Innovation Fellow
ABOUT NCSA
The National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign provides supercomputing, expertise and advanced digital resources for the nation’s science enterprise. At NCSA, University of Illinois faculty, staff, students and collaborators from around the globe use innovative resources to address research challenges for the benefit of science and society. NCSA has been assisting many of the world’s industry giants for over 35 years by bringing industry, researchers and students together to solve grand challenges at rapid speed and scale.