Colin Unger selected for NSF GRFP!

By Natalia Diaz Amabilis, PR Assistant

Congratulations to Colin Unger, an undergraduate Computer Science student at UCSB for being recently selected for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)! This program functions to help ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-Supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions. 

Past fellows include numerous Nobel Prize winners, U.S. Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, Google founder, Sergey Brin and Freakonomics co-author, Steven Levitt.

Unger belongs to the College of Creative Studies, one of the most competitive schools at UCSB, and holds a 4.0. He has been accepted to over 10 top PhD programs, including UCSB’s. Professor Giovanni Vigna speaks highly of Unger -- 

"Colin has a positive, enthusiastic attitude towards research and security. Everyone who has worked with him, such as external researchers from many collaborations, and internship mentors, have given enthusiastic feedback about his performance and attitude. In a nutshell, it is a pleasure to work with him. Colin is also one of the most active members of the Shellphish hacking group. He participated in a number of hacking competitions, demonstrating an impressive set of security skills. Finally, he has been one of the most active organizers of UCSB’s own hacking competition, the iCTF, which involves thousands of students around the world. Colin operates at the level of a seasoned PhD student, even though he’s still an undergrad. Truly impressive!"

We wish Colin the best in his pursuit of higher education as we celebrate his excellence in academia.