Jennifer Celeste, a Michigan Tech mechanical engineering junior, spent this summer applying artificial intelligence to research at NASA's Langley Research Center, the latest step in a run that's made her only the 13th Michigan Tech student ever to win the Barry Goldwater Scholarship.

The Goldwater is a national scholarship that backs undergraduates headed toward research careers in science, math and engineering fields. Congress created the scholarship in honor of the late Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, and it provides up to $7,500 per year. More than 11,600 scholarships have been awarded since the program began in 1989, according to Michigan Tech.

Celeste's research blends acoustics engineering with artificial intelligence. She joined Associate Professor Bhisham Sharma's Mechanics, Acoustics, and Dynamics Lab (MADLab) in January 2025, her second semester at Michigan Tech, after applying to the College of Engineering's Research Experience for Undergraduate Students (REU) program during her first semester. The lab focuses on sound and vibration, building materials and structures engineered to manage them.

Her lab work focuses on applying AI tools, including large language models and retrieval-augmented systems, to acoustics research.

That research caught NASA's attention. Her role at NASA Langley, located in Hampton, Virginia, was funded by the Michigan Space Grant Consortium, which also backed her undergraduate research in Sharma's lab.

Celeste told Michigan Tech News that her role involved helping NASA civil servants understand and apply AI in their work. "There are a lot of people who really have their doubts about AI, or want to use it but don't know where to start or where it could be useful in their work," she said. "The idea was to be able to bridge that gap."

Sharma, who directs research for Michigan Tech's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, said Celeste's trajectory has been unusually fast. "She doesn't wait to be told what to learn; she chases it down herself," Sharma said in the university's announcement.

A shared interest in badminton helped connect Celeste to Sharma's lab. She also joined the swing dance club, lived in the Women in Engineering theme community and participated in Women in Physics programming workshops.

Celeste grew up in Downers Grove, Illinois, and chose Michigan Tech after a mid-February campus visit she described as freezing but full of community spirit.

Beyond the Goldwater, Celeste received the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering's John Johnson Scholarship, given to students who plan to go into academia. She also presented at NOISE-CON, a national conference for noise control and acoustics professionals, during her first summer at Michigan Tech.

Celeste plans to graduate a semester early and pursue a Ph.D. at Michigan Tech, with a long-term goal of becoming a professor and running her own research lab.