Meet the Newest Class of Axxess Scholars at UT Dallas
Three computer science students at The University of Texas at Dallas have been selected as the newest cohort of Axxess Scholars.
Endowed by a gift from Axxess, a Dallas-based health care technology company founded by John Olajide BS’04, the scholarship program is the largest for computer science students in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.
Olajide, CEO of Axxess and co-chair of New Dimensions: The Campaign for UT Dallas, began Axxess in 2007 and quickly grew the company to become one of the leading home health care technology providers worldwide.
The Axxess Scholars Program is designed to build upon the Jonsson School’s reputation for educating future leaders in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
“Jonsson School graduates are among our region’s greatest sources of technical talent and innovation,” Olajide said. “Our new Axxess Scholars are incredibly skilled and motivated students, and I look forward to seeing what they will do in the future. Axxess is proud to help these scholars realize their potential.”
The 2022 Axxess Scholars are:
Michelle Kelman
Computer science senior Michelle Kelman is a member of the Computing Scholars Honors Program and the University’s student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery, where she has served in the education mentor program. Some of her favorite courses have included discrete mathematics and automata theory. She is considering pursuing a master’s degree at UT Dallas after graduation before beginning work in the software engineering industry. This summer, Kelman will join the technology internship program at Capital One.
“I am very grateful to have received this scholarship and to work with some of the best professors, researchers and students at our school.”
Bellamy Phan
Originally from Vietnam, computer science senior Bellamy Phan works as a software engineer intern at Micro Focus, where he conducts automation testing for the company’s software products. Phan earned an associate degree in computer and information sciences from Northeast Texas Community College, where he was treasurer of the Student Government Association, before he enrolled at UT Dallas in 2020. Inspired by a favorite UT Dallas course in computer graphics, Phan enjoys working in the field of computer vision and hopes to work for a developer of self-driving cars after graduation.
“I am very proud to be one of the recipients of the Axxess Scholarship. Thank you for enabling me to reach my fullest personal and professional potential.”
Bradley Wersterfer BS’21
Born in San Antonio, master’s student Bradley Wersterfer BS’21 originally studied game design at UT Dallas before he switched majors to pursue computer science. Attracted by courses in machine learning, C++ programming in a Unix environment and mobile app development, he has focused on practical and elegant design solutions, which helped him land internships at L3Harris Technologies and CAE USA and a role as a database developer for Gentrifi GPS. As an undergraduate, Wersterfer was president of the UT Dallas chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Societyand a member of the fencing club and Codeburners, a competitive UT Dallas coding club. After finishing his master’s studies, he plans to pursue a career in data science and machine learning.
“My hope is to make a positive impact for everyone and to use my skills to continuously innovate so that I can never stop learning. The Axxess Scholarship lets me focus on my schoolwork and professional development, and I will always be thankful to Axxess for providing it.”
Source | UT Dallas News Center
ABOUT THE UT DALLAS COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
The UT Dallas Computer Science program is one of the largest Computer Science departments in the United States with over 4,000 bachelors-degree students, more than 1,010 master’s students, 140 Ph.D. students, 52 tenure-track faculty members, and 42 full-time senior lecturers, as of Fall 2021. With the University of Texas at Dallas’ unique history of starting as a graduate institution first, the CS Department is built on a legacy of valuing innovative research and providing advanced training for software engineers and computer scientists.