Pictured left to right: Anika Kansky, Autumn Routt, Shaspreet Kaur, Daphne Lin, and Allannah Duffy.
6 Woodruff School Students Awarded 2025 WoW Fellowships
April 24, 2025
By Chloe Arrington
Women of Woodruff (WoW), an organization of Georgia Tech alumnae and friends, has awarded six fellowships to female students in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. This year's WoW Fellows include:
- Allannah Duffy
- Anika Kansky
- Shaspreet Kaur
- Jamila Khanfri
- Daphne Lin
- Autumn Routt
These fellowships aim to attract, support, and retain female students and allies in mechanical and nuclear engineering. They are made possible by the continued efforts and support from WoW members. This year's fellowships were also made possible through the support of sponsors including Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies, and The Boeing Company.
The recipients were honored at WoW's biannual spring event on April 19. In addition to the awards presentation and networking opportunities, attendees heard from alumna and keynote speaker Stacey Dixon, M.S. ME 1995, Ph.D. ME 2000, who gave a talk titled "Taking the Detour - An Adventure in Public Service." Dixon served as the sixth Senate-confirmed Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The fellowships are just one initiative WoW has facilitated to support female students and allies since its establishment in 2022. For more information on WoW or to become a member, visit https://www.me.gatech.edu/wow.
About the Fellows
Allannah Duffy
Allannah Duffy is a third-year Ph.D. student working with Srinivas Garimella, Hightower Chair in Engineering and professor in the Woodruff School. Her research focuses on integrating heat pumps with thermal batteries for residential decarbonization. She has presented her work at international conferences in France, China, and the UK. Duffy is a Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems Graduate Fellow and a Novelis Graduate Scholar.
"It is an honor to be recognized by WoW as a graduate fellow, especially among the ranks of the other women selected this year and previously. This fellowship means more than support; it is a reminder of the trailblazing women who came before us, particularly the founding members of WoW. Their perseverance, at a time when the gender gap in engineering was even wider, has opened doors for women in engineering today. This fellowship reminds me that I stand on their shoulders, and I hope to be the same for those who come after me."
Anika Kansky
Anika Kansky is a fourth-year Ph.D. student working with Jonathan Rogers, professor in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering. Her research, conducted in the Aerial Robotics and Experimental Autonomy Lab, focuses on fault-tolerant control for fixed-wing aircraft. Kansky graduated from Purdue University in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and received a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech in 2024. She has been a group leader for the GT6000 orientation program for the last three years, mentoring new graduate students. Since starting at Tech, she has been a research mentor for five undergraduate students.
"I feel very honored to have received this award from WoW! The women I have met and the friends I have made through organizations like WoW at Georgia Tech have been instrumental in helping me succeed and stay sane while working on my Ph.D.!"
Shaspreet Kaur
Shaspreet Kaur is a Ph.D. candidate conducting innovative space and solar energy research, advised by Professor Peter Loutzenhiser. Her work focuses on producing metals and oxygen from lunar regolith using concentrated solar power to support sustainable lunar infrastructure. Kaur is a co-inventor on a pending patent related to lunar in-situ resource utilization and has presented her work at major conferences and in leading scientific journals. She is passionate about space exploration and is committed to building a long-term career advancing humanity's presence beyond Earth.
"As a first-generation graduate student, my journey has always been fueled by hard work, resilience, and a deep determination to change the course for my family. To be seen and recognized through this fellowship is not just an honor—it's a powerful reminder that the path I'm carving matters. I believe in leaving the door open behind me for others, and this fellowship not only celebrates that spirit but actively embodies it by uplifting women like me in engineering. Thank you, WoW!"
Jamila Khanfri
Jamila Khanfri is a fourth-year Ph.D. student advised by Aaron Stebner, Eugene C. Gwaltney Jr. Chair in Manufacturing and professor in the Woodruff School. Her research examines the intersection of additive manufacturing, automation, and machine learning. She focuses on building automatic workflows for 3D printing aluminum metal matrix composites. She is also passionate about advocating for and building community among the department's women graduate students and is the incoming president of the Woodruff School Graduate Women student organization. In her free time, she enjoys roller derby and good tea.
Daphne Lin
Daphne Lin is a fourth-year Ph.D. student researching predictive modeling for small datasets to accelerate design and manufacturing with Woodruff Professor Carolyn Seepersad. After completing her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she worked at Schlumberger for two years as a design engineer, where she helped with the automation of scaling design processes and the development of digital twins. Throughout graduate school, Lin has been dedicated to mentorship, creating a supportive environment for others, and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students. Additionally, she actively participates in the Woodruff School's faculty searches and hopes to help the school continue to grow in a positive direction.
"It is such an honor to be recognized by this amazing community and to receive a WoW Fellowship. I have always felt that I would not be where I am without the support and guidance of many wonderful mentors throughout my life. As such, I have always prioritized mentoring others and supporting them through difficult times in their studies, as my mentors did for me. It means a great deal to me to be recognized by WoW for my academic and research accomplishments and my dedication to mentorship and the engineering community. Thank you so much for the fellowship, and I am excited to become more involved in WoW and connect other students with the organization."
Autumn Routt
Autumn Routt is a second-year Ph.D. student co-advised by Greg Sawicki, professor and the Joseph Anderer Faculty Fellow in the Woodruff School, and Lena Ting, adjunct professor in the Woodruff School. In her research, she seeks to understand what causes falls in pregnancy to reduce their occurrence. Outside of research, she stays active in the community, working with her lab mates to organize events like the Georgia Tech Summer Research Institute, Zoo Biomechanics Day, and Atlanta Neuromechanics.
"I am honored to have received the WoW Fellowship. I'm proud to stand among such driven and talented women. I am grateful for the financial support and the connections to new mentors and colleagues that this opportunity provides. Thank you, WoW."