Nahin Ferdousi-Rokib receives Graduate School’s Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award

Nahin Ferdousi-Rokib, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in chemical engineering, was selected for the University of Maryland Graduate School’s Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award in research.

The award recognizes the contributions of graduate assistants to students, faculty, departments, administrative units, and the university. The Graduate School grants approximately 80 Outstanding Graduate Assistant Awards annually. Recipients receive a credit for mandatory fees during the spring 2025 semester.

“It truly is an incredible honor to be awarded The Graduate School’s Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award, and I did not expect it at all,” Ferdousi-Rokib said. “This award feels like a moment of validation and that The Graduate School recognizes all the late nights and weekends I have dedicated to my research.”

Ferdousi-Rokib is a member of the Environmental Aerosol Research Lab under Akua Asa-Awuku, a chemical and biomolecular engineering professor, Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices affiliate fellow, and A. James Clark School of Engineering associate dean.

“Nahin truly deserves this recognition,” said Asa-Awuku. “Their success story is a testament to their unwavering brilliance, perseverance, and determination.”

Ferdousi-Rokib’s thesis research focuses on how particulate matter in the atmosphere, known as aerosols, influences cloud formation. These aerosols are often mixtures of inorganic and organic compounds. Her work examines how the physical and chemical properties of organic compounds affect aerosol mixtures and their ability to form cloud condensation nuclei.

Ferdousi-Rokib became interested in aerosol research as an undergraduate at Lafayette College. After earning her bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 2019, she worked in the pharmaceutical industry before realizing her passion for studying aerosols. While researching graduate programs, she discovered Asa-Awuku’s work and became fascinated by the Environmental Aerosol Research Lab.

“From the moment I met her [Asa-Awuku], she was incredibly encouraging and enthusiastic about the experience I had in aerosol research,” Ferdousi-Rokib said. “In turn, I was blown away by the research her students were doing and the opportunities the Clark School provides its Ph.D. students. UMD became my number one choice, and I remember being so elated when I was accepted. The Clark School has been helpful in giving me the resources I needed to succeed during my Ph.D. and conduct the high-caliber research it is known for.”

Ferdousi-Rokib will defend her thesis in March and graduate in May. After graduation, she plans to continue researching aerosols and will begin a postdoctoral position at Johns Hopkins University, focusing on aerosol fieldwork.

Published February 27, 2025