Seniors Cen, Ude named Sachs Scholars

Sarah Cen ’16 andOgemdi Ude ’16 have been named the recipients of the Daniel M. Sachs Class of 1960 Graduating Scholarship.

Cen, who is majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering, will pursue a master’s in engineering science as a Sachs Scholar at Worcester College, Oxford, while Ude, who is majoring in English, will spend a year as a Sachs Global Scholar studying Indigenous Australian physical theater in Melbourne, Australia.

Cen is a former staff writer and web editor for the Daily Princetonian.

Matthew Stewart ’85, an adviser for the Sachs Scholarship, said that the Sachs Scholarship at Worcester College is intended for two years of graduate study and a degree at Worcester College, while the Global Scholarship was intended as an option for students to spend a year abroad and devise a learning project of their own that might not fit into formal categories of pursuing a degree.

Stewart explained that former Sachs Scholars and friends of the association conduct the interviews and read the applications for the Sachs Scholarship. The application consists of a research proposal along with resumes, transcripts and letters of recommendation, and the selection committees look for people they think are committed to putting their talents toward the public good, Stewart said.

Cen said that she plans to work with information engineering professor Paul Newman in the mobile robotics group, adding that she will both present a thesis and take classes and attend seminars along the way. She said that her current plan after her two years at Oxford is to join a doctoral program, either in the United Kingdom or in the United States, and do research in robotics or intelligence systems.

“It’s clear to me that she presents a very striking combination of a gifted engineering talent with a serious concern for the social and public implications of the technology she wants to develop,” Stewart said.

Cen explained that she applied to the scholarship because the lab she plans on working with is one of the leading laboratories and leading researchers in mobile autonomy and because the opportunity to live at Oxford will be eye-opening.

“Getting a more global perspective will inform me in my research and also really help me grow as a person,” Cen said.

Ude said that she applied for the Sachs Scholarship because she was not necessarily interested in going into a normal job after graduation and wanted to spend a year focusing on her independent research. She explained that she will spend her year abroad at the University of Melbourne shadowing different musical theater performers and directors while using the university library to do indigenous or performance studies research.

“I’ll be learning in terms of observing others work and also doing my own academic research,” Ude said.

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She added that she will also be taking dance classes and workshopping a play, and she is especially interested in the relationship between African-American theater and indigenous performance.

Stewart, who interviewed Ude as part of the Sachs application, said that he was struck by her passion for her intended project and her passion to make unusual things happen by working with other people to put on interesting performances and explore new areas.