Philip Clarke, doctoral candidate in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering (MABE) at The University of Tennessee Knoxville, studying on the campus of the Space Institute in Tullahoma, received the 2017 MABE Outstanding Graduate Student Award on April 6 at the MABE Honors Awards Banquet held at The Foundry in Knoxville.

Clarke was nominated by his advisor, Reza Abedi, Assistant Professor in the MABE Department. He was one of two recipients of the award. Grad students have to be nominated for the award by their respective advisor who must submit a 1-page letter explaining why their student deserves the award. The letters are then reviewed by a committee of faculty who decide the winner(s).

Clarke, a Bahamian native, grew up with a natural love and need for learning. Admiring the TV scholars as a child invoked dreams of being like them which set the stage for a successful young man with a very bright future.

Clarke obtained his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (2011) from Florida International University, Miami, Florida. Currently, under the guidance of Reza Abedi, his dissertation is focused on research pertaining to the fracture mechanics related to Lithium-ion power cells to enhance battery longevity by decreasing the probability of mechanical failures. Apart from his dissertation, he also conducts research in computational mechanics for the development of space-time discontinuous galerkin finite element methods and software. Clarke also serves as a Senator within the Student Government Association (SGA).

Clarke is already making plans to pursue his Master degree in Mathematics. Future plans are to obtain a post-doctoral position for the purpose of acquiring professional skills to pursue a teaching/research position within the engineering department of a university. Love of learning and education will only push him to continue to be successful in whatever he pursues in life.

Clarke lives in Murfreesboro with his wife, Ce’Aira.