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�ձ�av��Ƶ’s annual Student Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Day will feature a wide range of student projects on April 14, including 14 undergraduate research projects funded by the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences for the 2025-26 school year.

�ձ�av��Ƶ math and physics double major Mason Pulse of Salem has become only the 12th �ձ�av��Ƶ student to be selected as a Goldwater Scholar. This is the 40th year in which the Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation has presented awards to support talented college sophomores and juniors who aspire to become this nation’s next generation of researchers in science, engineering and mathematics. There are 454 awards being presented for 2026-27. The students were selected from a field of 1,485 students nominated by 482 schools. Pulse becomes the first �ձ�av��Ƶ recipient since Timothy Paris in 2020.

�ձ�av��Ƶ's Oceti Sakowin language minor is the only such program in the South Dakota Board of Regents system, but it is one of many language revitalization programs nationwide.

For �ձ�av��Ƶ pharmacy student Abigail Pape, the path toward becoming a pharmacist has been shaped by equal parts curiosity, connection and the desire to make a meaningful difference.

�ձ�av��Ƶ professor Tyler Miller is the newly appointed director of the School of Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies. He joined the �ձ�av��Ƶ faculty in 2012 after earning his Ph.D. in experimental cognitive psychology from Texas A&M University. Miller’s appointment will officially begin in June 2026.

Graduate students make up about 10% of the student population across more than 100 master’s degree and Ph.D. programs and specializations and 23 graduate certificate programs offered at �ձ�av��Ƶ. Each graduate student is immersed in research and scholarship with the support of their advisor and the Graduate School staff. April 6-10 is Graduate Student Appreciation Week, a great opportunity to highlight a few graduate students at �ձ�av��Ƶ and the work they are accomplishing.

�ձ�av��Ƶ’s College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions will hold its Medical Laboratory Science Day and Spring Convocation and Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, April 15.

The Drone Club at �ձ�av��Ƶ is hosting its fourth annual Drone Day on April 17. The event is free and open to the public.

For the fourth year in a row, �ձ�av��Ƶ has qualified a team to the finals of a prestigious NASA competition — and this year’s team is composed of only freshmen and sophomores. “This is an Aerospace Club team, so none of the students on the team are doing this for any class credit, and we have three sophomores and three freshman,” said faculty adviser Todd Letcher, who will lead the mechanical engineering students to the finals of the Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition in Cocoa Beach, Florida, June 2-4.

Industry and academic leaders, startup entrepreneurs, graduate students and researchers convened in Sioux Falls to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming critical sectors and industries. Artificial intelligence is transforming nearly every sector of society, and �ձ�av��Ƶ's Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering is leading critical conversations on the role AI is playing in reshaping industries key to South Dakota, the region and the United States. Over 400 industry and academic leaders, startup entrepreneurs, graduate students and researchers congregated on March 27 in Sioux Falls' Sanford Event Barn for the university's first Innovate AI Symposium.