Farragut High School graduate Channing Tan has been named recipient of the 2024 UT-Battelle Scholarship to attend the University of Tennessee.
The competitive scholarship is awarded annually to a graduating senior planning to study science, mathematics or engineering at UT and who has a parent employed by UT-Battelle, managing contractor of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The scholarship is renewable for up to four years and is worth a total of $20,000.
Tan is the son of Yugang Tan and Ying Chang of Knoxville, Tenn. Yugang Tan leads the Spallation Neutron Source Electric Power Conversion group in ORNL’s Neutron Sciences Directorate.
The UT-Battelle Scholarship encourages careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, fields. Tan has excelled in courses at Farragut that have included advanced placement physics, statistics, calculus and differential equations, as well as English composition, finance and economics.
Tan has been a stellar participant in Farragut High’s FIRST Robotics Team as a lead programmer and member of its executive team. His advisor cited his prowess in electrical wiring and programming and dedicated attendance at after-school sessions. He was also praised for his guidance and mentoring of fellow students.
In his application essay Tan described his idea for an improved system for controlling home environments based on a variable resistor. He aspires to a career based on electrical engineering and quantum physics, possibly in the field of quantum computing.
Tan began attending the University of Tennessee in the spring and is pursing a degree in electrical engineering and physics.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy's Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit http://science.energy.gov/. – Maria Davide and Bill Cabage
