Cottey Student Accepted to Prestigious Science Program

A Cottey College student has received a fully funded graduate assistantship to study material science at Pittsburg State University. Tenzin Ingsel, of India, graduates from Cottey May 12 with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in chemistry. She will be the first Cottey international student to receive an assistantship immediately following the completion of her degree.

Ingsel has been an intern at Nevada, Missouri’s, 3M facility for nearly a year: part-time during the school year and full-time last summer. “I’ve really enjoyed using instruments at 3M to better understand polymers,” Ingsel says.

Ingsel found out about the Kansas Polymer Research Center on a field trip for her analytical chemistry class. The Pittsburg State University center is internationally recognized for its vegetable oil-based polymer research and development.

While visiting, Ingsel became interested in their research facilities and talked to several graduate students and researchers. Based on this discussion, she decided to apply for a graduate degree program in materials science.

“Tenzin’s internship, classes, capstone project, many hours of discussions with her advisors, hard work getting good grades and being proactive on her educational goals led her to this success!” Dr. Ganga Fernando, associate professor of chemistry, and one of Ingsel’s professors said.

After earning her master’s degree, Ingsel plans to enter the medical field.