Maddy Niblock among Honors College Wielenga Research Scholars

Undergraduate researcher Maddy Niblock was recently recognized as one of 15 Honors College Wielenga Research Scholars. Maddy will receive an annual stipend for her work in the lab for the 2019-2020 academic year. Maddy has worked on regulation of the insulin receptor gene in Drosophila, and will be continuing work with Ana-Maria Raicu on mechanisms of repression by retinoblastoma proteins.

The Wielenga Scholars Program was made possibly by the support of Thomas and Sue Wielenga. Thomas was a 1978 Honors College mechanical engineering alumnus, who subsequently received advanced degrees in computer-aided design and mechanical engineering from the U.s of Michigan. Thomas developed the mechanical simulation program, ADAMS, under his thesis adviser, Milton Chase, to model the dynamics of rollover vehicles during crashes. He served as a consultant and expert in the vehicle dynamics and accident reconstruction field, and patented and licensed an anti-rollover braking system, which saves ~1,000 lives annually.