Jorge Chumbipuma, a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Computational Applied Mathematics and Operations Research in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing at Rice University, is a recipient of the prestigious 2025 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Defense. Established in 1989 by Congress and sponsored by the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force, this fellowship supports doctoral students conducting research in science, engineering, and political, economic, and sociocultural sciences that advance theDepartment of Defense’s mission.
Chumbipuma was one of 126 awardees chosen from a pool of 3,729 applicants from universities across the nation to receive the fellowship. He is one of six recipients in mathematics.
“The NDSEG Fellowship is prestigious and competitive, and we are proud that the graduate students in our department have had a strong track record of being awarded this fellowship. It brings me immense pleasure that yet another one of our doctoral students is being recognized,” said Chumbipuma’s thesis advisor, Beatrice Riviere, Noah Harding Chair and Professor of Computational Applied Mathematics and Operations Research.
This fellowship will support Chumbipuma’s research efforts to create accurate, efficient, and scalable computational tools that help scientists and engineers better predict and simulate real-world systems in mechanics, materials, machine learning, and beyond. His new ‘numerical solver’ tools automate the process of finding solutions to complicated mathematical equations that model complex physical phenomena. For instance, his tools can model soil stability during oil and gas extraction to prevent cracks, or simulate blood flow and drug transport in the human cardiovascular and other systems. Recently, he has applied physics-informed neural networks—machine learning models guided by established scientific principles rather than “black-box” data-driven methods—to solve complex mathematical equations in real time.
“I’m very grateful to be selected for this fellowship,” Chumbipuma said. “It will allow me to continue developing impactful scientific simulations for diverse applications. This award is also a reflection of the tremendous guidance I’ve received from my advisor, mentors, recommenders, writing coach, and colleagues at Rice over the years and I’m extremely thankful for their continued support.”