This week, we are featuring the 2015 Falvey Scholars and giving you the chance to get to know these bright young adults up close and personal. Not only are they very smart – they’re very interesting! Just last week, Falvey Memorial Library, the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, and the Honors Program announced the 2015 Falvey Scholars Award winners: Katie Kline, Elizabeth Long, Jessica Swoboda, Nicholas Ader, Joseph Schaadt and John Szot. These six remarkable senior students have been selected from a pool of candidates from various disciplines for their outstanding undergraduate student research projects at Villanova University. Click here for a listing of their projects as presented at the 2015 Falvey Scholars Awards Presentation and Reception Ceremony.

Featuring Joseph Schaadt

“I’m a mechanical engineering major from the Bay Area in California and I work in Dr. Aaron Wemhoff’s Multiscale System Analysis Laboratory (MSAL) here at Villanova as part of the National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) for Energy Smart Electronic Systems (ES2). When I’m not conducting research aimed at improving the energy efficiency of data centers, I can be spotted playing on the Villanova men’s water polo team or using my free time to play recreational basketball with my friends. While at Villanova, I have enjoyed taking advantage of the numerous opportunities to do service in the community, being involved with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as the Vice President of our student chapter, and being a cohost on The Zone, a sports talk program on WXVU 89.1 Villanova Radio.”

Project Title: “Load Capacity and Thermal Efficiency Optimization of a Research Data Center Using Computational Modeling”

I am inspired by my father Russell. His diligence, hard work, confidence, and pursuit of excellence are something I try to copy daily.

If I could be any person for a day, I’d be Brandon Stanton, the creator of Humans of New York. He has a great passion for his job and is able to reach and inspire millions of people through his art.

Photo via Jared Kofsky/PlaceNJ.com

My favorite Villanova memory is being at the Syracuse basketball game my sophomore year when we upset them in overtime at the Wells Fargo Center. I was with some of my best friends Ricky, George, Adam, Brandon, and Chris that day and had a great opportunity to go to a car show, see Reading Terminal market, and explore the city of Philadelphia after. Juice the Cuse!

While working on my research project, I was challenged by having to explore a topic so foreign to anything I had ever known. It forced me to step outside of my comfort zone, learn quickly, and seek out experts in my field of research who could offer advice when I needed help.

Today I’m feeling the color Yellow. I can’t wait for summer!

I’m listening to the Grateful Dead. Their music is relaxing and has a special peace about it and always reminds me of my Dad and my home.

One Summer Adventure I’m daydreaming about is adventuring around my birthplace and home of San Francisco with my Dad. I can’t wait to get back to the city by the bay.

Happiness is the feeling of what it’s like to have a wonderful family, close friends, and good health.

Everyone should know that everything you want in life is just outside your comfort zone or else you would already have it.

I am amazed by the inherent beauty and complexity of life on Earth. It’s easy to forget just how many great things there are to see in this world and how little time we have to do it!

Thanks, Joseph!