Congratulations to CSU San Macros senior and former SURF student Omar Apolinar, who has been selected for a 2019 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. After working for two year with Prof. Robert Iafe at CSUSM, Omar joined the Engle lab last summer as part of the NSF-sponsored SURF program at Scripps Research. Under the mentorship of Mingyu Liu, Omar studied directed catalytic alkene and alkyne functionalization, and his work on asymmetric carbofunctionalization of alkenes was published earlier this year (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2019, 58, 3923). Luckily for us, Omar will return to Scripps Research this fall to begin his Ph.D., and we are all looking forward to welcoming him back. Way to go, Omar! Click here for a link to a full list of awardees.