M.S. student
Matheus Kunzler Maldaner, a second-year master’s student in the Artificial Intelligence Systems program, was among the 15-plus Gator engineering students and alumni who won a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in 2026.
He is working under Damon Woodard, Ph.D., at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering’s — or ECE — Florida Institute for National Security, where he is conducting research on neurosymbolic AI and agent systems.
He is honored by the prestigious fellowship. And also a bit pragmatic.
“I believe the NSF GRFP will give me a certain degree of freedom, as I will be able to apply to universities without needing to worry about funding for the first three years of a program, which I have heard is often the hardest part,” Maldaner said. He anticipates graduating at the end of the fall semester.
Maldaner has also held research positions at Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University, and he was inducted into the UF Hall of Fame in 2025. In July 2025, he attended the Heidelberg Laureate Forum, where he networked with about 200 other students and met Vint Cerf — considered the “father of the internet” — among other scientific luminaries.
The Graduate Research Fellowship Program, or GRFP, provides a three-year annual stipend. GRFP began in 1952 and is the country’s oldest fellowship program that directly supports graduate students in various STEM fields. Recipients of the competitive fellowship will be crucial to maintaining the country’s technological infrastructure and national security, as well as contributing to the economic well-being of society at large.