Vanessa Nilsen, a senior majoring in materials science and engineering, received a Hilldale Undergraduate Research Award to help support her ongoing work with Dane Morgan, the Harvey D. Spangler Professor in materials science and engineering. Nilsen, a longtime member of the UW-Madison Informatics Skunkworks, is developing machine learning algorithms for predicting important properties of amorphous metals—materials that have similar toughness as glasses and ceramics while also conducting electricity and maintaining interesting magnetic characteristics. The award provides $3,000 to the student research and $1,000 to their faculty advisor to offset research costs such as supplies or project-related travel.