Fueling Opportunities

Dynamic partnerships between faculty, students, and Trinity’s research support teams drive the innovation and discovery that is putting the University on the research map: Trinity was recently designated a Research College and University in the 2025 Carnegie Classifications. Partnerships between faculty and foundations continue to flourish, thanks to the support of Catherine Kenyon, director of foundation relations, and Armando Saliba, senior director of research and sponsored programs.

“Trinity faculty are all so interesting and passionate,” Kenyon says. “I’ve never seen such dedicated faculty who balance their own groundbreaking research with a deep commitment to student mentorship.”

Tenure track faculty commit at least 25% of their academic year to research, frequently publishing alongside students and guiding them through each phase of the process. Just last year, more than one-third of students engaged in summer research were funded by grants and awards, underscoring the University’s commitment to making meaningful research experiences accessible for students in any major.

“Whether students are heading to grad school or jumping straight into the workforce, we want them to have research experiences that set them apart,” Saliba says. “I’d argue that many institutions don’t offer this level of opportunity,” especially to students as early as their first year.

For senior Austin Parcell ’25, this could not be more true.

“Within weeks of arriving on campus, the engineering faculty supported my friends and me in starting a rocket club,” Parcell recalls. “And over the past four years, we have designed and manufactured several iterations of a rocket motor, which is now coming to fruition as a senior design project.”

Parcell was one of only two students selected to receive a summer research stipend provided by the Hearst Foundation, enabling him to gain a thorough understanding of Trinity’s MakerSpace machinery and develop training manuals for his fellow students and faculty. These experiences not only deepened his technical expertise but also provided him with the skills and resources needed to build his own rockets.

Thanks to the collective investment of time from professors like Jack Leifer, Ph.D.; Darin George, Ph.D.; Farzan Aminian, Ph.D.; Eli Iglesias, Ph.D.; and Ryan Hodge, coupled with his Hearst Foundation stipend and a Mach Fellowship (which allowed him to purchase essential hardware), Parcell was able to gain invaluable hands-on research opportunities and take the next step in his academic career.

“I plan to accept a position at Purdue to pursue graduate studies in aerospace engineering, which I feel I was only able to obtain due to generous research funding and the close relationships I developed with Trinity’s faculty,” Parcell says.

Trinity’s culture of collaboration extends well beyond the lab, too.

State-of-the-art facilities and prestigious programs made possible through foundation funding further elevate Trinity’s synergetic research environment. The Beckman Scholars Program, for example, funds undergraduate researchers in chemistry and biological sciences, ensuring students receive financial support while working alongside faculty mentors on groundbreaking projects.

By continuing to secure critical external funding and engage students in faculty research, Trinity is not only advancing academic discovery but also shaping the next generation of scholars, innovators, and leaders.