Apr 10: New Member Orientation, home of Jane Riddle, 5:30-7:30 pm

Apr 16: Visit at Georgetown University, 2-4 pm

Apr 23: Visit at George Washington University, 10-11:30 am

May 1: Eagle Award Celebration, 6:30-9:30 pm, Army and Navy Club in Washington, DC

May 31: Annual Membership Luncheon Meeting, 1-3 pm, home of Robyn Smith

Jun 7: Picnic/Barbeque, 4-7 pm, home of Patty Sparrell

Dear ARCS MWC Members,

We were pleased to host our Winter Membership Meeting at the Riverbend Club, where more than 70 members and guests gathered for an afternoon with Retired United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. Justice Kennedy spoke about his recent memoir, Life, Law and Liberty, offering personal reflections and stories behind the book. It was a true privilege to hear directly from Tony in such an intimate setting. The conversation was expertly guided by ARCS member Silvija Strikis, whose thoughtful moderation—shaped in part by her experience clerking for the late Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor—made for an engaging and memorable discussion.

Our annual university visits are also underway—always a highlight of the ARCS year. These visits give us the chance to see our scholars in their “native habitats” and gain a deeper appreciation for the work we support. So far, we’ve had wonderful visits at the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland with more to come. There is still time to sign up for upcoming visits to Georgetown University and The George Washington University—we hope many of you will join us.

We are also delighted to announce the selection of our 2026–27 Endowment Scholars. This year’s recipients are Alexander Frolov from the University of Maryland, whose work focuses on cybersecurity, and Samuel Allsup from Georgetown University, who is a biochemistry researcher. Please join us in congratulating these outstanding scholars.

We extend our sincere thanks to the Endowment Award Selection Committee for their time, care, and thoughtful deliberation throughout the selection process. This year’s committee included Leo Bloschock, Julian Francis, and Catherine Langreney, and was chaired by Tonie Contreras.

Looking ahead, we are excited for our biggest event of the year—the Eagle Award and Celebration—taking place on May 1 at the Army and Navy Club. This year, we are honored to recognize The Honorable Deborah Wince-Smith, Founder and CEO of the Council on Competitiveness and ARCS MWC member. The evening promises to be a special one, with several outstanding auction items including original artwork by ARCS MWC member Betsy Forster, tickets to a Red Sox game, and luxurious stays at The Greenbrier and The Inn at Little Washington, among others. We hope you will join us for what is sure to be a memorable celebration.

Thank you all for your continued engagement and support—March has been a wonderful reminder of the strength and vibrancy of our community.

~ Julie Hohl and Jane Riddle, ARCS MWC Co-Presidents

The Eagle Award Celebration, our big fundraising event of the year, is 22 days away! Join us on May 1 from 6:30-9:30 pm as we recognize The Honorable Deborah Wince Smith as this year’s Eagle Award recipient. Deborah is the Founder and CEO of Council on Competitiveness as well as an ARCS MWC member! Dr. Peter McDonnell, Director of the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore, 1981-82 ARCS MWC Scholar from Johns Hopkins and 2019 ARCS Alumni Hall of Fame recipient, will join Deborah on the program as the ARCS Scholar Alum speaker.

The event is at The Army and Navy Club in Washington, DC. The program will include a hosted cocktail hour, plated dinner, and remarks by ARCS Scholars, our ARCS Scholar Alum, and our Eagle Honoree. The evening will close with a fun auction featuring activities, vacation items, and original artwork, as well as a “Raise the Paddle” event.

Auction Item Preview!

Greenbrier Getaway

3-day/2-night* stay for two people at the luxurious Greenbrier

*Non-holiday weekend stay between 5/1/26 and 5/1/27

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

2 tickets + $1,500 Gift Certificate to attend a 2026 Boston Red Sox game at Fenway

Original Artwork

11” x 14” framed pastel by ARCS MWC Member and Professional Artist Betsy Forster

Other auction items include:

• A gift certificate to The Inn at Little Washington
• A vacation cottage rental in Marblehead, MA
• A TealNest Pottery Workshop for 8
• A small group tour of JHU Wilmer Eye Institute with its Director, ARCS MWC Alum Dr. Peter McDonnell

Are you interested in sponsoring the Eagle event or know of event sponsorship opportunities? Contact Patty Sparrell at mwcvpdevelopment@arcsfoundation.org.

Photos from a memorable Winter Membership Meeting on March 8 with Retired Associate Justice Anthony Kennnedy!

New members! ARCS MWC Membership is hosting a New Member Orientation on Fri, Apr 10 at the home of Jane Riddle from 5:30-7:30 pm. All who have joined in the past three years are invited!

During the orientation, we'll talk about the councils and committees and we we'll have representation from each, so that you can talk about what each group does and they can answer any questions you may have. Social time will be from 5:30-6 pm and the program will start at 6 pm. We will be providing light food and beverages as well. 

If you can attend or have questions, email Hilary Sparrell and Karen Magley at mwcmembership@arcsfoundation.org. We look forward to seeing you there!

There are two more opportunities to join in the University Visits for spring 2026! These are wonderful opportunities to hear about the breadth of research being performed by our scholars, as well as a show of support!

Click here to sign up and indicate your desire to carpool.

Apr 16: Visit at Georgetown University, 2-4 pm

Apr 23: Visit at George Washington University, 10-11:30 am

Georgetown University Visit

April 16, 2-4 pm

Introductions and Opening Remarks: 2:00 – 2:20 PM

Scholar Presentations and Q&A: 2:20 – 3:00 PM

Afternoon Tea Reception: 3:00 – 3:25 PM

Closing Remarks and Lab Tour: 3:25 – 4:00 PM

George Washington University Visit

April 23, 10-11:30 am

Agenda Coming in April!

March 18, 2026

l-r: Butch Brodie, Michelle Francis, Karen Finkbiner, Patty Sparrell, Majid Shafiee-Jood, Julie Hohl, Beth Opila, Scholars Lauren Bowling, Julia Davis, and Nicolas Arnaud, Phil Trella, and Steve Bowers.

March 25, 2026

Scholar Nikita Sivakumar 

Scholar Kathryn Kingsbury

April 1, 2026

l-r: Julie Hohl, Alison Flatau, Robyn Smith, Hilary Sparrell, Scholars Kieran Barvenik, Sasha Frolov, and Harikesh Kailad, Miriam Erickson, Helen Miller, Jane Riddle, and Lauri Rustand.

Mark your calendars for our last two events of the Year!

Darrian Mills – MWC Chapter Scholar

1st Year Scholar, PhD candidate, Physics

Georgetown University

Research: My research focuses on developing a flexible skin patch that uses microfabricated heaters for the creation of micropores in the skin, enabling painless and non-intrusive drug delivery directly into the body.

How Will Your Research Benefit Society?

The most conventional path for drug delivery is the oral route, which presents several issues. Most notably, drugs taken orally must pass through the gastrointestinal tract, which often prematurely metabolizes drugs, lowering bioavailability. Thus, many drugs delivered orally must be administered with a larger dosage in order to account for this metabolic drug deficit. As a result, oral drug delivery can have pulsatile release profiles, which can lead to adverse side effects in patients. 

Levodopa is an example of a drug that is rapidly metabolized and has a low bioavailability when administered orally. It is used in the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease, which is one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases in our society. Therefore, by administering Levodopa transdermally, Parkinson’s patients can potentially receive a better and more reliable alternative to current oral treatment options. In addition to enhancing drug therapy, the transdermal platform being developed has applications in the field of diagnostics. 

How will an ARCS Award Benefit Your Research?

All of the micro-fabrication needed for the research is done in the Georgetown University cleanroom, so an ARCS award would help to cover the user fees associated with utilizing the various machines in the cleanroom (typically $25-$50 per hour). Additionally, the ARCS award would aid in the procurement of human ex vivo skin models such those provided by Genoskin, Inc., in order to test the effectiveness of fabricated devices in a realistic manner that does not involve animal testing.

Career objectives: I would ideally like to pursue a career that allows me to leverage the cleanroom and microfabrication experience I have gained over the past few years. As of now, I am planning to apply to postdoctoral positions at government labs or industrial positions focused on materials science and engineering.

Isaac Bilsel – MWC Chapter Scholar

1st Year Scholar, PhD candidate, Electrical & Computer Engineering

George Washington University

Research: To accelerate graph neural network inference, my work analyzes communication bottlenecks arising from high-degree graph vertices and introduces a novel on-chip network to efficiently support their collective communication patterns.

How Will Your Research Benefit Society?

As machine learning models develop to process more and more data, traditional general-purpose hardware is failing to keep up, causing excess energy consumption with devastating environmental and economic impacts. Graph neural networks (GNNs) have shown transformative results for a variety of applications, such as molecular modeling, traffic forecasting, and social network analysis. However, these models have seen limited real-world implementation due to their energy and latency demands. The development of AI accelerators can reduce global energy consumption and allow for GNNs to be implemented on various smart devices to improve productivity.

How will an ARCS Award Benefit Your Research?

The ARCS award would be primarily used for attending conferences to gain insight into modern trends and interact with experts in computer architecture. These conferences are essential to gaining a sound understanding of the state of current research. Additionally, because this field is rapidly changing, conference papers are generally valued more than publications in journals or books.

Career objectives: In the future, I hope to work in a research and design-oriented role in ASIC hardware development. My aim is to develop low energy solutions for processing machine learning workloads in order to reduce the growing environmental impact of modern data-driven applications.

Community Service, Contributions to DEI, Volunteer Work:

Outside of my academic work, I have been a volunteer in The Outreach Program for Soccer (TOPSoccer) for over six years. I provide one-on-one coaching (in soccer or related outdoor activities) for children with special needs.

Submit articles, pictures, pdfs, and website links by the 25th of each month for publication the following month to Helen Miller at mwcnewsletter@arcsfoundation.org. 

ARCS^® and its logo are registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

ARCS MCC

P.O. Box 60868

10221 River Road

Potomac, MD 20859-0868