Pravin Maharjan, a graduate student in computer networking, is the sixth recipient of the Maha "Maggie" Sawan Fellowship for Graduate Students at Wichita State University. The award is to be made for the 2014 spring and fall semesters.

The Sawan Fellowship awards $6,400 for an academic year and is to be divided evenly between the spring and fall 2014 semesters, said Armin Gerhard, executive director of International Education at WSU.

Pravin Maharjan is from Nepal. He will graduate from Wichita State University for the second time in December 2014. He earned his undergraduate degree at WSU in computer engineering.

For his senior project he was the team leader in developing a wheelchair obstacle avoidance system in collaboration with the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation.

Maharjan chose to attend Wichita State because he didn’t want to go to a large city on the coast. It was a student advising center in Kathmandu that recommended WSU as an outstanding university in the middle of the United States.

The Maha "Maggie" Sawan Fellowship for Graduate Students was established by Edwin Sawan, professor emeritus in electrical engineering and computer science at Wichita State University. It is established in memory of his late wife, Maha "Maggie" Sawan, who died in 2010, and honors her lifelong dedication to education and service to family and community.