UI Honors Student Wins National Phi Eta Sigma Scholarship

MOSCOW, Idaho - University of Idaho student Shingis Madakhmetov will receive a Phi Eta Sigma Scholarship next year to support his undergraduate studies. Madakhmetov is one of 31 students selected to receive the honor society's most competitive award for undergraduates.
“Receiving national recognition that is based on academics, community work and social activities is indeed a big honor for me,” he said. “I am not only happy for myself, but also for the entire university since I represented the UI.”
A sophomore from Kazakhstan, Madakhmetov is a member of the University Honors Program. He is pursuing majors in electrical engineering and economics, and is currently a research intern for the National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology. He also completed a research internship for the UI's Microelectronics Research and Communications Institute. This year, Madakhmetov served as president of UI's Phi Eta Sigma chapter. He is president of the Muslim Student Association.
He joins Cami Johnson of Idaho Falls, a UI senior in biological systems engineering, who studied with the support of a Phi Eta Sigma scholarship this year. Madakhmetov and Johnson are among 19 UI students who have received national Phi Eta Sigma awards for undergraduate and graduate study during the past 18 years.
Phi Eta Sigma's goal is to encourage and reward academic excellence among freshmen in institutions of higher learning. The society's most selective undergraduate scholarships provide students with $3,000 a year to help defray expenses for full-time study.
"The success of our students in a national competition such as this testifies to the students' academic and leadership strengths, and to the mentorship of faculty and staff at the UI,” said Stephan Flores, director of the UI Honors Program and Phi Eta Sigma faculty adviser.