Story by Tim Christie
Photos by Todd Cooper
April 14, 2026
Armaan Hajarizadeh, a third-year computer science major and a member of the Clark Honors College, has been named a Goldwater Scholar.
The prestigious national award recognizes undergraduates conducting research in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics.
Hajarizadeh, who attended Sunset High School in Beaverton, said he knew from the time he was a child he wanted to be an engineer.
“I always liked tinkering with computers, and my parents hated me messing up their computers,” he said. “When I was 14, I started to learn to code, and I knew that was what I wanted to do long term. I enjoy coding and learning about new things happening in the field of computer science.”
The Goldwater board awarded 454 scholarships for the 2026-2027 academic year, from a pool of 1,485 applicants majoring in science, engineering, and mathematics. Recipients receive up to $7,500 annually to cover eligible expenses for tuition, fees, books, and room and board.
I couldn’t have done this without the incredible mentorship I’ve received during my time at the UO.
At the UO, Hajarizadeh has established an exceptional undergraduate research record, contributing to five major projects through his fall term junior year. Since his first term on campus, he has worked with progressive responsibilities in the labs of Marian Hettiaratchi and Bob Guldberg at the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. He also began working in the Distopia (Distributed Systems and Databases) Laboratory in the School of Computer and Data Sciences in the summer of 2025 with Professor Suyash Gupta.
“I couldn’t have done this without the incredible mentorship I’ve received during my time at the UO,” he said.
Guldberg, executive director of the Knight Campus, Hettiaratchi, associate professor of bioengineering at the Knight Campus, and Gupta, assistant professor of computer science, recommended Hajarizadeh for the Goldwater Scholarship.
“Anyone who meets Armaan quickly recognizes his genuine eagerness to learn and his strong desire to push himself through meaningful research experiences,” Guldberg wrote in a letter of recommendation. “Although still early in his scientific development, Armaan has already shown the ambition, enthusiasm, and perseverance that distinguish promising future researchers.”
Hajarizadeh is a Presidential Scholar and Stamps Scholarship semi-finalist. He earned a Leonard Miller Knight Campus Undergraduate Scholars Fellowship in support of his research and is fourth, fifth, and eighth author, respectively, on three published papers. He is the first author of a paper to be published in the IEEE Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Conference, based on his work with Professor Gupta. He has presented his research at the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Gordon Research Conference and the IEEE International Conference on Parallel Architectures and Compilation Techniques ACM Student Research Competition, where he took first place.
Hajarizadeh serves as research director for the UO Blockchain Group, vice president of research for the UO Quantitative Finance Group, and a computer science learning assistant.
After earning his bachelor’s degree, he plans to attend graduate school and eventually pursue a career in academia. His goal is to be a leading researcher at the intersection of machine learning and clinical care.
“I aspire to lead a multidisciplinary laboratory at a top research institute that develops computational tools for translating patient-specific biologic data into actionable medical insight, helping clinicians advance patient care,” he wrote in his application. “This goal has taken shape through my research experiences at the University of Oregon and my growing passion for mentorship.”
His research focuses on machine learning as well as medical imaging. In Gupta’s computer science lab, he works on federated machine learning, where multiple machines work collaboratively. In Guldberg’s lab on the Knight Campus, he has worked on machine learning algorithms to identify cartilage in 3-D images of the tibia to assist in research involving ACL injuries and osteoarthritis.
Hajarizadeh said he was “shocked” when he learned he received a Goldwater Scholarship. He had been repeatedly refreshing the website, and when he finally got the notification, he immediately called his parents to share the news.
“It was such a surreal event to see all my accomplishments finally be recognized on a national level,” he said.
Scholarships for UO Students
The Office of Distinguished Scholarships provides comprehensive advising and guidance to students and recent alumni who are interested in exploring and applying to highly competitive national and international scholarships and fellowships to support graduate study and career pathways.
A directory of distinguished scholarships and a list of UO distinguished scholarship recipients and finalists are available on the office’s website. Students and their mentors are encouraged to contact the office at dsinfo@uoregon.edu.