Gabe Cutter researches sensors and plays his trumpet as he charts a path to graduate school

When Gabe Cutter was trying to decide where he would go to college, he had some choices. He picked Clemson University because he could get the in-state tuition, play in the marching band and chart a course for graduate school.

He is well on his way.

Gabe, now a junior with a double major in computer engineering and economics, has distinguished himself as a standout student in and out of the lab.

Even before freshman year started, Gabe began conducting research under Dr. Pingshan Wang through the Eureka! program. It has turned into a multi-year project. The team is developing high-frequency sensors that electrically measure individual cells.

Gabe’s early start and hard work are paying off. He received the highly competitive Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship in 2021, and he became a published researcher in March.

Gabe and Dr. Wang joined three other Clemson researchers in co-authoring “A Systematic Method to Explore Radio-Frequency Non-Thermal Effect on the Growth of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae.” The article ran in the IEEE Journal of Electromagnetics, RF and Microwaves in Medicine and Biology.

Gabe has also had an impact on student finances. He helped advocate for a tuition freeze, and he is serving a year as student body treasurer. Among his duties was whittling $3.1-million in requests from student organizations to $1.7 million in funding.

“We had to make some tough calls,” Gabe said. “But I think that we were able to come up with the most equitable process the university has ever seen.”

Gabe has also made time to play trumpet in the Tiger Band, giving him a creative outlet outside the lab and classroom.

He is on track to graduate in May 2023 and is weighing whether he will want to focus on classical or quantum hardware when he is in graduate school. Gabe will have a chance to learn more this summer as an intern for MIT Lincoln Laboratory.