[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Lucas_Mike2.jpg” caption=”Mike Lukas has his sight set on a future in mathematics. Photo credit: Chantall Van Raay”]Mike Lukas, a second-year mathematics and statistics student at McMaster, is off to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology this fall thanks to a Killam Fellowship Award. The $10,000 US award provides exceptional students from select universities in Canada and the US the opportunity to attend university in the other country for one semester or one year of their undergraduate career.

Lukas will continue to study mathematics at MIT. Although he is not sure where his future career path will take him, his short-term goal is to pursue a master's of mathematics.

“I am very grateful to the Killam Fellowship for giving me this generous award and allowing me to attend MIT,” he says. “As I can see, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and when I reflect back on my university days later in life, I think this will be one of the highlights of my education.”

The Killam Fellowships Program is a five-year pilot program, designed to encourage exceptional undergraduate students in Canada and the United States by providing a unique opportunity for formal student exchange. This program is supported by the American Killam Trusts and is a major initiative in their multifaceted efforts to foster mutual understanding between the citizens of both counties.