Fourth-year CS Ph.D. student Maithilee Kunda has been awarded a 2010-11 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship, the company announced May 3.

Kunda, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics from MIT. Her research focuses on autism. Inspired by Temple Grandin's book Thinking in Pictures, she and a fellow student adapted Raven’s intelligence test as a context for understanding analogical representations of visuo-spatial knowledge.

"I want to continue to do research in cognitive science, in the area of visual thinking, especially as it is emerging as possibly a very important aspect of autism," Kunda said. "I also think studying visual thinking in the context of autism can give us insights into the nature of cognition and mind in general."

Kunda's Anita Borg Scholarship is worth $10,000 for the 2010-11 year. For a full list of 2010 scholarship winners, visit the Google Blog.