NASA has selected the 2012 class of Space Technology Research Fellows, and four out of the 48 students named are from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Congratulations to Keir Gonyea, Amit Mandalia and Grant Rossman from Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering and Peter Song from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The students will receive graduate student fellowships from NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist to pursue master’s or doctoral degrees in relevant space technology disciplines at their respective institutions.

“As the premiere graduate student opportunity offered by NASA, the Space Technology Research Fellowship program focuses some of our nation's best young minds on cutting-edge technology challenges of relevance to NASA’s future science and exploration missions,” said Bobby Braun, the David and Andrew Lewis Professor of Space Technology at Georgia Tech.

The program is highly selective and makes awards comparable in value and prestige to a NSF Fellowship. NASA Space Technology Fellows will perform innovative research while building the skills necessary to become future technological leaders. 

The fellowship program is part of a renewed emphasis on technology at NASA, designed to inspire the nation and contribute to an innovation-driven economy. 


"By investing in the intellectual capacity of America's best and brightest minds today, we're guaranteeing not only a great future for NASA, but also for the nation," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "These NASA Fellows will bolster America's competitiveness in a knowledge-based, global economy while enabling our space exploration goals."