Out of more than 53,000 Georgia Tech students, 38 have been named to the 2025 Class of the Millennium Fellowship, a prestigious global leadership program organized by the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and the Millennium Campus Network (MCN). Among this distinguished group are three students from the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE), who shared what they’re most excited to work on during the Fellowship, how their ISyE experience has shaped their path, and their advice for future applicants.

Shalin Bhatia - Uniquely positioned to apply knowledge and skills to make a difference in people’s lives 

Within the Millennium Fellowship is there any U.N. Sustainable Goals you are targeting? Are there any specific outcomes you hope to achieve in this experience? Within the Millennium Fellowship, I am targeting Goal 9 (Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation) and Goal 16 (Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies). Through this experience, I aim to alleviate socioeconomic disparities in my community and promote fairer systems in society.

As a Stamps President’s Scholar and Industrial Engineering student, how do the mentorship and analytical training you’ve received so far at Georgia Tech shape the way you diagnose problems and design solutions? The mentorship and analytical training I’ve received so far at Georgia Tech have made me much more technical and curious in the way I approach problems. Rather than analyzing the nature of the problem, I aim to understand the root of the problem and design quantitative solutions to truly alleviate the problem.

For students considering the Millennium Fellowship next year, what advice could you share? As Georgia Tech students, we are uniquely positioned to apply our knowledge and skills to make a difference in people’s lives. To create a better future for ourselves and others, I’d suggest we do just that and turn opportunity into action.

What do you think defines a strong, SDG-aligned project? I think that a strong, SDG-aligned project encompasses a genuine interest and motive in being involved in the surrounding community. It doesn’t have to be the most advanced, technical, or complex; it just needs a good purpose.

Priyanka Joseph - Advancing Gender Equity in Industrial Engineering 

Are there any challenges that your Millennium Fellowship looks to aid and/or is there a particular UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) you are targeting? My Millennium Fellowship project is focused on addressing gender inequity in Industrial Engineering. Girls in IE is a student-led organization I am building, inspired by my experience as the only female engineer and first woman of color co-op on my team at L’Oréal. The organization will provide industry-specific mentorship opportunities, structured recruiting pipelines with leading companies, and resume support through workshops and feedback. It will also give students hands-on project experience to strengthen their skills and host panels with female industrial engineers to encourage networking and visibility. By combining mentorship, career preparation, and community, Girls in IE directly advances SDG 5: Gender Equality by ensuring that women in Industrial Engineering are equipped to succeed, supported by a network, and empowered to lead. 

You study Industrial & Systems Engineering with a strong interest in management and sustainability. Do you think you will be able to combine any or all those threads in your work for this Fellowship? My interest in management and operations shapes how I approach Girls in IE, since building an organization requires designing structures that are both effective and scalable. I envision future opportunities to partner with industry leaders who are prioritizing sustainability in their supply chains and operations. 

You are working as an Industrial Engineering co-op in L’Oreal’s Professional Products Division under the Continuous Improvement Department. What has that experience taught you that you can bring to your Fellowship work? Working as an Industrial Engineering co-op in L’Oréal’s Continuous Improvement Department taught me the importance of building structures that create lasting impact. Projects such as improving warehouse process flows and leading time studies require me to listen to people on the ground, understand their challenges, and design solutions that make their work easier and more effective. These same lessons connect directly to my Fellowship project, where creating mentorship and support networks for women in Industrial Engineering also depends on listening first, identifying barriers, and then building sustainable systems of support.

What leadership skills are you most focused on developing through this fellowship—and why? Through the Millennium Fellowship, I want to strengthen my ability to scale an organization, mentor others, and lead with influence. As the founder of Girls in IE, that means learning how to recruit and empower members, build a strong leadership pipeline, and sustain partnerships with industry and faculty. These skills are essential if I want Girls in IE to grow into a lasting community that creates real opportunities for women in Industrial Engineering.

Shivani Murugapiran - Do you remember when we ran out of eggs?

Are there any challenges you look like to take on during this experience, particularly those that align with the UN SDGs? Do you remember when we ran out of eggs? And everyone all over the country was running around trying to find eggs. And the skincare brand, The Ordinary, ironically started selling eggs in a fridge in their New York stores. And then we had eggs, overflowing eggs. I threw out some eggs once and felt really bad about it. That’s what keeps me up at night. Before you think I’m out of my mind, let me tell you that it’s because I’m incredibly passionate about behavioral economics. I’m obsessed with socioeconomic equality and building financial resilience. At both local and global levels, I believe that education and financial literacy can bridge societal barriers and reduce vulnerability to shocks (like the Great Egg Crisis of ’25), building a more robust society. During this Fellowship, I’d like to take on the challenge of designing solutions that don’t just respond to crises but actually prepare communities to withstand them. For me, this ties directly into the UN SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). We live in an era of economic uncertainty, and I hope to equip people with the tools to not only survive but THRIVE in a new world order. 

Which Industrial & Systems Engineering tools such as data analytics, simulation, network flows, etc., do you think you can apply to the Fellowship and the project? During the Fellowship, I plan to draw heavily on data analytics to parse large-scale social and economic datasets and uncover meaningful trends. I will also use simulation modeling to test interventions under uncertainty. My coursework has prepared me well for this. CS 2316 (Data Input & Manipulation) and ISyE 4031 (Regression & Forecasting) gave me a strong foundation in Python, R, and SQL, equipping me to not only organize and analyze data effectively but also translate those insights into actionable strategies.

You’ve engaged with policy and international affairs programming at Georgia Tech. How has that experience influenced the way you approach partnerships and governance, and do you think those experiences will have an impact on this Fellowship? My time in Brussels shaped how I think about partnerships and governance. I remember being in a policy briefing when the speaker paused to announce that the EU’s AI Act had just passed in the very building we were sitting in. It made governance feel immediate, knowing that decisions ripple outward and change the conversation in real time. My involvement with Model NATO reinforced this, showing me that effective partnerships start with listening. More specifically, they require cross-cultural literacy and the awareness that different societies and institutions may be further along on certain challenges. Approaching those differences with openness rather than condescension is key. This perspective will guide my Fellowship work by helping me build trust, align diverse stakeholders, and design solutions that are both technically rigorous and contextually relevant.

For students who want to apply for this Fellowship next year, what advice would you give them?  Think deeply about what keeps you up at night. The impossible, the mundane, everything in between. The United Nations SDGs are broad, all-encompassing, and often daunting to discern. Start with something you’ve experienced and felt, translate it into a focused problem statement, and see who else it affects. Stop thinking, for a moment, about your resume or your list of projects in the backlog that you’ve always wanted to do. Think about who you are, what you care about, and where you want to leave a mark in your community. Find a problem, resonate with it, and home in on its implications. Stress test this by finding a professor or mentor who knows you and tell them about your thought process and ideas. 

You can view the complete list of 2025 MillenniumFellows here.