NASA has selected the inaugural class of Space Technology Research Fellows, and seven out of the 81 students are from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Congratulations to Chris Coen from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Nicole Bauer,  Matthew Bopp, Cole Kazemba, Demyan Lantukh, Mihir Pathak and Zach Putnam from the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace 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.

This first class of Space Technology Fellows is part of NASA's strategy to develop the technological foundation for its future science and exploration missions. The program's goal is to provide the nation with a pipeline of highly skilled engineers and technologists to improve U.S. competitiveness.

"These fellowships will develop America's technology leaders for tomorrow, leaders that will help us out-innovate, out-educate and out-build our competitors and maintain our leadership in space," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "President Obama has said, 'America's competitiveness rests on the excellence of our citizens in technical fields.' These grants are an investment in America's intellectual capital and our nation's future."

NASA Space Technology Fellows will perform innovative space technology research while building the skills necessary to become future technological leaders. Selected candidates will perform graduate student research on their respective campuses and at NASA centers and nonprofit U.S. research and development laboratories.

The awards include a stiped that ranges between $30,000 and $36,000, a faculty advisor allowance, on-site R&D lab experience allowance, health insurance and tuition.