Mentoring

My commitment to mentoring is grounded in my experiences as the first in my family to pursue an engineering degree and earn a PhD. 

The lack of representation in engineering, particularly in aerospace, often results from a "feedback loop", as talented people from less-represented backgrounds may lack the guidance and network to be as successful as their equally qualified peers. I am committed to changing this by promoting the success of all worthy students, regardless of their background and level of representation. 

As a result of my commitment to mentoring, I have collected various resources for aerospace engineering students, including scholarships, fellowships, awards, and other opportunities. If you find any of these resources useful, please consider sharing them with someone else.

Fellowships

Fellowships support tuition and a stipend for at least one academic year of study. Some come with extra benefits, such as summer internships and mentor matching. 

• DOD SMART Scholarship-for-Service Program

  • Benefits: full support for a requested number of years of graduate study, summer internships, and post-graduation employment 

  • Note: citizenship restrictions; requires working for the sponsoring DoD facility for as many years as the support received

Undergraduate Awards

These programs provide a lump-sum award to support undergraduate studies. Some are also applicable to graduate students.

• AIAA Foundation Scholarships

  • Benefits: lump-sum award up to $10,000

  • Note: AIAA membership; most opportunities have no citizenship restrictions but require students to be based in the U.S.

• Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar Program

  • Benefits: lump-sum award up to $5,000

  • Note: for students of Hispanic heritage

• Vertical Flight Foundation Scholarships

  • Benefits: lump-sum award up to $6,000

  • Note: for students interested in vertical lift; no citizenship restrictions

Professional Development Programs

• AIAA Rising Stars in Aerospace Program

  • Benefits: full support to attend an AIAA Forum or event and networking opportunities

  • Note: no citizenship restrictions, but requires students to be based in the U.S.

• GT President's Undergraduate Research Awards - Salary

  • Benefits: $1,500 award to be disbursed as an hourly pay for undergraduate research 

  • Note: limited to GT undergraduate students conducting research with a GT faculty advisor; one award per academic year

• GT President's Undergraduate Research Awards - Travel

  • Benefits: up to $1,000 award applied to conference travel expenses

  • Note: limited to GT undergraduate students presenting research conducted with a GT faculty advisor; one award per academic year

• SIAM Conference Travel and Registration Support

  • Benefits: partial support to attend a SIAM conference

  • Note: SIAM membership; no citizenship restrictions

Graduate School Application Process

• Best practices for emailing a potential graduate school advisor

• Virtual workshop about applying for and choosing Ph.D. programs

• Best practices for reading scientific papers (e.g., of potential advisors)

Graduate School Life

• Book on navigating the transition to graduate school

• Book on improving scholarly writing practice

Graduate Fellowships 

Fellowships support tuition and a stipend for at least one academic year of study. Some come with extra benefits, such as summer internships and mentor matching.  

• DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship

  • Examples of successful applications

  • Benefits: full support for four years of graduate study and practicum experience at a DOE laboratory

  • Note: U.S. person status; can apply as a UG senior or 1st year graduate student; research must have a strong computational focus aligned with the DOE ASCR program

• DOD National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program

  • Advice on applying to NDSEG vs. GRFP

  • Walk through an NDSEG application

  • Benefits: full support for three years of graduate study, funding for conference travel, and matching with a DoD mentor

  • Note: U.S. person status; can apply as a UG senior or 1st/2nd year graduate student; research must have a focus on DoD priorities as outlined in an agency BAA

• DOD SMART Scholarship-for-Service Program

  • Benefits: full support for a requested number of years of graduate study, summer internships, and post-graduation employment 

  • Note: citizenship restrictions; requires working for the sponsoring DoD facility for as many years as the support received

• GEM Fellowship Program

  • Benefits: partial support for graduate studies and summer internships 

  • Note: U.S. person status; limited to students at participating universities

• GT Stamps Fellowship

  • Benefits: full support for one year of graduate study with continued support through a faculty advisor and professional development activities 

  • Note: U.S. person status; limited to GT PhD applicants 

• Hertz Foundation Fellowship

  • Benefits: compensation package of up to  $250,000 for up to five years to support graduate studies

  • Note: U.S. person status; can apply as a UG senior or 1st year graduate student 

• NASA NSTGRO Program

  • Benefits: full support for multiple years of graduate study and NASA internships

  • Note: U.S. person status; can apply as a UG senior or within the first three years of a graduate degree 

• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

  • Website with GRFP advice

  • Examples of successful essays

  • Benefits: full support for three years of graduate study (over five years)

  • Note: U.S. person status; can apply as a UG senior or 1st year graduate student; research proposal is not binding

  • Caution: the GRFP solicitation was recently updated regarding the eligibility criteria, so some of the guidance provided on the linked website may be obsolete

• NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship Program

  • Benefits: full support for one year of graduate study (renewable)

  • Note: must have completed one year of PhD studies; research proposal must align with specific focus areas relevant to NVIDIA

• PD Soros Fellowship

  • Benefits: full support for one to two years of graduate study

  • Note: U.S. person status and must be a new American; can apply as a UG senior or 1st/2nd year graduate student

• Quad Fellowship

  • Benefits: full support for graduate study (specific details for this year's competition not yet available)

  • Note: eligibility limited to citizens of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States

• Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Grant

  • Benefits: full support for graduate study or postdoctoral research 

  • Note: eligibility limited to women of developing countries

Graduate Awards 

While some of these programs are referred to as "fellowships", they do not provide full support for tuition, stipend, and fees but are rather a lump-sum award.   

• AIAA Foundation Fellowships

  • Benefits: lump-sum award up to $10,000 

  • Note: AIAA membership; most opportunities have no citizenship restrictions but require students to be based in the U.S.

• Amelia Earhart Fellowship Program

  • Benefits: lump-sum award of $10,000 (one-time award)

  • Note: for women pursuing PhD degrees in fields related to aerospace engineering

• American Association of University Women Fellowships

  • Benefits: lump-sum awards of different amounts 

  • Note: for women pursuing graduate degrees

• Atlanta ARCS Scholars Award

  • Benefits: lump-sum award of $10,000 (renewable)

  • Note: for PhD students at an Atlanta-based academic institution

• GT President's Fellowship

  • Benefits: lump-sum award of $5,500 (renewable for four years)

  • Note: U.S. person status; limited to GT PhD applicants 

• Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar Program

  • Benefits: lump-sum award up to $5,000

  • Note: for students of Hispanic heritage

• Vertical Flight Foundation Scholarships

  • Benefits: lump-sum award up to $6,000

  • Note: for students interested in vertical lift; no citizenship restrictions

Professional Development Programs

• SIAM Conference Travel and Registration Support

  • Benefits: partial support to attend a SIAM conference

  • Note: SIAM membership; no citizenship restrictions

Postdoc Application Process

• Best practices for emailing a potential postdoc advisor

Postdoctoral Fellowships

Fellowships provide support for salary and fees for at least one year of postdoctoral research. Some of these opportunities come with extra benefits, such as funding for professional development (e.g., attending conferences) and mentor matching.

• Air Force Science and Technology Fellowship Program

• American Association of University Women Fellowships

• GT AE Postdoc Fellowship Program

• NSF Postdoctoral Fellowships

• Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Grant

General

• AFRL Scholars Program

• Army Educational Outreach Program

• DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program

• NASA Internship Programs

• Sandia Nonlinear Mechanics and Dynamics Research Institute

• Sandia Research and Applications of Mechanics of Structures

For Undergraduate Students 

• GT Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering

• Stanford Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships

For Undergraduate and Early-Stage Graduate Students 

• Los Alamos Dynamics Summer School

For Graduate Students

• SIAM Graduate Student Mathematical Modeling Camp 

Faculty Application Process

• Virtual workshop about applying for and transitioning to faculty positions

• Best practices for applying for faculty positions in the U.S. and Canada 

• Book about applying for faculty positions in STEM

• My Twitter thread on resources to apply for faculty positions

Future Faculty Workshops for Rising and Early-Stage Graduate Students

• NextProf Workshops (Pathfinder)

Future Faculty Workshops for Senior Graduate Students and Postdocs

• Black Trailblazers in Engineering

• Building Future Faculty Program

• Collection of Future Faculty Workshops

• Future Faculty In Engineering Workshop

• GT Future Faculty Workshops

• New England Future Faculty Workshop

• NextProf Workshops (Engineering and Nexus)

• Future Leaders in Aerospace (previously Women in Aerospace Symposium)

• Rising Stars in Computational and Data Sciences

• Rising Stars in Mechanical Engineering

• U-M Preparing Future Faculty

• Young Investigator Lecture Series 

The Awesomest 7-year Postdoc

Radhika Nagpal—Professor of Computer Science at Harvard—shares how she survived the tenure-track experience by considering it a "seven-year postdoc." A must-read for anybody considering an academic career, especially if a member of an underrepresented group.

How to Use Your V.O.I.C.E to Accomplish Your Goals 

A TED talk by U-M Aerospace alumna Sydney Hamilton (@SeeSydSoar) about her approach to pursuing opportunities without fear of failure. 

Who Gets to Innovate?

A TED talk by Prof. Christopher Hernandez about seeking to innovate in STEM. 

Expectations of Brilliance Underlie Gender Distributions across Academic Disciplines  

This article presents the theory that women are underrepresented in fields where scholars believe brilliance is necessary for success because women are stereotyped as not having this quality. The paper recommends highlighting the importance of sustained effort over innate talent to counter this problem.