Resources

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

Throughout my career, I have experienced firsthand the "hidden curriculum" of higher education. Particularly at the graduate level, I found myself in scenarios where informal knowledge, expectations, and resources were often assumed but rarely made explicit. I have also observed talented and motivated individuals fall short of their full potential due to limited mentoring and or lack of awareness of available opportunities. 

As an educator and advisor, I am committed to promoting the success of all students by increasing transparency, providing mentorship, and helping students navigate the academic and professional landscape of aerospace engineering. This includes ensuring that students have access to information about scholarships, fellowships, awards, and professional development opportunities that can support their goals.

As part of this effort, I maintain a list of resources relevant to aerospace students. If you find these resources helpful, I encourage you to share them with others.

Fellowships

Fellowships support tuition and a stipend for at least one academic year of study. Some come with 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.

• Goldwater Scholarship

  • Benefits: award of up $7,500 per academic year for two (sophomores) or one (junior) years to cover academic and related expenses

  • Note: for sophomores or juniors

• 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

• Women in Aerospace Foundation Scholarships

  • Benefits: lump-sum award of $4,000

  • Note: U.S. person status, students who identify as women 

Professional Development Programs

• AFCS Premier College Intern Program

  • Benefits: paid summer internship with the possibility to convert to the Palace Aquire Program

  • Note: U.S. person status, internship must take place during the summer following the junior year

• AIAA Rising Stars in Aerospace Program

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

  • Note: no citizenship restrictions

• GT President's Undergraduate Research Awards - Salary

  • Benefits: $2,000 award to be disbursed as an hourly pay for undergraduate research 

  • Note: limited to undergraduate students at Georgia Tech conducting research with a 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 undergraduate students at Georgia Tech who are presenting research conducted with a 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 summer internships and mentor matching.  

• 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, UG seniors or 1st/2nd year graduate students, research must have a focus on priorities outlined in the BAA of a DoD agency

• 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, must work for the sponsoring facility for as many years as the support received

• 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, UG seniors or 1st year graduate students, research must have a strong computational focus aligned with the DOE ASCR program

• Draper Scholars Program

  • Benefits: full support for a requested number of years of graduate study

  • Note: citizenship restrictions

• 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 selected PhD applicants at Georgia Tech 

• 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, UG seniors or 1st year graduate students

• NASA NSTGRO Program

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

  • Note: U.S. person status, UG seniors 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, UG seniors or 1st year graduate students, 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.   

• 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 

  • 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 PhD applicants at Georgia Tech 

• 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

• AFCS Palace Acquire Program

  • Benefits: a three-year training program that provides funding for a one-year MS degree within the second year of the program

  • Note: U.S. person status, must be within two years of graduating with a BS 

• 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 salary support for at least one year of research. Some of these opportunities come with funding for professional development.

• 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

• Book about getting started as assistant professors

• 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

• Trailblazers Symposium

The Awesomest 7-year Postdoc

One of my favorite articles about the tenure-track experience.

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

A TED talk about pursuing opportunities without fear of failure. 

Who Gets to Innovate?

A TED talk about the impact of representation on innovation in STEM.