ANNOUNCING THE ASPIRING SPACE INDUSTRY LEADERS SELECTED FOR THE 2024 CLASS OF THE MATTHEW ISAKOWITZ FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Thirty-One Undergraduate and Graduate Students Chosen for Highly Selective Fellowship Program that Connects Exceptional Individuals with Internships, Mentors, and an Incredible Network in the Commercial Spaceflight Sector
The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program—a summer internship and executive mentorship program inspiring the next generation of commercial spaceflight leaders—announced today the 31 individuals selected for its 2024 class. Now in its seventh year and totaling 200 current and alumni Fellows, the highly selective program awards exceptional college juniors, seniors, and graduate students pursuing aerospace careers with paid internships at cutting-edge commercial space companies. Fellows also receive one-on-one mentorship from accomplished members of the space community, including astronauts, engineers, entrepreneurs, executives, investors, and others. Additionally, the program features a memorable summit during which the Fellows learn about space start-ups, network with top industry leaders, and develop entrepreneurial skills.
For the 2024 class, the program received a tremendous response, with applications from approximately 250 students from 90 colleges. Applicants were rigorously screened for academic excellence, relevant experience, and, most importantly, a demonstrated passion for innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercial space. The enthusiasm about the Fellowship comes at an exciting time in commercial space, as an unprecedented number of new companies are transforming the space program. This past year saw new rockets achieving orbit, astronauts being flown in new private vehicles, small spacecrafts launched in record numbers, and major increases in private investments. This has created a large increase in students inspired by these new opportunities to demonstrate novel technologies, protect the environment, connect the world, and explore the planets.
See below for the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program’s Class of 2024, including each Fellow’s current school and Summer 2024 host company. (Schools where they previously earned degrees are indicated in parentheses). A full bio for each Fellow and more information is available online.
Iker Aguirre, University of Michigan — SpaceX
Urvi Alamela, University of Texas at Austin — Ursa Major
Katherine Anderson, Georgia Institute of Technology — Starfish Space
Christopher Arauzo, University of California, Irvine — ABL Space Systems
Nikki Bernuy Herquinigo, Colorado School of Mines — Gravitics
Shreya Chandra, University of California, Davis — Mandala Space Ventures
Jason Chen, University of Michigan — SpaceX
Michael Chhay, Stanford University — AstroForge
Ruth Davis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Howard University) — Aerospace Corporation
Toshihiro Davis, University of Utah —Astrolab
Henry Demarest, Yale University — Relativity Space
Eileen Duong, Boston University — Gravitics
Nathan Evans, Harvard University — Relativity Space
Abigail Harrison, Queen’s University (Wellesley College) — Voyager Space
Ryann Hee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (CSU Sacramento) — Voyager Space
Saima Jamal, University of Michigan — Rocket Lab
Connor Johnson, Georgia Institute of Technology — Firefly Aerospace
Ben Kim, Princeton University — Vast Space
Isabel Kim, Princeton University — Sierra Space
Daniel Marella, Brown University — Lynk
Sabrina Mayor, Georgia Institute of Technology — Blue Origin
Marisa Miller, University of Southern California (University of Portland) — Millennium Space Systems
Oren Minsk, University of Pennsylvania — Mandala Space Ventures
Nico Moldovean, Tufts University — Redwire
Julianne Owen, University of Florida — SpaceX
Vraj Patel, Princeton University — Redwire
Isabelle Peloso, University of California, Berkeley — SpaceX
Jacob Rodriguez, Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Astrolab
James Shin, Georgia Institute of Technology — SpaceX
Lawton Skaling, Stanford University — Astranis
Keven Yeh, Georgia Institute of Technology (United States Naval Academy) — Lynk
At the end of the summer, the Fellows will remain among a group of alumni who can continue to network with this program and their mentors, on the path to becoming future space industry icons. The previous six classes of Matthew Isakowitz Fellows are continuing to excel in their academic and professional careers, with many taking on volunteer roles to contribute to the continued success of the Fellowship program. The list of Alumni Fellows is available online.
The program has also added a number of new participants to its lists of host companies and executive mentors for Summer 2024. The new host companies include AstroForge, Mandala Space Ventures, Starfish Space, and Voyager Space. The new executive mentors include Sirisha Bandla (Vice President of Government Affairs and Business Development, Virgin Galactic), Bhavya Lal (Former NASA Associate Administrator for Technology, Policy, and Strategy), and Whitney Lohmeyer (Chief Technologist, Federal Communications Commission, Space Bureau). The full lists of companies and mentors are available online. The full lists of companies and mentors are available online.
The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program thanks its alumni Fellows, donors, host companies, mentors, volunteers, and partners, including the Brooke Owens Fellowship Program, Commercial Spaceflight Federation, and Future Space Leaders.
ABOUT THE MATTHEW ISAKOWITZ FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization honoring the memory of an engineer, entrepreneur, and extraordinary individual whose passion for commercial space exploration led to great strides in the industry and inspired all who knew him. The Program seeks to instill that same enthusiasm into the next generation of commercial spaceflight leaders by providing impactful career training to those who embody Matthew's drive for exploring our universe to help better humankind. Ad Astra.
Learn more at matthewisakowitzfellowship.org and on social media (@mattfellowship).
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Media Inquiries: mifpteam@matthewfellowship.org