Four soon-to-be graduates join the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s competitive Graduate Research Fellowship Program—the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind—for exceptional students pursuing full-time research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in STEM. 

Selected Fellows are anticipated to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering and are supported by a stipend, cost of education allowance, as well as access to opportunities for professional development available to NSF-supported graduate students.

NSF Graduate Research Fellows:

• John Lathrop (aerospace engineering)
• Jesse Matthews (chemical & biomolecular engineering)
• Marisa Patsy (bioengineering)
• Mihailo Rancic (electrical & computer engineering)

Two startups launched by undergraduate engineering students received a boost at the 2021 Pitch Dingman competition. Camilo Melnyk ’21, an aerospace engineering major, and Spencer Yaculak ’23, a mechanical engineering major, won a grand prize of $30,000 for their company, Blimp Logistics, to develop a drone delivery system alleviating issues of last-mile delivery services in suburban and rural areas. 

Uzair Chaudhary ’23, a bioengineering major, and Sanketh Andhavarapu ’23, a neuroeconomics/individual studies and biological sciences major, won second prize at both the Pitch Dingman competition and the 2021 Do Good Challenge to advance their nonprofit STEPS, which connects student volunteers with K–12 families seeking personalized, long-term, and affordable tutoring and college advising services.

Elizabeth Childs, a graduating mechanical engineering student, is going to Stanford University supported by a Knight-Hennessy Scholarship. She is one of 76 students selected from an applicant pool of more than 8,000 for the 2021 cohort of the prestigious program that exposes scholars to a wide range of disciplines and cultures and helps them develop transformational leadership capabilities. 

As a Knight-Hennessy Scholar, Childs plans to enhance education via augmented reality and haptics technologies. At Maryland, she took a course in bioinspired robotics, which helped shape her long-term research interests. She also developed modular robots for explosive ordnance disposal for Cambodia, co-taught 3D printing to pre-professionals in Cambodia, and co-led science demonstrations in indigenous Ecuadorian schools.

Benjamin Adarkwa ’22 received one of six Galactic Unite Black Leaders in Aerospace Scholarship and Training (BLAST) scholarships awarded by the Virgin Galactic. The program provides students with mentoring, paid summer internships, certified leadership and skills training, job placement opportunities upon graduation, and scholarship funding to support the next generation of Black leaders who will power the rapidly developing aerospace industry and help solve global challenges in the years to come.

During his time at Maryland, Adarkwa has participated in the Balloon Payload Program; he ultimately aims to go into the aerospace industry, and hopes the BLAST scholarship will be an opportunity to “to make meaningful connections during the internship and learn a lot about the industry.”

By the numbers

• 4,246 undergraduate students enrolled 
• 25.9% female
• 15% underrepresented 
• ~1,100 bachelor’s degrees awarded during 2020–21 academic year
• 218 tenured and tenure-track faculty
• 17 faculty National Academy of Engineering members 
• 8 faculty National Academy of Inventors members 

The 2020–21 academic year was a game changer for innovating both curriculum and culture. Clark School faculty and staff worked overtime to deliver a high-quality online/hybrid education that matches the rigor and care of in-person instruction, and to foster a diverse, inclusive environment that connects, supports, and guides all students—regardless of what they look like or where they come from—through their education and careers.

Classrooms of the future

Advancing engineering education with innovative solutions

“Heart” work

Redefining the college experience for Black, Latinx and American Indian students

Bridging the divide

Inviting men into the conversation about sexism