Draper Names Next Class of Draper Fellows

CAMBRIDGE, MA—This summer, 20 scholars hailing from a cross-section of 11 prominent United States universities will be welcomed to the Draper Fellow Program, which supports graduate study in engineering and the sciences at select universities. The Draper Fellowship provides a unique opportunity for students to benefit from not only immersion in their university’s academic research environment, but also from Draper’s facilities, collective knowledge and experience. With this latest round of Fellows, the program has selected more than 1,200 students to collaborate with universities to conduct research since it was founded in 1973.

The Draper Fellow Program supports exceptional graduate students pursuing advanced degrees in engineering and the sciences. Draper Fellow alumni are from both civilian and military backgrounds and excel worldwide in the technical, corporate, government, academic and entrepreneurship sectors.

In the 2018/9 academic year, Draper supported 64 Fellows at multiple universities in the Draper Fellow Program.

“One of the main goals of the Draper Fellow Program has been to engage one of the nation’s most important assets, its engineering and science graduate students,” said Sheila Hemami, Director of Strategic Technical Opportunities at Draper. “Given the caliber of our incoming class of Fellows, we are looking forward to their contributions across a broad range of problems and to working with them as they apply their skills in scientific inquiry and innovation.”

Draper Fellows work closely with Draper technical staff to develop state-of-the-art technologies in world-class laboratories, and their scholarly outputs often go beyond top-tier journal papers and conference presentations to include prototypes, testbeds and field implementations. Each Draper Fellow conducts research under the supervision of both a university faculty advisor and a Draper supervisor who is a member of Draper’s technical staff in an area of mutual interest.

The incoming class will focus on capabilities at Draper that include epidemiology, human organ system devices and microfluidics (in Biomedical Solutions); aerospace engineering, cubesat constellations and guidance, navigation and control (in Space Systems); renewable energy and radio frequency electronics (in Materials Engineering and Microfabrication); and technology in urban studies and planning (in Human-Centered Solutions).

Approximately 20 new Fellows are selected each academic year. Details about the program, including how to apply, are available here. Find a full listing with bios of the 2019 Draper Fellows here.