Tim Woodbury, a graduate student working on his master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been awarded a fellowship from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. This program (GRFP) recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions. As the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the GRFP has a long history of selecting recipients who achieve high levels of success in their future academic and professional careers.
With only 12 aerospace engineering students nationally being selected each year, these awardees share in the prestige and opportunities that become available when they are chosen. Fellows benefit from a three-year annual stipend of $32,000 along with a $12,000 cost of education allowance for tuition and fees (paid to the institution), opportunities for international research and professional development, and the freedom to conduct their own research at any accredited U.S. institution of graduate education they choose. Tim’s field of research is Autonomous Systems and Robotics under the guidance of Dr. John Valasek, Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University and Director of the Center for Autonomous Vehicles and Sensor Systems (CANVASS).
NSF Fellows are anticipated to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering. These individuals are crucial to maintaining and advancing the nation's technological infrastructure and national security as well as contributing to the economic well-being of society at large. In the past 10 years, the Department of Aerospace Engineering has had six students awarded NSF fellowships.