Applications Now Being Accepted for 2019 AIAA Foundation Scholarships and Graduate Awards Written 25 October 2018

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: John Blacksten
703.264.7532
johnb@aiaa.org

October 25, 2018 – Reston, Va. – The world’s largest technical and professional aerospace society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), invites undergraduate and graduate students to apply for AIAA Foundation scholarships and graduate awards. 

The AIAA Foundation will present 12 Undergraduate Scholarships and 9 Graduate Awards in 2019 and has awarded more than 1,300 scholarships and awards to undergraduate and graduate students over the past 20 years. The deadline to apply is January 31, 2019. 

“Scholarships can make all the difference for students to succeed in the challenging and rewarding field of aerospace,” said AIAA President John Langford. “A scholarship helps students focus on their research, studies and projects. What they discover may lead to new technological advances or become the basis for a start-up. I’m proud that AIAA is helping the next generation of aerospace professionals.” 

This year Langford created the AIAA Foundation Daedalus 88 Undergraduate Scholarship, which is intended to promote and support student entrepreneurship in aerospace. The scholarship commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Daedalus Project when Langford and 39 other MIT students set a new distance record for human-powered flight, with a 72-mile flight between the Greek islands of Crete and Santorini. That record still stands today. 

After the flight, Langford founded Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation, a pioneer in unmanned aircraft and autonomous flight. In November 2017, Aurora was acquired by Boeing.

Sam Zorek, an undergraduate engineering student at Rice University, is the inaugural 2018 winner of the $10,000 Daedalus 88 scholarship.

Undergraduate scholarships include:

Daedalus 88 Scholarship, $10,000 
David and Catherine Thompson Space Technology Scholarship, $10,000 
Vicki and George Muellner Scholarship for Aerospace Engineering, $5,000 
Wernher von Braun Scholarship, $5,000 
Liquid Propulsion Scholarship, $2,500

Digital Avionics Scholarships   

  • Cary Spitzer Digital Avionics Scholarship, $2,000
  • Dr. Amy R. Pritchett Digital Avionics Scholarship, $2,000
  • Dr. James Rankin Digital Avionics Scholarship, $2,000
  • Ellis F. Hitt Digital Avionics Scholarship, $2,000

Space Transportation Scholarship, $1,500 
Leatrice Gregory Pendray Scholarship, $1,250 
Rocky Mountain Section Scholarship, $500

Applicants for an AIAA Foundation Undergraduate Scholarship must meet the following eligibility requirements:

  • Be a current AIAA Student Member in good standing
  • Have completed at least 1 academic semester of full-time college work
  • Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.300 on a 4.000 scale
  • Be enrolled in an accredited college or university within the United States or U.S. Territories
  • Applicant's education plan shall be such as to provide entry into some field of science or engineering encompassed by the technical activities of AIAA

Graduate awards include:

Neil Armstrong Graduate Award, $5,000 
Orville and Wilbur Wright Graduate Award (x2), $5,000 
Luis de Florez Graduate Award, $3,500 
Guidance, Navigation and Control Graduate Award, $2,500 
John Leland Atwood Graduate Award, $1,250 
Martin Summerfield Propellants and Combustion Graduate Award, $1,250 
Gordon C. Oates Air Breathing Propulsion Graduate Award, $1,000 
William T. Piper, Sr. General Aviation Systems Graduate Award, $1,000

Applicants for an AIAA Foundation Graduate Award must meet the following eligibility requirements:

  • Be a current AIAA Student Member in good standing
  • Have completed at least 1 academic quarter or semester of full-time graduate-level college work and have a research topic approved
  • Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.300 on a 4.000 scale
  • Be enrolled in an accredited college or university within the United States or U.S. Territories
  • Applicant's education plan shall be such as to continue graduate work in some field of science or engineering encompassed by the technical activities of AIAA

Helpful links for more information about AIAA scholarships: 

Undergraduate: www.aiaa-awards.org/a/solicitations/home/1104 
Graduate: www.aiaa-awards.org/a/solicitations/home/1082 
Eligibility requirements: www.aiaa.org/eligibility/ 
AIAA scholarship site: www.aiaa.org/scholarships  


About AIAA 
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 85 countries, and 95 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, or follow us on Twitter @AIAA.

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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 
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Phone: 703.264.7558 Fax: 703.264.7551 www.aiaa.org