William Elke lll is one of 19 to be Awarded NASA Fellowship
William Elke III, a Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota studying aerospace engineering and mechanics, was awarded a prestigious NASA Fellowship. The NASA Fellowship Activity was created to offer innovative opportunities for students to contribute to NASA’s work in STEM, and to increase diversity in the workforce by engaging students through offering hands-on experiences with NASA staff, projects and facilities.
The process to receive a fellowship is extremely competitive and requires candidates to submit a NASA Research Announcement (NRA) that is thoroughly reviewed by a Faculty Advisor and a NASA Subject Matter Expert (SME) before submission.
Elke III says, “I'm tremendously excited for the opportunities that come with this fellowship and I cannot wait to get started. I am looking forward to working closely and learning from my advisers. I am also looking forward to working with NASA during both the academic year and during the summer at NASA Langley Research Center.”
Elke III was one of 19 students to receive a NASA Fellowship of applicants from institutions across the nation. Elke III’s proposal, “Launch Vehicle Control Design on a Quadcopter Testbed,” pursues designing and utilizing a system that allows for end-to-end testing of flight controllers and new launch vehicles at a lower cost and level of risk.
AEM Professors Demoz Gebre-Egziabher and Ryan Caverly will serve as Faculty Advisors and Principle Investigators (PI) for the duration of Elke III’s fellowship. Both Gebre-Egziabher and Caverly will oversee and help advance Elke III’s proposal, in addition to a NASA Technical Adviser that will be assigned to mentor him at the NASA Center.
Each candidate will receive a maximum of three years of funding, and an option to compete for a fourth year. Fellowships are funded by NUREP and the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD), totaling $2,295,000 in grants.
The Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics congratulates Elke III and Professors Demoz Gebre-Egziabher and Ryan Caverly on this outstanding accomplishment.