NASA awards 3 engineering student fellowships to advance space exploration, increase minority STEM opportunities

Aug 18, 2020 | Electrical and Computing Engineering, Mechanical and Materials Engineering, News, School of Biomedical, Mechanical and Materials Engineering, School of Electrical, Computer and Enterprise Engineering, STEM, Student Success

NASA has awarded fellowships to three College of Engineering & Computing (CEC) students in support of their research in advancements of space exploration and increased engagement of minority students in STEM opportunities.

FIU is one of a dozen minority-serving institutions across the country to receive the prestigious awards and one of only two to receive a total of three fellowships.

Marisol Roman, Ricardo Rivadeneira and Roberto Prado-Rivera are the named recipients. The awards begin during the 2020 academic year and total more than $600,000 in support of their innovative graduate-level research for the next three years. Each fellowship provides the option for a fourth-year extension based on the institution’s ability to build on accomplishments of the first three years, providing more than $200,000 in additional funding if all three fellows opt-in.