The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program—a summer internship and executive mentorship program inspiring the next generation of commercial spaceflight leaders—announced today the 30 individuals selected for its 2022 class. Now in its fifth year, the highly selective program awards exceptional college juniors, seniors, and graduate students pursuing aerospace careers with paid internships at cutting-edge commercial space companies. Fellows also receive one-on-one mentorship from accomplished members of the space community, including astronauts, engineers, entrepreneurs, executives, investors, and others. Additionally, the program features a memorable summit during which the Fellows learn about space start-ups, network with top industry leaders, and develop entrepreneurial skills.

For the 2022 class, the program received a tremendous response, with applications from more than 200 students from over 90 colleges. Applicants were rigorously screened for academic excellence, relevant experience, and, most importantly, a demonstrated passion for innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercial space. The enthusiasm about the Fellowship comes at an especially exciting time in commercial space, as an unprecedented number of new companies are transforming the space program. This past year saw new rockets achieving orbit, astronauts being flown in new private vehicles, small spacecrafts launched in record numbers, and major increases in private investments. This has created a large increase in students inspired by these new opportunities to demonstrate novel technologies, protect the environment, connect the world, and explore the planets.

See below for the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program’s Class of 2022, including each Fellow’s current school and Summer 2022 host company. (Schools where they previously earned degrees are indicated in parentheses). A full bio for each Fellow and more information is available online.

  • Maximilian Adang, Caltech — Redwire

  • Adithya Arun, University of Maryland, College Park — SpaceX

  • Loubensky Baine, University of Central Florida — Astra

  • Randa Bassou, Mississippi State University (Université Internationale de Rabat) — Redwire

  • Carson Coursey, Georgia Institute of Technology — Aerospace Corporation

  • Shane Cullen, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University — SpaceX

  • Flynn Dreilinger, Stanford University — SpaceX

  • Allegra Farrar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (George Washington University) — Aerospace Corporation

  • Michael Ganotaki, Virginia Tech (Western University) — Virgin Galactic

  • Grace Genszler, Cornell University (Dartmouth College; Wheaton College) — Virgin Orbit

  • Kyle Hampton, University of Kentucky — Rocket Lab

  • Maya Harris, Stanford University —Virgin Galactic

  • Shaan Jagani, University of California, Berkeley —Blue Origin

  • Emma Johnson, Georgia Institute of Technology — Planet

  • Logan Kluis, Texas A&M University (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) — Aerospace Corporation

  • Olivia Langenderfer, The Ohio State University — RocketLab

  • Maggie Lea, Utah State University — Axiom

  • Erin Levesque, University of Michigan —ABL Space Systems

  • Stephanie Manasterski, University of Pittsburgh —Virgin Orbit

  • Daniel Nwachukwu, Georgia Institute of Technology (University of South Carolina Aiken) — Nanoracks

  • Wilbert Ruperto-Hernández, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez — Millennium Space Systems

  • Shan Selvamurugan, Georgia Institute of Technology — Blue Origin

  • Ariel Shaver, University of Arizona — Hedron

  • Blake Shepherd, Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Millennium Space Systems

  • Theo St. Francis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology — Relativity
    Space

  • Fernando Tabares, Purdue University (University of Pittsburgh) — Relativity Space

  • Kevin Tong, Princeton University — Lynk

  • Alessandro Verniani, University of Colorado Boulder (University of California, Irvine) — Virgin Galactic

  • Rebecca Wang, Stanford University (University of Texas at Austin) — Astranis

  • Liam Ward, Boston University — Hedron

At the end of the summer, the Fellows will remain among a group of alumni who can continue to network with this program, their mentors, and past and future Fellows, on the path to becoming future space industry icons. The previous four classes of Matthew Isakowitz Fellows are continuing to excel in their academic and professional careers, with many taking on volunteer roles to contribute to the continued success of the Fellowship program. The list of Alumni Fellows is available online.

The program has also added a number of new participants to its lists of host companies and executive mentors for Summer 2022. The new host companies include Astra, Lynk, and Redwire. The new executive mentors include X-Prize Foundation CEO and Private Astronaut, Anousheh Ansari; former NASA astronaut, Cady Coleman; Astranis Co-founder and CEO, John Gedmark; MIT Professor and Head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Dan Hastings; former NASA astronaut and NOAA Administrator, Kathy Sullivan; Impulse Space CEO and former VP Propulsion at SpaceX, Tom Mueller; and Principal Mars Development Engineer at SpaceX, Paul Wooster. The full lists of companies and mentors are available online.

The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program thanks its alumni Fellows, donors, host companies, mentors, volunteers, and partners, including the Brooke Owens Fellowship Program, Commercial Spaceflight Federation, and Future Space Leaders.

ABOUT THE MATTHEW ISAKOWITZ FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization honoring the memory of an engineer, entrepreneur, and extraordinary individual whose passion for commercial space exploration led to great strides in the industry and inspired all who knew him. The Program seeks to instill that same enthusiasm into the next generation of commercial spaceflight leaders by providing impactful career training to those who embody Matthew’s drive for exploring our universe to help better humankind. Ad Astra. 

Learn more at matthewisakowitzfellowship.org and on social media (@mattfellowship).