Hannah Lee, a senior at The University of Texas at Austin pursuing a degree in electrical and computer engineering, has been named to the 2022 Astronaut Scholar Class by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF).
The Astronaut Scholarship is a national award given to a select group of outstanding undergraduate students studying in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM), the Astronaut Scholarship recognizes STEM majors with exemplary academic performance, ingenuity, and a unique aptitude for research.
As an Astronaut Scholar, Hannah will receive:
- A scholarship up to $15,000
- The opportunity to represent UT at ASF’s Scholar Technical Conference
- Mentoring by a scholar alumni, C-suite executive, or astronaut
- Membership in the Astronaut Scholar Honor Society
“The birth of my love for research itself began… the second semester of my freshman year. I began conducting research with Dr. Emily Porter in utilizing electrical impedance tomography as a means for stroke detection and classification. Through this, I learned how to be creative when extracting meaningful information from data, how to think critically about open-ended questions, and how to visually represent data in novel ways. I discovered the unending possibilities that research has to offer and recognized my love for relentlessly pursuing those open-ended questions that inevitably lead to more questions.”
Astronaut Scholarships are awarded to students in their junior or senior year of college who intend to pursue research or advance their field upon completion of their final degree.
“Each day, so many loved ones, including my own grandmother, are diagnosed with neurological disorders and are condemned to a fate without a cure and often barely a glimmer of hope. This is the ultimate reason why I want to study neural engineering – to bring back hope to those who have lost it. To receive the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation award would bring me one step closer to making this dream a reality.”
This year, ASF awarded 60 scholarships to students from 44 universities across the country.
To learn more about the scholarship and how to apply, visit provost.utexas.edu/awards/astronaut.