Jovy Batong and Brandon Phillips Endowed Scholarship

2023: For his senior capstone, Nykeia Bowens is the control and electronics team lead for the Design, Build, Fly team. In summer 2023, he interned at the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in Patuxent River, MD as a propulsion engineer. He hopes to eventually earn a master's degree, with emphasis in aerothermodynamics, combustion, or thermal management systems.

2022: After his service in the U.S. Marines, Nykiea Bowens began studying aerospace engineering at UMD in 2020. While studying, Nykiea sought growth opportunities outside of the classroom; he learned engineering practices with the NASA-sponsored L'SPACE Academy, and he served as a treasurer for his engineering club. For the summer of 2022, he began his first internship with Maryland Space Grant Consortium providing engineer aid to Morgan State University Rocketry Laboratory. Nykiea has a strong interest in thermodynamics and propulsion, and he would like to eventually specialize in these fields through an advance degree.

Christian Byrd is an Army Veteran who served 4 years at Ft. Gordon Georgia as part of the 67th Signal Battalion, including a 9 month tour overseas in Jordan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He is the third generation of Army Veterans in his family and is currently studying Accessibility and Human Centered Design within the Information Science major in order to contribute to helping older veterans and disabled persons transition to later stages in life.