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Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship

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Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship
Founded2017
FoundersMonica and Steve Isakowitz
Sirisha Bandla
FocusAerospace Engineering
Commercial Space
Location
Area served
United States
Websitematthewisakowitzfellowship.org

The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship is a non-profit program in the United States that provided paid internships and executive mentorship to exceptional undergraduate and graduate students seeking careers in commercial space for nearly a decade.[1][2][3] The fellowship was created in memory of Matthew Isakowitz, an American aerospace engineer and early contributor to the field of commercial spaceflight who died at the age of 29.[4][5][6]

Motivation and overview

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The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program connected exceptional students with the resources to become leaders in the commercial space industry, with the goal of bolstering the then-fledgling industry and fostering excitement for commercial spaceflight in young engineers.[7] Matthew Isakowitz was an aerospace engineer from Princeton University who worked at XPRIZE, SpaceX, and Astranis, and served as associate director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.[8][9] He also worked on the New Horizons mission at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, for which the minor planet 78867 Isakowitz was named. The fellowship was founded by Isakowitz's family, including his father Steve Isakowitz, and former colleague Sirisha Bandla in 2017.[10][11]

Between 2017 and 2024, the program offered students paid summer internships at commercial space companies (including SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, etc.),[12] travel stipends, and mentorship from notable aerospace leaders, including CEOs (e.g. Tom Mueller, George Whitesides, Mandy Vaughn), 10 astronauts (e.g. John M. Grunsfeld, Cadey Coleman, Sandy Magnus), former NASA administrators, JPL directors, and other experienced executives.[13][14] Fellows were also paired with previous alumni, who aced as peer mentors, and were flown out to the annual summit in Los Angeles, California to network, tour aerospace companies, and to meet industry leaders such as Elon Musk and Buzz Aldrin.[15][16][17][18]

In 2024, the fellowship program announced that it would no longer accept new fellows.[19] The program remains partnered with the Brooke Owens Fellowship, Commercial Spaceflight Federation, and the Future Space Leaders Foundation.[20]

Alumni

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As of 2024, the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship has 200 alumni across 7 cohorts associated with 100+ different universities internationally. The program was noted for being increasingly competitive, with more than half of all fellows associated with MIT, Stanford, or Georgia Tech alone.[21][22]

Thousands of students from around the United States applied to the fellowship.[23][24] Approximately thirty were selected annually. Selection was made through an evaluation of merit and the perceived embodiment of Isakowitz's qualities. This was done primarily by means of interviews and essay responses. Finalists were matched with host companies, who independently conducted interviews and awarded offers.

References

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  1. ^ "Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program". Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  2. ^ "MATTHEW ISAKOWITZ FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM | Open990". www.open990.org. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program | Charity Navigator Profile". www.charitynavigator.org. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  4. ^ "NewSpace community mourns loss of a promising young leader". NewSpace Global. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  5. ^ "The Commercial Spaceflight Federation Announces Partnership with the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program - Commercial Spaceflight Federation". www.commercialspaceflight.org. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Matthew Isakowitz Obituary - Falls Church, VA". Dignity Memorial. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program – Future Space Leaders". Future Space Leaders Foundation. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  8. ^ "The Commercial Spaceflight Federation Announces Partnership with the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program - Commercial Spaceflight Federation". www.commercialspaceflight.org. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program - Meet Matthew". Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  10. ^ Kearns, Molly. "Inside the Mind of a Young Professional: A Conversation with Sirisha Bandla | American Astronautical Society". American Astronautical Society. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  11. ^ "'Don't See People Like Me': India-Born Sirisha Bandla on POC Women in Space". News18. 7 July 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Companies". Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  13. ^ "Mentors". Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  14. ^ Vorbach, Ian (29 September 2021). "Interview with Steve Isakowitz, CEO of the Aerospace Corporation". SpaceDotBiz. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  15. ^ "Summit". Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  16. ^ "The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship: A Program Designed for Future Space Leaders". ASTROPRENEURS. 28 November 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  17. ^ "Space Exploration: The Audacity to Look Up". UNH Today. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  18. ^ "Annika Rollock's Internship Experience at Blue Origin as a Matthew Isakowitz Fellow". Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  19. ^ "Celebrating a Major Milestone and Future Plans". Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program. 26 February 2024.
  20. ^ "The Commercial Spaceflight Federation Announces Partnership with the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program - Commercial Spaceflight Federation". www.commercialspaceflight.org. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  21. ^ "Announcing the 2022 MIFP Class". Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  22. ^ "Announcing the 2022 Class of the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program". www.spaceref.com. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  23. ^ "ANNOUNCING THE ASPIRING SPACE INDUSTRY LEADERS SELECTED FOR THE 2020 CLASS OF THE MATTHEW ISAKOWITZ FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM" (PDF). Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  24. ^ "Announcing the 2022 Class of the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program". www.spaceref.com. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
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