Aerospace Engineering student Emma Nicolai has received a world-famous grant and gained at place to study at the prestigious Stanford University in California.

One of Emma’s tutors, Dr Angadh Nanjangud, advised her to apply to the Mercatus Center’s Emergent Ventures - a famed grant-making nonprofit run by Prof Tyler Cowen at George Mason University - after she received the offer to study Stanford University’s MSc in Aerospace Engineering.

The grant will support her work in space sustainability, and her vision to help build the foundations of sustainability in space, particularly by tackling the issue of space debris through in-orbit remanufacturing.

Her current research project is designing a system that captures space debris and remanufactures it into usable parts in orbit, aiming to close the loop on the space economy.

“I’ll be heading to Stanford to pursue an MSc in Aeronautics and Astronautics because I believe it’s the best place in the world to make this vision a reality. I’m particularly excited to learn from professors like Debbie Senesky, Marco Pavone and Simone D’Amico. As well as the startup-driven environment, I honestly can’t wait to get started” said Emma.

“I’m very grateful to Emergent Ventures for investing in my work in space technology. My goal is to help lay the foundations for a more sustainable future in orbit and I can’t wait to continue that journey at Stanford, surrounded by researchers and startups pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.”

This success shows the variety of non-traditional routes of funding available to our highly performing students, and the willingness of our academics to support their hard work.

As the founder of Queen Mary Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (QMSEDS), Emma has won many awards and led the society to competition wins in less than two years.

This news was published in Tyler Cowen’s highly-regarded blog, which is read by some of the most influential people in the world. “Such publicity is a great predictor of long-term positive outcomes on the careers of students like Emma.” Said Dr Nanjangud.