The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has welcomed its new cohort of GEM Fellows for 2025. The GEM Fellowship, managed by the National GEM Consortium, supports outstanding graduate-level students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

This year, GTRI and researchers volunteering as mentors are supporting 12 GEM Fellows from leading academic institutions across the nation, including the University of California-Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University, Washington University in St. Louis, United States Military Academy (West Point), Davidson College, Ohio State University, and, of course, Georgia Tech.

This year’s fellows hail from locations spanning the United States—from California, New York, and Texas, to North Carolina, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Washington, DC, and locally from Atlanta, Georgia.

The 2025 GEM Fellows will be embedded within various GTRI laboratories and units, including Cybersecurity, Information Protection, and Hardware Evaluation Research Laboratory (CIPHER); Electronic Systems Laboratory (ELSYS); Aerospace, Transportation, and Advanced Systems Laboratory (ATAS); Information and Communications Laboratory (ICL); Advanced Concepts Laboratory (ACL); and Research Security (RS).

The fellows will work on real-world projects with immediate linkages to GTRI’s Independent Research and Development (IRAD) program, and broader possible applications for the Department of Defense (DoD), other GTRI sponsors, and industry.

For their projects, the fellows are receiving hands-on mentoring and supervision from a team of dedicated GTRI researchers, including Fred Baier, Anne Clark, Rob Clark, Clayton Kerce, Phu Le, Shamaria Rivers, Jake Robinson, Mike Ruiz, Charlotte Steinichen, Branden Stone, Will Stuckey, Noah Tobin, and Colin Usher.

The GEM Fellowship program at GTRI is organized and led by Jeremy Brown, Ed.D., Associate Director of Education and Outreach for GTRI’s Strategic HR Partners (sHRp) unit.

Dr. Brown emphasizes the mutual benefits of the GEM partnership.

“Several benefits come from the GEM partnership that add value to both GEM and GTRI,” he said. “The first one is that GTRI receives (and has access to) some of the best STEM students in their field as interns to work on projects for our labs and units. Additionally, we get our GEM fellows at a reduced total cost and still acquire their technical talent.

“The GEM Fellow benefits as they have a unique opportunity to intern with us here at GTRI. The GEM Fellows also benefit as they receive financial support, alleviating the burdens of graduate study.”

Brown emphasized that GTRI, as a UARC (University-Affiliated Research Center), offers employees of the Institute access to sponsored research and development projects at the cutting edge of a variety of technologies.

The GEM program also affords the fellows useful networking opportunities, such as the recent June 24 site visit to GTRI Headquarters.

During the site visit, the fellows were able to “mix and mingle” with key members of GTRI leadership, including:

• Tommer Ender, GTRI interim Director
• Mark Militello, Associate Vice President (AVP) of Finance and Research Administration/Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
• Raj Vuchatu, Chief Information Officer
• William Robinson, Chief Technology Officer (Interim), and Deputy Director for Research, Information and Cyber Sciences Directorate (ICSD)
• Stephen Welby, Deputy Director of Research for the Sensors and Intelligent Systems Directorate (SISD)
• Erik Andersen, Deputy Director for Research, Electronics, Optics, and Systems Directorate (EOSD)
• Michelle Belton, Senior Director, Strategic HR Partners (sHRp)

The attendance of so many "higher-ups" was emphasized to the fellows.

"This is not the norm," said Marcus Huggans, Ph.D., Executive Director, Client Relations at The National GEM Consortium, who was in attendance. "This shows that GTRI thinks GEM is a big deal."

Belton's presence, in particular, was pointed out. It was repeated often during the site visit that GTRI wants to ultimately hire outstanding GEM fellows into full-time roles.

"We need smart people," said interim Director Tommer Ender. "GEM can be a pipeline of talent."

Ender added that "GTRI is a great place to work, a great place to learn."

He then offered the GEM fellows advice:

"Figure out what you can learn, what hard questions you can ask. Look for opportunities."

The fellows were given a glimpse of the breadth of GTRI's research enterprise via a demonstration by a current GTRI researcher. Research Scientist Emily Stube demonstrated the "Lightweight Glove-free Haptics for Training in Virtual Reality (LiGHT-VR)" project, which she worked on as part of a team led by Alexis Noel. 

The system is a controller-free wearable system that increases immersivity in Virtual Reality training environments through precision finger tracking and associated haptic sensation on the fingertips. Strube allowed fellows to actually operate the device, showing them how "hands-on" their work at GTRI will be.

The GEM Consortium continues to make significant strides in fostering diversity and excellence in STEM, and GTRI is proud to provide opportunities through its ongoing support of the GEM program.

Writer: Christopher Weems
Photos: Sean McNeil
GTRI Communications
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Atlanta, Georgia

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Founded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 3,000 employees, supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $919 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry. GTRI's renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry.