Fellowship — The Sandra Lee Heyman Foundation

Fellowship Components

The 18-month program is designed to facilitate Fellows’ exploration of STEM careers in the real world. Each component complements the Fellows’ academic pursuits.

Guest discussants

Four times a semester, Fellows are introduced to notable guests with careers in a STEM-related field in industry, government, or academia. In a format that is more conversation than lecture, students learn about the wide variety of STEM careers available to them and the different pathways that careers can take. They receive advice from leaders in diverse fields, and have an opportunity to ask questions in an engaging setting. The lineup of guests across the 18 months is driven by Fellows’ interests. Recordings of scores of prior, recent, and future guests are made available only to Fellows.

Field Trips

The Washington, DC metropolitan area sits at the heart of one of the most prolific and exciting communities for STEM careers in the world. As schedules allow, Fellows may also get a behind-the-scenes view of exciting STEM locations in the Washington, DC area. Currently, field trips are not a key component of the fellowship.

Internships

During and after their participation in the program’s events, fellows are provided with customized lists of internships offered by other organizations at the high school and college levels. Fellows are strongly encouraged to explore internships by many of our guests.

Networking and other connections

The Fellowship will introduce Fellows to like-minded students from across the Washington, DC area. Additionally, it will provide an ongoing platform for students to use to stay in touch after their 18 month Fellowship, as well as allow students to connect with future and past Fellows. Furthermore, Fellows will be able to remain connected to teachers, guest speakers, and other potential mentors during their Fellowship and beyond.

Past Fellowship Events and Guests

Bill Phillips

Guest Speaker

Nobel Prize Winner and Physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology

Peter Wang

Guest Speaker

CTO, Buzzfeed

Dr. Carrie Danziger

Guest Speaker

Chief of the Albany Medical Center's Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Pediatrician

Dr. Latasha Steele

Guest Speaker

OB/GYN

Dr. Amy Jenkins

Guest Speaker

Program Manager, DARPA, Biological Technologies Office

David Herring

Guest Speaker

Communication, Education and Engagement Division Manager in NOAA's Climate Program Office

Dr. Simona Petrutiu

Guest Speaker

Sr. Director Global Marketing at Medtronic

Brian Fallik

Guest Speaker

Vice President Of Engineering, Xandr

Dr. Arthur Lupia

Guest Speaker

Social and Behavioral Scientist, National Science Foundation

Madeline Jacobs

Guest Speaker

Former Executive Director, American Chemical Society

Andrea Heyman

Guest Speaker

Staff Software Engineer, Machine Learning, Etsy

Akshay Ghandi

Guest Speaker

Teacher, Richard Montgomery High School

Laura Goetz

Guest Speaker

Teacher, Richard Montgomery High School

Lindsey Shi

Guest Speaker

Partner, Kirkland & Ellis

Matt Barrett

Guest Speaker

COO, Cyberesi and Founder, US Cyberdome

Kelly Benoit-Bird

Guest Speaker

Senior Scientist and Science Chair, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)

Dr. Judith Mitrani-Reiser

Guest Speaker

Sr. Research Scientist, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Dr. Dereka Carroll-Smith

Guest Speaker

Postdoctoral Associate, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Scott Weaver

Guest Speaker

Executive Director. Interagency Meteorological Coordination Office, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Rosemary Thomas-Mohtat, M.D.,

Guest speaker

Director of Emergency Ultrasound, Children’s National

Kirk Nelson

Guest speaker

Deputy Superintendent for House Office Buildings, Office of the Architect of the Capitol

Kathy Pham

Guest Speaker

Vice President of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Workday

Makeda Tekle-Smith

Guest speaker

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Columbia University

Eileen Haase, PhD

Guest speaker

Vice Chair for Academic Programs, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Program Chair, Applied Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University

Shiker Nair

Guest speaker

Associate computational biologist, Broad Institute

Victor McCrary, PhD

Guest speaker

Vice President for Research and Professor of Chemistry, University of the District of Columbia

Dr. Diana Li

Guest Speaker

Associate Director of Education & Training Initiatives, Columbia University Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute

Ritu Raman, PhD

Guest Speaker

d’Arbeloff Career Development Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, MIT

Anthony Kinslow II, PhD

Guest speaker

Founder & CEO of Gemini Energy Solutions

Robert Dimeo, PhD

Guest speaker

Director, NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR)

Sheng Lin-Gibson, PhD

Guest speaker

Chief of the Biosystems and Biomaterials Division (BBD), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Chetan Sabnis

Guest speaker

Software Engineer, Google

Bruce Mehlman

Guest speaker

Founder and partner, Mehlman Consulting

Yvonna Masakowski, PhD

Guest speaker

Professor, Naval War College and Principal Scientist (contractor), NATO

J. Carey Filling

Guest speaker

Director for Surface Ship Design and Systems Engineering with the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA)

Nur Yeasin, PhD

Guest Speaker

Ship Design Manager, NAVSEA Amphibious & Unmanned Warfare Engineering Division

Dilip Ghate

Guest Speaker

Deputy Group Director for Surface Ship Design and Systems Engineering, Naval Sea Systems Command

Jennifer DiRaimo

Guest speaker

Director of Research and Canadian Advocacy, Platelet Disorder Support Association

Dr. Eric Cornell

Guest speaker

2001 Nobel Prize in Physics, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Rachel Miller, PT, OCS, CMTPT, RRCA

Guest speaker

Physical therapist, ProAction Physical Therapy

Elham Tabassi

Guest speaker

Director of the Brookings Institution’s Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative

Senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program

Dr. Linette Boisvert

Guest speaker

Assistant Lab Chief, Cryospheric Sciences Branch

Deputy Project Scientist for the Aqua Satellite

Melissa Taylor

Guest speaker

NIST Sr. Forensic Science Research Manager

Dr. John Butler

Guest speaker

NIST Fellow & Special Assistant to the Director for Forensic Science

Dr. Matt Hellman

Guest speaker

Sr. VP of Early Oncology and Precision Medicine, AstraZeneca

Veronica Cedillos

Guest speaker

President, GeoHazards International

Dr. Willie E. May

Guest speaker

VP for Research and Economic Development, Morgan State University

Past Fellows

As of Spring 2026, nearly 250 high school students have been part of the Sandra Lee Heyman Foundation Fellowship Program. Those who have successfully completed their fellowships include:

Class 1 – 2020-2021

Ayokami Akala, Richard Montgomery High School

Nisha Athrey, Richard Montgomery High School

Aina Atienza, Richard Montgomery High School

Siraj Carter, Washington Leadership Academy

Kyle Dalrymple, Richard Montgomery High School

Samuel Edwards, Richard Montgomery High School

Amna Fatima Hasni, Richard Montgomery High School

Y'ize Lancaster, Washington Leadership Academy

Jade LeShack, Richard Montgomery High School

Sara Logsdon, Richard Montgomery High School

Keily Lopez, Washington Leadership Academy

Elizabeth Mai, Richard Montgomery High School

Eliana Mazin, Richard Montgomery High School

Vismaya Paul Mohindra, Richard Montgomery High School

Athira Nair, Richard Montgomery High School

Anjali Natarajan, Richard Montgomery High School

Connor Palansky, Richard Montgomery High School

Nikola Plavsic, Washington Leadership Academy

Arman Sagmanligil, Richard Montgomery High School

Morgan Sarlls, Richard Montgomery High School

Maaya Senthilkumar, Richard Montgomery High School

Kayla Sinkler, Richard Montgomery High School

Eashana Subramanian, Richard Montgomery High School

Lucas Thompson, Richard Montgomery High School

Alexander Tong, Richard Montgomery High School

Victoria Tong, Richard Montgomery High School

Katie Yuan, Richard Montgomery High School

Class 2 – 2021-2022

Kevin Baer, Richard Montgomery High School

Vrinda Bhandari, Richard Montgomery High School

Carmen Kenfack, Richard Montgomery High School

Anna Lee, Richard Montgomery High School

Tanya Paul, Richard Montgomery High School

Niyati Sharma, Richard Montgomery High School

Aishwarya Thalla, Richard Montgomery High School

Lindsey Zhang, Richard Montgomery High School

Class 3 – 2022-2023

Nathaniel Chen, Poolesville High School

Anvika Deva, Richard Montgomery High School

Victoria Dziasek, Richard Montgomery High School

Eva-Jessy Guech, Richard Montgomery High School

Sailaja Kadali, Richard Montgomery High School

Moshe Lederman, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School

Akshya Mahadevan, Richard Montgomery High School

Charlotte Milner, Sherwood High School

Lily Mosisa, Sherwood High School

Ami Mundra, Richard Montgomery High School

Erica Muragaki, Richard Montgomery High School

Tilman Peters, Richard Montgomery High School

Caroline Sulivan, Sherwood High School

Class 4 – 2023-2024

Diya Arunkumar, Northwest High School

Elani Bui, Richard Montgomery High School

My Linh Bui, Walt Whitman High School

Anushka Cheedarala, Poolesville High School

Daniel Chernyak, Richard Montgomery High School

Catherine Chong, Richard Montgomery High School

Adam Dubleman, Richard Montgomery High School

Mael Ejiogu, Richard Montgomery High School

Stacy Guech, Richard Montgomery High School

Annie Guo, Richard Montgomery High School

Sujit Hegde, Richard Montgomery High School

Nethaka Jayatilake, Richard Montgomery High School

Shriyans Kalbhor, Richard Montgomery High School

Sushma Katta, Richard Montgomery High School

Yayoi King, Richard Montgomery High School

Fadekemi Laniyonu, Richard Montgomery High School

Aaron Logsdon, Richard Montgomery High School

Josiah Main, Richard Montgomery High School

Gabby Mendelsohn, Richard Montgomery High School

Alex Nguyen, Richard Montgomery High School

Yash Sandeep Pandit, Poolesville High School

Zoe Pascover, Richard Montgomery High School

Ariana Patel, Richard Montgomery High School

Aileen Sharma, Poolesville High School

Kevin Si, Richard Montgomery High School

Joseph Simak, Richard Montgomery High School

Ashna Uprety, Richard Montgomery High School

Ilana Vainstein, Richard Montgomery High School

Tejusvi (Teju) Vijay, Montgomery Blair High School

Kevin Xue, Winston Churchill High School

Alanna Yang, Richard Montgomery High School

Amy Ye, Richard Montgomery High School

Isaac Yourman, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School

Michelle Yu, Richard Montgomery High School

Class 5 – 2024-2025

Nabil Aime, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute

Ruslan Akmyradov, Richard Montgomery High School

Laila Allsberry, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute

Olapeju Badmus, John F. Kennedy High School

Kaii Bushyager, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute

Kai Chen, Covenant Life School

Alexander Chiochankitmun, Winston Churchill High School

Ramya Chokkalingam, Poolesville High School

Keira Dempsey, Homeschool

Oren Egnal, Richard Montgomery High School

Andrew Gao, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute

Sophie Huang, Richard Montgomery High School

Elli Jacobs, Richard Montgomery High School

Niral Jagadeesh, Gaithersburg High School

Audrey Johnson, Richard Montgomery High School

Ayush Kalotra, Richard Montgomery High School

Chloe Kennedy, Richard Montgomery High School

Brandon Lacey, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School

Myla Leung, Winston Churchill High School

Sophia Li, Richard Montgomery High School

Pankhuri Malayanil, Poolesville High School

Jamila Nguyen, Albert Einstein High School

Nikhil Paranjape, James H. Blake High School

Renata Podlesny, Richard Montgomery High School

Aditya Purohit, Richard Montgomery High School

Vihaan Rathi, Richard Montgomery High School

Keerthna Rawat, Richard Montgomery High School

Sylvie Rehr, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute

Jahnavi Sabnis, Richard Montgomery High School

Kailash Sabnis, Richard Montgomery High School

Jinwoo Shin, Richard Montgomery High School

Katherine Sundstrom, Richard Montgomery High School

Megan Tang, Northwest High School

Logan Tannenbaum, Richard Montgomery High School

Anjali Vanka, Northwest High School

Srihith Viswanathan, Richard Montgomery High School

Katherine Xue, Richard Montgomery High School

Alicia Yang, Poolesville High School

Catherine Yang, Richard Montgomery High School

Evelyn Ye, Walt Whitman High School

Chelsea Zhu, Richard Montgomery High School

Class 6 – 2025-2026

Tejashri Aravinth, Northwest High School

Sofia Battistel, Col. Zadok Magruder High School

Peyton Beach, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute

Nivedha Bhogavilli, Poolesville High School

Khalira Bolden, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute

Olivier Bui, Walt Whitman High School

Aeric Cheng, Seneca Valley High School

Kelsey Diep, Springbrook High School

Kristiyan Donchev, Richard Montgomery High School

Joyce Fang, Montgomery Blair High School

Nuala Grady, Richard Montgomery High School

Allan Guech, Richard Montgomery High School

Conrad Kim, Poolesville High School

Olivia Lee, Clarksburg High School

Ryan Leung, Winston Churchill High School

Logan Liu, Richard Montgomery High School

Tiffany Lu, Richard Montgomery High School

Pema McAlister, Richard Montgomery High School

Aviva Mitrani-Reiser, Richard Montgomery High School

Angeline Orellana, Northwood High School

Zehna Patel, Richard Montgomery High School

Madeleine Pettit, Thomas S. Wootton High School

Adhi Ponraj, Richard Montgomery High School

Magdalena Serna, Northwood High School

Gina Song, Poolesville High School

Sedric Su, Richard Montgomery High School

Gugan Thuduppathy, Montgomery Blair High School

Orit Vainstein, Walter Johnson High School

Rithika Arun Venkatesh, Richard Montgomery High School

Sophia Wang, Richard Montgomery High School

Evan Xin, Winston Churchill High School