Ryan M. Field, a senior in Electrical Engineering, is NC State University’s 2006 – 2007 recipient of the Astronaut Scholarship. This prestigious scholarship is based on an outstanding academic record and the commitment to keep America at the technological forefront. The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (AFS),  was created by the Mercury 7 astronauts, to ensure that the United States would maintain its leadership in science and technology in the future by supporting promising students in science and engineering. Winners of the scholarship receive $10,000 that will be applied the following academic year.

Scholarship nominees must be engineering, or natural or applied science students. They must have the intention to pursue research or advance their field upon completion of their final degree. Nominees must be at least in their junior year, have excellent grades, and have participated in lab and research work in their field.

Each candidate is nominated by faculty in their department to a university-wide committee. The committee, composed of various faculty across the university, selects the best two candidates and submits these nominees to foundation’s scholarship committee. This committee’s single selection is then presented to the ASF Board of Directors for approval.
The Astronaut Scholarship program is established at only eighteen universities in the nation. These universities are:
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Harvey Mudd College
• Miami University (Ohio)
• North Carolina A&T State University
• North Carolina State University
• North Dakota State University
• Pennsylvania State University
• Purdue University
• Syracuse University
• Texas A&M University
• Tufts University
• University of Central Florida
• University of Colorado
• University of Kentucky
• University of Minnesota
• University of Oklahoma
• University of Washington
• Washington University (St. Louis)

Ryan’s receipt of this high honor marks him as part of an exclusive class of students. He joins previous ECE recipients Mark Nipert (BSCPE ’97) and Christina Hammock (BSEE ’01, BSPhysics ‘02).