September 28, 2022

Eyas Ayesh and Velin Kojouharov, undergraduate students in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, have been selected for the 2022 Millennium Fellowship, a joint leadership program of the Millennium Campus Network (MCN) and the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI).

The fellowship is an ambitious program to help make the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UNAI principles a reality. Ayesh and Kojouharov were chosen among a record-breaking 31,397 applicants from over 2,417 campuses across 140 nations for their leadership in sustainable development-related projects that advance the SDGs in their communities. 

Ayesh's project is focused on building an online open learning platform that will provide educational sustainability-related resources to users. The goal of the project is to reduce, and eventually eliminate, the educational barriers to entry to sustainability and provide individuals with the information needed to take on sustainable projects. Ayesh was also awarded the President’s Undergraduate Research Award (PURA) to work on optics research at GTRI. He plans to leverage his experiences in the future to pursue a Ph.D.

Kojouharov is serving as a Campus Director for the Millennium Fellowship. He is working with biomedical engineering student Haaris Jilani to create an outreach program dedicated to teaching Atlanta middle and high school students about bio-inspired robotics and careers in the biology and robotics fields. As a Campus Director, he will also have the opportunity to collaborate with other fellows and assist them with their sustainability projects. Kojouharov conducts research at the intersection of biology and robotics as part of the CRAB Lab and plans on pursuing a Ph.D. after graduation.

As Millennium Fellows, Ayesh and Kojouharov will participate in a semester-long leadership development program to improve their student organizing, partnership building, and community impact skills. The program will be divided into three parts:

1. CONVENE

• Georgia Tech Millennium Fellows will convene on-campus to learn from and challenge each other. Millennium Fellows convene at least 8 times during the program.

2. CHALLENGE

• Students will develop a plan of action for their sessions together, meet to exchange best practices, and think bigger.

3. CELEBRATE

• When the cohort meets their goals and completes the Fellowship graduation requirements, they will earn a certificate of recognition from the UNAI and MCN.

"Students' ongoing pursuit of the Millennium Fellowships reflects Georgia Tech's larger commitment to pursuing solutions on a global scale. The fellowship supports real-world initiatives in sustainable development, providing leadership training and a community of like-minded recipients," said Shannon Dobranski, director of Pre-Graduate and Pre-Professional Advising. "Each year, the Millennium Fellowship helps Georgia Tech students invested in sustainability to identify and connect with each other. It also helps them to refine and articulate their own goals related to sustainability and the impact they hope to have on their community now and in the future."

Over 3,000 Millennium Fellows on 200 campuses in 37 nations are participating in the program this year and the Class of 2022 is on track to engage in projects collectively advancing all 17 SDGs and all 10 UNAI Principles.

Learn more about the Millennium Fellowship here.

How to Apply for This Fellowship and More

Promoting and supporting the Millennium Fellowship is a team effort each year. Pre-Graduate and Pre-Professional Advising works with fellowship administrators to host information sessions and Serve-Learn-Sustain reaches out to the SLS community to spread the word. Students interested in the Millennium Fellowship, or any nationally or internationally competitive award, should follow up by scheduling an appointment with Prestigious Fellowships Advisor, Karen Mura on AdvisorLink.