Individuals affiliated with MIT secure 2025 Hertz Foundation Fellowships

Individuals affiliated with MIT secure 2025 Hertz Foundation Fellowships

The Hertz Foundation announces its recent fellows, awarding eight MIT affiliates with a five-year research grant, totaling up to $250,000 each. This generous funding enables recipients to independently delve into groundbreaking research. The lucky scholars are Matthew Caren '25, April Qiu Cheng '24, Arav Karighattam, starting his Ph.D. at MIT this fall, Benjamin Lou '25, Isabelle A. Quaye '22, MNG '24, Albert Qin '24, Ananthan Sadagopan '24, and Gianfranco (Franco) Yee '24.

These new Hertz Fellows embody the future of scientific breakthroughs, significant engineering achievements, and influential thought leadership, according to Stephen Fantone, chair of the Hertz Foundation board of directors and CEO of Optikos Corp. These chosen few will guide research teams, hold influential positions in government, and head major corporations and startups that impact communities and the world.

The chosen scholars gain more than just funding; they have access to Hertz Foundation programs throughout their lives, such as events, mentoring, and networking. They join a formidable community of more than 1,300 former Hertz Fellows since the fellowship's establishment in 1963. Notable alumni include Nobel laureates, Breakthrough Prize winners, MacArthur Foundation "genius awards" recipients, Turing Award winners, Fields Medalists, and National Medal of Science and Technology winners.

Now, let's introduce you to a few of the MIT recipients and their impressive achievements:

Matthew Caren '25: A Jack-of-all-trades, Matthew excels in electrical engineering, computer science, mathematics, and music. He's worked on large language model systems, bioinformatics algorithms, and expressive digital instruments at Apple, Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, and MIT's CSAIL and MIT Music Technology Lab. He plans to pursue a doctorate at Stanford.

April Qiu Cheng '24: A quick study, April received a physics degree from MIT in just three years. Her research focuses on black hole phenomenology, gravitational-wave inference, and the use of fast radio bursts. She's received several awards, including an MIT Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award and the Astronaut Scholarship. Since graduating, she's been a Fulbright Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, studying gravitational-wave cosmology. She'll start a doctorate in astrophysics at Princeton in the autumn.

Arav Karighattam: By 14, Arav had completed most of the physics and math courses at the University of California, Davis, and he graduated from Harvard University in 2024. Fascinated by algebraic number theory and arithmetic geometry, he aims to uncover the secrets hidden within Diophantine equations. Passionate about mitigating climate change and biodiversity loss, he will attend MIT to pursue a Ph.D., also in mathematics.

Benjamin Lou '25: Benjamin graduated from MIT in May with a degree in physics and is on a mission to discover connections between the fundamental truths of the universe. He's honored with the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and plans to pursue a doctorate at MIT, focusing on unifying quantum mechanics and gravity to find experimental predictions. Despite living with spinal muscular atrophy—making scratchwork untenable—Benjamin has developed unique learning methods based on mental visualization. He's also the co-founder and leader of the MIT Assistive Technology Club, dedicated to empowering those with disabilities using innovative technologies.

Isabelle A. Quaye '22, MNG '24: Isabelle earned an electrical engineering and computer science degree from MIT and a minor in economics. Awarded prestigious fellowships and scholarships, she's also the recipient of the Albert G. Hill Prize. While working on her Master's at MIT, she delved into theoretical computer science and systems and is currently a software engineer at Apple. Giving back to the STEM community, she's taught programming and informatics to high school students in the U.S. and Ghana.

Albert Qin '24: Albert majored in physics and mathematics at MIT and has a passion for biology. He researched single-molecule approaches in living cells and studied cell circuits that control animal development. Inspired by his mentors, he hopes to become a teacher and mentor for the next generation of scientists. Currently, Albert is pursuing a Ph.D. at Princeton, focusing on neural networks and the behavior of both artificial and biological neural networks.

Ananthan Sadagopan '24: Despite obtaining his BS in chemistry and biology at MIT in three years, Ananthan is no slouch. He published as the first author in top journals like Cell while still an undergraduate. His research focuses on the development of new therapeutic strategies for intractable diseases. Ananthan also holds patents related to his work on cancer dependency prediction and drugging TP53. Currently, he's pursuing a doctorate in biological and biomedical science at Harvard University.

Gianfranco (Franco) Yee '24: Franco majored in biological engineering at MIT, conducting research on the gut microenvironment. He helped develop a novel gut-on-a-chip platform for culturing organoids, and his senior thesis extends this work to the microbiome. Franco is dedicated to increasing access to STEM resources in underserved communities and has co-founded Momentum AI, an educational outreach program that teaches computer science to high school students in Greater Boston. In addition, he's worked with MIT Amphibious Achievement and the MIT Office of Engineering Outreach Programs. Franco is now attending the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School to leverage the gut microbiome for innovative therapeutic treatments.

1. The Hertz Foundation, known for its generous funding, has announced its recent fellows, awarding eight MIT affiliates with a five-year research grant worth up to $250,000 each.
2. These fellowships enable recipients to independently delve into groundbreaking research.
3. Matthew Caren '25, one of the recipients, excels in electrical engineering, computer science, mathematics, and music.
4. April Qiu Cheng '24 received a physics degree from MIT in just three years and focuses her research on black holes and gravitational waves.
5. Arav Karighattam, another Hertz Fellow, completed most of the physics and math courses at the University of California, Davis, by the age of 14.
6. Benjamin Lou '25, despite living with spinal muscular atrophy, has developed unique learning methods based on mental visualization.
7. Isabelle A. Quaye '22, MNG '24, completed an electrical engineering and computer science degree at MIT and is currently a software engineer at Apple.
8. Albert Qin '24 graduated from MIT with a degree in physics and mathematics and has a passion for biology.
9. Ananthan Sadagopan '24, who published as the first author in top journals like Cell while still an undergraduate, focuses his research on the development of new therapeutic strategies for intractable diseases.
10. Gianfranco (Franco) Yee '24, who majored in biological engineering, conducts research on the gut microenvironment and has co-founded an educational outreach program, Momentum AI.
11. The Hertz Foundation's generous funding goes beyond research grants, offering programs for networking and mentoring, as well as access to a community of influential alumni.
12. Notable alumni of the Hertz Foundation include Nobel laureates, Breakthrough Prize winners, MacArthur Foundation "genius awards" recipients, Turing Award winners, Fields Medalists, and National Medal of Science and Technology winners.
13. These eight MIT students embody the future of scientific breakthroughs and engineering achievements.
14. The Hertz Fellows are expected to guide research teams, hold influential positions in government, and head major corporations and startups.
15. These chosen scholars have a wide range of interests, including chemistry, physics, biology, computer science, and neuroscience.
16. The Hertz Foundation's fellows' research projects span various fields, including space, climate, and medicine.
17. Clinical applications, quantum physics, and space-and-astronomy are among the research areas these fellows will explore.
18. This generous funding and the opportunities it provides will enable these students to contribute significantly to the realm of science, technology, education, and the environment.

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