PhD student earns prestigious 2025 Draper Fellowship

Nicole Rote has earned a major fellowship from Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Draper Laboratories. 

Rote, a PhD student in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, has been named a 2025 Draper Scholar.

Scholars in the program receive funding support and are paired with a member of the Draper's technical staff while they conduct research in fields of mutual interest.

Rote's work will focus on modeling and predicting pilot spatial disorientation.

"I initially became interested in spatial disorientation research while working with pilots as a flight test engineer. Spatial disorientation has severe consequences, and improved prediction can enable life-saving countermeasures," Rote said.

Rote earned her bachelor's in mechanical engineering from Purdue University. After graduating, she worked at Boeing Research & Technology in Loads and Dynamics analysis and testing, supporting efforts from F/A-18 flight testing to spacecraft vibration and shock testing. 

She started her PhD at CU Boulder in 2023.

This is not Rote's first major fellowship. She is also a recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program award.