Northrop Grumman announces 2015 AAA fellowship award

The Northrop Grumman Foundation has announced the recipient of the 2015 Northrop Grumman Foundation-American Australian Association (AAA) Fellowship for advanced research and study in science and technology.

The Foundation will provide sponsorship to Ben Morrell, a doctoral candidate in aeronautical engineering at Sydney University, to undertake advanced studies in the US as part of a five-year commitment to the AAA’s Fellowship program aimed at fostering intellectual exchange between the US and Australia.

The Northrop Grumman Foundation-American Australian Association Fellowship provides an annual scholarship to a highly talented Australian student undertaking research in areas of study focusing on unmanned, cyber, C4ISR and logistics.

This fellowship is offered as part of the AAA’s range of scholarships which provide up to $40,000 for Australia’s brightest researchers to undertake advanced graduate or postgraduate research in the US.

“The AAA Fellowship program is highly competitive and we congratulate Ben on this significant achievement,” Ian Irving, chief executive, Northrop Grumman Australia said.

“It is critical that we invest in Australia’s best and brightest researchers and continue to provide opportunities for the nation’s innovators, engineers, scientists and technicians. Supporting the growth of this important talent pool is essential for Australia’s future.”

Morrell will use the fellowship to undertake research on the development of advanced control systems for robotic spacecraft at Texas A&M University, NASA’s Ames Research Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, beginning in October 2015.

Morrell’s focus will be on the use of cameras to provide vision for robots enabling them to navigate and avoid dynamic obstacles. Such systems are being designed for, and tested on, free-flying spacecraft that would dock with the International Space Station.