Mihir Pathak (Ph.D. ME '13, MSME '10, BSME '08), has been selected as a Fellow for the extremely competitive and prestigious Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF). He will serve as a Legislative Affairs Specialist at NASA Headquarters in the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, in Washington D.C. The PMF program is a flagship leadership development program for advanced degree candidates created more than three decades ago by Presidential Executive Order in order to create future potential government leaders. This year there were 12,120 applicants, 663 were selected as finalists, and to date approximately 180 have been appointed as Fellows. Dr. Pathak, who was under the advisement of Professor S. Mostafa Ghiaaisiaan in the Georgia Tech Cryo Lab, also previously held the NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship, Georgia Tech Presidential Fellowship, and the George W. Woodruff Fellowship, and was the only PMF finalist selected and Fellow appointed from Georgia Tech.

While at the Woodruff School, Dr. Pathak served as Senator, Representative, and Governor of the Woodruff School for the Student Government Association; Chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student Association; Chairman of the Woodruff School Student Advisory Board; Vice Chairman of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Representative of the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Committee; member of the Woodruff School Steering Committee; and member of Pi Tau Sigma Honor Society. Also, he served as Executive Vice President of Student Government Association; Chairman of the Student Senate; Representative of the College of Engineering Advisory Council; and member of Sigma Beta Rho, Omicron Delta Kappa, and the President’s Council Governing Board, amongst many other service, honor, and leadership organizations.