Thomas Reppert of Mechanicsville, Va., who graduated summa cum laude from the Virginia Tech College of Engineering in May with a bachelor's degree in aerospace and ocean engineering, has been awarded grants for graduate studies from both the U.S. State Department's Fulbright program and the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship program.
Reppert was a student in Virginia Tech's University Honors Program, which nominated him for the Fulbright grant. As a Fulbright scholar, he will receive travel and living expenses and tuition for graduate study and research during the 2007-2008 academic year at the University of Zaragoza in Spain.
At Zaragoza, Reppert will study celestial mechanics and numerical analysis in the university's Department of Applied Mathematics. He also will participate in the European Space Agency's Student Space Exploration and Technology Initiative, which plans to launch the European Student Earth Orbiter in order to test hardware for future interplanetary missions.
Reppert said that he looks forward to becoming involved with a Salsa dancing group while he is in Spain, as that form of Latin dancing is one of his favorite hobbies.
After completing his studies at Zaragoza, Reppert plans to use his NSF fellowship to earn a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The fellowship will provide three years of funding for graduate school, including a tuition supplement and a stipend.
In addition to earning a degree in engineering at Virginia Tech, Reppert completed a minor in Spanish and embarked on three journeys to Spanish-speaking countries. He traveled to Guatemala as part of a food and medical supply relief effort; participated in a student exchange program with La Universidad Veracruzana in Xalapa, Mexico; and presented a paper on orbital mechanics research at a celestial mechanics conference in Jaca, Spain.
While at Virginia Tech, Reppert conducted research under the guidance of aerospace engineering professors Christopher Hall and Hanspeter Schaub. As a result of his research, Reppert had a paper published in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Student Journal and received a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Honorable Mention. He also completed an internship at the Boeing Company's Satellite Development Center in Southern California.
As an undergraduate Reppert was named to the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society and the Sigma Delta Pi Spanish Honor Society. He also was active in the Virginia Tech chapter of AIAA, Circle K International, and Salsa Tech.
Upon completing his Ph.D., Reppert would like to pursue an academic career, conducting research in spacecraft dynamics and control and establishing an engineering student exchange program between the U.S. and Spain.
"Wherever I go and whatever I study, I will always consider myself a Hokie," Reppert said after receiving his undergraduate diploma in May. "There really is no place like Virginia Tech."