A student of Prof. Dimitri Mavris, Diaz hopes to defend his doctoral dissertation by December
Manuel Diaz, a graduate research assistant in Georgia Tech's aerospace engineering school, receive scholarship from National Institutes  of Aerospaace 's   Karl Drews, VP of Legal Affairs and
Manuel Manny Diaz, right, is seen here with Karl Drews, for whose son , Martin, the scholarship was named.

Manuel ("Manny") Diaz, a graduate research assistant in the Aerospace Systems Design Lab (ASDL), has been selected to receive the 2020 Martin L. Drews Memorial Scholarship by the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA).

The $500 supplemental scholarship is awarded annually to an exemplary full-time graduate student from one of the NIA's partner universities.This is the second time in 3 years that the Miami, Florida native has been selected for the scholarship.

Diaz earned both his undergraduate and master's degrees from the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering and is now a doctoral candidate working under the tutelage of Regents Professor Dimitri Mavris, the Langley Distinguished Professor in Advanced Aerospace Systems Architecture. As such, Diaz is physically situated at the National Institute of Aerospace in Hampton, Virginia, where he can more easily consult with experts from NASA Langley.

After he earns his doctorate, Diaz hopes to continue his research in academia, focusing on developing advanced designs and methods for space systems. Right now, he is focusing on his dissertation, tentatively titled "An Executable Architecture-based Approach to Performing Analysis of Alternatives of Space Exploration Campaigns."