2026-2027 Scholarship Award Ceremony
2026
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The Society for Underwater Technology, U.S. Branch (SUT-US), is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026-2027 SUT Scholarship Awards.
We extend our sincere congratulations to the seven students selected for this prestigious honor. Through exceptional academic performance, perseverance, and a demonstrated commitment to the field of Underwater Technology, these individuals have distinguished themselves among a highly competitive group of applicants.
SUT-US is honored to support the educational and professional development of these future leaders. We commend each recipient on this achievement and look forward to their continued contributions to advancing the underwater industry.
If you would like to attend the event, please confirm your attendance by emailing mdiaz@sut-us.org to receive an event link. |
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Imo Abasiekong Imo Abasiekong is a graduate researcher in Ocean Engineering: Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire's Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping / Joint Hydrographic Center. His thesis develops HydroCAM, a fixed, synchronized multi-camera photogrammetric system that measures the three-dimensional geometry of vessels as they transit, without contacting the vessel, with passing clearance at bridges as the first application. He is an IHO/FIG/ICA Category-A hydrographer and holds surveyor-in-training credentials in New Hampshire and California, with professional experience in land, offshore and hydrographic surveying. A member of the Society for Underwater Technology, he works on measurement methods for safer navigation and marine infrastructure. |
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Mujeeb Abdulfatai
Mujeeb Abdulfatai, from Nigeria, is a Ph.D. candidate in Marine Science (Physical Oceanography) at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM). He earned a B.Tech. in Marine Science and Technology from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria, and an M.Sc. in Physical Oceanography through the University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin, and Université Toulouse III, France. He further specialized in Observational Oceanography at Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute through the NF-POGO Centre of Excellence, participating in the NoSoAT Atlantic expedition aboard RV Polarstern. His extensive field experience includes oceanographic cruises in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific Ocean, deploying advanced ocean-monitoring instruments. His current research focuses on internal tides, ocean energetics, and improving tidal simulations in HYCOM using U.S. Navy supercomputing resources. Beyond research, he is passionate about STEM outreach, mentoring students through GenSea USM, volunteering at community science events, and serving on the Early Career Scientists Committee of the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans.
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Kylie Cooper
Kylie Cooper is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering in the Exploration Robotics Lab at Johns Hopkins University. Kylie’s research focuses on safe and reliable autonomy for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), including AI-enabled fault diagnosis, risk assessment, and decision-making.
Kylie’s previous work spans space systems, flight hardware development and testing, and mission operations. While pursuing her M.S. in aerospace engineering, Kylie led a NASA-funded project to develop low-cost satellite attitude control hardware and flew on parabolic flights to evaluate the systems in microgravity. Kylie’s long-term goal is to develop trustworthy autonomous systems grounded in real operational constraints. By improving an AUV’s ability to detect, assess, and respond to unforeseen failures, she aims to enable longer-duration, more complex, and higher-risk missions that expand scientific exploration of the ocean and other remote environments.
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Judith Elliot-Adjoh
Judith Elliot-Adjoh is a graduate student in Ocean Engineering at the University of New Hampshire and a Graduate Research Assistant at the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping / Joint Hydrographic Center, a UNH and NOAA partnership. Her research develops Bayesian methods to characterize seafloor sediments from calibrated echosounder data, in support of large-scale seafloor mapping and NOAA's national bathymetry goals. She holds a First-Class Honors degree in Surveying and Geoinformatics from the University of Lagos, is pursuing the IHO Category A Certificate in Hydrography, and aims to build a career in ocean mapping while broadening access to the field for students from underrepresented backgrounds.
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Yuqi Mi
Yuqi Mi is a Ph.D. student in Civil Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, specializing in geotechnical engineering. Her research focuses on soil–structure interaction and innovative foundation solutions for offshore and subsea infrastructure. She is currently studying the performance of seabed anchoring systems, particularly for floating offshore structures. Yuqi earned her M.Sc. in Geotechnical Engineering from Imperial College London, where she investigated the installation and pullout behavior of hybrid seabed anchors under inclined loading. She previously received a B.Eng. in Civil Engineering from Sun Yat-sen University, conducting research on suction anchor extraction behavior. Passionate about offshore geotechnical engineering, Yuqi combines experimental and numerical methods to advance understanding of complex soil–structure interactions and contribute to the development of safer, more efficient, and sustainable offshore infrastructure.
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Maiely Minozzo
Maiely Minozzo is a Geotechnical Engineer at Innovative Geotechnology in Houston, Texas, and a Ph.D. student in Civil Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, specializing in geotechnical engineering. She earned her B.S. in Civil Engineering from the Federal University of Technology – Paraná and her M.S. in Civil Engineering with a focus on Geotechnical Engineering from the Federal University of Paraná (Brazil). Her professional experience includes laboratory testing, data interpretation, and engineering evaluations for onshore and offshore projects, with particular experience in the advanced characterization of marine soils. Her research interests include offshore geotechnics, pipe-soil interaction, and the engineering behavior of offshore sediments. Maiely aims to bridge academic research and industry practice to support safer and more reliable offshore infrastructure.
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Tanya Tebcherani
Tanya Tebcherani is a robotics researcher and Maritime Robotic Software Engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, where her research focuses on cooperative autonomous underwater vehicle swarms and improving collaboration in communication-limited environments. Her interests span multi-robot systems, underwater acoustic communications and networking, decision-making under uncertainty, and machine learning. In addition to her research and engineering work, Tanya is committed to teaching, mentorship, and supporting the development of other engineers and researchers.
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