Aerospace engineering senior Mike Wietstruk is the first Auburn University student to receive the merit-based scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation and was one of 50 students from 36 universities across the nation to be awarded.

Along with receiving the prestigious award, he also became a member of the Astronaut Scholar Honor Society.

The Astronaut Scholarships are awarded to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students in their junior or senior year of college who intend to advance in their field or continue their research upon completion of their degree.

This year’s recipients were honored at the 2018 Innovators Gala, which was held in August in Washington D.C.

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation was founded in 1984 by six of the surviving Mercury 7 astronauts to ensure the United States would remain the global leader in technology.