Baston named 2023 Astronaut Scholar

Materials Science and Engineering has exciting news to share about one of our undergraduate students, Josh Baston. From our previous blog post, we shared that Baston was the recipient of a 2023-24 Wisconsin Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Fellowship. We are now thrilled to share that Baston is also a 2023 Astronaut Scholarship Foundation awardee.  

Astronaut Scholarships are awarded to students in their junior or senior year of undergraduate studies in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics with the intent to pursue research or advance their field upon completion of their final degree. The foundation was started by former US astronauts and NASA scientists with the intension of aiding the United States in “retaining its world leadership in technology and innovation.” Baston is one of only sixty-eight students from the forty-six top colleges and universities across the nation to be named a 2023 Astronaut Scholar. 

At UW-Madison, Baston is currently conducting research with Professor John Perepezko where he investigates the high-temperature oxidation properties of Molybdenum alloys for aerospace applications and is continuing his research this summer at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology in Germany under a German Research Foundation (DFG) fellowship. Outside of academics, Josh is the co-president of the Materials Advantage and American Foundry Society Club, the CAD/Structures leader of Engineering Without Boarders-Guatemala team, and a member of the Wisconsin Track team.