Jayson Johnson, from Silver Spring, Maryland, will be pursuing a PhD in aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford School of Engineering after earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Howard University. Jayson is interested in using computational methods and machine learning to accelerate engineering design and build systems that expand access to technological opportunities. His research experience spans institutions including MIT’s Hypersonics Research Lab, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and Howard University, where he worked on problems in aerodynamics, heat transfer, and scientific machine learning. He also co-founded Rooted, a platform designed to improve access to information and resources for students. Jayson has been recognized as a Karsh STEM Scholar, Patti Grace Smith Fellow, Howard University Empower Pitch Competition winner, and American Society of Mechanical Engineers research award recipient.