Every year, the AEOP Membership Council shines a spotlight on outstanding students, educators, and mentors who have made a lasting impact through AEOP programs. These awards recognize dedication to advancing STEM education, fostering innovation, and inspiring the next generation of STEM leaders. These individuals aren’t just participants—they’re change-makers and innovators.

This year, we are proud to highlight the winners of the Community Service, All-Star, Educator of the Year, AEOP Mentor of the Year, Renaissance, Future Leader, Rising Star, and the inaugural Pioneer in STEM Education Award—presented posthumously to Douglas C. Wong for his lifetime of dedication to STEM outreach.

Meet this year’s awardees—and help us recognize their remarkable contributions to the AEOP community and beyond.

Douglas C. Wong – Pioneer in STEM Education Award (Posthumous)

The first-ever Pioneer in STEM Education Award honors Douglas C. Wong, who passed away earlier this year. Doug devoted his life to advancing STEM opportunities for young people, leading programs like GEMS, JSHS, Bring Your Child to Work Day, and STEM for Education Outreach. Known for his passion, energy, and mentorship, Doug inspired countless students, colleagues, and future STEM leaders.

Doug’s legacy extended beyond organizing programs—he brought the latest Army technologies to competitions, mentored junior scientists, and created hands-on engaging experiences that made science come alive. Whether he was wheeling crates of equipment across parking lots or volunteering as a chef to provide meals for students, Doug’s energy and dedication left an enduring impact on the STEM community.

Through this award, AEOP honors Doug’s legacy: a true leader whose vision, mentorship, and commitment to STEM education will continue to inspire and shape the community for years to come.

Gordon Chen – Renaissance Award

Gordon Chen’s STEM journey started with AEOP. From building distance sensors during GEMS to collaborating with mentors and peers through STEM Foundations and the Membership Council, he began shaping his career goals.

Outside of AEOP, Gordon is researching with NASA GeneLab for High Schools, interning at NASA Ames, and working as a watershed explorer, testing water quality in ponds, creeks, and marine ecosystems. He’s developed a waste-sorting app called WasteRec and mentors younger students, helping make science more accessible and meaningful for others. 

Winning the Renaissance Award gave Gordon the confidence to dream bigger and lead bolder. 

Gordon hopes to continue doing research, mentoring other students, and giving back to the community. He also wants to work on water quality and space biology projects, combining his passion for environmental science with space research to solve real-world problems.

Ashirvad Chourasia – Rising Star Award

Ashirvad Chourasia participated in AEOP’s High School Internships and Fellowships program at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, where he gained hands-on experience using tools like a Scanning Electron Microscope to study bacteria on patterned, superhydrophobic surfaces.

Being part of a government-funded STEM program helped Ashirvad see just how much work happens behind the scenes to support science and education in the U.S. For him, winning this award isn’t just something he’s proud of—it’s a push to keep going. His goal? To become an MD, Ph.D. and a doctor who leads with science, service and compassion.

Ashirvad believes confidence opens doors. His advice to other students is that if something sparks your interest, follow it. Apply, reach out, ask questions, mess up, learn—just go for it. He says that programs like AEOP exist to help you grow, and you’ll be surprised how far you can go just by saying yes to new opportunities.

Dr. Barbara Dunham – Mentor of the Year

Dr. Barbara Dunham participated in GEMS, eCYBERMISSION, Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, and RESET and credits AEOP with giving her countless opportunities to train and collaborate with fellow educators in STEM. Her favorite moments have come from working with others and learning patience throughout the process. She plans to keep training educators and engaging students in STEM activities, hoping to inspire persistence in anyone starting their STEM journey. 

Tiffany N. Jones – Educator of the Year

Tiffany N. Jones has been deeply involved with AEOP programs like RESET and eCYBERMISSION over the past several years, bringing authentic research experiences into her classroom. With a unique background that blends engineering, culinary arts, and manufacturing, she found her true calling in STEM education. AEOP introduced her to the many civilian opportunities within the Department of Defense, helping her show both students and teachers that service doesn’t always mean wearing a uniform; there are powerful roles in innovation, research, and national security that shape the future behind the scenes.

Earning this award reaffirms her commitment to building teacher pipelines, supporting curriculum design, and bridging classroom learning with real-world applications. Her next focus is scaling K–12 to industry pathways and expanding STEM access and equity across Georgia. AEOP has taught Tiffany to lead boldly, create opportunities, and use her voice to shape impactful, inclusive STEM programs.

Her advice to aspiring STEM learners: “Don’t fear failure; every misstep brings valuable lessons. Keep growing, keep iterating, and be unapologetically curious.”

Sofía López – Future Leader Award

Sofia Lopez kicked off her AEOP journey with STEM Foundations in the summer of 2024, followed by the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) in the winter of 2025, sparking her passion for STEM. 

Now, she’s an ASPIRE intern at The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, working with the maritime robotics group. There, she is developing a wave energy system and upgrading an underwater drone with laser scanning. She’s also passionate about giving back. Whether mentoring younger students through the Cubes in Space program or judging K-5 science fairs, she’s showing what’s possible for the next generation of STEM thinkers.

Sofia, a rising senior, hopes to study mechanical or aerospace engineering in college and keep designing experiments that make space exploration more inclusive.

Her advice? “Even when all the odds are against you, give it your all.”

Ashwathi Menon – All Star Award

Ashwathi Menon’s journey with AEOP started in 2022 through the High School Internship Program and continued into the Undergraduate Internship Program in 2024. Her first experience working in the neuro trauma lab at Walter Reed pushed her out of her comfort zone and showed her how much she loved research. Over the years, AEOP has helped her grow from a curious student into someone who feels confident contributing to real-world science.

Winning this award makes her feel seen. It’s a reminder that all the long hours, tough experiments and learning curves were worth it. Ashwathi hopes to keep building on that foundation by exploring brain development and Army health more deeply, while also working at the intersection of science, health education, and accessibility.

Her advice to other students is to be curious, ask questions, find mentors and to not fear messing up.

Ashwathi is currently studying Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), working at the Women’s Center, and preparing for medical school.

Vivian Raj – Community Service Award

Vivian Raj’s STEM journey started with the GEMS program at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, where she participated for four consecutive summers from 2020 to 2023. GEMS was the first place she felt like a real scientist—wearing a lab coat, using a pipette, and recording observations in a lab notebook. Those early experiences sparked a deep curiosity and gave her skills she now applies as an intern at a gastrointestinal cancer research lab at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Inspired by AEOP, Vivian founded and now leads the River Hill STEM Mentors Club, a program that has brought hands-on science education to over 360 elementary students across Maryland. Since launching in 2023, the club has trained more than 70 high school mentors and supported 22 Division A Science Olympiad teams with weekly lessons and lab-based activities. She brings microscopes into classrooms and recreates experiments like creating “elephant toothpaste” to make science fun and tangible—just like GEMS did for her.

One of the most valuable lessons AEOP taught her is that science and service go hand in hand—and that curiosity, paired with compassion, can create lasting impact.

Looking ahead, Vivian hopes to become a military physician and serve at Walter Reed or a VA hospital, helping veterans heal both physically and mentally. In her senior year, she plans to grow STEM Mentors even further, organize a TEDx event, and continue her service through volunteering and creative storytelling, like making biography posters to honor WWII veterans.

The best advice she’s ever received is that “Nothing done for children is ever wasted.”