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Michelle Lin and Sage Sherman.

Science and engineering isn’t all equations and calculations.

Policy is increasingly playing a hand in what guides the technical world. That’s why CU Engineering in partnership with the and the have teamed up with Colorado state representatives Chris Hansen and Bob Rankin to bring to life the Colorado Science and Engineering Policy Fellowship.

This fellowship will enable STEM students to pull back the curtain on the public policy arena and help bridge the gap between STEM disciplines and the policy-making process at the state level.

CU Engineering’s own Michelle Lin and Sage Sherman are the first two fellows selected from CU Boulder. And there’s one more slot to fill (apply by April 2, ).

Over the course of the fellowship, Michelle and Sage, along with students from institutions across the state, will learn about the policy-making process at the Capitol while splitting their time between outside activities. These add-ons include visiting institutions where technology and policy intersect, sitting in with committees aligned with the policy interests from their applications, and lastly, researching their own policy proposal.

As part of their fellowship they’ll take part in a legislative boot camp at the Capitol and visit NREL, Google’s Boulder campus, Panasonic, Xcel Energy, National Wind Technology Center and more. They’ll close their capstone research with a presentation day at the Capitol in July.

Michelle Lin has been highly involved with STEM education in her community since moving to Colorado from Taiwan at age 9, from founding a STEM club at her high school to bridge the socioeconomic gap among students interested in STEM to promoting equitable educational opportunities for under-resourced students through the Greenhouse Scholars program. Michelle is a freshman pursuing a double major in aerospace engineering and engineering physics, with a minor in applied math. She hopes to one day set foot on Mars.

“The nexus of STEM and policy gives rise to the opportunity to solve complex, multifaceted challenges,” Michelle said. “I’m incredibly honored and excited to be part of this inaugural class of fellows”

Sage Sherman is a BS/MS concurrent student in the Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department. His master's focus is in bioastronautics, and his research interests are in aerospace biomedicine, space habitat design and artificial gravity solutions. He is a native of Colorado and enjoys backpacking, hiking and reading.

“I am excited to learn how we can use STEM public policy to impact individual lives,” Sage said.

This is just the start of a growing focus on policy in STEM field here at CU Boulder. To learn more and get involved contact phillip.larson@colorado.edu.