Anthony Belvin (B.S. mechanical engineering ‘97) is an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. He is the first fellow ever selected to work in this office.

Prior to this fellowship, Belvin served as a senior technical staff member in the Applied Technologies Division at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn.  Before that, Anthony developed engineering solutions for Sandia National Laboratories—Livermore, Ford Motor Company, Pratt & Whitney and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral.

In addition to his undergraduate degree from Georgia Tech, Belvin earned his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Howard University and a PhD in mechanical engineering from Florida A&M University.

Triple Georgia Tech alumnus Anthony Dickherber (B.S. electrical engineering ‘99; M.S. electrical and computer engineering ‘02, and Ph.D. bioengineering ‘08) is an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute.

Previously, Dickherber served as a postdoctoral fellow in 2009 at Georgia Tech’s Nanotechnology Research Center and was a Tech graduate research assistant from 2003 to 2008, as well as a research engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute from 1999 to 2003.  Dickherber also completed a professional co-op assignment at Scientific Atlanta (now Cisco Broadband) in 1997.

Richard A. Simmons (B.S. mechanical engineering ‘93) is serving as an energy officer at the U.S. Department of State, where he supports the Office of International Energy and Commodities by applying technical expertise and support to international policy issues related to energy.

A licensed professional engineer for 15 years, Simmons has concentrated his work in the automotive industry, studying advanced materials, recycling and alternative fuels. Simmons is also a board member and technical advisor of companies based in Atlanta and Brussels, Belgium respectively.

Jacqueline Tront (B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering) is an AAAS Diplomacy Fellow at the U.S. State Department, Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science, Office of Environmental Policy, Division of Environment and Trade. Prior to her selection as an AAAS Diplomacy Fellow, Tront was a postdoctoral fellow in the Institute for Geotechnical Engineering at the ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) in Zurich, Switzerland. Her research focused on applications and development of environmental biotechnology, with an emphasis on microbial fuel cell biosensor development for use in environmental monitoring and soil improvement for natural disaster abatement/avoidance.

Annica Wayman (M.S. in mechanical engineering ‘03 and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering ‘06) is an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the U.S. Agency for International Development in the Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning.

A native of West Chester, Pa., Wayman worked as a senior engineer in medical surgical systems at Becton Dickinson from 2006 to 2010, prior to the fellowship. Wayman was also a National Science Foundation Fellow, Presidential Fellow, FACES Fellow and ARCS Fellow – all at Georgia Tech.

The impact of the AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowships is well known on Capitol Hill and in departments and agencies that have a science-related focus. Since they were founded in 1973, the fellowships have sent more than 2,300 scientists and engineers to work for a year or two in Congress and nearly 20 executive branch agencies and departments. Scores have stayed on to build high-impact careers in government, while others have gone on to leadership positions in education, private enterprise and non-governmental organizations.

This year, for the second consecutive year, the energy, environment and agriculture program area has the largest contingent of Fellows.