Botstiber Foundation

Annie Rigby

Botstiber Scholars Program: Congratulations to the Class of 2022

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The Botstiber Scholars Program at Penn State University is proud to announce the graduation of three of our scholars: Flavia Kung’u, Belinda Mativenga, and Joseph Tumwebaze.

All three students frequently received term honors and made Dean’s List. Congratulations to our graduating scholars on all their hard work and accomplishments. The Bostiber Foundation looks forward to hearing all about their future endeavors.

To learn more about the Botstiber Scholars Program, visit our Botstiber Scholars page.

Flavia Kung’u earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Economics. She also received a Presidential Leadership Academic Certificate. Outside of academics, Flavia recently joined the Eta Kappa Nu Association— a global organization dedicated to encouraging excellence in education for the benefit of the public. Flavia enjoys visiting the Arboretum, reading, and listening to country music.

Belinda Mativenga earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering. She also received a Smeal College Business Fundamentals Certificate. She has accepted a full-time position as an Operations Analyst with Goldman Sachs, and will be relocating to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Joseph Tumwebaze earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Sciences and Technology with a concentration in Information Technology Integration and Application. He has acccepted a full-time position with SalesForce, and will be relocating to San Francisco, California.

Botstiber: Edward Amoah in the News

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An international team led by Edward Amoah, a Botstiber Scholar and graduate student in Penn State’s intercollegiate ecology program PlantVillage, was selected as one of 23 teams to receive a $100,000 XPRIZE Carbon Removal Student Award.

PlantVillage has also most recently been awarded an additional $1m XPRIZE for carbon capture work in Africa. The prize, funded by Elon Musk, will be used by the team to demonstrate their capacity to draw down one billion tons of carbon per year in a sound and economically attractive way that benefits low-income farmers in Africa.

PlantVillage was founded as a means for bringing the latest and best Penn State research expertise into the hands of struggling farmers. One critical aim is to make carbon credits publicly verifiable, with real-time monitoring. Another is to raise 200 million farmers out of poverty in Africa by developing a new income stream for them to be paid by customers seeking carbon credits on the global market. The overall vision for the project is to empower these farmers to collectively pull down a billion tons of carbon dioxide every year by planting and growing trackable trees on their land, helping not only themselves but the global community as well.

For more information:

https://www.psu.edu/news/huck-institutes-life-sciences/story/ecology-grad-student-awarded-100k-xprize-carbon-removal/

https://www.psu.edu/news/huck-institutes-life-sciences/story/plantvillage-team-awarded-1m-elon-musk-xprize-carbon-removal/

Botstiber: 2022 Foundation Award

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Congratulations to James Lee of Cumberland County, New Jersey, winner of the 2022 Botstiber Foundation Award at Delaware Valley Science Fairs! James’ project, entitled “How Does the Wheel Orientation of a Holonomic Drive Affect a Robot’s Speed”, has potential applications in many areas including aviation and aeronautics. 

The Botstiber Foundation annually awards a student with an $8000 unrestricted scholarship, distributed at $2000 per year for four years pending maintenance of full-time status and a minimum of 3.0 GPA.

Founded in 1949, The Delaware Valley Science Fairs, Inc. is a non-profit organization sponsored by area companies, foundations, universities, and individual donors. The students are involved in sophisticated research projects that focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) topics in 13 different categories, Team Projects, and (for 6th – 8th grades) Consumer Science.

For more information: https://www.dvsf.org/