This Year NJIT Has the Most Governor's STEM Scholars at the College Level

Written by: Andrew McMains
Published: Monday, December 16, 2024
(L to R) Amiri Hayes, Mukund Maurya, Maira Nadeem, Taylor Pape and Krishi Shah

Five of this year’s Governor’s STEM Scholars are from New Jersey Institute of Technology — the most from any college in the state and the university’s highest total in a single year.

The Highlanders are among a select cohort of 16 college-level scholars and a larger pool of 111 that includes high school students interested in STEM.

Each college scholar plays a leadership role, sharing expertise and offering guidance to a group of about a half-dozen high schoolers as they tackle global problems at a local level.

“These exceptional Highlanders have the knowledge, experience and skills to mentor their younger peers,” said NJIT Provost John Pelesko. “That’s a tribute to how hard they have worked inside and outside the classroom, be it conducting research in a lab or interning at global companies. They’ve also been nurtured by parents, high school teachers and NJIT professors. So, this is a prime opportunity to give back.”

Since the state named its first Governor’s STEM Scholars in 2015, NJIT has supplied 22 such scholars, including nine in the last four years. The program is a partnership of three state entities — the Office of the Governor, Department of Education and Office of the Secretary of Higher Education — the Research & Development Council of New Jersey and leading research companies in N.J.

Here are NJIT’s 2025 Governor’s STEM Scholars, including their affiliations:

Amiri Hayes
Junior majoring in applied mathematics who's also pursuing a master's in artificial intelligence 
Albert Dorman Honors College
Jordan Hu College of Science and Liberal Arts

Mukund Maurya
Sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering
Albert Dorman Honors College
Newark College of Engineering

Maira Nadeem
Senior majoring in biochemistry
Jordan Hu College of Science and Liberal Arts

Taylor Pape
Senior majoring in computer science
Albert Dorman Honors College
Ying Wu College of Computing

Krishi Shah
Sophomore majoring in computer science
Albert Dorman Honors College
Ying Wu College of Computing