The ISASI Rudolf Kapustin Memorial Scholarship

(In memory of all ISASI members who have died)

The Scholarship was designed to foster a new generation of ISASI members by encouraging and assisting college-level students interested in the field of aviation safety and aircraft occurrence investigation.

A fund was established through donations and provides an annual allocation to attend the Annual ISASI Seminar.  If you wish to make a donation to support the awarding of this scholarship please do so here. 

The Scholarship Committee will administer the funds, check that the education program is at a recognized school and applicable to the aims of the Society, assess the applications and determine the most suitable candidate. This committee administers the funds.  Donors and recipients will be advised if donations are made in honor of a particular individual.

Eligibility:

Applicants must be enrolled as full-time students in a collegiate aviation program, which may include courses in

aeronautical/aerospace engineering, aviation operations, aviation psychology, aviation safety and/or aircraft occurrence

investigation, etc., with major or minor subjects that focus on aviation safety/accident investigation. Applicant must not be

employed full-time in the aviation industry. Applicants must also be able to attend the annual ISASI Seminar.

A student who has previously received the annual ISASI Rudolf Kapustin Memorial Scholarship will not be eligible to

apply for it again.

Annual Scholarship Award:

This award includes funded attendance at the ISASI Annual Seminar. An award of $2,000 will be made to the student(s)

who meets the eligibility criteria and is chosen by the Scholarship Fund Committee based on the contents of the

application package including an essay submission. Any expenses above and beyond the amount of the award will be

borne by the recipient. ISASI will assist with coordination and control the expenditure of funds.

In addition, the following are offered to the recipient(s) of the scholarship.

• The winner(s) of the ISASI Rudolf Kapustin Memorial Scholarship will be given 5-10 minutes during the Annual Seminar to present highlights from their papers.

• A one-year membership to ISASI at the applicable membership level.
• The Southern California Safety Institute (SCSI) offers tuition-free attendance to ANY regularly scheduled SCSI course. This includes the two-week Aircraft Accident Investigator course or any other investigation courses. Travel to/from the course and accommodations are not included. More information at http://www.scsi-inc.com/

• The Transportation Safety Institute (TSI) offers a tuition-free attendance to ANY regularly scheduled TSI course. Travel to/from the course and accommodations are not included. More information is available at http://www.tsi.dot.gov/

• The Cranfield University Safety and Accident Investigation Centre (CSAIC) offers tuition-free attendance at its 5-day Accident Investigation course, 50 miles north of London, UK. Travel to/from the course and accommodations are not included. Further information is available from http://www.csaic.net/

• The University of Southern California offers tuition free attendance at one of its courses. Travel to/from the course and accommodations are not included. More information is available at https://aviationsafety.usc.edu/

In addition, the following are offered to the winner(s) of the scholarship.

• A one year membership to ISASI,
• The Southern California Safety Institute (SCSI) offers tuition-free attendance to ANY regularly scheduled SCSI course to the winner of the ISASI Scholarship. This includes the two-week Aircraft Accident Investigator course or any other investigation courses. Travel to/from the course and accommodations are not included. More information at http://www.scsi-inc.com/ ,
• The Transportation Safety Institute offers a tuition free course for the winner of the Scholarship. Travel to/from the course and accommodations are not included. More information is available at http://www.tsi.dot.gov/ ,
• The Cranfield University Safety and Accident Investigation Centre offers tuition-free attendance at its 5-day Accident Investigation course which runs as part of its Masters Degree program at the Cranfield campus. Travel to/from the course and accommodation are not included. Further information is available from www.csaic.net/ ,
• The University of Southern California Aviation Safety and Security Program offers tuition-free attendance to any regularly-scheduled class offered in Los Angeles, Alhambra, Washington, DC, or online. This includes the two-week Aircraft Accident Investigation class. Travel and accommodations are not included.

Application requirements:

1. A full-time student who meets the eligibility requirements stated above and has been enrolled in the aviation program for a duration of at least one year.

2. Applicant must be a member of ISASI to apply for this scholarship (membership application and fees may accompany scholarship application submission).

3. Applicant needs to have demonstrated a genuine interest in aviation safety and accident investigation/prevention. This includes being an active member of their ISASI student chapter (if one exists) or other activities that promote ISASI aims. Activity should be listed on attached résumé. Verification may be required.

4. The student is required to submit a 1500 (+/- 10%) word paper in English, addressing “the challenges for air safety investigators” or the annual Conference theme. The papers will be evaluated on content, original thinking, logic, clarity of expression and topic applicability. Grammar and professional presentation will be taken into account. It is recommended that papers do not discuss ongoing investigations that will not be completed prior to the conference. 

5. The paper is to be the student’s own work and must be countersigned by the student’s tutor/academic supervisor as authentic, original work.

6. Applicant will be required to obtain a letter of recommendation from their professor, academic tutor, or faculty mentor.

7. Applicant will be required to submit a professional résumé or CV that includes activities associated with ISASI’s aims. The applicant must submit this application form, the essay, résumé, and recommendation letter annually by April 30 to ISASI via email to chad.balentine@isasi.org  with the subject line Kapustin Scholarship Application. Any questions should be sent by email to chad.balentine@isasi.org with the subject line Kapustin Scholarship Question.

Some advice to those applying:

1. Applications submitted after April 30 will not be accepted.

2. Handwritten applications are not advisable.

3. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

4. The essay should be in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx); however, the application form, résumé and recommendation letter may be a pdf.

5. Do not discuss open investigations in your essay.

The student must complete the application form (and associated checklist) and submit it to ISASI with their paper by April 30th of the current year.

The papers will be judged on their content, original thinking, logic and clarity of expression.  The Judges decision will be final.

List of Winners

Recipients (Essays are published in Forum)

2025

Modern Technology’s Challenges and Solutions to Air Safety Investigators

Kaitlyn A. Cavanaugh

The Challenges of Investigating Advanced Air Mobility and eVTOL Accidents: A Conceptual Framework

George Clayton  

2024

Improving Eye Witness Testimony (EWT) in Air Accident Investigation Through the use of AI Generative Pre-Trained Transformers
Ben Wright, Cranfield University

Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Investigating Aviation Accidents
Gustave Cortes, Purdue University

2023

The Growing Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Aviation Safety and the Necessity to Create Strong Protocols in the Context of Current Global Conditions and with the Advent of Autonomous Flight
Sebastian Torres, University of Southern California

Employing Artificial Intelligence to Mitigate Professional Bias in Air Safety Investigation
Niall Paul Miranda, Cranfield University

2022

Jun Kwan Chan, Cranfield University

2021

Marcin Makowski, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Ao Sun, Cranfield University
Yifan Wang, Cranfield University

2019

Nur Amalina Jumary, University of New South Wales
Stacey Jackson, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Elisa Marie Vondra, University of Southern California
Alexander Hall, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

2018

Katharina Ertman, Delft University of Technology
Avery Katz, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Ian Low, University of New South Wales
Nicolette Meyer, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

2017

Maria Gregson, The University of Nottingham
Dylan Grymonpre, Carleton University
Mahmood Masood, University of Central Missouri
Ross Rozanski, University of Southern California

2016

Jiaqi Cao, Cranfield University
Taylor Beall, TU Delft
Carly Shoemake, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Andre Woenardi and Yasmeen Syed, University of Southern California

2015

Kiki Faber, TU Delft
Nicolaus Dmoch, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Amy LaRue, University of South California
Mario Pierobon, Cranfield University

2014

Karen Zhao, Purdue University
Jingru Yan, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Stephanie Chow and Stephen Yortsos, University of Southern California
Maria E. Kelly, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Paul McCarthy, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Daan Gorter, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands

2013

Mackenzie Dickson, ERAU
Jason Goodman, ERAU
Camille Burban, Cranfield University
Lauren Sperlak, Purdue

2012

Frederik Mohrmann, Delft
Heidi E. Moats, ERAU
Robert C. Geske, Purdue
Harding D. “Chip” Williams III, ERAU

2011

Ainsely Robson, ERAU
Daniel Scalese, USC

2010

Leight Dunn, Cranfield
Logan Jones, Institute of Aeronautics and Space, Toulouse, FR
Maggie Wong, ERAU

2009

Brian Dyer
Murtaza Telya
Dujuan B. Sevillian

2008

Jennifer Gritton
Catherine Ricafort
Michael Ryan

2007

Marissa LaCoursiere
Ruth Martin
Philip Gregory

2006

Leonardo Ferrero
Sheena D. McCune

2005

Carly D. McQueen

2004

Shannon Harris

2003

Michiel Schuurman
Noelle Brunelle