📋 Tender Overview
Western Digital and the governments of Australia India Japan and the United States alongside fellow founding corporate sponsors Accenture Boeing Blackstone Google and Mastercard jointly announced the Quad Fellowships first cohort of 100 remarkable science technology engineering and mathematics STEM graduate students from the Quad countries. The Quad Fellowship operated and administered by Schmidt Futures is a first-of-its-kind scholarship designed to spur scientific and technological innovation while building ties among and empowering the next generation of STEM leaders.Western Digital is proud to support building the next generation of technologists through the Quad Fellowship said Christine Bastian Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Western Digital. These students will have the opportunity to tackle problems of global importance with extraordinary solutions that creatively bridge STEM with social impact. We applaud this inaugural class and look forward to seeing them make a difference in our world for years to come.The inaugural cohort of Quad Fellows is a diverse and interdisciplinary group of scientists technologists engineers and mathematicians. This dynamic pool of gifted graduates studied at 69 undergraduate institutions across the four Quad countries and more than fifty percent of Fellows identify as women or non-binary. They are focusing on a broad spectrum of disciplines including astronomy biology engineering computer science mathematics oceanography and many more. The cohorts areas of specialization are diverse and impact-oriented including sustainable energy grids solid-state batteries environmental protection and restoration 5G and 6G telecommunications bias-reducing artificial intelligence used in a variety of applications from healthcare imaging to origami-modeled robotics molecular chemical and synthetic biology hypersonics quantum and optical computing cryptography and neuroimaging.Quad Fellows are committed to advancing innovation with a lens of positive social impact and collaboration in the private public and academic sectors in their nation and among the Quad countries. The Fellows will receive access to unparalleled benefits as part of a 10M financial commitment from a group of industry-leading corporate sponsors with track records of driving innovation and technological advancement. These benefits include funding cross-cultural exchange through cohort-wide trips mentorship and participation in regular virtual and in-person workshops on various themes including the intersection of STEM and society ethics and innovation and emerging technologies.This years class of Quad Fellows passed a rigorous selection process designed and operated by Schmidt Futures. Over 3200 completed applications were submitted for consideration. These written applications were assessed for their academic excellence by renowned academics from across the Quad countries in applicants fields. Over 100 professors across 15 STEM disciplines from the Quad countries evaluated applications for their academic rigor and intellectual promise. Fewer than eight percent of applicants advanced to academic interviews conducted by experts in each discipline which further assessed candidates curiosity and academic abilities. Fewer than five percent of all applicants advanced to the final-round panel interviews conducted by C-suite executives tenured professors non-profit Executive Directors government ministers and senior-level officials and other senior leaders from the Quad countries. Panel interviews assessed finalists interest in the intersection of STEM and society capacity to bridge differences and an orientation toward results.The inaugural cohort of Quad Fellows includes two Rhodes Scholars a Schwarzman Scholar a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow a Barry Goldwater Scholar a Commonwealth Scholar a Knight-Hennessy Scholar and a New Colombo Plan Scholar.It is my great privilege to join the four Quad leaders in welcoming our inaugural cohort of Quad Fellows said Tony Woods Executive Director of the Quad Fellowship. The work that our Fellows do during and after their time as Quad Fellows will lead to bold new inventions and generational breakthroughs in STEM that will enrich the globe for generations to come. At the same time our scholars will help to build deeper ties between our four nations and renew the power and possibility of collaborative democracy.
