The SOM Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of the 2025 Structural Engineering Fellowship.Applications to this years Structural Engineering Fellowship should conduct original research that contributes to the topic, Advancing Toward a Water-Secure Future. The deadline to apply is March 14. The $20,000 Structural Engineering Fellowship is awarded annually to a student currently enrolled in a masters or PhD program or in the final year of their bachelors program based in the United States who specializes in structural engineering to conduct independent travel and research that contributes to the SOM Foundations current topic.The Structural Engineering Fellowship was created in 1998 to support research that has the potential to influence the practice and teaching of how structures can positively impact our built environment. Advancing TowardaWater-Secure FutureAs shared during the United Nations 2023 Water Conference, two billion people lack access to safe drinking water, 40 percent of the worlds population is affected by water scarcity, agriculture demands alone account for 70 percent of water usage, more than 90 percent of disasters are water-related, and pressure on freshwater is projected to increase by more than 40 percent by 2050.From macro multinational ecosystems to microclimates, there is an urgent need for bold and collaborative solutions toamyriad of existing and future water-related challenges. This year, the SOM Foundation will direct its support toward proposals that address the complex relationship between water, people, and the built environment. Creatingasustainable, equitable, and water-secure future will require innovative and multidisciplinary ideas that shape long-term policies, define comprehensive plans, and identify immediate actions. JuryThe 2025 Structural Engineering Fellowship jury will be led by Yunlu Shen, associate principal at SOM in New York, and will include: Christopher Cerino (vice president and national technical director of Structural Engineering, Urbanism, and Planning at STV) Negar Elhami-Khorasani (associate professor in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at the University at Buffalo) Alexis Taylor (vice president of Climate Resilience, NYC Economic Development Corporation)About the SOM FoundationFounded in 1979, the SOM Foundations goal is to advance the design professions ability to address the key topics of our time by bringing together and supporting groups and individuals, each with the highest possible design aspirations. The Foundations award programming was established in 1981 and currently offers six annual awards across the United States, Europe, and China. The awards support students and faculty of architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, urban design, and engineering to undertake rigorous interdisciplinary research that can help shape our future.