Gilroy
– Ben Fohner’s nine-month struggle with application forms and
essays paid off big when he learned he would be one of about a
dozen Americans to study and work in Australia on a Fulbright
scholarship.
Gilroy – Ben Fohner’s nine-month struggle with application forms and essays paid off big when he learned he would be one of about a dozen Americans to study and work in Australia on a Fulbright scholarship.
The Gilroy native will receive an undisclosed sum of money and travel expenses to pursue a master’s degree in commercializing science and technology and will study the transfer of technology from universities to businesses.
“It’s an up-and-coming biotech research area,” Fohner said. “In Australia, (the business-university transfer) is still kind of limited.”
Fohner, 23, hopes that by looking at Australia, where there is poor transfer of scientific discoveries from labs to companies that can utilize the new technology, he can identify factors that retard or catalyze that process and then bring the knowledge back to the United States.
“One thing about going to another country is it lets you come back here with a new perspective, with new eyes,” said Robert Siegel, one of Fohner’s professors at his alma mater, Stanford University.
Fohner – who has never been to Australia – is excited at the opportunity to work and study with residents of another country.
“One of the main purposes of the scholarship is for a cultural exchange,” he said.
Until embarking on his scholarship trip, Fohner will work with the office of technology license at Stanford University and for a biotech-consulting firm in San Mateo to prepare for his journey.
Fohner has a long history of practicing science in the area, having worked at Goldsmith Seeds – a Gilroy-based agra-business specializing in developing new seeds –when he was a sophomore in high school.
With his research there – entitled the Persistence of Xanthomonas in an Ebb and Flow Irrigation System – Fohner earned first prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
“He did a fantastic job on that,” said Darrel Thomas, who oversaw Fohner during his time with the company. “As far as the interns I have contact with, he was obviously one of the brightest, friendliest. I was certainly impressed with somebody that young that had that desire to learn.”
While Gilroy is sure to remain a launching pad in Fohner’s life – his parents still live here – he is unsure what events lay ahead.
“Who knows where I’ll end up in the next five years,” he said. “I can barely see six months from know.”
For now, Fohner plans on enjoying the good news.
“It’s still far enough in the future that I don’t see the challenging points yet,” he said.
