America’s first astronauts, known as “the Mercury Seven,” will forever be known as the men who began this country’s journey into space. Twenty-five years after beginning their quest, the surviving astronauts from our original space race launched the Astronaut Scholarship to help ensure the U.S. would be the global STEM leader for the next space races

The Mercury crew would be impressed with what’s happening at SpaceU in 2025: a space MBA, an aerospace medicine program, a HyperSpace Center and three more recipients of the prestigious scholarship they established. This year, the committee chose 74 juniors and seniors from 51 universities, and UCF is one of only three universities with a trio of winners — Keanu Brayman, Kyle Coutray and Sun Latt. Brayman and Coutray are students from the UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science.

Each student reminds us that you never truly know what fuels a person’s trajectory toward discovery until you reflect on the journey that brought them into orbit.

Keanu Brayman

Mechanical engineering student and Burnett Honors Scholar

There’s a good reason Keanu Brayman changed his major a few times before settling on mechanical engineering.

“Space exploration is a broad topic,” he says, “and I want to understand everything — the development of the spacecraft, sending it, landing it and discovering with it.”

His curiosity led him to consider aerospace engineering, robotics, computer science and the ultimate: sitting in a capsule aimed at the moon or Mars.

“Like a lot of kids, I always wanted to be an astronaut,” Brayman says.

A childhood fantasy that began with Legos in the living room has blossomed in multiple labs at UCF. In the Optical Imaging System Lab, he designed a 3D printed housing for optical vision systems with space applications. In the Stephen W. Hawking Center for Microgravity Research, he advanced a rover wheel testbed to simulate conditions on the moon’s surface. Today, in his fourth year, he’s working in the Astrodynamics, Space and Robotics Laboratory (ASRL) researching optimal control on a robotic arm for space proximity operations.

“I never imagined the steppingstones in my life would take me this far,” he says.

He can vividly describe each step, with his mom encouraging him to dream big. When she noticed his interest in science, she and Brayman’s dad saved enough money to buy a Lego robotics kit. They invested in a modest telescope so he could spot Jupiter from their home in South Florida. One night, Brayman’s mom took him to the beach, where they watched the streaking speck of a distant space shuttle launch up the coast.

“That small glimpse made space technology more tantalizing for me,” Brayman says.

No one in his family had a STEM background. They lived paycheck to paycheck, and he didn’t know if college would be affordable. That changed when his FIRST Robotics team visited UCF, where he heard faculty say they wanted students like him to join their research teams.

“It was hard for my mom when I left home,” says Brayman, who earned the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship, “but she knew I needed to follow my ambitions.”

Those ambitions unearthed more steppingstones at UCF. He joined a competitive rocketry team, earned an internship with NASA, and started a club: the Society of Innovation and Neurodiversity in Engineering, a community of students overcoming challenges like ADHD.

And now the Astronaut Scholarship.

“It was always a pipe dream to meet an astronaut someday. But at our ceremony, every time I turned around, I met another astronaut and expanded my network of mentors,” he says.

The support came at a time when Brayman needed it most as he was going through significant personal struggles.

“The scholarship has been a light. It reinforces what my mom always told me: ‘You can achieve anything you set your mind to.’ Her belief in me will always be my driving force,” he says.

Kyle Coutray

Computer engineering and biomedical sciences student, and Burnett Honors Scholar

It may sound modest when Kyle Coutray says, “I don’t absorb complex topics instantly.” Yet this is a senior pursuing two demanding majors, devoting his time at UCF to understanding the most complex system ever discovered — the brain —and turning that knowledge into tools that help people.

Managing material at that level requires discipline, and Coutray relies on habits like writing things down, studying late with flashcards and breaking big ideas into manageable parts. That steady approach reflects a deeper drive, one he credits to both his parents and his faith.

“I truly have the world’s best parents. They always encouraged me to push my limits and become the best version of myself,” he says. “I also believe God blessed me with a healthy mind, and I have a responsibility to use it where I can make the greatest impact.”

That mindset took root in high school, when Coutray launched an apparel brand by teaching himself the step-by-step process from design to sale. While it found success, he sensed there had to be another door into a more meaningful future. That conviction deepened when he came upon a neighbor lying in the road after a skateboarding accident.

“I had done the same thing with my friends countless times, and in an instant his life was changed forever. That was the moment I realized how fragile the brain is. Later, when I began studying neuroscience at UCF, it offered me a way to reconcile that experience and a clear sense of purpose.”

At UCF, Coutray has found ways to act on that purpose. He volunteers for ACEing Autism, where he facilitates adaptive tennis activities for children on the autism spectrum. Even intramural sports have offered him practical lessons that carry into his research.

“During my first year I was juggling so much that I stopped taking care of myself, and my productivity dropped,” he says. “When I got back into sports and focused on my health, everything improved — school, relationships and research. I’m a firm believer that a healthy body is critical to keeping the mind sharp.”

Coutray carries that same philosophy into the intersection of engineering and neuroscience. His focus is on decoding neural signals and developing assistive technologies that restore function and empower people of all abilities. What began as a way to process his neighbor’s accident has grown into a life’s mission: to give people their lives back.

Those interested in the Astronaut Scholarship and other opportunities should reach out to the Office of Prestigious Awards at OPA@ucf.edu.