Engineer Ryan Peng ’25 is among a group of Brown University students who have received Fulbright awards for the 2025-26 academic year to further academic study in locations across the globe. Peng plans to work toward his master of science in Integrated Product Design at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands after graduating with his design engineering degree from Brown.
While an undergraduate at Brown, Peng also earned a bachelor of arts in computer science, and served as teaching assistant for ENGN32 - Intro to Engineering: Design for one year, followed by two years as a head TA. He spent two years on the College Curriculum Council and its Independent Concentrations subcommittee during his sophomore and junior years. Peng was a student voice in the development of the design engineering undergraduate concentration, which launched in August of 2023.
Among his many projects as a student, he completed two semester-long class projects working with Associate Professor Nora Ayanian’s ACT Lab that involved painting with drones; one with paint and one with light. His senior capstone was an independent study using a wearable pendant with multi-sensory data and current artificial intelligence technology to capture life’s significant moments. Peng also served as co-chair of the student group Better World by Design, a Brown-RISD organization which brings speakers from around the world to campus to talk about how design improves lives. He has been an editor and writer for The Critical Review.
The program he will join at TU Delft focuses on the holistic approach required to create innovative, user-centered, and sustainable products in today’s complex world by blending engineering, technology, and design. “My interest in the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at TU Delft stems from its unique blend of technical and creative education, as well as its rich history spanning over fifty years,” Peng said. “I am eager to tap into the long tradition of design in the Netherlands and Europe, and the well-established program internationally recognized for design education excellence.
“Not only is TU Delft one of the few schools to offer a Fulbright focused on design, but they are also a technical school first – many schools teach design from an art approach, which doesn't align as closely with my background as an engineer. The experiences there will broaden my understanding of design’s cultural and societal impacts, and upon returning to the United States I plan to leverage the knowledge, skills, and networks gained at TU Delft to contribute to the development of innovative products focused on improving quality of life.”
Brown has ranked as one of the top three student Fulbright producers in the nation for the past nine years, earning the highest spot on the list in 2024, 2021, 2018, 2017 and 2016; the No. 2 rank in 2023, 2020, and 2019; and the No. 3 spot in 2022. The U.S. Department of State, which oversees the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, will release data for the 2025-26 award cycle next spring.
The School of Engineering at Brown has produced nine Fulbright winners in the past nine years, including Leanne Block ’17 (France), Isabelle Bauman ’19 (Denmark), Hope McGovern ’19 (Austria), Kit Sum Wu ’19 (Japan), Julia Henke ’22 (Nepal), Mariah Guevara ’23 (Spain), Brendan McMahon ’24 (Taiwan) and Benjamin Schornstein ’24 (Switzerland).
Founded in 1946, the Fulbright program promotes international peace through intellectual and cultural exchange. Applicants are selected based upon their academic and professional records, the quality and achievability of their proposals, and their capacity to engage culturally with their host communities. Notable Fulbrighters include 62 Nobel Laureates, 93 Pulitzer Prize winners, 82 MacArthur Fellows, 44 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.