Kayla Simon ’19, a recent aerospace engineering graduate from Syracuse University, was named the school’s first Hunter Watson Scholar for the 2018-19 academic year.

The annual scholarship, funded through a gift to Syracuse University from the Watson family, honors the life, pas­sion, and entrepreneurial spirit of Hunter Brooks Watson. In 2016, Watson was a rising junior at the school when his life was tragically cut short as a passenger in a distracted driving accident. The new scholarship is modeled after Syracuse’s Remem­brance Scholar program, which commemorates the lives of 35 students lost in the 1988 Pam Am Flight 103 disaster. Selected annually by a university panel, each Hunter Watson Scholar commits to keeping Hunter’s memory alive by articulating and sharing his spirit, passions and accomplishments.

Kayla is an aspiring inventor who, along with fellow engineer­ing student Elizabeth Tarangelo, developed the patent-pending In-Spire wearable inhaler bracelet for asthma patients. During her years at Syracuse, she was awarded numerous commendations for her leadership and entrepreneurial spirit.

Her application for the Hunter Watson Scholar designation revealed experiences and an outlook that mirrored Hunter’s own life. “Growing up,” Kayla wrote, “I never knew what I wanted to be … I liked far too many things to just pick one … from this passion to discover, [I’ve been] led to a desire to choose a wide array of projects that aid in diversifying my perspective on the world around me … imagining the impact I can make in the world.”

One of the responsibilities of each year’s Hunter Watson Scholar is to promote and help select the Hunter Watson Entrepreneurship Awards. These monetary grants, funded by Hunter’s Fund, are awarded to out­standing applicants in the university’s yearly LaunchPad competition. They recognize and assist talented students who, like Hunter did, are passionately pursuing their dream, proposed venture or ideas.

For Kayla, the inspiration to apply to be a Hunter Watson Scholar stemmed as much from an experience parallel to the Watson family’s loss as to her entrepreneurial prowess. “In 2012, two of my close friends died in a car accident on their way to a marching band competition,” Kayla wrote. “They were two immensely positive, bright, and coura­geous girls who brought their all to everything they did.”

“To be selected as the Hunter Watson Scholar is a magnificent opportunity to continue Hunter’s passions and accomplishments, demonstrating to Syracuse University that innovation is innate in all of us,” she continued. “I look forward to paying forward all the knowledge I’ve gained while learning more about Hunter and the values he brought to Syracuse.”

Future Scholars will assist with building and maintaining an archival collection of Hunter Watson memorabilia to be housed in the Syracuse libraries.


Following her 2019 graduation, Kayla Simon was selected by Virgin Orbit to work as a Propulsion Test Engineer at their rocket test site in Mojave, CA. For more information about Syracuse University’s LaunchPad compe­tition, the Hunter Watson Entrepreneurship Awards, or the Hunter Watson Scholar program, please contact LaunchPad http://launchpad.syr.edu/watson-scholar