Whiz Kid: Divine Child Grad Scores NASA, Lockheed Martin Internships

Name: Duncan Miller

Age: 19

Schools: , University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Accomplishment: Duncan Miller’s hard work has paid off significantly since he left Divine Child High School as valedictorian in 2009.

After winning one of only 15 prestigious Shipman Scholarships, which pay for courses and room and board for four years, the budding aerospace engineer has landed two internships–one with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and a second with Lockheed Martin Space Systems, one of the country’s largest aerospace and defense contractors.

Since starting classes at U of M, Miller has met the challenge of the university’s elite aerospace program by maintaining a 4.0 grade point average.

In addition to the Shipman award, Miller also won the Engineering Scholarship of Honor, which is given to top engineering hopefuls.

Key to awesomeness: Miller is a lifelong Dearborn resident, save for three years that his family lived in Mexico. Prior to entering Divine Child, he attended the Dearborn Heights Montessori Center. He graduated from Divine Child with a 4.7 grade point average.

Miller has spent the last two summers learning more about aerospace. Last year, he interned with NASA in Virginia, where he was selected to fly on the famed “vomit comet” at zero gravity. This summer, he’s expanding on that with Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Linda Miller, Duncan Miller’s mother, said her son’s success is not only because he is smart, but because he works hard.

“Duncan did not start out as amazing, but works harder toward his goals than anyone else around him,” she said. “He is the young man that will make that extra effort to talk to a teacher about what he can do to go that extra mile and then does it. If there is something he doesn’t understand, he asks questions so he can learn.”

While at Divine Child, Duncan was captain of the cross country team, a varsity runner for three years, and was a member of the National Honor Society. He earned the grand prize at the 2007 Science Fair of Metro Detroit, which led to a trip to the International Science Fair that year in Albuquerque, N.M. He was also a National Merit Scholar finalist.

Miller also helped raise puppies for Leader Dogs for the Blind since middle school, and continues to take part in clubs and community efforts that help people living in Ann Arbor. At home in Dearborn, he enjoys spending time with his younger brothers, Griffin and Dane.

After he completes his undergraduate degree at U-M, Miller hopes to attend graduate school at either Stanford of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Students face many challenges throughout their school careers–from tests to activities to figuring out what they want to do with their life.

So if you know a student who is working had to make the grade at school–or in life–we’d like to know about it. Everyone deserves a little attention, and we want to tell these stories.

Email your Whiz Kid nominations to Editor Jessica Carreras at Jessica.carreras@patch.com. Please include the name, age, school, achievement and key to awesomeness, as well as a photo. Then come back every Wednesday for our Whiz Kid spotlight. You never know who may be smiling at you from the computer screen.