The following is a brief summary of our past Banner Scholarship Recipients. They were chosen based on a rigorous set of selection criteria including demonstrated professionalism, ethics and civility in the profession, academic achievement, leadership, and communication skills.

2026 Katherine Barlow

Katherine Barlow is a J.D. candidate at the University of Minnesota Law School, Class of 2027, where she serves on the Minnesota Law Review and its Policy Committee. She earned both a B.S. and M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, combining a strong technical foundation with a growing commitment to intellectual property law. Katie brings substantial practical experience to her legal studies through her work as a Patent Examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, where she reviews patent applications, conducts prior-art analyses, and applies complex legal and technical principles to questions of patentability. Her work has been recognized by the USPTO for quality and rigor, and she previously served as a detailee to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, assisting with biotechnology and chemical patent appeals. She also joined Fox Rothschild as an Intellectual Property Summer Associate.

A non-traditional law student, working professional, and parent, Katie has demonstrated exceptional perseverance, leadership, and service. She co-founded Minnesota Older Wiser Law Students, an organization supporting students entering law as a second career, and serves as its Vice President and mentorship leader. She also volunteers with youth mock trial and mentorship programs, reflecting her commitment to inclusivity, professionalism, and helping others succeed. Faculty and professional references consistently praised her maturity, integrity, work ethic, and collegiality, describing her as an outstanding scholar, writer, mentor, and future leader in the intellectual property profession.

2025 Dasha Ignatova

Dasha Ignatova is the recipient of the 2025 Mark T. Banner Scholarship. Ms. Ignatova is a third-year law student at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where she is in the top 20% of her class and serves as an Intellectual Property Law Fellow. Dasha earned her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and is the first in her family to attend a four-year university. A former Regulatory Affairs Specialist at Boston Scientific, Dasha managed medical device portfolios and advocated for ethical standards in healthcare. At Loyola, she is Vice President of the Intellectual Property Law Society, a mentor of first-year law students, and an active member of IPLAC, ChiWIP, and the Linn Inn. She has also worked as a summer associate and law clerk at Banner Witcoff, where she contributed to patent prosecution and litigation projects. Dasha’s leadership extends to her undergraduate years, where she was Director of Outreach for the Society of Women Engineers and served on the Diversity and Inclusion Board. As a first-generation American whose family emigrated from Ukraine, Dasha is committed to expanding opportunities for women and underrepresented groups in STEM and law. She is recognized for her professionalism, work ethic, and dedication to mentorship and diversity in the IP field.

2024 Samuel Kim

Samuel Kim is the recipient of the 2024 Mark T. Banner Scholarship. Mr. Kim is a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he distinguished himself through academic excellence and a strong commitment to intellectual property law. Samuel holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Auburn University. He is a registered patent practitioner with experience in patent litigation, counseling, and prosecution, having handled over a dozen PTAB proceedings and drafted numerous patent applications. Samuel’s professional journey includes roles as a patent agent at Wolf Greenfield and Fish & Richardson, as well as summer associate positions at WilmerHale and Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He has also served as a judicial intern at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and will clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

2023 Amit Kumar Saha

Amit Kumar Saha is the recipient of the 2023 Mark T. Banner Scholarship. Dr. Saha earned his Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology from West Bengal University in India and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from University of Texas after he emigrated from India. Amit, now in his third year at Santa Clara University School of Law, is in the top 20% of his class. He is the first person in his family to receive an education above high school. Dr. Saha is an active member of the Santa Clara student body and holds several positions. Mentoring is important to Dr. Saha, as he wants to “pay it forward because he would not have survived the first year of law school without his mentors.” Notably, he is also the Co-President of SCU Eats which addresses food insecurity for students. When Dr. Saha was an undergraduate and graduate student, he often did not know when he could afford food. He works very hard obtaining and distributing food donations for students in need (many of whom are also from diverse backgrounds).

2022 Lyell Anderson

Lyell Anderson is the 2022 Mark T. Banner Scholarship recipient. Mr. Anderson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Baylor University before attending the University of Texas School of Law. In addition to being a registered patent agent, he has served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Alan D. Albright at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Mr. Anderson is a Latino man who is a first-generation, highly driven, legal professional. When told that he was not a competitive candidate to attend engineering school, Mr. Anderson took an entire year of consecutive math classes to build his application (which also earned him a partial scholarship). He shows the same commitment to his community as a mentor to a young boy in his hometown neighborhood through Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and as a Dean’s Fellow for first-year law students at his law school.

2021 Amma Addai

Amma Addai is the 2021 Mark T. Banner Scholarship recipient. Before attending Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Ms. Addai earned a Ph.D in Biochemistry from Meharry Medical College, a Master of Science degree in Patent Law from the University of Notre Dame, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Pre-Medicine, Psychology from the University of Tennessee. After earning her M.S. in Patent Law, Ms. Addai passed the patent bar to become a registered patent agent. She has been a scholarship recipient from the American Intellectual Property Law Association and an Intellectual Property Fellow at Loyola School of Law, where she has also earned a merit scholarship. As a woman of color who grew up in Ghana, Ms. Addai is proud of her journey to becoming an associate at an IP boutique law firm here in Chicago, where mentoring, professionalism, civility, and ethics are integral to her practice and to her life.

2020 Shreya Santhanam

The 2020 scholarship winner is Shreya Santhanam, a law student at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. She has a B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Ms. Santhanam is a woman of color and a first generation professional. She has had IP related internships, IP courses, and IP extracurricular activities. She also has had and still holds many leadership positions. While in law school, she is the treasurer of the Space Law Society, the president of the South Asian Law Students, the Symposium Director of the Asian American Law Journal, and the faculty chair for the Womxn of Color Collective. She has a strong interest in a career in IP and strong desire to promote diversity. In her role in the Womxn of Color Collective, she plans luncheons with the women of color faculty to promote them within the community and to help retain them as faculty. As the faculty chair, she also helps advocate for hiring more faculty of color.

2019 Sahara Williams

The 2019 scholarship winner is Sahara Williams, a law student at the Indiana University McKinney School of Law. She has a BS in Civil Engineering from North Carolina A&T State University and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Purdue. Ms. Williams is an African-American woman who grew up in a social-economically depressed neighborhood. She has a fairly severe hearing loss that she had to overcome. However, the experiences she endured molded her to prepare her for the next challenge. She has joined the IP society and is planning to take the patent bar exam. Ms. Williams is a Registered Professional Engineer and ran her own engineering firm for nine years. She seeks to promote and encourage young people, women and minorities in engineering, STEM and the broader community. Ms. Williams worked in an in-house legal department focusing on licensing, data protection and data privacy. Her long term career plan is to help businesses protect their intellectual property and grow their business.

2018 Nikita Bhojani

The 2018 scholarship winner is Nikita Bhojani, a law student at the University of Richmond Law School. She has an undergraduate degree in Foreign Affairs with a minor in Biology from the University of Virginia. Ms. Bhojani is a Muslim Woman and the first generation in her family with a higher education. She was an Intern for Judge Reyna at the Federal Circuit and she is a recipient of the Federal Circuit Bar Association scholarship. She enjoyed clerking and expressed an interest in clerking for a judge in the future. Her focus is on Trademark Law. She is a member of Law Review, VP Law School Council, and involved in the Student Intellectual Property Law Association. Ms. Bhojani participates in the Pro Bono Wills clinic to assist community members with drafting wills. She is working towards completing 120 hours of pro-bono service to achieve her pro-bono certificate upon graduation.

2017 Vincent Escoto

The 2017 scholarship winner was Vincent Daniel Escoto, an honor student at Pepperdine University School of Law. Vincent is described by his professors as possessing passion, integrity and great dedication. He is co-founder and President of Pepperdine’s Intellectual Property Student Association and the Deputy Regional President of the Hispanic National Bar Association. His work at the Ventura County Public Defender’s Office and the Ventura County Veterans Court, as well as his volunteer work with the Transitions Mental Health Association and The American Heart Association, demonstrate his commitment to community involvement. He is the first in his family to pursue higher education and holds a degree in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science. He credits his family for teaching him respect, perseverance and dedication. After law school, Vincent plans a career as an intellectual property attorney.

2016 Luiz Miranda

Luiz and his family moved to the United States from Brazil when Luiz was 13 years old. Despite coming to the U.S. as a teenager, Luiz quickly adapted to the language and culture to become an honors student and attend college. Luiz received his undergraduate degree in Computer Science in 2001 and then spent more than a decade working at Microsoft as a software developer and design engineer. Luiz left that career in 2014 to return home to Miami and attend law school. Luiz has been very active in the law school community and worked hard to help the greater community working in a Health Rights Clinic. Luiz was recognized by his peers with the HOPE Public Service Award. Luiz will graduate from law school in May 2017 and plans to begin a new career as a patent attorney.

2015 Jun Zheng

Our 2015 scholarship recipient was Jun Zheng. Jun has already had a distinguished IP career as a patent agent and has an advanced degree in electrical engineering. He is currently an IP associate at Jones Day. Despite maintaining his excellent academic credentials, he continues to carve out time to volunteer in his community and mentor other students. Jun has overcome significant hurdles during his life and continues to excel regardless of the challenges he faces.

2014 Rinat Shangeeta

Our sixth awardee was Rinat Shangeeta. Rinat is an exceptional individual who has succeeded academically and professionally despite significant challenges. Rinat immigrated to the US from Bangladesh when she was 17. Soon after, she enrolled in Rutgers University’s challenging electrical and computer engineering program and graduated with Highest Honors. While attending undergraduate and law school, and while working at Microsoft Corporation and Merrill Lynch, Rinat has shown that she is a leader committed to fostering diversity and inclusion through service. Rinat is currently an associate for LernerDavid Intellectual Property Law in Westfield, NJ.

2013 Ken Villa

In 2013, we awarded the scholarship to Ken Villa. Ken graduated from NYU magna cum laude and then worked at Google in the Law Enforcement and Information Security group. Ken is of Cuban-Filipino descent and is a first generation immigrant in the US. His diverse background and experiences have motivated him to great accomplishments, academically, professionally and through extensive public service for the less fortunate. In particular, Ken has supported a wide range of service initiatives helping the victims of bullying, domestic violence and persecution in Iraq. In 2010, Ken also raised money and purchased and delivered laptops, school supplies and food to children in the Philippines.

2012 Michelle Pacholec

Prior to law school, Michelle obtained a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology from Harvard Medical School as well as a degree in Chemistry from Williams College. After Harvard, Michelle pursued a six-year career as a scientist, first at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and then at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. Michelle then went to UConn law where she excelled academically. She is now a patent law associate with Finnegan. In her scholarship application, she wrote, “precisely because so many of the people in my life have embraced my diverse identity … I have made a commitment to give back and work toward fostering inclusive environments….”

2011 Fabiola (Rivas) Donnelly

Fabiola, our recipient from Washington College of Law and UC Berkeley, has worked as a Google Policy Fellow at the National Hispanic Media Coalition. Google Fellows work in public interest at the forefront of debate on topics such as Internet regulation and privacy. Fabiola has also served as a Dean’s Fellow at American University researching trademark and copyright law issues. Fabiola is currently in-house counsel for Azteca US.

2011 Damon Gupta

Our second recipient was Damon Gupta, now a graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law and an IP associate at Green, Griffith & Borg-Breen LLP. Damon’s award was reported in India Today, where he is quoted that he is “deeply honored and humbled” to have been recognized, and that he is committed to encouraging other first-generation Indian Americans to pursue their dreams and overcome obstacles.

2010 Amy (Fuetterer) Greywitt

Our first scholarship recipient was Amy Greywitt, who at the time was our own Linn Inn member. Amy is currently an associate at the San Francisco office of Munger, Tolles & Olson. Amy previously served as a Clerk to our own Judge Linn at the Federal Circuit and completed a clerkship for United States District Court Judge Whyte in the Northern District of California.