Todd Mitchell, an Information Technology student at USF Sarasota-Manatee’s North Port location, will receive full tuition and fees, a stipend of $25,000 per year, a paid summer internship, and a guaranteed job after graduation.  He has accepted a civilian position with the Quantico, Virginia Marine Corps Systems Command to begin in 2012.  Marine Corps Systems Command is the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ agent for acquisition and sustainment of systems and equipment used to accomplish their war/fighting mission.

Mitchell had been in the Navy for 20 years and worked as a civilian in retail management before deciding to go back to college to get a degree in Information Technology.  He chose USFSM for its convenient North Port location and its real-world training that he knew would be applicable in the workforce.

“My family was already established in North Port, so I needed a convenient degree program option, and USF Sarasota-Manatee was exactly what I was looking for,” Mitchell said. “I liked that the IT program was actually teaching job skills that would make you employable, as opposed to business theory that doesn’t always apply in the real world.  The classwork I’ve done here is real-world stuff that I’m going to use in my career.”

Much of the real-world training that Mitchell has gotten at the university includes a specialization in Internet Security, which will be useful as he does research on cyber warfare for the Marine Corps.  He believes that his university experience and previous experience with the military helped him get the position, which was offered to only 300 of the 3,000 applicants who applied for the scholarship through the Office of National Scholarships.

The SMART Scholarship for Service Program is an opportunity for students pursuing degrees in STEM disciplines to receive full scholarships and employment upon degree completion. In the video above SMART Scholar, Ryan Swindle discusses his involvement with his work in astronomy related to his SMART award working with the United States Naval Observatory in Washington DC.

Related: More videos of SMART fellows – NC State Students Receive NDSEG and SMART Fellowships – Students Attend 2009 SMART Orientation in Monterey

The NASA Aeronautics Scholarship Program, which invests in the educational development of the aeronautics workforce by providing opportunities to attract undergraduate and graduate students to the aeronautics and related fields, sent out notifications late last week.

The Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation Scholarship, which also let applicants know their status late last week, is a scholarship for service program which gives awardees a fully scholarship for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.

Notifications of awardees were sent out early this week for the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program. This fellowship supports graduate students who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.

Congratulations to all applicants and awardees for all your hard work!

SMART has been established by the Department of Defense (DoD) to support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The program aims to increase the number of civilian scientists and engineers working at DoD laboratories.

Eligibility requirements for applicants include:
*Must be a U.S. citizen and at least 18 years of age or older as of August 1, 2010.
*Able to participate in summer internships at DoD laboratories
*Willing to accept post-graduate employment with the DoD
*Must be in good standing with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (as calculated by the SMART application)
*Pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in one of the disciplines listed on the About SMART page

SMART has been established by the Department of Defense (DoD) to support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The program aims to increase the number of civilian scientists and engineers working at DoD laboratories.

Eligibility requirements for applicants include:
*Must be a U.S. citizen and at least 18 years of age or older as of August 1, 2010.
*Able to participate in summer internships at DoD laboratories
*Willing to accept post-graduate employment with the DoD
*Must be in good standing with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale (as calculated by the SMART application)
*Pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in one of the disciplines listed on the About SMART page

Image provided by http://cisr.nps.edu

As part of the orientation, representatives from various defense firms and military forces will be on exhibition and will meet with the students.

Students who were accepted into the SMART Program will receive the following:

• Full tuition and education related fees (does not include items such as meal plans, housing, or parking)
• Cash award paid at a rate of $25,000 – $41,000 depending on prior educational experience (may be prorated depending on award length)
• Paid summer internships
• Health Insurance reimbursement allowance up to $1,200 per calendar year
• Book allowance of $1,000 per academic year
• Mentoring
• Employment placement after graduation

The 2010 SMART Program application will be available online on August 15, 2009.

Cory Kleinheksel will be graduating with his BS in Computer Engineering this semester and will begin pursuing his PhD in embedded and sensor systems in the fall. Kleinheksel explains, “My proposed research is for a middleware system that emphasizes modular concepts for improved integration of sensor node data and high-level applications that would use the data.”

Joseph Miller is currently pursuing his PhD in Mechanical Engineering. His advisor, Terrence Meyer, is thrilled about Miller’s achievements throughout his academic career. Meyer exclaims, “Throughout his career and academic experiences, Joe has developed the ability to think like a researcher. He looks for the part of our understanding that is missing and develops a systematic way to address it. His excellence in academics and research deserves to be recognized with this great honor.” While pursuing his undergraduate degree, Miller was also a recipient of Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) scholarship. He later on achieved the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship in 2007.

Raathai Molian graduated with her BS in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State in 2008 and will be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the fall to continue her studies in Mechanical Engineering. Molian has yet to specify a research plan, however she will continue her research in the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity at MIT. Molian explained, “The award offers me flexibility and independence in my research. It provides me with a solid foundation to build upon as I earn my PhD.”

Douglas D. Osheroff

1968 GRFP Fellow, Douglas D. Osheroff,received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1996 for discovering the superfluid phase of 3He. He shared the prize with fellow physicists David Lee and Robert C. Richardson.

Osheroff made the discovery of the superfluid phase of 3He while pursing his Ph.D at Cornell University in 1973.

“We discovered our mysterious phase transitions in my Pomeranchuk cell in November 1971, and almost by magic, Venky called me up in early December with good news,” Osheroff explains.

Osheroff continues his accomplishments as a professor at Stanford University in the Departments of Physics. He was also elected to serve on the Space Shuttle Columbia Investigation Panel, and currently serves on the Board of Advisors for Scientists and Engineers for America.

For more information on Dr. Osheroff as well as many other GRFP Fellows, please visit the NSFGRFP Profiles of Fellows site.

Related Links
Douglas D. Osheroff: Nobelprize.org Autobiography
Stanford University Department of Physics Profile
Osheroff’s presentation on “How Advances In Sciences Are Made”

“I am giving many public lectures, to help the public understand the work we have done and hope to do in the future, and to inspire young people to be as excited about science as I am.” Dr. John Mather

Dr. John Mather is currently a Senior Astrophysicist in the Observational Cosmology Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He attended Swarthmore College in 1964 and in 1968 was a recipient of National Science Foundation Fellowship which he used to fund his master’s and doctoral degree in physics at University of California, Berkeley.

As a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, he led the proposal efforts on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). The success of COBE was the outcome of prodigious team work involving more than 1,000 researchers, engineers and other participants. John Mather lead the project and was the main party responsible for the experiment that revealed the blackbody form of the microwave background radiation measured by COBE. His colleague, Dr. George Smoot, had the main responsibility for measuring the small variations in the temperature of the radiation on the COBE project.

In 2006 Dr. John Mather and Dr. George Smoot were recognized jointly for their exemplary work on COBE and received the Nobel Prize in Physics. From the years 1980 to 2006 Dr. Mather wrote The Very First Light on the process of creating COBE and continued his work with NASA on The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which would be his passion for years to come. The JWST is now planned for launch in 2013. Mather’s role as “senior project scientist” means he chairs the science working group and ensures the mission will meet the scientific requirements. The observatory is fine-tuned to search for extra-solar planets, dark matter and dark energy. The JWST’s infrared cameras will also detect the faint light from the first stars and galaxies to form in the universe, over 13 billion years ago.

* This information is from The Nobel Foundation and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Related: NSF Graduate Research Fellow Profiles – NobelPrize.org – NSF Graduate Research Fellow Profile – Burton Richter

The application is open until December 15, 2008.