UCF mechanical engineering student Chance Brewer ’20 has been selected for the Department of Defense (DOD) Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service Program.
Unlike a typical scholarship that only covers the cost of tuition and fees, the SMART scholarship also provides an annual stipend, a summer internship, an experienced mentor and guaranteed employment with the DOD after graduation.
The program is open to undergraduate and graduate students pursuing STEM degrees who can commit to one year of employment with the DOD upon graduation. The goal is to develop a talent pipeline of technically proficient professionals who can meet the nation’s security needs.
Through his work in the Putnam Lab, managed by Shawn Putnam, mechanical engineering associate professor, Brewer has had the chance to collaborate on research projects sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). As a DOD SMART scholar, Brewer will rejoin the AFRL team to work on research related to his expertise.
“My academic research on multifunctional materials in thermal management systems is already closely tied with the work I will be doing with AFRL, but the challenges and applications I am targeting will shift to focus on thermal control for space vehicles,” Brewer says. “Over the past two summers I have worked with the same team that I will be working with for SMART, so I am already very familiar with the community that I will be joining after I graduate, and I feel very fortunate to be joining such a great team.”
Brewer thanks Putnam as well as the UCF Office of Undergraduate Research and the UCF Academic Advancement Programs office for their support and encouragement to get involved with research as an undergraduate student. He credits their guidance and sense of community with shaping his graduate experience and, ultimately, a career with the DOD.
“My ultimate goal from this experience is to establish a career within AFRL leading research on coupled thermal and optical materials for thermal monitoring and control systems,” Brewer says. “Through these efforts, I also hope to learn how we can leverage thermal solutions being developed for space applications to help support missions across the DOD and to help advance thermal management systems for commercial technologies.”