RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Army leaders recruited some of the nation’s top scientific talent at the 2023 DOD National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Conference, strengthening pathways to support the future Army.
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory senior leaders joined the director for Basic Research, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment Research and Engineering at NDSEG. During the conference, representatives from ARL and the Army Medical R&D Command conducted informal interviews with 68 NDSEG Fellows, more than half of which expressed interest in career opportunities at DEVCOM ARL.
“Our investment in the NDSEG Fellowship program is an investment in the future, a testament to the Army’s dedication to exceptional scientific talent that will drive innovation, technological advancements, and national security for years to come,” said Dr. Patrick Baker, DEVCOM ARL director. “I’m excited that many of the brilliant minds at NDSEG had the opportunity to learn the potential effects their expertise, creativity, and passion can have on the Army of 2040, and I hope to see many of them join our team at ARL.”
The NDSEG Fellowship Program is a competitive fellowship that is awarded to U.S. Citizens in science and engineering disciplines who intend to pursue a doctoral degree aligned with research of interest to the Department of Defense at a U.S. institution of their choice. Participants are not required to pursue a career in the DOD following the fellowship.
The fourth annual conference, held in San Antonio, Texas, represented the Fellows who are currently in their second year of the NDSEG sponsored program. The Conference brought together 140 Fellows from across the United States to network with and hear from DOD leaders and subject matter experts in the fields of science, technology, and engineering for a week that showcased ongoing research activities in the Army, the DOD and other Federal Agencies.
“The DOD needs a workforce with a broad range of experiences and people with well-rounded backgrounds. This fellowship program offers top students an opportunity to learn about the impact they can make by pursuing an academic career in the DOD,” said Dr. Barton Halpern, director Army Research Office, DEVCOM ARL directorate. “We expect a significant portion of the talented graduate students we interviewed will be offered internships, postdoctoral fellowships, and full-time positions at ARL in 2024 and 2025.”
ARO is one of the sponsoring members of the NDSEG program, under the direction of the OUSD(R&E).
At the conference, Fellows showcased their research, attended technical presentations, participated in poster sessions, visited with exhibitors, and toured DOD sponsored research centers.
ARL speakers included Dr. Patrick Baker, director, ARL; Cindy Bedell, director, Army Research Directorate, ARL, Dr. Barton Halpern, director ARO, ARL, and Dr. Jeff Zabinski, director, Research Business Directorate, ARL.
The NDSEG Fellowship program was established in 1989 by direction of Congress as an approach to increasing the number of U.S. citizens receiving doctoral degrees in science and engineering disciplines of military importance. The highly competitive Fellowship Program has awarded nearly 4,700 fellowships from more than 70,000 applications since its inception in 1989. Selected Fellows can choose the U.S. Institution to attend for pursuit of their doctoral degree.
The NDSEG Fellowship is sponsored by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, ARO, and the Office of Naval Research, under the direction of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering.
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As the Army's foundational research laboratory, ARL is operationalizing science to achieve transformational overmatch. Through collaboration across the command’s core technical competencies, DEVCOM leads in the discovery, development and delivery of the technology-based capabilities required to make Soldiers more successful at winning the nation’s wars and come home safely. DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory is an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. DEVCOM is a major subordinate command of the Army Futures Command.
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