University of New Orleans doctoral computer science student Austin Schmidt has been awarded the Department of Defense’s Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship.

The SMART Scholarship-for-Service Program is a combined educational and workforce development opportunity for bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. students to gain technical skills in critical STEM fields and support the national security mission of the Defense Department.

This award provides students with full tuition for up to five years, mentorship, summer internships, a $38,000 yearly stipend, an allowance of $1,000 towards books/material, $1,200 in yearly medical expense and full-time employment with the Department of Defense after graduation.

The scholarship offers students hands-on experience at one of over 200 innovative laboratories across the Army, Navy, Air Force and larger Department of Defense. During summer internships, SMART scholars work directly with an experienced mentor, gaining valuable technical skills.

After graduation, Schmidt will work at the Naval Oceanography Office at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

“Due to the support received from UNO's computer science department, I have had many fruitful opportunities for professional growth,” said Schmidt. “The experience and connections offered to me by the department have guided me towards the prestigious SMART scholarship, which will offer funding and invaluable work experience.

“This scholarship may only be awarded to a handful of students each year, but I felt prepared during the application process due to the help and encouragement of the computer science department.”

Schmidt was born in Chalmette, Louisiana and raised in Covington in St. Tammany Parish where his family moved after Hurricane Katrina.  He attended Covington High School. Schmidt graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2014 and a master’s in computer science from UNO in 2021.

Schmidt, who is currently pursuing a doctorate, was the recipient of the summer 2021 Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program where he was hosted by the Center for Geospatial Sciences at the Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis. His dissertation research is a joint effort between UNO-CS and NRL-SSC and involves the “Automatic Fast Feature and Instance Selection Using Clustered Spatio-Temporal Data.”

“Having been a SMART program evaluator for the last several years, I can confidently say that this scholarship-for-Service program is very competitive and, as such, this award is a strong reflection of the national competitiveness of UNO graduate students,” said Mahdi Abdelguerfi, chair of the computer science department.  

The Department of Defense is committed to developing the nation's STEM talent and is the largest employer of federal scientists and engineers with nearly 150,000 civilian STEM employees working across the Department. Defense Department STEM activities support this mission by providing authentic learning experiences through a variety of education and outreach initiatives, such as the SMART Scholarship-for-Service Program.

For over a decade, SMART has trained a highly skilled STEM workforce that competes with the evolving trends of industry to support the next generation of science and technology for our nation.