Jacqueline Brown, a Marshall University senior, has received a National Defense Education Program SMART (Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation) Scholarship. As part of the program, Brown will participate in a summer internship at a Department of Defense facility and receive civilian job placement after graduation with the Department of Defense, in addition to a stipend and scholarship.
A computer and information security major, Brown is active in research, community service and leadership. She is a computer science leadership program leader, and also works as a NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium undergraduate student fellowship researcher, where she researches Collusive Interest Flood attacks. In the past, she has participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience, and is a member of the Society of Black Scholars.
Brown says she is very excited about the opportunities the SMART Program will provide.
“I am very grateful to have been selected for the SMART Scholarship,” she explains. “I am thrilled to be able to help our nation as a part of the Department of Defense.”
Dr. Wael Zatar, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences, says Brown is the kind of hard worker that deserves an opportunity like this one.
“I have had the absolute pleasure to have several wonderful interactions with Jack over the past couple of years and she continues to impress me with her talent, devotion, love of computer science and cybersecurity, and persistence to reach to the top,” Zatar said. “She has conducted research in the areas of cybersecurity, wireless networks & mobile computing, and named data networking under the supervision of Dr. Cong Pu since Fall 2018. She published significant research results at the 2020 IEEE International Conference on High Performance Switching and Routing (HPSR) and the 2019 IEEE International Conference on Cyber Physical and Social Computing (CPSCom). Her motivation and persistence to climb to the top made it possible to land the very prestigious SMART Scholarship.”
Zatar said he’s proud of what Brown has been able to accomplish and looks forward to what the future holds for her.
“I am so proud of Jack’s unique achievement, look forward to hearing lots of positive updates and trust she will be able to make all her dreams come true,” Zatar said.
The SMART Scholarship is awarded to students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who demonstrate an interest in working for the federal government. Awardees must be eligible to receive and maintain a security clearance and must be U.S. citizens. The program has an average overall award rate of 14% and accepted around 350 scholars this year.
For more information on the SMART Scholarship, contact smart@lmi.org by e-mail or Mallory Carpenter with Marshall University’s Office of National Scholarships by e-mail at Mallory.carpenter@marshall.edu or by phone at 304-696-2475.