Alex Canfield, a Marshall University sophomore, has received a National Defense Education Program SMART Scholarship. As part of the program, he will participate in a summer internship at a Department of Defense facility and receive civilian job placement after graduation with the Department of Defense.
A computer science major and Yeager Scholar, Canfield is active in research, community service and leadership. Last summer, he worked with a research team and Dr. Paulus Wahjudi, associate professor of computer science, on the MonitOR Project—a partnership with Cabell Huntington Hospital and Marshall University that created an operating room door monitoring system.
“Alex is a great student not only in the classroom but outside of the classroom as well,” Wahjudi said. “It is great to have the second SMART scholar at Marshall to be another computer science student. We have always known that our students are very competitive and this is another proof of it. The computer science faculty always aim to provide the best well-rounded education and constantly push students to strive for excellence.”
Canfield is a member of the Rotaract Club at Marshall and is an Eagle Scout.
“Long before I was interested in computers, I was interested in building things,” Canfield said. “The Department of Defense will give me a great opportunity to explore, learn and apply computer science while working with experienced professionals in my field and some of the best resources available.”
The chair of Marshall’s computer science department, Dr. Wook-Sung Yoo, said he is excited about the opportunities this presents for Canfield.
“The SMART Program is a very prestigious scholarship from the DoD,” he explained. “Alex competed with other excellent students to be selected and this is a testament to both the quality of our students and the strength of our program in the Weisberg Division of Computer Science with its dedicated faculty.”
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 overall award rate of 14% and accepted around 350 scholars this year. For more information on the SMART Scholarship, contact smart@lmi.org 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.
