Brent Bielefeldt, graduate student in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University, has received the Science, Mathematics, & Research for Transformation (SMART) Fellowship through the Department of Defense (DoD). The SMART Fellowship is a highly competitive scholarship for students pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The fellowship pays for awardees’ tuition and fees, provides a monthly stipend and guarantees employment for an awardee at a sponsoring DoD facility.
Bielefeldt received his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from The University of Alabama in May 2014. For the past two years, Bielefeldt has worked with Dr. Darren Hartl (Texas A&M) in collaboration with Dr. Jacob Hochhalter (NASA Langley) on the numerical analysis of shape memory alloy sensory particles for structural health monitoring applications. Dr. Amine Benzerga (Texas A&M) has served as co-chair. After graduating with his master’s degree in August, Bielefeldt will remain at Texas A&M and begin working on his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering with Hartl, focusing on developing high bandwidth distributed shape memory alloy actuators as well as computationally efficient methods of analyzing avian-inspired morphing air vehicles. Bielefeldt will intern this summer at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
The SMART Fellowship will sponsor Bielefeldt in working with the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center - Armament Directorate located at Eglin Air Force Base in Valparaiso, Florida. He will intern on site during summers beginning in May 2017, with a view to a permanent position after the completion of his doctoral degree.