South Dakota Mines Graduate Wins Prestigious U.S. Department of Defense SMART Scholarship

Alyssa Robinson has joined an elite group of students recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense—a distinction that’s both thrilling and humbling for the recent South Dakota Mines graduate.

Robinson, who earned her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering last month, was selected for the highly competitive Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service Program. The prestigious DoD initiative identifies top STEM students nationwide and invests in their future with a powerful mix of education funding and career opportunities.

The SMART program offers full tuition, annual stipends, hands-on summer internships and guaranteed civilian employment with the Department of Defense upon graduation. Robinson’s award will cover the full cost of her doctoral studies at Purdue University, where she will continue her work in chemical engineering.

Since its launch in 2006, fewer than 5,300 SMART scholarships have been awarded nationwide, making Robinson’s achievement all the more remarkable.

“I was super excited to receive the SMART scholarship, but also pretty overwhelmed,” Robinson said. “Accepting means that I have a guaranteed job once I finish my degree, but it also means that I am committed to certain places for the next 8-10 years, which can be overwhelming to think about.”

The SMART Scholarship builds future leaders in 23 STEM disciplines and is the largest education and workforce development initiative under the Department of Defense STEM Program. Scholarship recipients receive hands-on experience at one of over 150 Department of Defense facilities during their internships and apply this knowledge as early career professionals.

As an undergraduate at Mines, Robinson conducted research on energetics in Dr. Lori Groven’s lab in the Karen M. Swindler Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, including a project funded by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program focused on additively manufactured green pyrotechnic delays.

“Alyssa has a tremendous future ahead, and it was my absolute pleasure to serve as a research mentor for her,” Groven said. “I believe that the work she was exposed to here at Mines has prepared her well for her future doctoral studies at Purdue, and I look forward to seeing her career progress as well as the contributions she will continue to make to the Department of Defense.”

With a clear path toward her dream career at the Department of Defense, Robinson is eager for the opportunities ahead. “I am hoping to pair my PhD research at Purdue with the work being done at my sponsoring facility, so I can continue to make progress and benefit my facility at my summer internships, and as I complete my degree,” she said.