Two students in aerospace engineering selected to Department of Defense SMART cohort this summer in Belgium

Two students in aerospace engineering, doctoral candidate Cody Shelton and junior Megan Hayes, were among two of 10 scholars nationwide chosen for the 2023 Summer Department of Defense Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation, or DoD SMART, International Internship Cohort. Through this program, they will conduct advanced research at the von Karman Institute, or VKI, for Fluid Dynamics in Sint-Genesius-Rode, Belgium.

VKI is a non-profit international educational and scientific organization for fluid dynamics. Established in October 1956, the institute hosts three departments: aeronautics and aerospace, environmental and applied fluid dynamics, and turbomachinery and propulsion. Extensive research on experimental, computational, and theoretical aspects of gas and liquid flows is carried out at VKI under the direction of numerous faculty and research engineers who are sponsored by governmental and international agencies as well as industries. Students involved in these programs are typically recipients of prestigious grants.

“This internship provides me, and other SMART scholars, the opportunity to spend the summer at an internationally renowned institute, working alongside scientists and engineers conducting aeronautics and aerospace, environmental and applied fluid dynamics, turbomachinery and propulsion and more,” said Shelton. “Ultimately, this exposure will enable me to better understand scientific cooperation between the U.S. and Europe in an emerging technology field.”

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