Lansing Alumni, Sean Cranford, receives Department of Defense (DoD) SMART Scholarship
A huge congratulations to Lansing class of 2017 graduate, Sean Cranford, who received the Department of Defense (DoD) Smart Scholarship. Sean is currently a junior at Kansas State University and is double majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics.
"The SMART Scholarship-for-Service Program was established as a concentrated effort to enhance the Department of Defense (DoD) workforce with talented, innovative and brilliant scientists, engineers and researchers. While in school, students will receive full tuition, monthly stipends, health insurance and book allowances, as well as summer internships that range from 8 to 12 weeks. Upon degree completion, scholars begin working in a civilian position with their sponsoring facility," according to the SMART scholarship website.
Sean's scholarship will cover his last 1.5 years of tuition with a 10 week paid summer internship. His sponsoring facility is the Space Vehicle Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, where he will work full time in their research lab, as a GS civilian for at least 1.5 years after graduation.
Sean, when asked how his Lansing High School experience prepared him for college, said, "The Lansing High School STEM faculty was very supportive and experienced. They helped me realize I wanted to pursue engineering and do research."
Since graduating from Lansing High School, Sean has done some incredible work conducting summer research at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln in 2018 in the Center for Electro-Optics and at Texas A&M in 2019 in the National Aerothermochemistry and Hypersonics Lab. He also conducted research at Kansas State University in the Nanomaterials and Characterization Lab from Aug 2018- May 2019.
Great work, Sean Cranford! Thank you for representing Lansing well and making us proud!