U of A Graduate Student Named SMART Scholar by DoD

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Justin Rudie was chosen for a scholarship program by the Department of Defense for his work in microelectronics and photonics.

A student in the Microelectronics-Photonics graduate program has been named a Science Mathematics and Research for Transformation Scholar by the Department of Defense.

The scholarship will cover Justin Michael Rudie's full tuition starting in August 2020 and will last up to five years. He will also have the opportunity to spend his summers working at Naval Support Activity Crane in Bloomington, Indiana. SMART Scholars are required to work in the summer at one of the DoD's agencies and labs.

The Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation program, also known as SMART, was created to develop the next-generation DoD workers.

The Naval Support Activity Crane is known as a "modern leader in diverse and technical products aimed at meeting the needs of today's warfighter in the defense of the nation," according to its website.

Rudie said he heard about the scholarship program from his advisor, Shui-Qing "Fisher" Yu, associate professor of electrical engineering.

Yu said Rudie's research at the university aligns with the Navy's current objectives. 

"This fellowship will allow him to be trained at the U of A to gain basic material science and device training from a fundamental research perspective," Yu said. "Then, during the summer, he will directly be exposed to different real-world applications of infrared detector technology."

Rudie is working with Yu and other researchers on a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) project, which he said is another DoD funding venture. MURI is a $7.5 million research project aimed to develop a new generation of infrared imaging devices.

"This project's focus is to make better night vision technology using mid-infrared photodetectors created from Silicon Germanium Tin (SiGeSn) substrates," he said. "SiGeSn is relatively a new semiconductor material which has favorable properties, but very difficult to grow, which is part of the challenge of the research."

The projects Rudie will be working on at the Naval Support Activity Crane will be different, but will share some aspects of his current research, which he said would give him a better understanding of the different sides of his research.

"I'll probably be working on largely device design and devices on Silicon Germanium Tin substrates," he said. "I need to have a deeper understanding on this subject for my own research, so this alignment is beneficial."

He is currently working toward a master's degree but hopes to also work toward a doctoral degree in the future.

Rudie said the SMART program will give him the opportunity to focus on his research, and for that, he is grateful. 

"I see this as my government investing in me, and I aim to be a worthwhile investment," he said.

Rudie said he expects to work for the DoD for about 4-5 years after he completes his master's and doctoral degree.

Learn more about the SMART Scholarship Program.