Posted on October 14, 2024
VICKSBURG, Miss. – Two researchers with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) were recently awarded SMART SEED Grants. Andrew Jin, an Environmental Laboratory Research Civil Engineer, and Paul Meed, a Research Mechanical Engineer with ERDC’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory were the ERDC recipients this year.
The Department of Defense (DoD) Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Program announced $1.9 million of new research grants to 16 SMART scholars as part of the competitive SEED Grant for Fiscal Year 2025.
The SEED Grant awards research grants worth up to $100,000 per year for a maximum of three years to each SMART scholar. The grants provide opportunities for scholars who have pursued a SMART-funded doctorate to lead independent research in a DoD critical technology area while receiving valuable mentoring from the nation’s best researchers within DoD laboratories.
“I was so excited to see my project funded,” said Jin. “This has been such a pet-project that I’ve wanted to pursue for the last two years, and it feels surreal to have the ability to spend a good chunk of time on it.”
Mead was equally as thrilled to learn the news about receiving the grant.
“I was excited for the opportunity to do Army research on a project of my own,” he said. “My project mentors, Kyle Crosby and Neil Williams, and the division chief, Jeff Averett, congratulated me upon hearing the news.”
Each SMART SEED grant proposal is unique. Jin’s grant proposal uses a road-network model to be able to quickly integrate geospatial data to help decision making.
“This project was largely inspired by some of the needs I identified while trying to study vaccine deserts during the federal COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jin.
As for Mead’s grant proposal, the main objective is to expand the understanding of damaged rock materials subjected to ballistic impact through thorough material characterization, experimental penetration testing and high-fidelity computational modeling.
“The proposed research will use this three-fold approach to quantify the effects of damage and microcracking on the penetration resistance of limestone when subjected to impact by hardened steel projectiles,” said Mead.
Grant proposals were reviewed by science and technology experts across the DoD.
Research Mechanical Engineer Paul Mead with ERDC’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory is a Department of Defense Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) SEED Grant awardee.
