Athens, Ga. – University of Georgia engineering student Scotty Smith has been named a 2016 Nuclear Energy University Program Fellow by the U.S. Department of Energy. The scholarships of $155,000 over three years are awarded annually to graduate students in engineering and science programs.
Smith is one of 33 NEUP Fellows selected nationwide. The graduate fellowships also include $5,000 toward a summer internship at a U.S. national laboratory.
“This is such an incredible honor,” Smith said. “The thing that means the most to me is that I’ll be able to continue to solve challenges important to the nation and its infrastructure.”
A UGA Honors student from Duluth, Smith will graduate May 13 with a degree in civil engineering. He will continue his studies at Georgia Tech’s School of Material Sciences.
“The University of Georgia College of Engineering is extremely proud of Scotty and all he has accomplished,” said Donald J. Leo, dean of the College of the Engineering. “This Department of Energy fellowship shows that our engineering program is strong and that it’s producing excellent young scholars and professionals. Scotty has been an amazing student and a great ambassador for our program, and I’m sure we will hear great things from him in the future.”
Smith’s undergraduate research focused on examining the structural performance and environmental impact of increasing the allowable replacement levels of cement with fly ash for Georgia concrete pavements. Fly ash is a byproduct of coal-fired power plants. In addition, he completed a research fellowship last summer at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he assisted in experimental and numerical studies on non-linear material behavior and characterization for the DOE.
Smith was named a 2015 UGA Presidential Scholar, served as a College of Engineering ambassador and was the founding president of the college’s chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Outside of engineering, Smith’s passions include beekeeping, drawing and playing piano.
“Scotty’s selection for this award demonstrates his discipline and dedication to academic and scholarly excellence, leadership inside and outside the classroom and genuine personality to serve his program, college, university and future profession,” said Stephan Durham, coordinator of the college’s civil engineering program. “We are confident that he will accomplish amazing things during his professional career.”
For more information about the DOE’s Nuclear Energy University Program, see http://neup.inl.gov.