AFOSR Continues History of Success with NDSEG Fellowship Program Published Feb. 13, 2008 By Molly Lachance (Anadarko/CIBER) Air Force Office of Scientific Research Public Affairs ARLINGTON, Va. -- As part of the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) prepares for the 2008 application review meeting, which will take place February 15-17 in Arlington, Va. NDSEG is a Department of Defense (DoD) fellowship program that funds graduate students to improve our nation's science and engineering education. The program is co-sponsored by AFOSR, the Army Research Office (ARO), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and the High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP). The NDSEG Program holds its annual application review meeting in February. At the meeting, experts are split into 15 disciplinary panels. The panels judge each application based on the student's academic abilities relative to other applicants. Each panel then generates a prioritized list that is submitted to the DoD for a final decision. "NDSEG is important because it helps to increase the number of Ph.D.s in DoD and Air Force disciplines," said Dr. Kathleen Kaplan, AFOSR Deputy Chief, External Programs. In its history with the program, AFOSR has supported many talented student researchers in a wide range of fields. Jenna Scisco received the NDSEG award in 2007 after AFOSR chose her application from over 3,400 submissions. With a group of her graduate peers, Scisco is investigating the effects of stress on human performance. "My research will benefit the Air Force of the future by improving performance of military personnel when they interact with complex technological systems or face highly demanding situations," Scisco explained. In 2003, AFOSR selected Dr. Daniel Dantas as an NDSEG Fellow in computer science. Dr. Dantas' research focused on using aspect-oriented programming languages for computer security. Dantas specifically looked at what features a programming language would need to ease the implementation of security features in an aspect-oriented style. They also investigated how those features could affect the rest of a system. "The funding provided by the DoD and AFOSR was absolutely invaluable in completing the research that led to my degree," wrote Dr. Dantas in a letter of appreciation to AFOSR's Public Affairs department in September 2007. Dantas plans to pursue a career in the private sector that focuses on his interests in information security and programming languages. Other notable recipients of the NDSEG award include Alia Sabur, who at 14 was the youngest Ph.D. student in the nation, and the current Air Force chief scientist, Dr. Mark Lewis. By funding research programs like the NDSEG Fellowship, AFOSR continues to support graduate education, train personnel to conduct high-quality research, and stimulate mutual research interests between the Air Force and colleges and universities.