Kelly Jacques ('20), who recently graduated from UNT's College of Engineering with a B.S. in materials science and engineering, is the 2020 recipient of the U.S. Department of Defense's SMART (Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation) scholarship. It will cover the cost of tuition, books and living expenses as she pursues her Ph.D. at UNT beginning this fall. She also will participate in summer internships at DOD facilities across the U.S. and, upon graduation, she will be employed by the DOD.

Jacques specializes in the field of tribology, the study of friction. Throughout her undergraduate career, she conducted research into developing protective coatings that can be incorporated into the internal mechanics of a drone's fuel injection system to reduce friction in the system, especially when using a lower quality fuel. Through this research, Jacques will make drones more efficient. She wants them to stay in the air longer, go farther and fly faster.