A White Sands Missile Range employee is awarded a DoD STEM grant

Photo By Vanessa Flores | Demetrius Hernandez, a White Sands Missile Range employee, was awarded a SMART CREATES Grant sponsored by the DoD Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation or SMART Scholarship Program. As a DoD SMART scholar, Hernandez was able to enter his submission entitled "Custom Drone Development for Counter Drone Testing." Hernandez works at the Army, Test and Evaluation Command, Materiel Test Directorate, Counter Drone Team, and began working at White Sands Missile Range in February 2023.  

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES

10.02.2023

Story by Vanessa Flores 

White Sands Missile Range Public Affairs

Demetrius Hernandez, a White Sands Missile Range employee, was awarded a SMART CREATES Grant sponsored by the DoD Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation or SMART Scholarship Program. As a DoD SMART scholar, Hernandez was able to enter his submission entitled "Custom Drone Development for Counter Drone Testing."

Hernandez works at the Army, Test and Evaluation Command, Materiel Test Directorate, Counter Drone Team, and began working at White Sands Missile Range in February 2023.

Hernadez interned at White Sands Missile Range during the summer of 2022 as a part of the DoD SMART scholar program. He graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso in December 2022 with a degree in Computer Science. He is currently fulfilling his year-long DoD SMART scholar service commitment at White Sands Missile Range.

“The grant is allowing my team to collaborate with NMSU to be their senior capstone design customers and have those students build WSMR, a custom drone that will be used for counter drone testing,” said Hernandez.

The collaboration for this project began in September, and by the end of the school semester, the prototype should be ready. The goal is to complete the entire project by the year's end.

When asked if Hernandez plans to continue his career at WSMR, he said, "I do see myself staying at White Sands. I really enjoy it. At first, I was scared because the drive from El Paso was so long, but from the time I have been out here, I really do enjoy it here."

His office, the Materiel Test Directorate, houses data analysis for counter-drone systems and evaluates their ability to detect, track ID and defeat different drone threats. Hernandez says the team he works with is super encouraging.

"The fact that they give me the autonomy to be innovative in ways that I want is great, so like applying for this SMART Grant. I will also be presenting at a NATO conference in October, and that is the type of stuff I like,” said Hernandez.

Hernandez's advice for students and recent graduates interested in working at WSMR is, “don’t be afraid of how remote it is. You will see it on the map and see how large it is. Don’t let that intimidate you. Most of what you are going to be doing is collaborative. You are never by yourself, and even though we are out here by ourselves, you always have a team around you. The people are great, and the encouragement is awesome.”

Hernandez’ grant was a part of five grants totaling $483,000 of funding. The SMART CREATES Grant is awarded to SMART scholars and their mentors at a participating DoD sponsoring facility. Awardees must be completing (or have previously completed) their SMART-sponsored DoD civilian service commitment. CREATES Grants are valued up to $125,000 per year for a maximum of two years.

• Date Taken: 10.02.2023
• Date Posted: 10.03.2023 15:01
• Story ID: 454913
• Location: WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, NEW MEXICO, US