DoD awards scholarship to Rowan Engineering doctoral student

The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded a SMART (Science, Mathematics & Research for Transformation) two-year scholarship to Elyse Baroncini, 26, a doctoral student in the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering at Rowan University.

The Plainview, New York, native earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Franklin and Marshall College and is pursuing a Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Rowan.  She is researching developing bio-based polymers for use in battery applications with the goal of improving the performance, safety and sustainability of lithium-ion batteries. 

The Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation Scholarship for Service Program provides undergraduate and graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields the chance to receive full scholarships and have a job with a DoD agency upon graduation.  

“The SMART scholarship has given me an amazing opportunity to advance my research and career, not only while I get my Ph.D., but in the long term, post-graduation as well,” Baroncini said. “I am so grateful for this opportunity provided by the Department of Defense and hope to use it to better myself, the scientific community and our society as a whole.”

Noted Dr. Joseph Stanzione, assistant professor of chemical engineering, “With the fast growing need for versatile, robust and flexible materials, there is demand for innovative solutions that combine nature’s resources in strategic, and often unthinkable, ways. Elyse is doing such that by combining her physics background with her ever-growing chemistry and engineering knowledge base, a versatile skill set in which I know she is developing to ultimately better society.”

Upon graduation, Baroncini will work for the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command's Communications-Electronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center (CERDEC) in Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.