Visit of the US DOD/SMART Program Office

Yesterday, VKI had the pleasure of welcoming representatives from the US DOD/SMART Program Office, including Ms. Barbara McQuiston, Chair of the NATO Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (NATO DIANA) Board of Directors, and Ms. Caryl Merten, Economic Officer, US Embassy Brussels.

We were also joined by 7 SMART scholars from London Tech Bridge and The Alan Turing Institute This year, VKI is proud to host 4 scholars through the SMART program.

The SMART initiative funds scholarships across 24 STEM disciplines critical to national security and serves as a workforce development program for the US Department of Defense.

The SMART program:

• Increases the flow of new, highly skilled technical labor into the DoD
• Enhances the technical skills of the current civilian workforce