{"id":153041,"date":"2024-08-26T11:00:07","date_gmt":"2024-08-26T15:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=153041"},"modified":"2026-03-24T14:10:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T18:10:29","slug":"wright-state-ai-researcher-awarded-smart-scholarship-from-defense-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2024\/08\/26\/wright-state-ai-researcher-awarded-smart-scholarship-from-defense-department\/","title":{"rendered":"Wright State AI researcher awarded SMART scholarship from Defense Department"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Al Amin Hossain, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in computer science and engineering at Wright State, received a Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation scholarship from the Department of Defense. (Photos by Erin Pence)<\/p><\/div>\n

Al Amin Hossain focuses on artificial intelligence with a personal intelligence that\u2019s far from artificial. In fact, he\u2019s SMART and has the scholarship to prove it.<\/p>\n

With that earned aid, he can pursue his Ph.D. in computer science and engineering<\/a> at Wright State University and help the U.S. Air Force from falling victim to dangerous artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

Hossain\u2019s journey to Wright State has been relatively recent and from afar. He was born and raised in Bangladesh, coming to the United States in 2013 to pursue a master\u2019s in computer science at the University of Texas in San Antonio.<\/p>\n

After earning that degree, he worked in the computer science field for several years and in 2021 joined the U.S. Air Force as a computer scientist civilian employee.<\/p>\n

Two years later he enrolled in Wright State\u2019s computer science and engineering because he longed to earn a Ph.D.<\/p>\n

Hossain chose Wright State because of its strong computer science and engineering program and its proximity to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where he continued to work as a civilian contractor.<\/p>\n

His focus is studying how to improve AI hardware security.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m focusing on research on how to detect and eliminate unwanted malicious codes from the Air Force\u2019s computer systems,\u201d Hossain said. \u201cWe want to understand how to use AI. That\u2019s crucial for us because the world is moving into AI, and if we don\u2019t keep up, we\u2019ll be behind. So my work is important for our national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hossain received a Department of Defense scholarship called SMART \u2014 Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation \u2014 that will allow him to continue working while pursuing the doctorate.<\/p>\n

As part of the SMART Scholarship program, Hossain will collaborate with leading scientists and engineers, gaining invaluable experience and contributing to cutting-edge technologies that support the Air Force’s strategic goals.<\/p>\n

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The SMART scholarship will support Al Amin Hossain\u2019s research to improve artificial intelligence hardware security.<\/p><\/div>\n

The program aims to cultivate the next generation of leaders in science and technology fields critical to national defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal of the SMART scholarship is to produce more technical people and improve skills and to focus on topics that are important to the Department of Defense,\u201d Hossain said.<\/p>\n

The SMART scholarship recognizes Hossain\u2019s work and provides a gateway to continue to contribute to the nation’s defense technology and security, said Fathi Amsaad, Ph.D., assistant professor of computer science at Wright State.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is working in the area of AI hardware security and has already published a couple of papers in this field,\u201d Amsaad said.<\/p>\n

Hossain also works with Amsaad on grant projects from the Air Force Research Laboratory and the National Security Agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis scholarship is similar to those awarded by other federal agencies to recognize cutting-edge research of graduate students and support them,\u201d Amsaad said.<\/p>\n

The goal is to prepare and develop a workforce for the Department of Defense, Air Force, and government, he said, and is a \u201ctestament to the power of hard work, dedication and passion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hossain said enrolling at Wright State has turned out well, and the university and the College of Engineering and Computer Science<\/a> have been supportive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe faculty and staff here are fantastic,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re helping me to focus on my research.\u201d<\/p>\n

So in a sense, coming to Wright State was a smart move for Hossain, in more ways than one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The SMART scholarship will support Wright State Ph.D. student Al Amin Hossain\u2019s research to improve artificial intelligence hardware security. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":153051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,4267,743,2060,715,18,4298],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-153041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-computer-science-and-engineering","category-engineering-computer-science","category-graduate","category-news","category-research","category-student-profile"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153041"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153065,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153041\/revisions\/153065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}