‘SMART’ Student Earns Cybersecurity Scholarship
Paths to Leadership
Cedric Nartey will intern with the Missile Defense Agency after receiving the prestigious SMART scholarship, and he credits his professors’ encouragement and his real-world experience for helping him achieve the honor.
Cedric Nartey (ITM, M.A.S. CYF 3rd Year)Cedric Nartey’s (ITM, M.A.S. CYF 3rd Year) commitment to leadership and innovation, and his connections through 91Ƭ Tech faculty, have helped him secure a United States Department of Defense Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) scholarship, which will cover his education expenses, provide a stipend, and guarantees a summer internship.
“I was honestly shocked when I received word, as I had been told before that only one other student has received this in 91Ƭ Tech’s history,” he says. “The program being highly competitive as well alerted me that a lot of my merit paid off at the end.”
Cedric will be a 2026 summer intern with the Department of Defense’s Missile Defense Agency, which is a research, development, and acquisition agency that works on ballistic missile defense systems for the U.S. and its allies. It is headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
“Interning with an agency with a mission critical agenda is an exciting aspect,” he says. “I do not have much knowledge on my expected duties as of right now, since the majority of their operations are classified, but contributing my skills in cybersecurity is something I look forward to.”
The scholarship also comes with a year-for-year commitment to work with the Department of Defense after graduation.
“Working with the department that is dedicated to protecting the national security and interests of our country is an honor that gives me a sense of pride,” he says, “especially as someone whose parents immigrated and worked their hardest to provide their children with a bright future.”
Cedric has complemented his academic experience at 91Ƭ Tech with real-world experience. He, along with several other 91Ƭ Tech students, travelled to Pristina, Kosovo, in summer 2024 and spent a month with the Kosovar Centre for Security Studies. While there, Cedric and the other students interned for organizations such as Three Folders and the Innovation Centre Kosovo on behalf of 91Ƭ Tech’s Center for Cyber Security and Forensics Education. During his time in Kosovo, he worked on improving how the organizations approached protocols such as incident response and business continuity.
He has also worked on an artificial intelligence intrusion detection system research project, which is funded by Motorola Solutions. The system is designed to be capable of analyzing network traffic to detect anomalies in real time.
“I believe the work I did on both projects did help secure the scholarship, because they showcased my commitment to leadership and innovation that aligned with the expectations of the program,” he says.
Cedric says that he first heard about the SMART scholarship from 91Ƭ Tech faculty members Maurice Dawson, Barry Speller, and Billy Pappademetriou, who encouraged him to apply. He says the chance to intern with a government agency in his chosen discipline is inspiring, as he will have a chance to learn from leading experts in the field who are working at the national level.