Mechanical Engineering PhD student wins National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship

Max Kephart, a first-year PhD student in mechanical engineering at Colorado School of Mines, has been awarded the highly competitive National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship by the U.S. Department of Defense.

The three-year fellowship, sponsored by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), U.S. Army Research Office and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) under the Office of the Under Secretary for Research and Engineering, provides full tuition, monthly stipend, travel funds for conferences and professional development and health insurance to propel talented individuals towards groundbreaking discoveries and innovations relevant to Department of Defense interests.

Kephart, who earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering at Mines in 2024, conducts research in the Extreme Structures and Materials (XSTRM) Laboratory led by Associate Professor Leslie Lamberson, where he investigates the dynamic behavior of additively manufactured functionally graded materials (FGMs) under extreme thermal and loading environments.

His NDSEG-funded research will focus on understanding how internal defects such as pores in stainless steel-Inconel FGMs affect mechanical performance during high strain-rate events ranging from cold arctic to high-temperature nuclear conditions — critical for national defense readiness.

"FGMs will be the key to enabling the next generation of materials, essential for enhancing both performance and structural efficiency,” Kephart said. “It is extremely exciting to work with FGMs as it unlocks the ability to tailor material responses in both extreme temperature and loading environments-driving the future of cutting-edge technology.

Kephart’s project bridges two premier research centers at Mines – the XSTRM Lab for high-rate dynamic testing using gas guns and Kolsky bars, and the Alliance for the Development of Additive Processing Technologies (ADAPT) Center, directed by Associate Professor Joy Gockel, where Kephart fabricates custom metal FGMs with tailored defect structures using directed energy deposition.

This summer, Kephart will continue to build his expertise in defense-focused solid mechanics as a selectee for the Army Research Laboratory ORAU internship at Aberdeen Proving Ground, where he will be working on experimental mechanics in extreme conditions.

“Max’s work supports key Department of Defense goals to advance materials that improve readiness, durability, and reliability of mission-critical components under extreme environments, such as hypersonic flight, marine applications, and aerospace propulsion systems,” Lamberson said. 

Established in 1989, the NDSEG Fellowship Program aims to increase the number of U.S. citizens trained in science and engineering disciplines vital to national security. More than 4,400 fellowships have been awarded from over 70,000 applications received since the program’s inception. 

Kephart is one of two Mines students to win the highly competitive fellowship this year; the other, Kaylyn Buchanan, is a first-year PhD student and member of Mines’ Advanced Propulsion and Diagnostics Lab, led by Rajavasanth Rajasegar, assistant professor of mechanical engineering.