Community College Partnerships:
Recruiting Veterans into Materials Science Research Careers

Pictured from left, Kit Parker, veterans Ian Perkins, John Doyle, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, veterans Brian Fountaine, Alex Cho, John Ferrier, and Madeleine Dahl, Artist in Residence Karaghen Hudson, and Visiting Scholar General Michael D. Phillips, USA (Ret.).

Kevin (Kit) Parker, an Army veteran, leads recruitment of military veterans into MRSEC research groups. Since its inception in 2010, a partnership with local Bunker Hill Community College, has jumpstarted the involvement of over 20 veterans including a Harvard MRSEC Seed Project on fabricating Kevlar fibers for armored clothing. These veterans have worked on other Center projects that draw upon their military experience, such as wound healing, traumatic brain injury, robotics, and soft actuators for prosthetics. This engagement in research along with active mentoring helps these men and women pursue further studies at four-year schools as well as STEM careers.