Influx of scientists and engineers at the
Pentagon.
by Erwin, Sandra I.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Pentagon officials for years have sounded alarms about the
dwindling supply of qualified scientists and engineers in the
government. But now the tide appears to be turning, said Allan Shaffer,
principal deputy director of defense research and engineering. Proof of
that is the success of the National Defense Education Program, which
pays participants to get undergraduate and graduate degrees if they
commit to a payback period to work for a Defense Department laboratory.
"I have 134 people in the program right now," Shaffer said at
a congressional hearing. "This year, we had over 1,000 people apply
for roughly 100 scholarships. So we're getting good people to
apply."
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