Zine Smith

Bachelor of Science, Physics, 1997
Physicist, Westar Aerospace & Defense Group
Huntsville, Alabama

“Ouachita provided me with the skills to accomplish the tasks set before me in a professional manner.” –Zine Smith

Fast Facts about Zine Smith:

• After graduating from Ouachita, Zine was part of the NASA Academy program at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
• During graduate school, Zine worked with TRW/Northrop Grumman, as a software engineer on ground-based missile defense.
• While completing his doctorate, Zine joined the Westar Aerospace & Defense Group as a physicist in the Missile Defense Agency’s System Test and Evaluation Performance Analysis Lab.

Why Zine is glad he went to Ouachita:

• As a freshman, Zine participated in a discipleship group with Dr. Terry Carter. The things he learned in that discipleship study still impact his life today.
• Zine said, “As part of the NASA Academy program, I met students from MIT, Princeton and Purdue. I was surprised to find out that I had the same or better opportunities at Ouachita than they had. I did not struggle due to the great base that was built at Ouachita.”

Zine offers this advice to students in the Honors Program:

• Expand your mind. Broaden your understanding in areas you don’t really understand. Graduate school is for the focusing of a particular area of knowledge.
• Study overseas to experience the world beyond the tiny area we know and understand.