Catching Up With Robotics Scholarship Winners

Programs like the Robotics Challenge Scholarship are made possible in part by the generous support of industry volunteers as well as NFPA Education and Technology Foundation and Pascal Society donors. 

The 2022 NFPA Robotics Challenge Scholarship applications are in, and industry judges have begun their initial reviews. The FIRST, NRL, and VEX Robotics Programs all returned to in-person competitions this year, and the excitement on the competition floor was unmistakable. With 43 applicants for this year’s NFPA Robotics Challenge Scholarship, it seemed like a good time to check in with our winners from previous years.

Caleb Qiu, our 2021 recipient, is double majoring in Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science Engineering at the University of Michigan. He particularly enjoys the research he has been able to do on campus relating to biomedical and mechanical engineering. Matthew Morley, our 2020 recipient, is using his scholarship to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. Matthew recently accepted a mechanical engineering co-op position where he will work on drones used in agriculture. He is also actively involved in Northeastern’s Aeronautics Club building robots. Finally, Noah Santoni, our 2019 recipient, is using his scholarship to pursue a double major in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Case Western Reserve University. Earlier this year, he took a fluids class where he made an actuator that uses air power to inflate a soft gripper.

Stay tuned for an announcement of the 2022 Robotics Challenge Scholarship winner later this summer. If you are interested in serving as a judge or mentoring a robotics team in the next school year, please reach out to Mary Pluta at mpluta@nfpa.com.