Megan Tian of Lake Oswego, OR is the winner of the 2023 NFPA Robotics Challenge Scholarship. The scholarship program received strong applications from students across the country who used pneumatics in robotics competitions.
This scholarship program helps build awareness of fluid power benefits and careers among high school students. The scholarship awards $30,000 ($7,500 per year for four years) to a high school senior who participates in a FIRST® Robotics, National Robotics League, or VEX Robotics Competition Team and uses fluid power in their competition robot. The money awarded is used to study fluid power relevant degree programs at any accredited college or university in the United States.
The NFPA member judges who interviewed Megan were impressed by her understanding of pneumatics, leadership skills, and involvement in her community. Megan will be using the scholarship to pursue a Computer Science degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA.
Additionally, Elliot Scher of Columbia, SC and Isabel Williams of Lansing, KS have each been selected by the judges based on their application submissions and exemplary performance in the interview process to receive a $5,000 award. Elliot will be attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute to study Robotics Engineering & Computer Science, and Isabel will be attending Michigan Technological University to study Mechanical Engineering.
We want to thank the NFPA Scholarship Review Committee: Bill Haley of FORCE America, Inc., Bobby Bradley of Motion Industries, Inc., Brad Dittmer of Norgren, Charles Werdehoff of Norgren, Christian Eitel of Bucher Hydraulics, Edgar Torres of Bucher Hydraulics, Frank Langro of Festo, Gabriel Schatko of Exotic Automation & Supply, Josh Scarbrough of IFP Motion Solutions, Inc., Karen Carroll of ROSS Controls, Kent Sowatzke of Norgren, Mike Betz of Danfoss, Steve Downey of Hydraulex, Tom Blansett of the International Fluid Power Society, Tom Peterson of Husco, and Travis Schmidt of HydraForce.
Watch for future NFPA News articles, where we will highlight the applications and accomplishments of each awardee.
If you would like to be a judge for next year’s NFPA scholarship programs, please contact Haley Nemeth at hnemeth@nfpa.com.
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