Meet a Fluid Power Scholarship Winner – Evan Fender

The NFPA Education and Technology Foundation has awarded 23 $2,000 scholarships to students pursuing fluid power related fields of study.

One of the winners, Evan Fender, is attending Wright State University. We asked Evan a few questions about winning the scholarship.

What does winning a Fluid Power Scholarship mean to you?

Winning this scholarship helps me to further my dream of becoming an engineer. As well as allows me to receive recognition from an organization prolific in the engineering field. Additionally, it allows me to ease some of the financial burden on my family and give back to my parents that have done so much for me and my siblings.

Why did you choose to learn about fluid power?
I chose to learn about fluid power through the VEX Robotics organization. Through the implementation of fluid power systems on our robot and in competitions we were able to achieve much greater success throughout the year. This sparked my interest in fluid power systems and learning about their uses in critical components of everyday machines.

What are your career aspirations? What type of fluid power job do you hope to get after you graduate?

I hope to end up working at NASA in their research and development centers. Particularly in their aerospace and space sciences areas. Where I will be able to use my knowledge of engineering and fluid power systems to create machines that will further the knowledge of humankind.

A minimum GPA of 2.5 out of 4.0, 500-word essay, and letter of recommendation were required from each applicant. The NFPA Foundation’s goal is to help graduating high school students, and individuals enrolled in community colleges, technical schools and universities pursue their academic interests in fluid power.

One way NFPA members can get involved with scholarship programs is to volunteer as a judge to serve on the application review committee or mentor a robotics team as they work towards incorporating pneumatics in their designs. This year 16 judges from 13 NFPA member companies reviewed 50 student applications to the Fluid Power Scholarship program. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Haley Nemeth at hnemeth@nfpa.com.