Meet a Fluid Power Scholarship Winner—Joleen Nush

Programs like the Fluid Power Scholarships are made possible in part by the generous support of industry volunteers as well as NFPA Education and Technology Foundation and Pascal Society donors. Support these efforts by making a donation.

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

Here’s one of the winners, Joleen Nush. Joleen is attending Spokane Community College and is enrolled in the fluid power program. We asked Joleen about winning the scholarship…

What does winning a Fluid Power Scholarship mean to you?
Thank you so much for selecting me as a recipient of your scholarship! It is an honor to have been chosen! I find covering living expenses while attending school challenging. With this scholarship paying some of my tuition, it will allow me to apply my resources to those expenses.

Why did you choose to learn about fluid power?
I chose to learn fluid power because I have always had a sort of fascination with hydraulics. My dad is a heavy equipment mechanic so I grew up in his shop around the mobile side of hydraulics and always wondered how it really worked. I initially enrolled in the heavy equipment program here at Spokane Community College because of this curiosity. Soon after, I was introduced to the fluid power instructors by my dad, and after talking to them for a while and learning that I could get a job where I only work with hydraulics every single day, I was sold.

What are your career aspirations? What type of fluid power job do you hope to get after you graduate?
My career aspirations are to be an engineer. I love creating the electrical circuits, designing the hydraulic and pneumatic systems on paper and then turning them into reality by assembling and testing them in our labs. I also love drawing those circuits and systems in AutoCAD. Another reason I want to be an engineer is I enjoy using Inventor to create solids and drawings for things like the ISO 3 pattern. I have enjoyed every minute of my first year, especially applying the theory I have learned to the labs and seeing how they actually work.

The Foundation’s goal is to help individuals enrolled in technical colleges and universities pursue their interests in fluid power. For further information about the Fluid Power Scholarship program, contact Amy Zignego at azignego@nfpa.com.