Meet a Fluid Power Scholarship Winner—Luke Wille

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 fourteen $2,000 scholarships to students pursuing fluid power technology fields of study.

Here’s one of the winners, Luke Wille. He is attending Iowa State University and is enrolled in the engineering program. We asked Luke about winning the scholarship…

What does winning a Fluid Power Scholarship mean to you?
Winning this fluid power scholarship means so much to me! It means that I won’t have to be near as stressed about being able to pay for school. It will also allow me to keep my main focus on graduating school with grades, instead of constantly working so I won’t have a pile of debt upon graduation.

Why did you choose to learn about fluid power?
Originally, I had no idea how fluid power worked and never imagined myself going to school for it. But after my internship with Danfoss Power Solutions, my whole goal after graduation shifted. They taught me so much about how fluid power works and all the benefits from it. After this I just knew I wanted to continue my education in the fluid power field.

What are your career aspirations? What type of fluid power job do you hope to get after you graduate?
My main career aspiration is to find a job with a company that may not only focus on fluid power, yet fluid power will still play a big part within their operations. Ideally, I would love to be able to take a problem someone is having and show them how fluid power can better perform this task. Hopefully, I can do this by going out into the field and testing different systems on their machine to optimize performance.

The Foundation’s goal is to help individuals enrolled in high schools, technical colleges, and engineering schools pursue their interests in fluid power. We are currently accepting applications for the 2021 Fluid Power Scholarships until March 18, 2021. For further information about the Fluid Power Scholarship program, contact Amy Zignego, Workforce Program Manager, at azignego@nfpa.com.