NFPA Expanding University Offerings Through Grant Program

The NFPA Education and Technology Foundation is dedicated to advancing fluid power education at universities and preparing students for careers in this field. Working with NFPA member companies and university partners, we’ve created a new set of competencies in General Electrical/Electronics, Control Systems, and Data Acquisition—skills that are increasingly vital as the fluid power industry evolves.

Following the model of our Fluid Power Core Competencies, we will provide grants to universities to help them develop materials that teach these new skills. The teaching resources funded by NFPA grants are accessible for free through our website’s curriculum tree, which educators nationwide can use.

Grants will be offered throughout the 2024-25 school year. Please share this opportunity with your university contacts.

Grant Requirements:

Funding must directly support adding electrical, data acquisition, and controls content to university programs. NFPA’s Curricula Tree contains resources for educators based on these industry-based competencies that they would like to see in newly graduated mechanical engineering students.

The selection of funding recipients will be based on the following criteria:

• Merits of the project – its goals and objectives
• Relevance and importance to fluid power curriculum
• Student involvement
• Multiplier effect

Examples of supported activities funded by this grant include:

• Resources needed to bring fluid power curricula to engineering programs
• Development of teaching tools (e.g., textbooks, software programs, training stations)
• Lab development, maintenance, upgrades

The University Fluid Power Grant Program is possible thanks to contributions from NFPA Education and Technology Foundation, Pascal Society donors, and industry volunteers. Help expand these initiatives by making a donation. Please contact Mary Pluta at mpluta@nfpa.com for more information.