Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation Awards $30,500 in Manufacturing Scholarships

Seventeen students pursuing careers in manufacturing each earned between $1,500 and $2,500 toward their post-secondary studies from Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs (NBT), The Foundation of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, Intl. (FMA).

For the Spring 2018 semester, NBT awarded scholarships to the following students:

• Celeste Branstrom*, Corpus Christi, Texas, mechanical engineering at Texas A&M University – College Station
• Leah Clifton**, Rochester Hills, Mich., welding engineering at LeTourneau University
• Shiloh Curtis, Sunnyvale, Calif., electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Andrew Eberle**, Louisville, Ky., civil engineering at University of Kentucky
• Alfred Hanko, Beaver Dam, Wis., mechanical design technology at Moraine Park Technical College
• Jack Jaeger, Greenfield, Wis., industrial maintenance technician at Waukesha County Technical College
• Tyler Jones, Sheboygan, Wis., welding at Lakeshore Technical College
• Eurydice Kanimba, Blacksburg, Va., mechanical engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Wyatt Martin, Dadeville, Ala., machine shop technology at Central Alabama Community College
• Victoria Martinez, Racine, Wis., mechanical engineering technology at Gateway Technical College
• Andrew Nix, Elk Grove Village, Ill., precision machining at Harper College
• Daniel Pousset*, Austin, Texas, mechanical engineering at University of Texas at Austin
• Xochitl Ramos, Berwyn, Ill., engineering technology/mechatronics at Triton College
• Jared Stinski, Fond du Lac, Wis., process engineering technology/quality assurance at Moraine Park Technical College
• Spencer Tiegs**, Waukesha, Wis., mechanical engineering at Milwaukee School of Engineering
• Kodjo Vossah Messan, Oakdale, Minn., mechatronics/automation/industrial IOT at Anoka Technical College
• Nathan Zeon, Brooklyn Park, Minn., biomedical equipment technician at Anoka Technical College

*U.K. Gupta Family Endowed Scholarship Recipient    **John Grossheim Memorial (OPC) Scholarship Recipient

“We are pleased to award scholarships to these deserving students and are happy to assist them in reaching their academic goals,” said Edward Youdell, president of NBT and FMA. “They recognize that skilled manufacturing careers can be rewarding financially and fulfilling personally.  The knowledge and skills they obtain will help them be more competitive in the current job market.”

“The most difficult jobs to fill today are those in the skilled trades and engineering,” added Youdell. “With majors in machine tool and CNC technology, structural and pipe welding, sheet metal fabrication, engineering, and precision machining technology, these students will be prepared for the skilled labor openings that American manufacturers must fill.”

To be eligible for the scholarships, applicants were required to be full-time students meeting a specified minimum GPA, and enrolled in an engineering or manufacturing-related course of study, or a trade or technical program leading to a career in manufacturing. Students were responsible for submitting academic records and an engineering or manufacturing-related program description with each application.

In addition to the scholarship, each winner also received from NBT’s industry partner SolidWorks Corporation a copy of its Student Design Kit CAD software package. The Student Design Kit is an easy-to-learn, Windows-based 3D CAD application that gives students the ability to create “real-life” 3D designs they can easily manipulate.

Since 1990, FMA’s Foundation, Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs, has awarded nearly 400 scholarships to students enrolled in courses of study that will lead to careers in manufacturing. For more information visit www.nutsandboltsfoundation.org/Scholarships.