2012 manufacturing scholarship winners announced

Ten students seeking careers in manufacturing have earned $1,500 toward their trade school or community college education from Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs (NBT), The Foundation of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association Intl. (FMA), Rockford, Ill. FMA's Outside Processors Council (OPC) will sponsor a $2,000 scholarship for one university-bound student.

This year NBT and OPC awarded manufacturing scholarships totaling $17,000. The 2012 winners are:

• Jay Brinegar, Bloomfield, Ind.
• Hunter Curfman, Toppenish, Wash.Pace Funsch, Fallon, Nev.
• Saul Garcia, Long Beach, Calif.
• Trevor Graff, Boardman, Ore.
• Justin Keith, Poplar Bluff, Mo.
• Andrew Klos Jr., Allenton, Mich.
• Colton Laughlin, Ferndale, Wash.
• Nicholas Maben, Grayland, Wash.
• Tyler McClish, Kokomo, Ind.
• Colt Petersen, Hinckley, Utah

"We are pleased to award scholarships to these 11 deserving young people and are happy to assist them in reaching their academic goals," said Edward Youdell, president of NBT. "These students recognize that skilled manufacturing careers can be rewarding financially and fulfilling personally and will help them be more competitive in the current job market.

"The most difficult U.S. 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 manufacturing 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 their application.

In addition to the scholarship, each winner also received from NBT's industry partner SolidWorks Corp. a copy of its Student Design Kit, a Windows®-based 3-D CAD software package.