Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs foundation awards manufacturing scholarships

Fifteen students pursuing careers in manufacturing each earned $2,500 or $3,500 toward their postsecondary studies from Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs® (NBT), the foundation of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association Intl. (FMA), Rockford, Ill.

For the spring 2016 semester, NBT awarded manufacturing scholarships to the following students:

• Ashley Dale, New Palestine, Ind. - Electrical engineering/physics, Butler University
• Veronika Dubravec, Rockford, Mich. - Mechanical engineering, University of Michigan
• Lois Felker, Kirkland, Wash. - Welding technology, Lake Washington Institute of Technology.
• Austin Haas, Yakima, Wash. - CNC manufacturing/machining, Perry Technical Institute
• Krystle Hall-Johnson, Maywood, Ill. - Engineering technology/mechanical design, Triton College
• Jeremy Kaszycki, Rockford, Ill. - Manufacturing engineering, Bradley University
• Joseph Katula, Yorkville, Ill. - Biomedical and mechanical engineering, Case Western Reserve University
• Gene Leitheiser, Robins, Iowa - Industrial maintenance technology, Kirkwood Community College
• Nikolas Mifsud, Penngrove, Calif. - Mechanical engineering, San Jose State University
• Oscar Molina, Rosemead, Calif. - Mechanical engineering, Stanford University
• Cody Oberlander, Yakima, Wash. - Instrumentation and industrial automation technologies, Perry Technical Institute
• Travis Olson, Horicon, Wis. - Welding technology, Moraine Park Technical College
• Tyler Rigby, South Park, Pa. - Mechanical engineering, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College (John Grossheim Memorial Scholarship recipient)
• Joshua Smith, Loveland, Colo. - Biomedical and mechanical engineering, Colorado State University
• Ross Snyder, Platte City, Mo. - Mechanical engineering, University of Missouri Kansas City

“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. “They 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 robotics and automation, 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® Corp. a copy of its Student Design Kit CAD software package.