NFPA Opens Scholarships, Needs Judges

The National Fluid Power Association’s Education and Technology Foundation recently opened applications for two scholarships to study fluid power.

One scholarship for available to students pursuing fluid power education. The foundation is accepting applications for $2,000 scholarships. The scholarship is partially funded by generous donations to the Tom Wanke Legacy Fund. 

A minimum 2.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale, 500-word essay, and one letter of recommendation are required from each applicant. The foundation’s goal is to help graduating high school seniors and individuals enrolled at colleges and universities to pursue their interests in fluid power. The deadline to apply is April 3.

A second scholarship awards $30,000 ($7,500 per year up to four years) to a graduating high school senior who participates in the Robotics Challenge. The student participates as part of a FIRST Robotics, National Robotics League, or VEX Robotics Competition Team, and uses pneumatics in their robot. One merit-based award is available for the 2023-24 academic year. 

A minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale, 1,000-word essay, and one letter of recommendation are required from each applicant. The goal of the NFPA Robotics Challenge scholarship is to bring an awareness of pneumatic options in robotics to high school students and to stimulate increased use of fluid power products in these competitions. The deadline to apply is May 1.

Multiple other scholarships are available for the 2023-24 academic year. 

Judges needed

Scholarship programs rely on volunteer judges from the fluid power industry, and NFPA is seeking members to help. 

NFPA needs judges to review applications for the Fluid Power Scholarship program in April and May. Judges are also needed to review Robotics Challenge applications in May and June. For each program, the time commitment is about three to five hours. To volunteer, contact hnemeth@nfpa.com.

For more information, visit www.nfpa.com/ and https://nfpafoundation.org/.