NFPA’s newest Fast Track to Fluid Power Hub – Northampton Community College (NCC) – hosted their first Discover Fluid Power Day on Friday, January 16th for local high school students in the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania area. This event provided local high school students with the opportunity to visit NCC’s Bethlehem campus and tour labs, meet faculty and instructors, and engage directly with NFPA members from the Lehigh Valley. NFPA members spoke in a panel presentation that provided valuable insights into exploring what fluid power is, the various applications across a variety of industries, as well as advice for building a career path. Students were able to chat with NFPA members, ask questions, and learn about NFPA educational resources such as scholarships.
Many thanks to the following NFPA members for participating and joining NCC and NFPA staff to make this a successful event.
David Grenier of FORCE America, Jon Frey of Bosch Rexroth, Chris Sassano of LHY Powertrain Corporation, Gary George and Kayla Lacey of NCC, and Mark Bibighaus of HYDAC.
NFPA members within the Mid-Atlantic region have several opportunities to help shape the next generation of fluid power talent at Northampton Community College (NCC). Later this spring, local high school students return to NCC to participate in the Fluid Power Action Challenge. Working in teams, students learn about fluid power (hydraulics and pneumatics), utilize key skills such as problem solving and project management, and compete to design a fluid power machine that solves an engineering problem.
Benefits include:
The Fluid Power Action Challenge 2026 event dates at NCC are:
These in-person events are ways to make an immediate impact on high school students to understand the variety of career paths in fluid power, gain hands-on experience by building pneumatic kits, and get inspired by NFPA industry leaders. Plus, NFPA members can build relationships with local schools and leverage NCC career development programs to recruit talent in the Lehigh Valley area.
To learn more, contact Erin Bauer at ebauer@nfpa.com.