The NFPA Education and Technology Foundation has awarded 20 $2,500 scholarships to students pursuing fluid power related fields of study. One of the winners, Adrian Tlustochowski, is attending the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. We asked Adrian a few questions about winning the scholarship.
What does winning a Fluid Power Scholarship mean to you?
Being awarded the NFPA Fluid Power Scholarship reinforces my motivation to keep growing within engineering, especially in fluid power. It’s a meaningful recognition of my interest in the field, while easing the financial pressures of pursuing it. I am grateful for the support of the National Fluid Power Association as I continue building skills that will lead me to a future in fluid power.
Why did you choose to learn about fluid power?
I first learned about fluid power through its use in FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), a high school robotics competition, where I used pneumatics on various robots. That experience led to my summer internship at Caterpillar, where I was able to apply my skills while seeing new fluid power concepts on actual machinery. This deepened my interest in hydraulics and fluid power as a whole, and now I am excited to pursue it further.
What are your career aspirations? What type of fluid power job do you hope to get after you graduate?
Because of my experiences with fluid power, I am currently pursuing a future in mechanical engineering. I envision myself working on hydraulic machinery and continuing to grow my technical skills in fluid power as a result. While I’m still exploring the exact direction, I’m committed to building a career where fluid power plays a key role.
A minimum GPA of 2.5 out of 4.0, 500-word essay, and letter of recommendation were required from each applicant. The NFPA Foundation’s goal is to help graduating high school students, and individuals enrolled in community colleges, technical schools and universities pursue their academic interests in fluid power.
One way NFPA members can get involved with scholarship programs is to volunteer as a judge to serve on the application review committee. This year 34 judges from 26 NFPA member companies reviewed 241 eligible student applications to the Fluid Power Scholarship program. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Haley Nemeth at hnemeth@nfpa.com.