ROCKFORD, IL-Twenty-nine students seeking careers in manufacturing earned $5,000, $2,500, $2,000 or $500 toward their college or trade school education from Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs (NBT), the Foundation of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, Intl. (FMA), and SolidWorks Corp., maker of software for design, analysis and product data management.

NBT and SolidWorks awarded 11 traditional scholarships to college- or trade school-bound high school seniors and college students who seek careers in manufacturing. In addition, 18 students received a $500 “GO-Brennan” scholarship based on a YouTube promotion tied to NBT’s sponsorship of 16-year-old stock car driver and welder Brennan Palmiter.

This year NBT and SolidWorks have awarded scholarships totaling $48,500. The 2009 winners are:

$5,000 NBT/SolidWorks Scholarships

Michael Adams, North Canton, OH.

Kevin G. Dickson Jr., Grayslake, IL.

Megan Feil, Brooklyn Park, MN.

Matthew Johnson, West Dundee, IL.

Jay Woeste, St. Henry, OH.

$2,500 NBT/SolidWorks Scholarships

Anthony Cazabat, Santa Barbara, CA.
Avery-John Domingo, Kapolei, HI.
Hank Peppe, Plattsmouth, NE.
Ethan Scott, Edmond, OK.
William F. Terry, IV, Rowley, MA.

$2,000 NBT/SolidWorks Scholarships

Andrew Kudlak, Fayetteville, NC.

$500 “GO-Brennan” Scholarships

Kyle Brubaker, Daytona Beach, FL.
Johnathon Canalizo, Ormond Beach, FL.
Don Chartrand, Daytona Beach, FL.
Ed Dobos, Deland, FL.
Terrell Hill, Lynwood, CA.
Mark Littleford, Deltona, FL.
Bill McCreary, Deltona, FL.
Manuel “Manny” Moscoso, Port Orange, FL.
Ray Parkhurst, Ormond Beach, FL.
Charles Rogers, Lakewood, CA.
William (Bill) Smith, Ormond Beach, FL.
Dakota Swearingen, Lakewood, CA.
Andrew Taulbee, DeLeon Springs, FL.
Mitch Thygesen, Langley, B.C., Canada.
Steven Saliba, Holly Hill, FL.
John Hatch, Port Orange, FL.
Austin Rutland, Province Oak Hill, FL.
Garrett Moyer, South Daytona, FL.

“We applaud the students selected as NBT/SolidWorks and “GO-Brennan” scholarship winners, and are pleased to assist them in fulfilling their academic goals,” says Terrence Egan, director of NBT. “These students recognize that working a skilled manufacturing job can be rewarding financially and fulfilling personally.”

To be eligible for the traditional scholarships, applicants were required to be full-time students with a minimum 3.0 GPA (for a college scholarship) or a 2.0 GPA (for a trade/technical school scholarship) enrolled in an engineering or manufacturing-related course of study, or a trade or technical program that may lead to a career in manufacturing. Students were responsible for submitting academic records and an engineering or manufacturing-related program description with each application.

Membership-based scholarships were available for individuals who are members of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association (FMA); the Tube & Pipe Association (TPA); or the Outside Processors Council (OPC); the employee of a member company; the child of a member; or a member company’s employee.

College scholarships for members were $5,000 per school year and college scholarships for non-members were $2,500 per school year. Trade school scholarships of up to $2,500 per school year required membership, and students could apply for membership at the time of application. In addition to the monetary grant, each scholarship winner received a copy of SolidWorks’ Student Design Kit computer-aided design (CAD) software package. The Student Design Kit is an easy-to-learn, Windows-based 3-D CAD application that gives students the ability to create “real-life” 3-D designs they can easily manipulate.

For the “GO-Brennan” promotion, high school, trade school and college students seeking careers in manufacturing were required to create and post their own videos on YouTube explaining why they wanted to be in manufacturing, what career they sought and where they wanted to attend school. Applicants also were encouraged to include footage of themselves welding or building with metal.

For more information, visit www.NutsAndBoltsFoundation.org/Scholarships.cfm.