Luis Rodriguez-Perez graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a degree in Systems Engineering. A recipient of the SME Education Foundation’s Myrtle and Earl Walker Scholarship, Luis noted that hard work, financial support, and the encouragement of his family were critically important in his efforts to earn a scholarship.
The SME Education Foundation administers scholarships on behalf of major corporations in addition to awarding scholarships from our endowed funds.
The SME Education Foundation scholarships support students pursuing degrees in advanced manufacturing and related fields at two- and four-year schools, colleges and universities. We have awarded more than $7 million to nearly 3,000 deserving students in the United States and Canada since 2005.
Scholarship Success Stories | SMEEF All Scholarship Stories
Anna Hiszpanski has made a name for herself as a research scientist in the materials science division at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, but she’s never forgotten the help she got along the way — including the SME Education Foundation Family Scholarship, which she used for her undergraduate studies at Caltech.
Industry knows that the current — and looming larger, the future — lack of skilled and prepared employees is severe. This skills gap could lead to a shortage of as many as 2.4 million manufacturing workers in the next decade. Our challenge remains the same, and our education and industry partners share that challenge: How can we attract, interest — and then inspire young people to explore the opportunities being offered?
Diversity in Action magazine featured the SME Education Foundation’s efforts to reach more students from underrepresented groups and provide them with opportunities to pursue careers in the manufacturing industry.
We greatly appreciate our Strategic Partners and wish to thank the following manufacturing and engineering associations, organizations and companies for their support of the SME Education Foundation.
Manufacturers, communities, educators, students and parents can all benefit from participating in Manufacturing Day: Last year, more than 80% of students said they became more convinced that manufacturing provides interesting and rewarding careers after attending these events.