Lindsey Prestholdt received SME Education Foundation scholarships while majoring in mechanical engineering at North Dakota State University. Lindsey plans to join 3M in 2021 as an optimize operations engineer, assigned to process improvement projects while gaining extensive training in areas such as lean manufacturing.
Rachel Linder, recipient of a 2019 SME Education Foundation Family Scholarship, found that engineering was an educational path to pursue when she realized that it combined her strengths and interests. Now a student at the University of Louisville studying mechanical engineering, Rachel credits support and encouragement from her parents and engaging teachers for her preparation.
Scholarships can mean much more than financial support, says Kyle Riegel, recipient of the 2008 SME Education Foundation Family Scholarship. Kyle is a field sales engineer with Schunk Carbon Technology in Iowa. A 2008 graduate of Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, Kyle currently serves on their engineering board.
Receiving the SME Education Foundation Family Scholarship has played a huge part in the life and career of Erin Manthey, an applied math instructor in the welding program at Dakota County Technical College (DCTC) in Minnesota. With the help of the scholarship, Manthey attended the University of Wisconsin-Stout, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in manufacturing engineering while minoring in math.
The SME Education Foundation annually awards millions of dollars in scholarships to graduating SME Student Members who are graduating high school seniors, undergraduates and graduate students pursuing two-year, four-year or advanced degrees in manufacturing or engineering.
Since 2011, SME PRIME has reached nearly 100,000 students in 60 communities across 22 states.
Students across the state have new opportunities to learn some very important, and applicable skills for careers, in science, technology, engineering and manufacturing.
SME PRIME students at the Saginaw Career Complex in Michigan recently participated in a student engagement activity that included a hands-on supply chain exercise with representatives from Dow Chemical Co., a partner of the Saginaw Intermediate School District (ISD).
The Saginaw Intermediate School District (ISD)’s SME PRIME initiative has focused on increasing the involvement of women in the technology program by hosting a number of female students at their manufacturing, engineering and welding summer camp.