Evan Tan of Conway, Ark. has been announced as the winner of the 2024 NFPA Robotics Challenge Scholarship. According to the NFPA, the scholarship program received strong applications from students across the country who used pneumatics in robotics competitions.
This scholarship program helps build awareness of fluid power benefits and careers among high school students. A minimum GPA of 3.0 out of 4.0, a 1,000-word essay, and a letter of recommendation were required from each applicant.
The NFPA member judges who interviewed Evan were impressed by his understanding of pneumatics, passion for engineering, and service involvement in his community. Evan will be using the scholarship to pursue a Mechanical Engineering degree at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark.
Evan’s first introduction to robotics was through LEGO MINDSTORMS, and grew his interest through watching BattleBots. He joined his VEX Robotics team in 2021. All students on the team during the 2021 season had graduated, so he had to build the program back up with his peers. After the 2022 season, the team researched whether pneumatics would be important. They came to the conclusion that it would level up their performance and increase their successes, so they incorporated multiple pneumatics systems in 2023 and 2024. Evan was introduced to the NFPA at the 2024 VEX Robotics World Championship competition in Dallas.
On top of robotics, Evan volunteers with his church’s AV program, supports summer camp programs at the Museum of Discovery, and competes in Esports.
For Evan, Esports has become a way to have fun and be competitive by integrating his academic and personal interests. He got involved in Esports by way of an upperclassman who told him that the game Rocket League is one of the best ways to learn how to drive their robot. In Rocket League timing and input commands are essential to success, as well as predicting the movement of your opponent. Evan affirmed that Rocket League was transferrable to driving their VEX competition robot.
Additionally, the following students have been selected by the judges based on their application submissions to receive a meritorious award:
• Ayush Shah, Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington ($3,000)
• Gregory Powers, Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University ($3,000)
• Ailey Smith, Mechanical Engineering at the University of Florida ($2,000)
• Emily Bolin, Mechanical Engineering at Grace College ($2,000)
The NFPA Scholarship Review Committee this year was comprised of: Bill Haley of FORCE America, BJ Wagner of the International Fluid Power Society, Bob Hammond of Deltrol Fluid Products, Brittany Kulka of Husco, Bradlee Dittmer of IMI Norgren, Caleb Vickers of Power Systems Inc. of Florida, Charles Werdehoff of IMI Norgren, Charles DiVincenzo of Bucher Hydraulics, Daniel Hurst of SKF USA, Edgar Torres of Bucher Hydraulics, Frank Langro of Festo, Gabriel Schatko of Exotic Automation & Supply, Greg Johnson of Hydra-Power Systems, Holden Galvan of Permco, John Falcon of ROSS Controls, Jonathan Steigerwald of Gates, Jose Solorio Cervantes of Parker Hannifin, Josh Scarbrough of IFP Motion Solutions Inc., Jyotsna Phadke of Vestas, Karen Carroll of ROSS Controls, Michael Cook of Trelleborg Sealing Solutions, Mike Betz of Danfoss, Neil Ferguson of SPX FLOW, Robby Haun of Festo, Rowan Leehue of McElroy Manufacturing, Spencer Tiegs of Milwaukee Tool, Steve Downey of Hydraulex, Thomas Blansett of the International Fluid Power Society, and Tom Peterson of Husco.
For further information on the scholarships, contact Haley Nemeth, Workforce Development Program Manager, at hnemeth@nfpa.com.
National Fluid Power Association
www.nfpa.com
Filed Under: Industry News
