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February 2023

 

In this issue:

Tom Wanke Legacy Fund Raises Money for Scholarships

Thomas Wanke was a monumental figure in fluid power, active for more than 50 years and influencing generations of fluid power engineers through his work at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, its Fluid Power Institute, and with the National Fluid Power Association. To honor his memory, and to help ensure that his positive impact on fluid power education continues to be felt, the NFPA Education and Technology Foundation now administers the Thomas Wanke Legacy Fund, a dedicated funding mechanism that will support fluid power scholarships and education activities at universities throughout the United States.

Since making this announcement, the Legacy Fund has raised more than $30,000. With NFPA's matching gift of $25,000, the fund now has more than $55,000 to use in supporting fluid power education.

You can make a donation to this fund using the button below. 

Through a series of annual awards from this fund, we will be able to increase both the number of students studying fluid power, and also the quality of fluid power education in our nation’s universities – two goals clearly aligned with and ennobled by Tom’s life and legacy.

Donate Now

Meet Our New Power Partner Universities

NFPA’s Power Partner Program is designed to showcase universities that provide a high level of fluid power education as well as those that participate in each of the NFPA programs including the Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge and the Fluid Power Club. For the 2022-2023 school year, the NFPA has welcomed two new universities into this program: Murray State University and Northern Illinois University.

Murray State University (MSU) has participated in the Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge for several years now and even took home the “Best Use of Pneumatics” and 2nd place overall trophies in the 2021-2022 challenge in Ames, Iowa. Within their engineering department, MSU offers programs such as electromechanical engineering, mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, and electrical engineering.

For our very first networking and recruitment event with Murray State University, NFPA members were welcomed on campus for a reverse career fair where engineering students presented their senior design projects. The event was a success with industry representatives getting to experience the student talents and facilities at MSU.

Northern Illinois University (NIU) offers programs in electrical engineering, industrial and systems engineering, mechanical engineering, as well as mechatronics engineering. Their Fluid Power Club has grown to an impressive size proving that the school is a hot spot for emerging fluid power talent.

NFPA and Northern Illinois University will be hosting their very first recruitment event in March 2023 where students and industry members will get the chance to network as well as enjoy a presentation on electrification within the fluid power industry.

The NFPA would like to congratulate and thank the faculty of both Murray State University and Northern Illinois University for their time and effort to providing valuable educational opportunities for their students studying fluid power.

If you are interested in pursuing the Power Partner designation for your university, please contact Kyla Olson at kolson@nfpa.com for more information. 

Tell Us About Your Projects

Are your students working on any hands-on fluid power projects? We have had several requests from instructors for ideas for hands-on projects that allow the students to get some real-world experiences, so we thought we'd ask YOU! We're interested in learning about the projects your students are working on in high school, technical college, or at the university level. 

If you have any projects you can share, please email the Workforce Team at workforce@nfpa.com

Fluid Power Connects

Fluid Power Connects is an NFPA initiative designed to connect underrepresented populations to educational opportunities and rewarding career pathways in the fluid power industry. Through Fluid Power Connects, we have begun working with our educational partners to widen the gender and racial diversity of the students being drawn into our programs.

Last November, NFPA traveled to our Power Partner, Iowa State University (ISU) to take part in their Iowa 4-H Connect Program event on campus. The event was designed to connect underserved youth to a variety of college and career opportunities available through ISU. NFPA partnered with this initiative to provide the students with a hands-on fluid power educational activity. The event was a success, with several students saying that they would be interesting in learning more about fluid power and had fun building their fluid power kits.

Earlier in 2022, NFPA sponsored two dinners at Purdue University designed for admitted Black students and their families to connect with current students, alumni, and faculty from Purdue Polytechnic Institute, and envision themselves as Polytechnic students. Purdue shared with the families the next steps to accept their admissions offer and opportunities for them as students at Purdue, while NFPA members HYDAC and Norgren talked about fluid power career paths and shared their own experiences.

We are looking for more ways to connect and support efforts to build a diverse fluid power student population at the educational institutions in our network. Please reach out to workforce@nfpa.com if you would like to partner with NFPA on an event or initiative at your school. 

Submit Your Resume

Available Grants and Scholarships

NFPA offers $500 grants for middle and high school teachers for fluid power materials or to participate in an Action Challenge event.  
Apply today!

Apply now for the $2K Fluid Power Scholarship (deadline 4/3/23) and the $30K Robotics Scholarship (deadline 5/1/23). 

Let's Get Social!

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Show off your fluid power projects and learning activities! Post your pictures to #FluidPowerInAction on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to join the conversation. Sharing pictures from our education partners helps our members stay informed and engaged with NFPA workforce programs. 
Copyright © 2023 National Fluid Power Association, All rights reserved.


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