Engineering Council Awards $30,000 in Scholarships

These ACEC/CO scholarship recipients were recently honored at a reception (l to r): Brien Gidlow, president, ACEC/CO; Fallon Donohoue, Diane Wetzel, Islin Moy, Akira Rattenbury, Matthew Eberly, Elliott DeJongh; and Scholarship Committee Chair Linda Hoffmann.

Photo courtesy of ACEC/CO

The American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado recently announced $30,000 in 2008 student scholarships to promote the study of engineering.

The council’s scholarships are awarded to students who attend Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology-accredited undergraduate programs in Colorado and support an initiative of the council to ensure the nation has the engineering workforce needed to meet future demands.

ACEC/CO engineering scholarship recipients for 2008-2009 are Brooke Bowman, Colorado State University; Elliott DeJongh, CSU; Fallon Donohoue, Colorado School of Mines; Matthew Eberly, CSU; Alex Ennor, University of Colorado at Boulder; Islin Moy, Colorado School of Mines; Akira Rattenbury, Colorado School of Mines; Phillip Tucker, CSU; and Diane Wetzel, Colorado School of Mines.

Akira Rattenbury is this year’s top scholarship recipient of the Leonard Rice Memorial Scholarship of $6,000. He will automatically be entered into the national ACEC scholarship competition, which will award three scholarships with a maximum amount of $10,000. In 2007 Phil Wolfram, a civil engineering student at the Colorado School of Mines, was the recipient of ACEC’s $7,500 Kennedy/Jenks scholarship.

ACEC/CO awarded Cameron Misegadis, Coronado High School in Colorado Springs, a $1,000 scholarship for his bridge design entry in the Region 2 High School Bridge Building contest, co-sponsored with Professional Engineers of Colorado and the Bureau of Reclamation.

Additionally, ACEC/CO is providing $1,000 scholarships to the Colorado Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement program for disadvantaged Colorado high school students planning to study engineering.

“We know there will continue to be a high demand for engineers, and one of the challenges we are facing is to ensure we have the engineering workforce in place to meet those future needs,” said Marilen Reimer, executive director of ACEC/CO. “Providing scholarships is one of the ways our organization is working to cultivate the next generation of engineering professionals.

“We are also committed to raising awareness of what engineers do and the interesting career opportunities engineering affords. Engineers are involved in every aspect of our lives—from the roads we drive on, accessing the water we drink and receiving light at the push of a button, to creating the mega sports arenas and cultural facilities we enjoy, to developing new energy options. All these things impact our quality of life and are dependent on the work engineers do,” she added.

ACEC/CO has awarded 115 scholarships since the program’s inception in 1982 and has provided $157,000 in student engineering scholarships since 2000. ACEC/CO’s scholarship funding is provided by council members, the American Public Works Association and private sources, including the Leonard Rice Engineers Inc. and Malcolm & Charles Meurer Memorial Scholarship funds. ACEC/CO scholarship program funds are also raised through the contributions of ACEC/CO members and proceeds from its Annual Member/Guest Golf Tournament. The 2008 event will be held on Aug. 11 at Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen.