The IEEE Power & Energy Society Scholarship Plus Initiative is proud to announce the awarding of scholarships for the 2014-15 academic school year to 184 undergraduate students at 95 universities across the United States and Canada.   The IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative recognizes highly qualified electrical engineering undergraduate students with multi-year scholarships and assists in connecting them with relevant and meaningful career experience. Since the program launched in 2011, 733 scholarships have been awarded to 449 students at more than 125 universities, including Ivy League colleges, flagship state universities and prestigious engineering colleges across the USA and Canada.

“Being a PES scholar is incredibly important in giving direction to my education. At a time when I was not sure where to go with my electrical engineering degree, PES Scholarship Plus incentived me into trying power coursework which I came to fully enjoy. The financial stability it provided me also allowed me to focus on my studies”, said David Wilson, a 2013/14 PES Scholar from Ohio State University.

Alstom engineer, Robert Stephens commented, “I am excited to participate in the PES Scholarship Plus Initiative award review process. My efforts, and those of more than 75+ volunteers throughout the USA and Canada, have a direct impact on the future of our industry. We see first-hand the new talent in our schools and encourage these students to find an exciting and rewarding career that can make a difference in society by inspiring solutions for tomorrow’s challenges.“

Upon the scholar meeting renewal standards, the renewal applicant will receive up to three years of funding totaling US$7,000 interspersed with up to two years of valuable, hands-on career experience.   All scholarship funds are privately raised through the IEEE Foundation and since the campaign launch, more than more than US$5.4 million has been raised in cash, endowments and pledges from corporations, individuals and foundations and US$1.3 million awarded.

Two industry leaders whose commitment began with the Initiative’s inception are S&C Foundation, the philanthropic entity of the S&C Electric Company and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. Each contributed one million dollars. Additional prominent supporters of the Initiative include G&W Electric Company, Doble Engineering Company, and Alstom.  Burns & McDonnell, Dominion, TECO, UC Synergetic, Smart Wire Grid and CRC Press are new corporate contributors and Beckwith Electric, Commonwealth Associates, Henkels & McCoy, NYISO and Omicron renewed their gifts in 2014. All are deeply committed to solving the talent development issues facing power and energy industry today and helping future engineers find their path. To learn more about making a donation to the IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative supporting the career path of a future power and energy engineer, visit www.ee-scholarship.org, or contact Natalie Krauser McCarthy at  732-562-6065 or at n.krauser-mccarthy@ieee.org. To give a gift today, visit http://www.ee-scholarship.org/sponsorship/donate-now/

To view a full list of 2014 – 2015 PES Scholarship recipients, please visit: http://www.ee-scholarship.org/about-scholarship/pes-scholars/awardees/2014-2015/.