The IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative provides multi-year scholarships and career experience opportunities to qualifying U.S. & Canadian electrical engineering undergraduate students. As long as the scholar continues to meet renewal standards, he or she will receive up to three years of funding interspersed with up to two years of valuable, hands-on career experience.   Since 2011, 733 scholarships have been distributed to 466 students within the USA and Canada.

2014 Scholarship Recipients Testimonials

PES Scholars have recently indicated how being selected as a scholarship recipient has impacted them:

• “Being selected as a PES Scholar has validated my career choice as an electrical engineer and further motivated me to excel in my studies and continue to learn about the power engineering field.” – Emily from Northeastern University
• “Being a PES scholar has made the area of power and energy feel inviting and important. There are many parts of electrical engineering which interest me, and the support that PES and it’s industry partners have shown for me has made a power-related career my first choice.” – Carl from University of Illinois
• “I feel honored and I am grateful to be among the selected recipients of the IEEE-PES Scholarship Plus award for three consecutive years. The IEEE-PES scholarship has enabled me to devote more of my time towards my studies and not worry about committing extra time to work to support myself financially while in college.” Uchenna from the University of Texas at Austin.

2014-15 Schweitzer Meritorious Scholars

The following PES Scholars have been identified as Schweitzer Meritorious Scholars as one of the most promising engineers in the United States and in North America.

• Oceane Boulais – Florida Atlantic University, 2017
• Matthew Cato – Washington State University, 2016
• Cara DeCoste – University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 2015
• William Duren – Kansas State University, 2015
• Ryan Fraser – Gonzaga University, 2017
• Keith Hand – Illinois Institute of Technology, 2015
• Benjamin Jack – Texas A&M University, 2017
• Jessica Johnston – Brigham Young University, 2015
• Christopher Knox – Washington State University, 2017
• Matt Marcou – Drexel University, 2017
• Sean Murphy – Portland State University, 2016
• Michael Pahl – University of Oklahoma, 2017
• Douglas Rapier – Washington State University, 2014
• Suzanne Rieseberg – Eastern Washington University, 2016
• David Ritter – California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, 2016
• Thomas Ryan- Clemson University, 2014
• Shaun Stevens – Boise State University, 2016
• Thomas Teisberg – Stanford University, 2017
• Myder Vang – Michigan Technological University, 2015
• Shauna Walters – Drexel University, 2015
• Andrew Wunderlich – University of South Carolina, 2017

Thank you for selecting me as a PES Scholar

On behalf of the 184 IEEE PES Scholars, I would like to specifically thank you for your efforts in supporting the IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative.

As a three time recipient of the scholarship, I cannot overemphasize how much I have benefited from being a PES Scholar.   I had an internship at Centralia City Light which exposed me to the different types of energy, how energy is produced and what’s involved in its production. I came to realize that the power industry is about so much more than just poles and power lines. The PES Scholarship Plus Initiative is the reason I chose to pursue a career in the Power Industry.

Most recently, I attended the IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting at the National Harbor in Maryland. I had the opportunity to interact with key individuals within the Power Industry. I am grateful to have had this experience and thank you for helping me as I take the next steps in my power-focused career!

Please consider making a year-end gift that will give another student the future they aspire to. You may be able to double or triple the amount of your gift to the Initiative by using your employer’s Matching Gift Program. Make your gift online today to the IEEE Foundation or IEEE Canada Foundation.

John Hofman
Washington State University – Class of 2015

Announcements

Strengthing the Pipeline through Collaboration

Wanda Reder, IEEE Division VII Director and member of the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Governing Board, discusses her passionate commitment to pioneering new ways of implementing emerging power technology through collaboration, and to ensuring that there is a sufficient pipeline of up-and-coming power engineers to perpetuate growth within the field (IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative).

Check out the article on the IEEE Technical Community Spotlight.

Top College Major – EE

Electrical engineering majors make the most money immediately after graduating college, with an average starting salary of $57,030, according to a recent study from Michigan State University (MSU).

The study comes from MSU’s College Employment Research Institute, and charts the average starting salaries for new college graduates in a variety of majors.

See the full results via the Michigan State University College Employment Research Institute.

PES Scholars at Work