IGTI investment in the future aided by student member's perspective

Emily M. Smith
ASME NEWS

For 16 years, ASME's International Gas Turbine Institute has supported student members' quests to become mechanical engineers by granting them scholarships through a program that also has the unique potential to increase activity among ASME student section members.

In December, 23 more student members received between $500 and $1,000 each, and IGTI's total investment in the education of soon-to-be engineers since the program began in 1986 neared $1 million.

Although several ASME units provide similar support for education, the IGTI program is unique in that student sections play a key role in deciding which of the qualifying students will receive the scholarship money.

IGTI's board of directors decides which accredited schools receive the $1,000 in scholarship money for distribution. To be considered for receiving scholarship money, the curriculum of the qualifying schools must promote knowledge or interest in gas turbine-related technology.

Schools outside the United States are eligible as long as they also have an ABET-equivalent accreditation. Two of the schools chosen in 2001 are in Canada: Carleton University and the University of Toronto.

But because students must be active members of the school's ASME student section in order to be contenders for the scholarship money from a chosen school, the student section decides which student member or members will receive the scholarship money.
That's where the opportunity to increase participation in ASME student sections comes in.

"It gets the students more involved in the section," said Paul Taylor, who is chair of the student section at the University of Utah and has been a section member for five years. Utah was one of the 20 schools selected last year by the IGTI board to distribute scholarship money.

"It's definitely innovative. It gives us the opportunity to reward student members for more than just schoolwork," Taylor said. "We could give the award to someone who didn't miss a single section meeting. Not that we would, but it gives us the opportunity. I think all scholarships should be like this."

The student section's decision on who receives the scholarship money must be approved by the head of the mechanical engineering department of each school selected to receive scholarship money or by the ASME student section faculty advisor.

Section faculty advisors also see the program as particularly beneficial to participation. "Since the IGTI scholarship is an ASME activity, it is logical and healthy for student members to be involved in the selection process," said John N. Rossettos, the faculty advisor for the ASME Student Section at Northeastern University, also one of the schools selected last year to distribute scholarship money.

Student involvement is beneficial to the ASME student chapter, Rossettos said, because, "It makes students aware of the scholarship, and their enthusiasm and general activity participation in the section increase."

As it has since 1997, the board set aside $20,000 for 2001 scholarships. Prior to that, the amount varied from $50,000 to $85,000. Most of the students who received the scholarships are in their senior year.

For more information about the IGTI scholarship program, contact Laura Kemp at (404) 847-0072, ext. 221, or by e-mail at kempl@asme.org.

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