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SME to Award $95,000 in Scholarships

18 May 2000

SME to Award $95,000 in Scholarships Illustrating Society's Continuing Support for Education in Manufacturing

                  Three to Receive Family Scholarship Awards
                  And One Awarded the Directors' Scholarship

    DEARBORN, Mich., May 18 The Society of Manufacturing
Engineers (SME) and SME's Education Foundation will award two scholarships on
Saturday, May 20, at the Hyatt Regency, Dearborn, Mich.  The Family
Scholarship will be awarded to a high school student whose parent or
grandparent is an SME member.  The first-ever Directors' Scholarship will be
awarded to an individual who is currently enrolled in a degree program in
manufacturing in the United States or Canada.
    "In support of a strong manufacturing base for the future, SME is working
to better prepare tomorrow's practitioners to meet the accelerated technical
and business needs of the 21st century," says Randy Maiers, director of SME's
Education Foundation.  "Through our scholarship programs, SME is encouraging
some of the best and brightest students to choose a career in manufacturing."

    Three Students Vie for $80,000 SME Family Scholarship
    Three high school seniors, each with an engineer father who initiated
their interest in manufacturing, are candidates for the SME Family Scholarship
valued at $80,000 (up to $20,000 per year for up to four years).  High school
seniors Thomas S. Jonjak of Chippewa Falls, Wis.; Abigail Mitchell of
Middlebury, Ind.; and Michael W. Rothaupt of Menomonie, Wis. are the
finalists. The winner will be presented with a $20,000 check and the runners-
up will each receive $5,000.
    Applicants for the scholarship must be a child or grandchild of an SME
member, a high school senior or undergraduate with up to 30 credit hours,
pursuing a degree in manufacturing engineering, have a GPA of at least 3.0,
have a minimum SAT score of 1000 or ACT score of 21 and reside in the United
States or Canada.

    First Directors' Scholarship Goes to David R. Lothe
    David Ralph Lothe of Sun Prairie, Wis., is the first recipient of SME's
Directors' Scholarship.  As a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Stout,
Lothe will receive $5,000 toward his academic pursuit of becoming a
manufacturing engineer.  Lothe, a full-time student, maintains a 4.0 GPA while
working 30 hours per week.  His objective after graduating is to obtain a
challenging position as a manufacturing or design engineer with a progressive,
future-oriented company.  He and his wife, Rebecca, have a son and twin
daughters.
    The Directors' Scholarship supports undergraduate students enrolled in a
degree program in manufacturing in the United States or Canada.  Applicants
must also be full-time students, have completed a minimum of 30 college credit
hours, have a GPA of at least 3.5, and demonstrate leadership skills.
    This year the scholarship is named in memory of James M. Hardy, an SME
director and president-elect who passed away one day before he would have been
installed as the 67th SME president.  He was past director of the SME
Education Foundation and past president of the SME Computer and Automated
Systems Association (CASA/SME).