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 Announced!

Thanks to the hard work of our Regional Review Committees, it was announced in October that PES has distributed scholarships to 184 undergraduate students at 95 universities across the United States and Canada.   The list of recipients and the scholar map is available on the PES Scholarship Plus website.

John W. Estey Outstanding PES Scholars

The top PES Scholars for each Region have been identified as follows:

• Rose Abramson – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Region 1)
• Allan Bartlett – University of Kentucky (Region 3)
• Andrew Bonnell – Memorial University (Region 7)
• Thomas Navidi – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Region 4)
• PhillippePhanivong – University of Washington (Region 6)
• Mary Scherer – Ohio State University (Region 2)
• David Sehloff – Washington University in St. Louis (Region 5)

Each student received an additional US$5,000 and will get up to US$1,000 as a travel honorarium to attend a future PES General meeting.  You can read more about these outstanding students on the PES Scholarship Plus website.

PES Scholar Profile – Marissa Petersile

Marissa Petersile is a Senior at Boston University – she is the first PES Scholar from this school.

“I was motivated to apply when I recognized that many of the goals described for IEEE PES scholars aligned with my own,” Petersile elaborated. “I am interested in a career in the power and energy field, and I am hoping to make a positive impact on the role of clean energy sources on the grid.”

Petersile spent the past year conducting research in the Applied Electromagnetics Lab at BU. She worked on a team that addressed the buildup of dust and sand on large-scale solar panel arrays in arid, desert regions. Although there is ample sunlight in those regions, the collection of dust on the solar panels can trigger major efficiency losses. Petersile worked on a custom power system for self-cleaning electrodynamic screens that induce electrical waves across the surface of solar panels, cleaning them off in a fast, lower-power way. This research received international press coverage and was featured in esteemed publications like The New York Times.

Currently, Petersile is working on her team Senior Design Project entitled, “Smart Grid Test Facility.” She is designing an educational tool for undergraduate students that research power electronics and grid networks. The grid test she is developing would allow students to connect designed loads and generators to a small-scale grid to examine how the grid reacts to their designs.

Petersile’s resume boasts well-rounded experiences from around the university. She serves as a Dean’s Host for BU’s College of Arts and Sciences where she welcomes high school students to Boston University at Open House events, meets with distinguished alumni of the university, and conducts information sessions for prospective students at the undergraduate admissions office. Additionally, she serves as a tutor at the engineering tutoring center. She also runs half marathons and triathlons in her free time.

“I truly appreciate this scholarship award, not just because it will financially assist my college tuition, but because it makes me feel supported by IEEE PES—a group of motivated, distinguished, and hardworking engineers and scientists,” Marissa explained. “This support encourages me to continue my efforts in clean energy technologies and power grid improvements. I am so thrilled to be a member of this inspiring group, and I’m proud to say that this scholarship will not only help me financially, but also academically, career-wise, and beyond.”

By Donald Rock (COM ’17), published on BU.edu/ECE 

A contribution today will be used to support students like Marissa.  Make your gift online today to the IEEE Foundation or IEEE Canada Foundation.

IEEE PES Mentoring

In support of the Scholarship Plus Initiative, PES has formed Mentors for PES Scholars. This group is supported by PES Members who are willing to provide one-on-one interaction with the PES Scholars. As a PES mentor, a person can:

• Talk with a PES Scholar about the excitement of being a power and energy engineer in today’s world
• Advise a PES Scholar on how to obtain a career experience such as an internship, coop, or research
• Assist the PES Scholars in planning their job search strategy to obtain a job after graduation

Individuals can sign up to serve as a mentor via the PES-Careers site.

Internships & Opportunities

PES Scholars who would like to have their scholarship renewed for 2015/16 are required to obtain a career experience in support of their renewal application.   Organizations can advertise their opportunities via the PES-Careers US & Canada Web site. This site is designed to connect engineering students and recent graduates with employers offering internships and jobs. Employers can post openings, and search for and read student profiles and resumes (such as those of the PES Scholars!). Students use PES-Careers to find those openings and to research companies. This is a free service for employers and students from PES.

Support the IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Initiative

Learn: www.ee-scholarship.org

Like: www.facebook.com/ieeepes.scholarship.plus

Donate: www.ee-scholarship.org/sponsorship/donate-now

Questions or comments – please contact Dan Toland

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