Scholarship and a Job
Leading Edge
Dr. Darryll Pines
With the cost of college rising and the job market tightening, it can be pretty intimidating to be a high school student right now. However, the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division has an offer going right now that’s hard to resist if you’re a student looking to get into mechanical engineering.
Last week, the Patuxent Partnership convened a forum of local industry and education leaders to impress upon local engineering students the value of staying and working in the Southern Maryland community.
Dr. Darryll Pines, Dean of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, headlined the forum, encouraging the students in the audience to consider getting their education at College Park.
“I guarantee they are going to get a job,” Pines said of students who complete a degree at the Clark School.
And students don’t necessarily have to live in College Park. The College of Southern Maryland offers, in partnership with UMD and the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center, a pathway to a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. CSM offers an Engineering Associate of Science Degree which students may then transfer, with junior status, to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering at UMD, taking most of the classes at SMHEC.
“We’re trying to increase the [technical] workforce here in Southern Maryland,” Pines said.
Del. John Bohanan
Del. John Bohanan added that the state aims to have 55 percent of the population attain a post-high school degree by 2020. The number stands at 44 percent now, above the national average of 38 percent.
“If we’re going to be prepared for the future, this region needs to exceed the 55 percent,” Bohanan said.
In order to largely pay for this education track, students can participate in a cooperative education program with NAWCAD that carries strong chances of employment upon graduation. For students enrolled in this program, NAWCAD offers $4,900 scholarship per semester for tuition and books for up to six semesters; $15.75 per hour internship during summer and semester breaks; and full-time permanent employment as an engineer with NAWCAD/DoD following graduation.
Prospective students must be at least 16 years of age, hold U.S. citizenship and be accepted into the Clark School with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
For more information on the program, contact Robert Marino, CSM Pre-Engineering Program Coordinator at [email protected] or 301-934-7747. Or visit www.csmd.edu/ISTEM.
