Five talented students from across Oregon will each receive a 4-year full tuition and fees scholarship to the Oregon Institute of Technology (Oregon Tech), thanks to a generous grant from the Robert J. and Leona DeArmond Public Foundation. Oregon Tech and the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center Research and Development (OMIC R&D) announced the names of the five recipients, all of whom graduated from high school in June and will begin at either the Klamath Falls or Portland-Metro campuses in September.
Earlier this year, the DeArmond Foundation awarded $300,000 to Oregon Tech in support of nurturing outstanding engineering and technology professionals in Oregon. Out of the total, $200,000 was awarded to five students from Oregon high schools in a competitive application and interview process, to establish the first class of DeArmond Manufacturing Fellows at Oregon Tech. In addition to fully paid tuition and fees for four years at Oregon Tech to study either mechanical or manufacturing engineering technology, the students will work as interns at OMIC R&D in Scappoose throughout the year. Two of the students will begin internships at OMIC R&D this summer, assisting with research and other projects before starting college this fall.
The five student awardees include:
Oregon Tech dean of engineering, Dr. Thomas Keyser said, “We are proud to welcome the DeArmond scholars to Oregon Tech this fall at both our Klamath Falls and Portland-Metro campuses. They represent some of the most talented, hard-working students from across the state, and we look forward to their contributions during their time at Oregon Tech.”
Students will begin building foundational skills in their first year at Oregon Tech. In the three years to follow they will cultivate not only the technical skills needed to be innovators in industry, but a deeply engrained, hands-on applied professional development experience, allowing them to address even the most complex challenges faced by industry.
OMIC has positioned itself uniquely, with a simultaneous focus on creating state-of-the-art technology solutions in manufacturing and actively encouraging future manufacturing professionals. OMIC R&D delivers advanced manufacturing research activities through its academic research partners -- Oregon Tech, Portland State University (PSU), and Oregon State University (OSU) -- who will be working closely with industry professionals. This public-private partnership augments the region’s capabilities in metals, machinery and manufacturing, and trains the next generation of manufacturing workforce, leading to quality jobs and economic development.
