Our 2015 Section Scholarship award honors students who show exemplary performance in academics, the community, and look forward to careers where automation and controls play an important role.
The scholarship honors three past Philadelphia section presidents – Ross Forman, C. Blair Ives, and Cliff McLaughlin. These three gentlemen were truly giants of the past and illustrate the amazing history our chapter has in the development and progress in controls and automation.
It is fitting that we are awarding three candidates this year – two honorable mention candidates will be awarded $200 each, and the scholarship winner will be awarded $1000 to offset the cost of their education. All three candidates are good students, have been service oriented in the community, are involved in their school and discipline, and are great citizens of faith and honor. There are no losers here!
Technology changes in less than a year (the line ten years ago was technology changes every 18 months – shows my age!). If technology turns over as such, we need smart people to take the reigns for the future of ISA (and this section). From the looks of our award winners, we are in great hands.
Our honorees are:
Adam Poluka (honorable mention winner, center) with sponsor Charles Bissell (left) and Scholarship Chairman Fred DiPasquale at our May meeting.
Adam Poluka (honorable mention) – Adam is a graduating senior at Harriton HS and will be heading to Cornell University for Engineering. Adam had a 4.96 GPA at Harriton, National Honor Society member, took numerous AP classes, finished math early and is taking Vector Calculus online from the University of Illinois.
Adam played soccer for Harriton and served as captain of his club soccer team FC Philadelphia. He was involved in Model UN, Physics Olympics, the Harvard-MIT Math Competition, and was a member of the Harriton Service League.
He participated in the Adam Specter Walk To Win, a fundraiser to raise awareness of Hodgkin’s disease, as well as Bethel Academy, an afterschool program that included helping kids with homework and providing mentoring to the underpriviledged.
Patrick Talkington (honorable mention) – Patrick is a junior Electrical Engineering major at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. He holds a 3.6 GPA and is a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society. He has interned at Jacobs Engineering here in Conshohocken, and serves the school community with several activities.
He is active in Music/Faith Ministry, participates in Campus Serve to enhance the Liberty Campus Community, including Students Behind Our Soldiers, a fund raiser for making care packages for soldiers.
Adam Moritz (scholarship awardee) – Adam is a 2013 grad of Bishop Shanahan HS, and has just finished his sophomore year at Virginia Tech in Lynchburg, VA. He is a Chemical Engineering major with a minor in Leadership Studies with a GPA of 3.0. Adam is a member of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, and is in NROTC.
His goal is to become a nuclear-qualified submarine officer. He has interned at Johnson Matthey Catalyst Division in new product development. At Virginia Tech, he is in the Naval Submarine Society, the VTCC Color Guard Recruiting Staff, and New Cadet Training for NROTC.
He has participated in Relay For Life, Blood Drives and other large-scale on campus volunteer programs.
Congratulations to all our winners! A special thanks to Mark Drochek who assisted in the judging process. Looking forward to next year’s candidates!
– Fred DiPasquale
Scholarship Committee