IEEE Power and Energy Society Awards Five UK Students

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 8, 2012) — Last week, the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power and Energy Society (PES) awarded five University of Kentucky students with scholarships at a ceremony on campus. The scholarships are $2,000 each, and renewable for a total of up to $7,000.

"This was the inaugural year for the award," said UK Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky (PEIK) director Larry Holloway. "The society honored 93 students across the U.S., spread over 51 institutions. I am very pleased that five of them are from UK."

The scholarships were awarded to students pursuing power and energy coursework in electrical engineering. In addition to the money, the IEEE PES will work to connect students to internships and co-op experiences in the power industry, and students will also receive a one-year membership in the IEEE PES.

Adam Case Ward, president of the local IEEE PES chapter, attended the ceremony and awarded the students. UK College of Engineering Dean Thomas Lester also attended and provided remarks.

The IEEE PES scholarship program was established in 2010 with generous support from industry, in recognition of a need for more students to pursue power and energy studies in order to address the great challenges and opportunities in those fields.

The awardees include:

--Nick Aerni, junior

--Michael Ard, senior

--Jordan Laycock, senior

--Seth Hendrix, sophomore

--Joseph Kaseta, senior

"This is a great program, and I encourage other undergraduates to apply for it," Holloway said.

To learn more about the IEEE PES scholarship, visit www.ee-scholarship.org.

In addition to the IEEE PES scholarships, PEIK recognized several graduate students who have received scholarship support from the institute, as well as many who are in progress of securing future scholarships. Those who have completed their certificates include:

--Anurita Adamala: Electrical and Computer Engineering

--Benjamin Dale Hobbs: Biosystems Engineering

--Bhargavi Sammohi: Electrical and Computer Engineering

--Chris Asbery: Electrical and Computer Engineering

--Edgard Munoz-Coreas: Electrical and Computer Engineering

--Frederick Andrew Roberts: Biosystems Engineering
--Hanling Chen: Electrical and Computer Engineering
--Jianhao Chen: Electrical and Computer Engineering

--Kyle Hord: Electrical and Computer Engineering

--Mohammed Siddiqui: Civil Engineering

--Suhaas Bhargava Ayyagari: Electrical and Computer Engineering

--Ying Li: Electrical and Computer Engineering

--Ziyu Jia: Electrical and Computer Engineering

PEIK was established in 2010 when the U.S. Department of Energy awarded UK $2.5 million to establish the multidisciplinary program across engineering to develop these types of engineers. In addition to an extensive offering of courses in power and energy, PEIK also includes an undergraduate certificate, an international energy experiences program abroad, and new instructional labs.

For more information about PEIK, visit www.engr.uky.edu/power.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jenny Wells, (859) 257-5343; Jenny.Wells@uky.edu