Last year, we launched a global Scholarship Program to help provide career pathways and assist with educational expenses for high-performing university students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields of study. 2023 is the first full year of the program and we’ve seen encouraging progress across all participating markets, with 32 scholarships already awarded and plenty more to come.
The Scholarship Program is aimed at underrepresented minority groups and students from low-income families, and is initially being rolled out in five of our key recruitment markets – USA, Germany, Poland, Mexico and China.
In Poland, two female students, Monika Swieciochowska and Klaudia Piwowarczy, were recently awarded two-year scholarships at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, while Zuzanna Szczelina and Kinga Mycek have been selected at AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow. All four of these students were chosen by their universities on account of their outstanding academic performance.
It’s a similar success story in China, where we’re working with three universities – close to our facilities in Shanghai, Changchun and Tianjin – to support 26 students as part of the initiative. Our Chinese team partnered with the universities to select female STEM students from low-income families or with excellent academic credentials.
There’s still work to be done in Germany, where the goal is to bring seven students onto the program. Currently, there are two female students from The Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences and Stiftung der deutschen Wirtschaft enrolled, with the next selection planned for the end of the first quarter of 2023. Scholarship participants in Germany will also benefit from extra-curricular experiences, including a tour of the Rastatt E-Mobility Innovation Center and the opportunity to attend engineering networking events.
In the USA, work is also well underway. We have partnered with NACME (National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering), with a view to providing three students a place on the Scholarship Program. To be eligible, students need to meet the minimum GPA of 3.0, and will be interviewed by three TIFS representatives to assess their suitability for the program.
Finally, we are making great strides in Mexico, where our goal is to provide 20 scholarships for top performing female students from low-income backgrounds. We have already struck up partnerships with two first-class institutions, the Technological University of San Luis Potosi and the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosi, with each university committing to 10 scholarships each. The application process in Mexico is ongoing, so watch this space for news of the successful students.
Investing in the next generation of talent is critical to the ongoing success of our business, so projects such as the Scholarship Program are a positive step in securing our future. It is also especially important that we provide opportunities to underprivileged and underrepresented groups to ensure TI Fluid Systems is a diverse and inclusive place to work.