By Steve Harmic, Penn State
DUBOIS – A Penn State DuBois student in the four-year general engineering program is one of only six students across the country to receive a prestigious scholarship from a national organization with a mission to support powder metal (PM) research and education.
Kevryn Boser of Bradford has been awarded the $4,000 Clayton Family Scholarship for Studies in Powder Metallurgy from the Center for Powder Metallurgy Technology (CPMT) in Princeton, NJ.
Boser completed the two-year Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) program at the campus this spring, and has reenrolled for her current four-year program with junior status. She said the scholarship she just earned will relieve a lot of financial pressure.
“It really helps. I’m trying to do everything on my own, and this is a great opportunity to further my education,” Boser said.
Part of making it on her own means working through college, which Boser is doing as an intern at American Refining Group, in her home town of Bradford. There, she works in the plant, solving engineering problems with equipment and machinery used to refine and produce wax lubricants and oil.
She landed the position shortly after her initial enrollment in the campus MET program, and will have the opportunity to go to work there, full time, following her graduation from the baccalaureate program. The experience has been an ideal supplement to her education, and helped to put her on the path to a promising career. It also helped her to secure the CPMT scholarship.
“She got it because of her hard work and experience, and the real-world experience she has, which is really critical,” said Craig Stringer, assistant professor of engineering at Penn State DuBois.
Stringer will make sure Boser continues to get that real-world experience as he calls on her to assist with research in the Penn State DuBois Engineering Lab, and to make a presentation at a national conference next year. Together, teacher and student will conduct research into lubricants and other additives that can be applied to powder metal parts during the machining process, which they theorize will make the parts easier to manipulate. They’ll present their findings at the Powder Metal Industry International Conference to be held in Chicago in June. While this is not a requirement of the CPMT scholarship, it is something Stringer requires of his students who are recognized on the national level.
“This organization has selected her to be a leader by granting her this scholarship,” Stringer said. “So, we want to give the industry something in return; the dissemination of knowledge.”
“For me, I’m excited about the chance to do this project and present it to other professionals,” Boser said.
For Stringer, the excitement comes from seeing one of his students already on a clear path to professional success. He said, “It indicates the effort put forth by campus faculty to educate and support students, and to form partnerships in industry.”