Sikorsky Begins Scholarship Fund for Engineering Scholars

Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation recently donated $67,000 to the University of Connecticuts School of
Engineering, establishing The Sikorsky-UConn Alliance for Advanced Research & Education to better
hone the abilities of the men and women designing and manufacturing the finest helicopters in the world.
Designed to create a sustainable pipeline of talent into Sikorsky, the alliance will support recruiting
activities by providing undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, internships, and funding senior
design projects.
We have been working on finalizing this for some time, close to eight months, said Dulcy ORourke,
Sikorsky Engineerings Manager of University Relations. We have a strong alumnae base of UConn
graduates at Sikorsky and establishing this program at UConn has been a top priority. With the strong
base of UConn graduates we already have working at our company, the potential is there for this initiative
to grow, added ORourke.
Paul Inguanti (Technical Fellow, system safety), a long-time Sikorsky engineer who received his Bachelor
of Science from UConn, said: I am excited that Sikorsky is expanding UConns School of Engineering
scholarship funding. Sikorsky must excel compared to global competitors by building the best helicopters
in the world, and to accomplish that goal we must attract and retain engineers who have a passion for
solving the toughest technical problems.
With this program, Sikorsky hopes to draw many talented scholars to the engineering field by providing
financial support to those with a desire to grow their knowledge.
Specifically, this donation will provide eleven scholarships to UConn students. Four scholarships will go to
the Sikorsky Aircraft BRIDGE scholarship fund. This supports students enrolled in the UConn BRIDGE
program, a five-week intensive summer readiness program for incoming freshman that is designed to
prepare students for their first year of college. Six additional undergraduate scholarships will focus on
mechanical and electrical engineering students from their sophomore to senior years. The donation also
will provide for one graduate fellowship scholarship, awarded to a top graduate student in the areas of
mechanical or electrical engineering. This is designed to create a pipeline of refined expertise recruited
from the best young engineering graduate students.
UConn is a Sikorsky R&E focus school and has a proven track record of producing quality engineers here
at Sikorsky.
UConn prepared me to make the transition from being a full-time student to an effective practicing
engineer at Sikorsky immediately after I graduated, said Brian Rothermich, a new Sikorsky hire and
recent graduate of UConns School of Engineering. Many of my professors at UConn previously worked
in the aerospace industry, which provided an opportunity for me to learn how concepts learned in school
applied to real world engineering.
While this is the first donation Sikorsky has made to UConn designed specifically for scholarships, in the
past, Sikorsky has funded senior projects and provided mentors to UConn students in similar career
fields.
I personally benefited from Sikorskys commitment to engineering education when Sikorsky sponsored
my Ph.D. research at UConn, said Dr. Michael R. Urban a structural analysis manager. Sikorskys
support allowed me to obtain a UConn doctorate degree that I may not have otherwise been able to
realize.
With this alliance, Sikorsky hopes to reaffirm its long standing relationship with the University of
Connecticuts School of Engineering and generate a passion for problem solving in future generations.

Sikorskys Research and Engineering department has hired 43 recent UConn graduates as full time
employees since 2014 and has 20 current UConn students interning this summer.
Sikorsky has a similar program established with the University of Maryland and hopes to see a
comparable success in its extended partnership with UConn.

Dr. Michael R. Urban (left) and Paul Inguanti (right).

Lauren Salisbury (left) and Brian Rothermich (right) two of Sikorskys recent hires from the University of
Connecticuts School of Engineering.

A group of 2015 Summer Engineering Interns from the University of Connecticut in the Igor Sikorsky
Development Center.
By Thomas Korolyshun