ME seniors win top industry prize

Waidelich is two-time winner

 

Two Trine University mechanical engineering seniors have received prestigious industrial scholarships, one for the second consecutive year.

Jonathan Waidelich won the David Laine Memorial Scholarship in 2008 and 2009 and Aaron Engels earned the award in 2009. The North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) presented only five such awards in 2009, with two of those going to the Trine students.

The scholarship is the industry’s top prize, and is open to students in the United States, Canada and Mexico. To be considered for the $3,000 award, Waidelich and Engels submitted papers on their involvement and work in the die casting industry, along with letters of support.

The Laine Scholarship Fund is supported by corporate and individual contributions and pledges from the die casting community, and its scholarships help retain talented students in metal casting. More than 75 percent of scholarship recipients move on to work in die casting.

“Winning one David Laine Scholarship is a real honor. Winning two in one year is an outstanding achievement, and indicates the competitiveness of our students and cast metals program throughout North America,” said Darryl S. Webber, Foundry Education Foundation Key Professor and assistant professor in the Wade Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Trine.

Waidelich completed his third internship at the Honda of America Manufacturing Inc. Anna Plant this past year, learning about improving quality in castings through thermal camera set-up, spray mapping and hand leak test area improvement. He said his internship experience will assist him in becoming an efficient engineer. His profile can be viewed on the NADCA Web site - by clicking here.

Engels completed an internship at Comtech Castings LLC, where he assisted in die changes, planning project builds, creating work instructions, performing safety audits, overseeing product relocations and x-raying for porosity. He said he enjoyed his experience in the die casting industry and hopes to continue his involvement in it. His profile can be viewed by clicking here.