Scholarships

The College of Engineering offers scholarships to students entering engineering and students already enrolled in an engineering major. A list of these scholarships is given below.

Entering Students are automatically considered for the named College of Engineering scholarships, as listed below. There is no need for completing an application for the College of Engineering scholarships. Students are also considered by their major departments for departmental scholarships.
Continuing Students can also apply for the Dearborn Scholarships and the Energy and Electrical Power Scholarships, if they qualify. These scholarships have their own separate applications.

For further information or questions, please contact Mrs. Fullerton at 207.581.2217 or by email at laurief@maine.edu.

All incoming engineering students are automatically considered for all college and departmental scholarships for which they qualify.

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Scholarship Highlights:

Dearborn Scholarship Fund

Apply for the $6000 renewable scholarship by clicking on this link: Dearborn Scholarship

If you are interested, you need to take a mechanical aptitude test portion. The application and test are both due February 15th each year. Contact Sarah Kelly as soon as possible to schedule the mechanical aptitude test.

Please let me know if you are interested in this great opportunity!
Contact: Sarah Kelly, M.P.A.
Assistant to the Dean and Financial Manager
College of Engineering
Phone:207.581.2213

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Energy and Electrical Power Scholarships

The University of Maine College of Engineering has the following two scholarships that serve the energy and electrical power industry in the state of Maine.
Apply Here

The Haskell Stetson Power Engineering Scholarship Fund
The fund was established at the University of Maine, Orono, Maine in 2016 with a grant from the Maine Community Foundation from the Haskell Stetson Trust.

The fund shall be used to support scholarships, with a preference for electrical engineering and electrical engineering technology students with a demonstrated interest in working in the power industry. As a second preference, scholarships may be offered to other University of Maine students with a demonstrated interest in working in the power industry who are majoring in other engineering or engineering technology disciplines.

The Haskell Stetson trustees prefer one (1) annual $4,000 award, versus multiple smaller awards, be given to either an ECE or EET student with some experience in the power industry.

Versant Power Professor Richard C. Hill Scholarship Fund
The Versant Power, Prof. Richard C. Hill Engineering Scholarship Fund was established at the University of Maine Foundation in 2017 for the benefit of the University of Maine, Orono, Maine with a gift from Versant Power in memory of Prof. Richard C. Hill. A native of Schenectady, NY, Dick worked at the University of Maine from 1946 until his retirement in1992. Dick served as Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Dean of the College of Technology, and Director of the Department of Industrial Cooperation. He was best known for his work in energy related enterprises.

The principal shall be endowed and the distributions, as established by the University of Maine Foundation Board of Directors, shall be used to support scholarships for engineering students who are interested in careers in the power industry. Preference shall be given for engineering students who exhibit a curious and innovative spirit and natural leadership qualities, emblematic of Professor Hill. Students may apply in the spring of their sophomore or junior year. Two awards will be applied in the following academic year.

Building Bridges to Engineering Students (BBEST)
The Building Bridges to Engineering Students (BBEST) program offers competitive, academic-year scholarships valued up to $5,075 for students with demonstrated financial need and a strong academic record. Selected BBEST Scholars will receive scholarships for up to four years while enrolled in any of the engineering programs at the University of Maine in Orono.
Full description.

Additional scholarships at the program or department level are offered through the Pulp and Paper Foundation, Army or Navy ROTC, and through each academic department and cooperating program. Contact each dept. or program for these scholarship opportunities.

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College of Engineering Scholarships
The following is a list of College of Engineering scholarships. Please look through the descriptions to learn more about each scholarship. The selection of these scholarships, is based on merit, need and the specific criteria of each fund.

Thomas D. Shaffner, Esq. Memorial Scholarship
Bell, Jr. , James ‘Red’ – Pike Industries, Inc. Scholarship Fund
Caldwell, Robert H. Memorial Scholarship Fund
Cowan, Benjamin M. ’05 Scholarship Fund
Davis, Philip D. Scholarship Fund
Dearborn Scholarship Fund
Ellis-Young Engineering Scholarship Fund
Engineering (College of) Scholarship Fund
Emera Maine Professor Richard C. Hill Scholarship Fund
The E. James & Eileen Ferland Engineering Excellence Scholarship Fund
Hamm, Alton S. and Adelaide B. Scholarship Fund
HENAAC Scholarship
Haskell Stetson Power Engineering Scholarship Fund
Hill, Roger B. Fund #3
Joy, Norwood F. and Edith D. Scholarship Fund
Klein, Frederic W. ‘48 Memorial Scholarship
Pickering, Frank E. and Clara Engineering Scholarship Fund
Riley, Walter E. ’32 Scholarship Fund
Rowe, Thomas E. Rowe ’84 Memorial Scholarship
Smith, Frank Herbert and Elsie Oliver Scholarship Fund
Starbird, Dwight Alden ’60 Memorial Scholarship Fund
Strout, Michael Francis ’74 Memorial Scho larship
Swain, Loring R. ’32 Scholarship Fund
Todd, George D. ’64 Scholarship Fund
Turner, Charles R. Memorial Scholarship Fund
Valitchka, Becky Memorial Scholarship Fund

Thomas D. Shaffner, Esq. Memorial Scholarship

The fund was established at the University of Maine in 2019 with a gift from the Thomas D. Shaffner Charitable Foundation. Thomas was born on a family farm in Freeland, Maine. After graduating from Midland High School, Thomas earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Michigan Technological University in 1958. After serving in the U.S. Army, Thomas attended Georgetown University Law School, graduating in 1963. He worked as a patent attorney for Fay Sharp until joining Dearborn Tubular Products in 1975. Thomas spent more than three decades helping to manage and build the company, making it one of Oxford County’s largest employers, until it was acquired by Hunting PLC in 2011. Hunting PLC continues to maintain the facility in Fryeburg, Maine.

Criteria: The fund shall be used to provide scholarship support for deserving undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need who are pursuing an engineering degree at the University of Maine in Orono. Recipients shall maintain a grade point average (GPA) of 2.7 or higher. Preference shall be given to students who have graduated from New England high schools. The donor intends that two awards be made annually for covering education costs such as the in-state tuition, fees, room and board rate if possible.

James ‘Red’ Bell, Jr. – Pike Industries, Inc. Scholarship Fund
The fund was established in the University of Maine Foundation in 2008 for the benefit of the University of Maine, Orono, Maine, with a gift from Pike Industries, Inc., a leader in the construction industry with operations spanning the New England region, with facilities in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Pike Industries, Inc. established this scholarship in memory of James ‘Red’ Bell, Jr., a dedicated employee who worked for the company for over 40 years and was a member of the class of 1969 at the University of Maine.

The fund shall provide scholarship aid for one deserving undergraduate or graduate student each year attending the University of Maine.

Criteria:

Applicant must have achieved current sophomore standing and be entering his/her junior year at University of Maine in Orono. Graduate students are eligible for the scholarship;
Are majoring in Civil Engineering or Construction Management Technology;
A current permanent resident of New England; and
Have earned a cumulative grade point average of 2.8 or above.

Robert H. Caldwell Memorial Scholarship Fund

The fund was established in the University of Maine Foundation in 2001, for the benefit of the University of Maine, Orono, Maine, with memorial gifts from the family, friends and colleagues of Robert H. Caldwell, a member of the class of 1950. Mr. Caldwell worked for more than thirty years as an engineer at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and headed the planning yard division.

Criteria: The fund shall be used to provide scholarship aid for deserving undergraduate students from Maine attending the University of Maine majoring in mechanical engineering or mechanical engineering technology (or their successor programs).

Benjamin M. Cowan ’05 Scholarship Fund
The fund was established at the University of Maine in 1990 by a bequest from Sarah C. Cowan in memory of her husband, Benjamin M. Cowan.

Criteria: The fund shall be used to provide scholarship assistance to engineering students.

Davis, Philip D. Scholarship Fund
The fund was established in 1975 at the University of Maine at Orono by a bequest under the will of the late Philip D. Davis, Class of 1923.

Criteria: The fund shall be used to be used annually for scholarships for students, male or female, in engineering.

Dearborn Scholarship Fund

Apply for the $6000 renewable by clicking on this link: Dearborn Scholarship

If you are interested, we have recently been given permission to extend the offering of the mechanical aptitude test portion of the application through January, and the application itself is due February 15th. If interested, you need to contact Prof. David Batuski as soon as possible to schedule the test.

In past years we have had several Engineering, Engineering Technology, and Physics candidates apply, and about half were successful in winning these scholarship (two people even received $10,000 each over two years).. It is a great deal AND, since the eligible student ‘pool’ is pretty limited, chances are good!

Please let me know if you are interested in this great opportunity!
Contact: Sarah Kelly, M.P.A.
Assistant to the Dean and Financial Manager
College of Engineering
Phone:207.581.2213

Ellis-Young Engineering Scholarship Fund

Maine high schools and attending the University of Maine majoring in civil or mechanical engineering. A preference shall be given to graduates of Lawrence High School, Fairfield, Maine (or its successor school).

Criteria: Selection shall be in the following order of priority: attitude (assessment shall include, but not be limited to self confidence, industriousness and an outgoing, pleasant personality), financial need, scholarship (a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale) and good written and oral communications skills.

Engineering (College of) Scholarship Fund
The fund was established at the University of Maine in 1990.The fund shall be used to support students enrolled in the College of Engineering.

Emera Maine Professor Richard C. Hill Scholarship Fund
The Emera Maine, Inc. Prof. Richard C. Hill Engineering Scholarship Fund was established at the University of Maine Foundation in 2017 for the benefit of the University of Maine, Orono, Maine with a gift from Emera Maine in memory of Prof. Richard C. Hill. A native of Schenectady, NY, Dick worked at the University of Maine from 1946 until his retirement in
1992. Dick served as Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Dean of the College of Technology, and Director of the Department of Industrial Cooperation. He was best known for his work in energy related enterprises.

Criteria: The principal shall be endowed and the distributions, as established by the University of Maine Foundation Board of Directors, shall be used to support scholarships for engineering students who are interested in careers in the power industry. Preference shall be given for engineering students who exhibit a curious and innovative spirit and natural leadership qualities, emblematic of Professor Hill. Students may apply in the spring of their sophomore or junior year. Two awards will be applied in the following academic year.

The E. James & Eileen Ferland Engineering Excellence Scholarship Fund
The fund was established in 2009 for the benefit of the University of Maine, Orono, Maine, with a gift from E. James “Jim” Ferland ’64 and Eileen Ferland. Jim graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maine in 1964. Following a distinguished career in energy company management, Jim retired in March 2007 after more than 20 years as Chair & CEO of Public Service Enterprise Group in Newark, New Jersey. The donors wish the fund to be used to encourage bright men and women to consider majoring in Engineering at the University of Maine and to apply their talent to solving society’s challenging problems.

Criteria: The fund will be endowed to provide scholarship aid for undergraduate students who demonstrate strong academic potential to enroll in Engineering. The scholarship may be renewed based on the student’s achievement of satisfactory academic performance. Preference, but not a requirement, is to be given for students from Skowhegan High School or its successor institution. The Foundation may appropriate for expenditure so much of the Fund as it determines is prudent for the uses, benefits, purposes and duration for which the Fund is established, pursuant to the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act. While it is the donors’ intent that awards normally be made without invasion of principal, in periods of unusual financial volatility up to five percent of the existing fund balance may be awarded annually, even if a reduction of principal results.

Should it ever become impossible or impractical to carry out the purposes of this fund as described above, an alternative purpose which best fits the donors’ intent and wishes shall be designated by the Board of Directors of the University of Maine Foundation in its sole discretion after consulting with the President of the University of Maine. The Dean of the College of Engineering will make the selection of the recipients in consultation with the Office of Student Financial Aid. The Office of Student Financial Aid shall administer the fund.

Hamm, Alton S. and Adelaide B. Scholarship Fund
The fund was established in the University of Maine Foundation in 1997 for the benefit of the College of Engineering at the University of Maine, Orono, Maine with a gift from Alton S. Hamm ‘38 and Adelaide B. Hamm.

Criteria: The donors believe quality engineering requires excellent scholastic attainment, character, and integrity. In meeting these objectives, preference should be given to students who have achieved a dean’s list average, completed an elective in economics, and students displaying a strong work ethic. It is the donor’s desire The Alton S. and Adelaide B. Hamm Scholarship Fund will produce the very best in engineering.

Hill, Roger B. Fund #3
The fund was established in the University of Maine Foundation for the University of Maine in 1979.

Criteria: The fund shall be used for scholarship purposes to students enrolled in the College of Engineering.

Criteria: The Haskell Stetson trustees prefer one (1) annual $4,000 award, versus multiple smaller awards, be given to either an ECE or EET student with some experience in the power industry.

Joy, Norwood F. and Edith D. Scholarship Fund
The fund was established at the University of Maine Foundation in 2005 for the benefit of the University of Maine, Orono, Maine with a bequest from Norwood F. Joy, a member of the class of 1950.

Criteria: The fund shall be used to provide scholarship assistance to undergraduate students in the College of Engineering.

Klein, Frederic W. ‘48 Memorial Scholarship
The fund was established at the University of Maine in 1996 with gifts from his wife, Dr. Isobel Klein, alumni and friends. Frederic Klein received a B.S. in Marine Engineering from the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y. in 1944 and a B.S. in General Engineering from the University of Maine in 1948. He worked as an engineer for Ingersoll Rand from 1948-55 and later became Vice President of Thomson Industries, Inc. of Port Washington, NY.

Criteria: The fund shall be used to provide scholarship assistance to meritorious students enrolled in the College of Engineering except when there are direct descendants of Frederic Klein studying at the University of Maine. Direct descendants shall be eligible for the award until the year 2045 without meeting the above criteria for merit or enrollment in engineering.

Pickering, Frank E. and Clara Engineering Scholarship Fund
The fund was established at the University of Maine Foundation in 2000 for the benefit of the College of Engineering at the University of Maine, Orono, Maine, with a gift from Frank E. Pickering, a member of the class of 1953 and his wife Clara.

The fund shall be used to provide scholarship assistance for high school graduates of Deer Isle/Stonington High School, who have been accepted as first-year students into the College of Engineering at the University of Maine.

Criteria: The donors intend that once a student receives a Pickering Scholarship, the student will continue to receive a scholarship, equal to one-quarter (25%) of the income available in a given year, during their next three years of study at the University of Maine, providing they remain enrolled in the College of Engineering and they meet minimum academic requirements leading to a Bachelor of Science Degree as established by the University of Maine.

Riley, Walter E. ’32 Scholarship Fund
The fund was established in 1983 at the University of Maine at Orono through a bequest from his wife, Juliette Riley.

Criteria: The fund shall be used to provide Engineering scholarships at the University of Maine in Orono.

Rowe, Thomas E. Rowe ’84 Memorial Scholarship
The fund was established at the University of Maine in 1992 with gifts from family and friends.

Criteria: The fund shall be used to provide scholarship assistance to students who are residents of the State of Maine enrolled in the College of Engineering.

Smith, Frank Herbert and Elsie Oliver Scholarship Fund
The fund was established at the University of Maine at Orono in 1982 by a bequest from Earle Oliver Collins ’35.

Criteria: The fund shall be used to provide scholarship assistance to students who are residents of the State of Maine enrolled in the College of Engineering.

Starbird, Dwight Alden ’60 Memorial Scholarship Fund
The fund was established at the University of Maine in 1997 with gifts from colleagues, family and friends.

Criteria: The fund shall be used to provide scholarship assistance to State of Maine students enrolled in the College of Engineering, or its successor administrative unit.

Strout, Michael Francis ’74 Memorial Scholarship
The fund was established at the University of Maine in 1996 in memory of Michael Francis Strout, a student from Libson Falls, Maine who received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and died as the result of an automobile accident in 1975.

Criteria: The fund shall be used to provide scholarship assistance for undergraduate students majoring in Chemical, Mechanical or Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Swain, Loring R. ’32 Scholarship Fund
The fund was established in the University of Maine Foundation for the benefit of the University of Maine in 1987 by his wife, Marjorie C. Swain.

Criteria: The fund shall be used to equally support (50 percent) each of the funds outlined below:

The Loring R. Swain ‘32 Scholarship Fund shall be used to provide scholarship assistance to needy and deserving students majoring in the engineering field with preference given to students from the Oxford and Franklin County areas of the State of
Maine. Selection of the recipients shall be made by the Office of Student Aid. (5-6-40742)
The Loring R. Swain ‘32 Fund for Engineering Students shall be used to support graduate and undergraduate students, including but not limited to the following purposes: temporary employment expenses for engineering students employed within the college, student travel to professional engineering meetings and seminars, purchase of books and equipment not obtainable through other sources, student awards or any other expenses associated with the instruction of engineering students at the University of Maine.

Todd, George D. ’64 Scholarship Fund
George D. Todd was born March 9, 1942 in Presque Isle, Maine, the son of Guy D. and Helen Dane Todd. A graduate of Easton High School in 1960, he attended the University of Maine in Orono where he was elected to the honor societies of Sigma Pi Sigma and Tau Beta Pi, and in 1964, he received his B.S. degree in Engineering Physics with high honors. He then began studies at Syracuse University with a NASA Predoctoral Fellowship and completed his Ph.D. in 1971 in the field of Solid State Science and Technology. In 1971, he moved to the Silicon Valley in California, where he worked as a research associate for NASA at Ames in a Joint Institute with Stanford University from 1971 to 1979. During the 1980’s and 1990’s, he was employed by Digital Equipment Corporation and Intersil in the development of an electromagnet for the sputtering of magnetic alloys in substrates. In 1995, he joined the research and manufacturing company of PerkinElmer Optoelectronics in Santa Clara where his position as Project Leader focused on computer imaging equipment produced for GE Medical Systems. George was a member of the American Vacuum Society, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the American MENSA Society. He died June 26, 2006, from complications of cancer, in Mt. View, California.

Turner, Charles R. Memorial Scholarship Fund
The fund was established in the University of Maine Foundation in 1997 for the benefit of the University of Maine, Orono.

Criteria: The fund shall be used to provide scholarship assistance for undergraduate students in the College of Engineering.

Valitchka, Becky Memorial Scholarship Fund
The fund was established at the University of Maine in 1975 by her husband, William J. Frederick, Jr., her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Matthew J. Valitchka, the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Maine and other professional colleagues and friends.

Criteria: The fund shall be awarded to a woman in Engineering with preference given to a student whose interest is in the field of medicine. The recipient shall possess qualities of inquisitiveness, ability to reason, scholarly ability and character.