Power Generation Students on Short List of Scholarship Recipients

Published 11.02.2015

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Diesel Truck, Heavy Equipment & Power Generation
School of Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies News

On-site power generation students at Pennsylvania College of Technology have been awarded two of five $2,500 national scholarships announced this academic year by the Electrical Generating Systems Association.

Among the David I. Coren Memorial Scholarship winners for the 2015-16 year are Garritt R. Aucker, of Winfield, and Dakota G. Schwartz, of Trevose.



Garritt R. AuckerDakota G. Schwartz“The EGSA scholarship Garritt and Dakota received is an amazing accomplishment, given that only five were awarded this year,” said Justin W. Beishline, assistant dean of transportation and natural resources technologies. “Powerline magazine and the EGSA are the voice of the growing power generation industry, and it makes me proud that our students are receiving recognition from such a prestigious organization.”

A second-year student, Schwartz is a full-time diesel mechanic for a Philadelphia tour bus company and manages a private landscaping business part time.

“After I receive my associate degree (in power generation) and a bachelor’s degree in business management, I can see a great opportunity to start my career in upstate Pennsylvania, where power generation is in high demand due to natural gas fracking,” he said. “My goal is to be a service and operations manager for a small- to medium-scale power plant.”

Aucker, a freshman who enrolled at Penn College on a SkillsUSA scholarship while studying diesel and truck technology at SUN Area Technical Institute, works part time as a lifeguard and at a garage.

“When I graduate from Penn College, I would like to have a career as a technician at a dealership that has power generation and work my way into a management position,” he said.

Penn College’s on-site power generation major – which helps students develop the skills necessary to install, service and maintain diesel and natural gas-powered generator sets – is offered through the School of Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies at the Schneebeli Earth Science Center near Allenwood and the School of Industrial, Computing & Engineering Technologies on the college’s main campus in Williamsport.

The David I. Coren Memorial Scholarships provide merit-based financial assistance to full-time students who plan to work in the power-generation industry upon graduation. The program honors a former executive at Zenith Controls and a leader within EGSA, who died in September 2000.

Including this year’s honorees, Penn College students have been awarded 17 scholarships since the program began 13 years ago.

For more about the School of Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies, call 570-327-4516.

For more about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education and workforce development, email the Admissions Office or call toll-free 800-367-9222.

Photos by Pamela A. Mix, secretary to the School of Transportation & Natural Resources Technologies/library computer assistant