Honeywell sponsors Engineer of the Future Scholarship, emphasizing new industries to build sustainability and help the environment. "Engineers are critical to our planet’s future, and the purpose of this scholarship is to help raise awareness of this important fact. You can’t get ‘green’ without engineers," according to Norm Gilsdorf – the president of Honeywell’s Process Solutions (HPS) division and a chemical engineer by trade. At the event announcing the scholarship, Gilsdorf spoke about many career opportunities open to engineers, using his own background as an example.

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Honeywell, one of the largest automation technology suppliers to several Gulf Coast facilities, today announced a scholarship to help re-energize Houston Independent School District students about pursuing careers in engineering.

Aside from financial assistance, however, the Honeywell Engineer of the Future Scholarship program also aims to help dispel myths about the engineering field and show students that engineers will play a vital role in making the world more environmentally sustainable.

“Many people equate fields like chemical engineering to older industries such as hydrocarbons, but the fact is, this planet needs engineers to create and drive new industries that will help to save our environment,” Honeywell executive Norm Gilsdorf said Wednesday at the Cheminnovations Conference and Expo at the Reliant Center. Students from Booker T. Washington High School’s engineering magnet school, High School for the Engineering Professions (HSEP), were in attendance.

Speaking at the event keynote address, Gilsdorf – the president of Honeywell’s Process Solutions (HPS) division and a chemical engineer by trade – announced the $2,500 scholarship would be open to all high school seniors in the Houston Independent School District and be paid to the winner’s engineering school for the 2011-2012 school year. Each student applying must write a personal essay discussing how he or she would use an engineering career to make the world a better place and more sustainable.

“Alternative fuels and clean energy sources are born in places like chemical engineering laboratories, which makes the need for chemical engineering students all the more urgent. Engineers are critical to our planet’s future, and the purpose of this scholarship is to help raise awareness of this important fact. You can’t get ‘green’ without engineers,” Gilsdorf said.

Gilsdorf also spoke at length about the many career opportunities open to engineers, using his own background as an example. After receiving his chemical engineering degree from Purdue University and working as a chemical engineer for several years, Gilsdorf leveraged his technical knowledge to lead sales and business development efforts for UOP LLC, which serves the refining, gas process, and petrochemical industries. UOP was eventually acquired by Honeywell, where Gilsdorf rose through the ranks to become general manager for HPS’ business in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), based in the United Kingdom. He became HPS president in 2009.

For more information about the Honeywell Engineer of the Future Scholarship, please visit: http://www.facebook.com/HoneywellStudentEngineers.

www.honeywell.com/ps

Edited by Peter Welander, pwelander(at)cfemedia.com.

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