ATA General Manager presents Jacobs scholarships to ATA personnel's dependents

  • Published
  • By Raquel March
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  The Jacobs Engineering Foundation awards up to 20 academic scholarships of up to $3,000 each year to qualified, eligible family members of Jacobs employees. For 2013, three children of Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA) employees received the foundation's Dr. Joseph J. Jacobs Scholarship at a ceremony in December.

Recipient Marissa Power, daughter of ATA employee Greg Power and Rena Power, is a freshman attending Georgia Institute of Technology and majoring in mechanical engineering.

"Marissa's mother and I are very proud of her accomplishments in high school academics and music," said Greg. "In her first freshman semester at Georgia Tech she has demonstrated that she will continue to make us proud. We appreciate Jacobs' acknowledgement of her capability to succeed through this scholarship award."

Recipient Gareth Penfold, son of ATA employee Tom Penfold and Jackie Penfold, is attending The University of Tennessee at Knoxville and majoring in electrical engineering.

Tom expressed that Gareth is honored to receive the scholarship "in recognition of his high achievement and support for his educational goals and aspirations. We are very appreciative of this reward and support from Jacobs."

Gareth plans to become involved in cooperative education efforts and study abroad working on the development of new electronic control systems focused on electric vehicle innovations.

Recipient Eric Nelius, son of ATA employee Andy Nelius and Sharon (Johnson) Nelius, is also attending the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and majoring in nuclear engineering.

Eric's grandfather, Arlis Johnson, is a first generation retired Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) employee who attended the scholarship ceremony and expressed his pride in his grandson.

He said that "it speaks volumes" that a prestigious organization like Jacobs would give scholarships to its employee's children.

Eric's paternal grandfather, Martin Nelius - who is deceased, is also a first generation AEDC retiree. Andy remarked that Eric's family is proud that he received the scholarship due to the long history his family has had with AEDC.

Andy recalled that his father Martin became involved with AEDC through a summer hire program patterned similarly to a co-op program.

The Jacobs Engineering Foundation created the scholarship program in 2009 as a tribute to Dr. Joseph J. Jacobs - the founder of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. - for his commitment to higher education and his goal to make an education affordable to children. The scholarship is made available to students majoring in any of the science and technology fields of study at an accredited four-year university worldwide.