PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Five students at the Presque Isle Career and Tech Center were recently awarded University of Maine Pulp and Paper scholarships to pursue careers in engineering.
Tech Center seniors Hunter Chandler and Gavin Dunleavey are planning for careers in mechanical engineering while William Sargent, Amelia Bate, and Jack Buck will go into chemical engineering.
The total value of the two full-tuition and three partial-tuition scholarships the five students received was $190,000 for four years of undergraduate study, said Terry Harper, SAD1 Instructor for Engineering Technology.
“Right now, we need to have people who are technically savvy,” Harper said.
A majority of the scholarship recipients go on to UMaine in Orono, or Maine Maritime Academy, to get their four-year college degrees.
Harper started in the Presque Isle Tech Center in 2013 and over that time has taught 18 students who received a combination of six fully paid scholarships and 12 partial paid scholarships. Harper keeps track of his students and their career path years after they have graduated.
Two students who returned to Aroostook County were Olivia Goulet working as a chemical engineer at Porvair Filtration Group in Caribou and Andrew Michaud working as an engineer for Huber Engineered Wood.
“Right now my first year students are working on architectural projects and my second year students are working on their circuits program,” Harper said.
The Tech Center’s engineering program has a 3-D scanner that focuses on mechanical parts to reverse engineer broken parts that are then sent to a foundry for 3-D metal printing. It gives students work experience before going to college.
Past students like Connor Michaud completed a 3-D printed brake drum set for a 1903 Cleveland automobile that was shipped to a client living in the Netherlands, and Ian McKinnon made prototype mechanical parts for an ice fishing rig, according to Harper.
“Parents and students are concerned about the cost of college, they don’t want to go into [student loan] debt,” said Wes Lavigne, Tech Center Student Services Coordinator. “What we are offering is something tangible to the community and a chance for that student to make a better life for themselves.”
The Presque Isle Tech Center will begin an electrical technology program during the 2024-2025 school year to train future residential electricians, and give students a helpers license for an electrician apprenticeship.
