SEE Education Foundation Awards $95,000 to Students
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Each spring, the SEE Education Foundation demonstrates its dedication to supporting the future of the explosives industry by awarding scholarships to numerous deserving and talented students. The 2021 SEE Education Foundation Scholarship period was no exception. This year’s application period concluded with a very strong response from students. We received applications and supporting information from 68 students. The scholarship committee is chaired by Josh Hoffman and John Rathbun and the Executive liaison from the ISEE Board is Jim Daley. The committee, comprised of dedicated industry leaders and professionals, from across disciplines and from a variety of backgrounds, selected 31 students to share the $95,000 available to award. These students demonstrate a mix of undergraduate and graduate students attending 20 colleges and universities. A total of 49 awards were made from the 27 scholarship funds.
Continuing with the goals set forth by the scholarship committee, the top award this year went to an undergraduate student, Kyle Ressler attending University of Kentucky. He was awarded a top scholarship of $8,000.
“His hard work, dedication to the field, and passion make him a most deserving candidate” Brad R. Flora Chief Financial Officer, Darke Rural Electric Cooperative, Greenville, OH. Kyle worked as an intern for the electric group early in his studies before deciding to focus on Mining Engineering at the University of Kentucky.
“Kyle has experienced much success during his time at the University of Kentucky. He works tirelessly which is demonstrated by his impressive 4.0 GPA” said Lesley Brenner, Academic Advisor, University of Kentucky.
“My career aspirations have evolved to become a mining engineer through an aggregate company which will hopefully be a gateway into the explosive industry. My dream is to eventually open my own explosive engineering consulting firm,” said Kyle Ressler.
“I am grateful for the being chosen for the Nancy Allen, Dugan Nelson, and the Ryan Family Scholarships. These scholarships will help me financially pay some of my college debt. As a result, that will eliminate some of the stress that comes with planning the next stages in life including getting married and saving for a down payment. I would like to stress, that scholarships like these have made it possible for me to get a degree in mining engineering at the University of Kentucky. As I said before, I am grateful for the generosity and assistance I have received from ISEE. I hope one day that I can pay the favor back and help a student or multiple students that truly need some assistance. Thank you.” – Kyle Ressler
ISEE would like to thank the numerous people and groups who are a vital part of the scholarship process including: ISEE chapters and individual members that contribute to the many scholarship funds, industry colleagues who provide professional references, department professors and staff remind students to turn in applications and guide them through the process, and volunteer scholarship committee members who determine which students have earned each scholarship.
The process of distributing scholarship funds to the next generation of industry professionals requires countless hours of volunteer service and illustrates the importance of the SEE Education Foundation in the lives of many.
Please consider how you can contribute to the future of the Foundation and the future of the explosives industry. Think of those behind the camera, and behind the students, helping tomorrow’s leaders succeed today.
