蒙哥马利县社区学院  机械工程 Science major has been named the recipient of a national scholarship by the 可口可乐 学者基金会.

禅师'wa里德, 19, of Lansdale, received a $1,000 Leaders of Promise Scholarship. The Leaders of Promise Scholarship recognizes 200 Phi Theta Kappa members with awards 总计200000美元. Phi Theta Kappa is the international honor society for two-year colleges.

A panel of independent judges selected this year’s recipients from nearly 1,500 applicants. 可口可乐领袖承诺学者 are selected based on outstanding academic achievement and demonstrated leadership 潜在的.

Reid is a 2023 graduate of North Penn High School and began studying at MCCC in the 2023年秋天.

“I am happy and very grateful for the scholarship,” he said.

Growing up with a single mother, Reid said going away to college felt like a luxury 他不确定自己能否负担得起. 有了这笔奖学金，他开始感觉更 安全经济.

“这给了我一个很好的缓冲，”他说. “我可以省钱，塑造性格 帮助我妈妈. 太棒了.”

When Reid enrolled at MCCC, he immediately sought ways to become a leader on campus. He was invited to join PTK in the spring of 2024 and is looking to become more involved 在秋季学期和组织一起工作. 他也是荣誉会员 俱乐部, where he’s spent several hours volunteering his time at Rose Bridge Farm and Sanctuary, 在Dresher. Additionally, he’s a student ambassador, which he said has helped him to learn more about the College and break out of his shell socially. 这学期 he also begins working as Student Government Association treasurer.

Inside the classroom, Reid said several faculty members helped him be successful. Chengyang Wang, Engineering Science Associate Professor, and Gayathri Moorthy, Engineering Assistant Professor, have both worked closely with him.

“From hearing my interests and giving me ideas to grow as a person,” he said, “they 做得比他们必须做的更多吗. 这给了我作为学生更多的信心.”

他还提到了丽贝卡·海斯博士.D.，教务处助理处长- STEM； and Douglas Vardakas, Physics Instructor, as two other big influences on him academically.

“The people at Montco want 你 to be better people,” he said. “他们想要提升自己 你.”

Reid is currently participating in an independent study with Moorthy, exploring the 不同用途的纳米颗粒的性质. 它包含了详细的理论 study, performing hands-on experiments at MCCC, and remotely collaborating with Penn State University to use some of their specialized nanotechnology equipment, said Moorthy.

As part of preparation for the study, Reid attended a workshop in the summer on “Semiconductor “处理与集成光子学”. 有人向他介绍了这些概念 of nanotechnology and many of the tools used in the analysis and characterization 纳米材料的.

The Engineering Department at MCCC has collaborated closely with Penn State’s Center 纳米科技教育及应用(CNEU) on a number of initiatives over the years, said Moorthy.

“Most recently, we have been working with Penn State to recreate some of the fundamental nanotechnology experiments without the need for a specialized lab, called a clean 房间，成本要低得多，”穆尔西说. “这可能会为很多人打开大门 of community colleges, and high schools, to introduce their students to the concepts 通过动手实验的纳米技术.”

As part of Reid’s independent study this semester, he will test the implementation MCCC的一些实验. Moorthy说他们希望整合这些实验 into MCCC’s introductory Engineering (and possibly other STEM) courses in the near 未来.

The “Semiconductor Processing and Integrated Photonics” workshop is a result of another MCCC和宾夕法尼亚州立大学最近的合作. 作为这个计划的一部分，每年夏天，四个 or five MCCC students will be awarded a full scholarship to attend a one-week workshop at Penn State to introduce and educate them in the rapidly expanding fields of semiconductors and integrated photonics, and provide career-related advice in these new, cutting-edge “区域，”穆尔西说.

“We hope that such collaborations will help our students gain specialized skills in emerging technologies,” said Moorthy, “and give them an upper hand, whether they decide to transfer to a four-year institution or enter the competitive job market.”

Reid said his experiences during the summer workshop and during his independent study have offered him opportunities to work on research papers and presentations, and he hopes to continue to do similar work once he transfers to a four-year institution next spring following his graduation to continue his education.

“I want to thank Montco for helping me open doors to possibilities,” he said, “and 让我探索我的兴趣.”

With the 可口可乐 scholarship under his belt, Reid said he’s focused on continuing 成为校园的领导者.

“I hope to continue to make it a better place,” he said. “更有趣，更容易接近. 这是我在冰球突破豪华版的最后一年的目标."