Nathaniel Weger, a junior in mechanical engineering, has earned a $5,000 ASCO Engineering Scholarship.

ASCO, the world's leading manufacturer of comprehensive fluid automation, flow control, and pneumatics solutions, announced Weger as recipient November 9 at PMMI's annual Amazing Packaging Race at PACK EXPO 2016 in Chicago.

ASCO Numatics will further support Weger's studies with an additional $1,000 grant to the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department.

Weger was a guest at the Expo, courtesy of ASCO. The Amazing Packaging Race, sponsored by ASCO, is a fun and educational event that pits teams of packaging students, from programs around the country, against each other in a race to gather points by completing tasks at specific PACK EXPO booths. ASCO's sponsorship of the race helps support the PMMI Education and Training Foundation, which also provides scholarships to packaging students from PMMI partner schools.

As a student, Weger has served as an industrial sector operations intern at Eaton Corporation, a professor's assistant at IIHR--Hydroscience & Engineering, and a lead intern at Heinz. He also completed an eight-week intensive service project in the rural village of Mata Palo through Bridges Through Prosperity, designing and building a suspension bridge for the community along with a team of five other students, fundraised over $12,000 to pay for bridge materials, monitored and examined each phase of construction to ensure safety and quality, and created access to healthcare, education, and economic opportunity during the rainy season.

Weger is a member of the American Institutes of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and on the executive board of the student chapter of the American Wind Energy Association and on the executive board of the student chapter of Bridges to Prosperity.

The ASCO Engineering Scholarship program, now in its ninth year, has awarded a total of $90,000 in merit-based scholarships to 18 students, based on their potential for leadership and for making a significant contribution to the industrial automation engineering profession, particularly as it relates to the application of fluid control and fluid power technologies. The company has provided an additional $18,000 in grants to 16 schools of engineering.