Scholarships Bring Up the Next Generation of VTOL Developers and Engineers

The Vertical Flight Society announced $120,000 in scholarships to 29 students, each selected as one of "the world's most talented engineering students interested in Vertical Flight".

The organization continues its modestly-sized scholarship program in an effort to continually foster the next generation of hyper-capable, strident supporters of the somewhat niche flight industry. Traditionally, there just wasn't the amount of interest in helicopter operation, design, and engineering like there was for fixed-wing aircraft. That's being shaken up with the advent of so many electric VTOL aircraft releasing today, and the Vertical Flight Society is looking to capitalize on that wave of next-gen aircraft. Positioning fellows with the right training and enthusiasm could be key to upend the status quo of absolute fixed-wing domination. 

To that end, the Society kicked up its scholarship awards by another 20% over the last 5 years, with the most recent crop of awardees getting assistance towards 7 Bachelor degrees, 11 Master's degrees, and 10 Doctorate degrees. Each scholarship will include a cash award of $4,000, with 'top candidates' getting some extra depending on the particular scholarship awarded.

“Since 1977, our Vertical Flight Foundation Scholarships have helped inspire generations of students to pursue careers in vertical flight, with many now holding leadership positions in industry, academia and government, with nearly 700 scholarships awarded to date,” said VFS Executive Director Angelo Collins. “This year, VFS is able to award a record number of scholarships, and a record total amount — $120,000 — a 20% increase over the past five years.”

FMI: www.vtol.organization