Rino Nori High School Scholarship

FWSIM Rino Nori $2,500 High School Scholarship Submission Invitation – DUE Thursday July 31st at Midnight!

Dear FWSIM Members,

Have a student who is aspiring for higher education and just completed 11th or 12th grade? FWSIM again is sponsoring our annual High School Scholarship with the winner receiving a $2500 award toward their education at colleges and universities.

This scholarship is yet another member benefit and at the same time promotes the engagement and interest of the next generation in technology, its potential, and our profession overall.

Detailed instructions and Q&A are below:

How Much? Award Amount is $2,500 Annually

When to Submit? All applications must be received between July 1st, 2025 and July 31, 2025 EST

How will it be announced? All applicants will be notified of the results in early October. The announcement will be scheduled shortly after.

Who is eligible? – all below criteria must be met:

A child of current FWSIM Member in good standing (no AR balances)
Completed 11th or 12th grade in High School in the year of the award
Bound for higher education where this award will be used
Applicant must not have previously won this FWSIM award

How and what to submit?– all qualifying submissions must have the following 3 components:

Application: Completed application (found here)
Transcript: Legible and complete copy of high school transcript for the full year showing a GPA. If the GPA is not standard (0-100, F-A, 0-4.0) please provide an explanation of grading and if available official high school description of grading methodology.
Essay: Attachment of 1,500-2,500 word essay on topic:
“Preparing for the AI-Driven Future: Analyze how the recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming the skills needed for future careers. Identify and discuss the specific skills that are becoming essential in an AI-driven world and how you are preparing yourself to meet these new demands. Provide clear examples of activities and experiences, both in and out of school, that demonstrate your readiness. Discuss the key characteristics and behaviors of effective leaders in the AI era, and describe how you have exhibited these traits. Finally, outline your strategy for staying adaptable and continuously updating your skills for careers that may not yet exist or are vastly different from today's job market.”

All three required components must be emailed to David Colville (dcolville3@gmail.com) and Stephanie Crowe (stephaniecrowe.fwsim@gmail.com) within the submission timeframe listed above, with a cc to the sponsoring FWSIM member.

If the applicant does not receive an email confirmation of submission receipt, they must contact Stephanie as soon as possible to prevent submissions from being filtered by spam or other filters.

How is a winner selected? - FWSIM members will evaluate and rank the essays; the award will be based upon GPA (on a 4.0 basis) and essay ranking. In case of a tie the award will be shared among the winners.

What if I have more questions? Please reach out to David Colville (dcolville3@gmail.com) or Stephanie Crowe (stephaniecrowe.fwsim@gmail.com) if you have any questions.

Winners:

2024 - Angela Humphrey

Angela Humphrey, a senior at Joel Barlow High School, is a member of the National Honor Society and French National Honor society, and a semifinalist for the National Merit Scholarship. She is a leader of the Barlow FIRST Robotics team, helps to organize and run STEM events for the Redding-Easton community, and is a mentor for Random Hacks of Kindness Jr. Outside of STEM, she is also Head of Lighting and Publicity Director for her school’s theater, and president of her school’s Habitat for Humanity chapter. Angela has also won a number of awards including the RIT Women in STEM Award, Yale Book Club Award, CT Technology Council Women of Innovation finalist, and first place for Digital Art in CT Artists on the Rise.

2023 – Olivia Panos

Olivia (Liv) Panos is the daughter of a long time FWSIM member, Jim Panos. She was a first year student at Colorado College at the time of the receipt of the award and was planning to major in Neuroscience. She hopes to research mental health, and intends to bring a humanitarian perspective into the medical industry surrounding the treatment of mental illness, particularly in children. When she is not studying the brain, she loves to be outdoors, especially hiking, mountaineering, and snowboarding. She is a trip leader for her school's Outdoor Education Department working on getting my Wilderness First Responder certification.

2022 – Afra Rafi

Afra Rafi is the daughter of FWSIM member, Rafi Mohamed.

Afra is currently a freshman at the University of Connecticut pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology.

She hopes to be a physician in the future, and though she hasn’t settled on a specialization, genetics and emergency medicine interest her.

Her hobbies outside of school are reading, getting coffee, taking walks outside, and playing sudoku.

2021 – Nicole Satanovsky

Nicole Satanovsky is the daughter of FWSIM member, Dmitry Satanovsky. At the time of receiving the award, Nicole was a senior at Weston High school. Nicole pitched for the Varsity softball team and played first violin in Weston’s Symphonic Orchestra.

Nicole founded a community outreach music and arts club, Weston Arts for a Cause, in which club members create musical videos and host virtual concerts for senior citizens in the community. The club has delivered over 150 videos since the start of the pandemic.

In addition, Nicole had an internship with Elayne and James Shoke Jewish Family Services, a local nonprofit organization, where she participated in the development of a digital platform for the distribution of groceries to Holocaust survivors and lower income families in Connecticut.

Nicole plans to study psychology and human services in college and is interested in how technology and innovation can help improve people’s lives.

2020 – Manvitha Mullapadi

Manvitha (Manvi) Mullapadi is the daughter of FWSIM member, Ram Mullapadi. Manvi graduated from Wilton High School in Connecticut during the spring of 2020. At the time of receiving the award, she was gearing up to attend Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio and planning on being a Cognitive Science and Nutrition double major on the pre-med track with the goal of going to medical school and becoming a doctor after she graduates.

Some of her major extracurriculars were figure skating, singing, and debate. Additionally, she enjoys reading, baking, and spending time with family and friends in her free time.