Rino Nori High School Scholarship

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

Dear FWSIM Members, 

Do you have a student who has just completed 11th or 12th grade and is preparing to pursue higher education?

FWSIM is pleased to once again offer the annual Rino Nori High School Scholarship. One recipient will receive a $2,500 award to support their education at an accredited college or university.

The scholarship is an important FWSIM member benefit and reflects our commitment to encouraging the next generation’s interest and engagement in STEM, technology, and our profession.

Detailed application instructions and frequently asked questions are provided below.

Award Amount: The recipient will receive a one-time scholarship award of $2,500.

Submission Period: Applications must be received between July 1 and July 31, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

Notification: All applicants will be notified of the results in early October. A broader announcement will follow shortly thereafter.

Eligibility: Applicants must meet all of the following criteria:

• Be the child of a current FWSIM member in good standing, with no outstanding accounts receivable balance

• Have completed 11th or 12th grade during the year of the award

• Be planning to attend an institution of higher education where the scholarship funds will be used

• Not have previously received the FWSIM Rino Nori High School Scholarship

Required Submission Materials: Each qualifying submission must include all three of the following components:

1. Application: A completed application, available here.

2. Transcript: A legible and complete copy of the applicant’s high school transcript for the full academic year, including GPA. If the school uses a grading scale other than 0–100, A–F, or 0–4.0, please include an explanation of the grading system and, if available, the school’s official grading methodology.

3. Essay: An original essay of 1,000–2,000 words addressing the following topic:

“FWSIM seeks to support students who will use STEM to create meaningful impact. Identify a problem affecting your school or community, explain why it matters, and describe how STEM could help address it. Discuss how your experiences and interests have prepared you to contribute to this type of problem-solving in the future. You may write about a problem you have already helped solve or an opportunity you believe STEM could help address.”

Submission Instructions: Email all three required components within the submission period to both Anna Ransley at anna@ranetix.com and Stephanie Crowe at stephaniecrowe.fwsim@gmail.com. Please copy the sponsoring FWSIM member on the submission email.

Submission Confirmation: Applicants should receive an email confirming receipt of their submission. If a confirmation is not received, please contact Anna or Stephanie as soon as possible to ensure the application was not blocked by a spam or other email filter.

Selection Process: FWSIM members will evaluate and rank the essays. The final selection will be based on the applicant’s GPA and essay ranking. In the event of a tie, the award may be shared among the winning applicants.

Questions: Please contact Anna Ransley at anna@ranetix.com or Stephanie Crowe at stephaniecrowe.fwsim@gmail.com.

We look forward to recognizing another outstanding student and supporting their continued education.

Best,
Anna

Winners:

2025 - Abigail Ransley

Abigail Ransley is a senior at Immaculate High School in Danbury CT, an intern at a Cybersecurity start-up and a head volunteer at a historical library/community center. She participates in a number of extra curricular activities that are at the intersection of her passions for business, technology and music.  These include being a captain of her school's Mock Trial team, leading a digitization of a 100+ year old library, music director for her school’s fall theater productions, and varsity tennis singles player.  

Abigail is a member of 3 honors societies: English, Social Studies and is on the leadership committee for Tri-M and received the Halo Award for composing incidental music for a play in the state of Connecticut for two consecutive years. In her spare time she is an accomplished pianist, guitarist, choir accompanist, and performer.

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.