Kamal Kumar Anand – winner of $5,000
SPE thremoforming scholarship
An IME graduate has earned a $5,000 Thermoforming Division Memorial Scholarship from the Society of Plastics Engineering (SPE) Foundation.
Kamal Kumar Anand, who needs one more semester to complete the work needed to earn a master’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering (ME), has been a graduate assistant in the plastics lab for the past year.
“I taught classes for two semesters, but now I’m looking after the lab,” he said. “The move to the new campus has left a lot of things to be set.”
After completing the master’s program, Anand plans to begin work on a Ph.D. His goal for a future career is to work with plastics. “I just want to work a lot in plastics,” he said. “And I like to work on projects.”
Before coming to WMU, he earned a diploma in tool engineering from Bangatore and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Chennai. He also worked for over three years in plastics in India. “I’ve worked a lot in plastics injection molding and in thermoforming dies,” he said.
Anand came to WMU in August 2002 from Tirupathi, a town in southern India. He chose WMU after visiting the IME website and contacting Dr. Paul Engelmann, IME chair and the architect of IME’s plastics program.
“Even before coming here I was in contact with Dr. Engelmann, so I came to know that the plastics’ lab here is very good,” he said.
This is the second time Anand had applied for the scholarship, which is awarded to only two qualified applicants. He said the application process was fairly easy. “They just wanted to know if I am working with plastics, and if I have considerable experience in plastics, and if I’m taking classes in plastics,” he said.
Anand expressed his appreciation for the support of everyone. “I especially want to thank Dr. Engelmann,” he said.
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