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Scholarships are at the root of our purpose in Automotive Women’s Alliance Foundation (AWAF). As an active professional foundation
dedicated to supporting the advancement of automotive professionals, AWAF strives to motivate current and future students
studying an automotive related field.
Scholarships are selected by the Scholarship Committee and awarded quarterly to the women that solicit passion and
drive for the automotive industry. It is our hope that with these scholarships, we can lessen the burden on students
and allow them to focus on gaining knowledge and development in automotive related fields and thus enhance their potential
career path and the future of the industry.
Listed below are several students that were awarded scholarships from AWAF in the past.
For additional information please refer to the leadership page for the most current Scholarship Chair contacts.
Click here to download the scholarship application. (PDF Format)
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Candace Chamberlain,
January 16, 2008, $2,500
Candace Chamberlain is pursuing an MBA – Management Information Systems at East Carolina University. She chose to continue her education after observing a common challenge facing automotive service; how do we effectively reach our younger GEN X and GEN Y service customers. The ability to quickly adapt to and incorporate new technologies into our current business models will be vital for maintaining product relevance. She is works as a District Parts and Service Manager with American Honda Motor Co., Inc., and belongs to the Executive Women’s Golf Association Raleigh/Durham Triangle Chapter. AWAF congratulates Candace, our 49th recipient.
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Laurel Bisby,
September 25, 2007, $2,500
Laurel has a bachelor of science in Industrial Technology Management from Berea College in Berea Kentucky. In her undergraduate studies she gained skills such as the ability to MIG, arc and gas weld, operate metal and wood working machines, computer aided drafting, graphic designing, and gained knowledge of production processes. Her work experience included being a teaching assistant in the metals and power lab at Berea College and most recently an automotive technician at Sears Automotive. Currently, Laurel is enrolled at Utah Valley State College in the Auto Collision program with an emphasis in Street Rods. She has a 3.58 GPA and plans to graduate in May 2009. Laurel plans to one day own her own collision shop and encourage females to join the automotive field.
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Kimberly Hewlett,
August 13, 2007, $2,500
Kimberly is attending the College for Creative Studies in Detroit and is currently a sophmore student with an expected graduation date in 2009. She has a 3.2 GPA in her Industrial Design Program. Johnson Controls Inc. was impressed with her designs and sketches from her portfolio and chose to sponsor this scholarship at the AWAF Annual Golf Outing. Kimberly has enjoyed drawing since she was as young as preschool and has since then gained skills in Photoshop, Illustrator, Rhinoceros 3-D Modeling, Sketching, Rendering, and Model making. Her work has been displayed at the Detroit Public Library Student Show, the Wayne State Community College Student Exhibition, and the DTE Energy Show. Kimberly was president of the National Art Honor Society at Cass Tech High School in 2005. She has also received scholarships in the past for both academic merit and artistic excellence.
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Jessica McIntee-Chmielewski,
August 13, 2007, $2,500
Jessica is attending Northwood University with an expected graduation date of May 2009 and a GPA of 3.549. Her degree program is Aftermarket Management and she is interested in working for a company that produces or designs aftermarket automotive accessories. She has worked at Autozone in Midland, MI since 2005 which puts her at the forefront of the automotive service industry. She spends her free time working on her 1988 K-5 Blazer, mud bogging, and attending classic car shows. She has also participated in the People to People Student Ambassadors and traveled to Australia for one summer and the British Isles during another summer. It is her goal to contribute to advancement in automotive aftermarket technology and to become a role model for females in the automotive industry.
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Kettering University Camp LITE Program,
June 14, 2007, $2,500
Kettering University's LITE program is a 2-week residential summer program available to high school girls from around the country. The program exposes girls to the various aspects of bioengineering through classes, labs, field trips and other activities. They visit a crash lab, proving grounds, look at the bio-medical aspects of car safety and, in general, learn the myriad possibilities open to an "engineer". The girls are taught by female faculty, mentored by female students, are are spoken to by professionals at workshops and seminars. AWAF felt that this program meshed with the value AWA places on supporting and mentoring women in what is often still a man's world. The $2500 Program Scholarship will be divided into five scholarships to pay the $500 LITE program fee for five girls to attend this summer. AWA is very happy to be involved with this worthwhile program!
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Jaclyn Studor,
June 14, 2007, $2,500
Jaclyn is attending Northwood University with an expected graduation date of May 2009 with a 3.29 GPA. She is working on her degree program in Automotive Aftermarket Management. She grew up around her father's family business, a Nissan dealership, and has since had an automotive interest. Jaclyn has held several dealership positions but ultimately she would like to work for an aftermarket company, or possibly an automotive manufacturer. Jaclyn has also received honors in her participation on a women's golf team. She was part of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee in 2005 & 2006. In 2007, she volunteered in the Big Brothers Big Sister's program. During the autoshows from 2005-2007 she has participated as a team member and co-captain for Team Maybach.
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Christine Donahue,
March 13, 2007, $2,500
Christine Donahue is a freshman at Michigan in the engineering school, where she currently has a 3.7 GPA. She became interested in engineering in high school when she attended a summer camp at Michigan Tech specifically for women interested in engineering. Each day was spent on a different type of engineering and it sparked her interest. She is concerned with protecting the environment and her particular interest now is using mobility engineering to advance the field of environmentally safe vehicles. She is also interested in applying mobility engineering to ships and planes. She has been active in Girl Scouts and has worked for a vet and as a lifeguard.
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Rebecca Walewski,
March 13, 2007, $2,500
Rebecca Walewski is a 3rd generation auto worker. Her grandfather, her father and she all worked on the line. She is not only the first woman in her family to go to college, she is the first person in her entire family to further her education. She went back to school and got her BA in 2006 while working full time and graduated with a GPA of 3.2. and then decided, why stop there? She is currently attending Eastern Michigan University to get her MBA in human resources and has a 3.8 GPA. She is doing a part-time internship at Tower Automotive, where she works in HR and is excited to be at "headquarters" instead of on the line. She intends to stay in automotive industry, using her education to change policies and procedures and some of the archaic practices.
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Brittany Murty,
January 11, 2007, $2,500
Brittany Murty is a junior at Kettering University and majoring in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on Plastic Product Design. She developed an interest in engineering in high school when she participated in a pre-engineering program designed for women. This interest was fostered by her father who encouraged her to take apart many different machines and household appliances at home in New York. In addition to her engineering classes at Kettering, Brittany is taking a few bio-engineering and crash-reconstruction classes, and is fascinated by all the applications for polymers in a vehicle and in emerging fields related to vehicle safety. Her coop employer is Ticona, where she has worked in the design group and the test lab. She also volunteers with the LITE group at Kettering (the summer program designed to expose girls to engineering to which AWAF also gave a scholarship last year), is President of the Society of Women Engineers, an Initiate in the Robot Society and in a number of honor societies.
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Amy Ewing,
January 11, 2007, $2,500
Amy Ewing is a graduate student at the University of Michigan, working toward an M.S.E. in biomedical engineering with a concentration in biomechanics. She also did her undergraduate work at Michigan—graduating with a 3.9 GPA—and will obtain her M.S.E in May of 2007. Much of the work she did as an intern at GM’s Vehicle Safety and Crashworthiness Integration Department in Warren involved analyzing test dummy data and kinematics to determine vehicle interior contacts for specific vehicle crashes. This information was then used to assess proposed design changes to the interior of the vehicle. Amy also worked for an accident reconstruction company reconstructing vehicle crashes. Amy’s special interest at school has been safety engineering and the junction of biomechanics and vehicle design. Outside of class, Amy is a member of the Biomedical Engineering Society and the Society of Women Engineers. She has also mentored female freshman engineering students and is active in her church.
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