Scholarship
RECIPIENTS
Scholarship Awards
Trishna Chengappa
$3000 ORG Graduate Student Award
The Ohio Rubber Group has selected Trishna Chengappa at The University of Akron to receive the $3,000 ORG Graduate Student Award for 2026. Trishna is expected to graduate in August, 2026, with a PhD degree in Polymer Engineering. Trishna is currently working in the areas of Bio-based elastomers and Circular economy in the tire industry. We look forward to having Trishna present her work at a future ORG Technical meeting.
Mehdi Sahami
$3000 ORG Graduate Student Award
The Ohio Rubber Group has selected Mehdi Sahami at The University of Akron to receive the $3,000 ORG Graduate Student Award for 2026. Medhi is expected to graduate in 2028, with a PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering. Mehdi is currently working in the area of flexoelectric polyelectrolyte elastomers as sensors and energy harvesters. We look forward to having Mehdi present his work at a future ORG Technical meeting.
Alexandra Barcroft
$2000 ORG Rubber Industry Co-Op Award
The Ohio Rubber Group has selected Alexandra Barcroft at The University of Akron to receive the $2,000 ORG Rubber Industry Co-op Award for 2025. Alex is working towards her Bachelors Degree in Biomedical Engineering with an expected graduation date of May 2026. She has worked three co-op assignments at Performance Health and one assignment at Robin Industries.
Grant Mercer
Paul Glasgow Memorial ORG Member Scholarship Award
Grant Mercer has been awarded the Paul Glasgow Memorial ORG Member Scholarship for 2025. Grant is a Chemical Engineer and currently employed at Grand River Rubber & Plastics as a Materials Engineer. He previously worked for Hexpol as a Process Engineer and Chemist. Grant is currently pursuing further education at UW Milwaukee and also is enrolled in the Individual Education Training Pass with the Rubber Division, ACS.
This Award is available for ORG members who are currently employed in the rubber industry and want to further their careers by acquiring additional education. The monetary value of the award is $2,000. For further information on this award, please contact Lindsey Kotz, Scholarship Chair, at kotzlindsey@bfusa.com.
In 2015, the Ohio Rubber Group Board decided to change the name of the award to honor Paul Glasgow, a long time member of the Group, other Rubber Groups, and the ACS Rubber Division who sadly passed away in 2015.
Previous Graduate Student Scholarship Winners
Trishna Chengappa – 2026
Mehdi Sahami – 2026
Marziyeh Shabani – 2025
Asal Yousefi Siavoshani – 2025
Arsalaan Pathan – 2024
Zehao Fan – 2024
Jomin Thomas – 2023
Abhishek Banerjee – 2023
Stephen Merriman – 2022
Arnob Banik – 2022
Kayla Williams-Pavlantos – 2021
Masoud Razavi – 2020
Akshata Kulkarni – 2019
Marcos Pantoja – 2018
Camilo Rendon Piedrahita – 2018
Scott Smith – 2017
Jiaxi Li – 2017
Prasad Raut – 2016
Jing Zhong – 2016
Danielle Grolman – 2015
Brinda Mehta – 2014
Nicole Swanson – 2014
Kushal Bahl – 2013
Vasav Sahni – 2012
Diya Bandyopadhyay – 2011
Emmanuel Pitia – 2011
Amy Blake – 2010
Jason Randall – 2009
Alexei Melnikov – 2009
Maurice Wadley-2008
Previous “Paul Glasgow Memorial ORG Scholarship Award” Winners
Grant Mercer – 2025
Maria Munoz – 2024
Kaylan Yaceczko – 2023
Richard Hanzlik – 2022
Charles Boyce – 2020
Frank Pappas – 2019
Trevor Cody – 2018
Seth Glasgow – 2016
Seth Glasgow – 2014
Kelly Casanova – 2013
Previous ORG Rubber Industry Co-Op Award Winners
Alexandra Barcroft – 2025
Nicholas Schultz – 2024
Nicole Langenfeld – 2024
Lindsey Winter – 2023
Nate Nash – 2023
Justin Ebert – 2022
Taylor Wilson – 2021
Dunia Jaffel – 2021
Paul Glasgow Memorial ORG Member Award:
This Award is available for ORG members who are currently employed in the rubber industry and want to further their careers by acquiring additional education. The monetary value of the award is $2,000.
Applications must be submitted by June 30, 2025.
ORG Rubber Industry Co-op Award:
This Award is available for undergraduate college students who have completed at least two co-op or intern assignments in the Rubber Industry. The monetary value of the award is $2,000.
Applications must be submitted by June 28, 2025.
Funds for the scholarships are provided from Ohio Rubber Group’s fund raising events. Our goal is to grow the funds to a self-sustaining level. This goal has not yet been reached.
University of Akron Graduate Student Award:
The Ohio Rubber Group has a long tradition of supporting The University of Akron. The ORG sees a need to increase the number of technical graduates that enter the rubber industry both in northeast Ohio and nationally. Due to this need, the ORG has initiated and funded the Ohio Rubber Group Graduate Student Award Scholarship. This award was created to assist University of Akron Graduate Students who focus on rubber technology in their educational pursuit to complete their studies and obtain their degrees. This award is open to any University of Akron graduate student who is pursuing a PhD involving rubber technology. Each year candidate students submit applications along with transcripts and letters of recommendation to the ORG Scholarship Committee. This information is then used to select a group of students for face-to-face interviews with the Committee after which the final selection is made. The very high caliber of the candidates makes the selection difficult, but the democratic process of voting is used to make the determinations.
Donations are welcome and can be mailed to:
ORG Endowed Scholarship Fund
P.O. Box 553
Hudson, OH 44236
For further information on these awards, please contact Lindsey Kotz, Scholarship Chair, at Kotzlindsey@bfusa.com.
Accepting Scholarship Fund Donations
Office
P.O. Box 553
Hudson, OH 44236