San Antonio, TX, August 18, 2016 – The Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association (FAMA) has awarded its 2016 Phillip L. Turner Fire Protection Scholarship to University of Maryland student Julie Bryant. Bryant was selected to receive the $5,000 scholarship in recognition of her outstanding achievements and dedication to the protection of life safety.
Bryant is a senior at the University of Maryland, and plans to graduate this December with a Bachelor’s degree in Fire Protection Engineering. The school’s department chair, Dr. James Milke noted, “Bryant is highly committed to her courses and department activities while being an active volunteer firefighter.” Bryant is a member of the Prince George’s County Fire Department, Station 11 Branchville Volunteer Fire Company and Rescue Squad.
While maintaining a 3.3 GPA and active in the fire department, Bryant has gained invaluable experience in fire protection and continues to generously donate her time, skills and knowledge. In 2016, Bryant successfully completed an engineering internship at JENSEN HUGHES. She is an ongoing instructor for an outreach project designed to teach high school students about important fire protection concepts. In addition, Bryant supports the university as a teaching fellow for the freshman Hot Topics in Fire class. During her ‘free time,’ Bryant completed Emergency Medical Technician and Fire Fighter 1 courses with plans to become a certified Paramedic.
After completing her undergraduate studies in December, Bryant will pursue a Master’s degree in Fire Protection Engineering. Dedicated to helping people and ambitious to protect those who protect others, Bryant aspires to focus her career on improving personal protective equipment.
The Phillip L. Turner Scholarship is awarded annually by FAMA and has been sponsored since 2009 by FAMA member Akron Brass Co., a worldwide marketer and manufacturer of high performance life safety, firefighting and emergency rescue equipment. A presentation was made today at the FAMA Technical Committee meeting held in conjunction with the Fire-Rescue International conference in San Antonio, TX.
Lou Milanovich, FAMA Education Committee Chair, stated, “this year’s applicants made the review process very difficult. I am impressed by all the outstanding and qualified candidates who applied. Julie’s application rose to the top because of her enthusiasm for the field of fire engineering, her dedication to helping others, and her thirst for knowledge.”
“Akron Brass is honored to sponsor the Phillip L. Turner Scholarship. Education is a key part of the philosophy at Akron Brass. We feel it is our responsibility to provide individuals like Julie an opportunity to develop critical skills and knowledge to be successful in life and foster leadership within the fire and emergency service industry,” stated David Durstine, Vice President for Akron Brass.
On behalf of FAMA, we wish Julie much success in her future endeavors.
About FAMA
The Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association is a not-for-profit trade association committed to enhancing the quality of the emergency service community through the manufacture and sale of safe, efficient emergency-response vehicles and equipment. For more information, visit www.fama.org.
From Left to Right: Jason Nawrocki – Education Committee Chair, David Durstine – FAMA Board President and Sponsor Representative, Julie Bryant, and Tim Van Fleet – Sponsor Representative