Six electrical engineering students at South Dakota State University are among 244 students nationwide to have been selected for a prestigious scholarship in the power and energy field.

Students selected to receive the Power and Energy Society Scholarship Plus Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers are described as “high achievers with strong GPAs with distinctive extracurricular commitments and are committed to exploring the power and energy field.” The awards are for $3,000, except three-time recipients receive $4,000.

The IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization with 500,000 members in more than 190 nations and 189,000 student members.

The SDSU selection includes Nick Ankrum, a senior, the son of Chuck and Claudette Ankrum of Tracy, and a 2022 graduate of Tracy-Milroy-Balaton High School.

At SDSU, he holds a 3.57 GPA, is president of Eta Kappa Nu, vice chair of the SDSU chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and a member of Pi Mu Epsilon and the men’s club soccer team. Additionally, he participates in intramural volleyball, basketball and soccer. In the summer, he had an electrical engineer internship at TSP in Sioux Falls, where he edited and updated electrical drawings and schematics using Revit software. In summer 2024, he had an internship as an electric distribution engineer at MidAmerican Energy in Sioux City, Iowa, where he provided cost estimates, designs, work instructions and coordination for modifications or replacement of electric distribution facilities.

He hopes to find a career in the power and energy industry.