Sandburg's Dan Hickey among 100 recipients of Amazon scholarship

Sandburg High School Senior Dan Hickey is among 100 students who earned the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship.

100 Amazon Future Engineer scholarship winners will receive $10,000 per year over four years to study computer science starting this fall at the college of their choice. Scholarship winners will also receive a guaranteed, paid internship opportunity at Amazon after their freshman year of college.

Amazon Future Engineer is a four-part, childhood-to-career program that works to inspire and educate 10 million children and young adults each year from underrepresented and underserved communities to pursue careers in the fast-growing field of computer science and coding.

“We are confident that these scholarship recipients are our country’s next generation of world-changing inventors and leaders. They are an impressive, hard-working group, and we’re thrilled to call them our first class of Amazon Future Engineer scholarship winners,” said Jeff Wilke, CEO, Worldwide Consumer, Amazon. “This scholarship is a reflection of our appreciation for the work these students have done so far, and an investment in them and the future we all share. We are eager to see the bold paths paved by these students as college students, Amazon interns, and beyond.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that by 2020 there will be 1.4 million computer-science-related jobs available and only 400,000 computer science graduates with the skills to apply for those jobs. Computer science is the fastest-growing profession within the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) field, but only 8% of STEM graduates earn a computer science degree, with a small number from underprivileged backgrounds. Students from underprivileged backgrounds are 8 to 10 times more likely to pursue college degrees in computer science if they have taken AP computer science in high school.

Launched in November, 2018, Amazon Future Engineer is a four-part childhood-to-career program intended to inspire, educate, and prepare children and young adults from underrepresented and underserved communities to pursue careers in the fast-growing field of computer science. Each year, Amazon Future Engineer aims to inspire more than 10 million kids to explore computer science; provide over 100,000 young people in over 2,000 high schools access to Intro or AP Computer Science courses; award 100 students with four-year $10,000 scholarships, as well as offer guaranteed and paid Amazon internships to gain work experience. Amazon Future Engineer is part of Amazon’s $50 million investment in computer science/STEM education. In addition, Amazon Future Engineer has donated more than $10 million to organizations that promote computer science/STEM education across the country.

Rising high school seniors can apply for the Amazon Future Engineer scholarship starting in November, 2019. Requirements for the Amazon Future Engineer scholarship include: completion of an Advanced Placement Computer Science course in high school, intent to pursue a computer science degree at a four-year college or university, and a teacher recommendation. Other factors considered include: academic performance, demonstrated leadership, participation in school and community activities, work experience, a statement of career and educational goals, and diversity. Amazon Future Engineer is currently accepting applications for the high school piece of its program at www.amazonfutureengineer.com.