Prince William County Students Win Amazon Future Engineer Scholarships

MANASSAS, VA — Students from Prince William County's Osbourn Park High School and Gainesville High School are among Virginia scholarship recipients receiving up to $40,000 through the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship initiative.

The 23 Virginia students were surprised during a ceremony at Amazon's HQ2 in Arlington. The winning high school students are eligible for up to $10,000 for computer science and engineering undergraduate study.

The Amazon Future Engineer program is intended to help students from underrepresented backgrounds to be trained in computer science, the fastest-growing STEM profession. The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics estimates computer science jobs will grow much faster than most jobs between 2022 and 2032. But according to the National Science Foundation, Black, Latino and Native American students represent about 26 percent of science and engineering bachelor's degrees.

"Our scholarship recipients' unwavering dedication to academic excellence and their passion for leveraging technology to uplift communities is truly inspiring," said Victor Reinoso, the global director of education philanthropy at Amazon. "By investing in computer science education for students from historically underrepresented and underserved communities, we're not only empowering them to pursue rewarding careers but also equipping them with skills to drive innovation that will shape a more equitable and sustainable future for generations to come."

Amazon worked with Scholarship America to choose winners based on criteria such as academic achievement, demonstrated leadership, participation in school and community activities, work experience, future goals and financial need. The Virginia winners are among 400 in the U.S. Since the program was launched in 2019, the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship program committed $54 million in scholarships to 1,350 students.

The winner from Osbourn Park High School is Haitham Amad, and the Gainesville High School winner is Shifa Fayyaz.

Other Virginia winners are:

• Zuha Hassen, Alexandria City High School
• Qiaojing Huang, Washington-Liberty High School
• Esam Abdelaziz, Wakefield High School
• Julissa Hernandez, Arlington Career Center
• Dagmawi Atsedeweyn, Wakefield High School
• Samuel Surafeil, Wakefield High School
• Ola Amr, Appomattox Regional Governor's School
• Kerem Altunisik, Clover Hill High School
• William Vo, CodeRVA Regional High School
• Ashraf Abdou, Justice High School
• Yordanose Moges, West Potomac High School
• Mohammad Raza, John R. Lewis High School
• Leguejou Awunganyi, Fauquier High School
• Kelly Trinh, John Randolph Tucker High School
• Elizabeth Ho, Lightridge High School
• Abimalek Mekuriya, Lightridge High School
• Nyna Brown, Norview High School
• Carlos Elias-Sura, Richmond Community High School
• Owen Bales, Richlands High School
• Mofeoluwa Akande, Matoaca High School
• William Gomez-Palacios, Alexandria City High School