Each year, the Wire Link Traveling Scholarship provides an individual in the wire industry with the unique opportunity to travel to the United States or the United Kingdom to learn about the country's wire industry. By touring companies and attending trade events, the winner will learn first-hand about the business climate, trends, challenges, and current issues influencing the wire and cable industry.

The destination alternates every year. In odd-numbered years, candidates from the US are sought for the trip to the UK the following year. (In even years, British candidates are sought for a trip to the US.) The US winner will spend two weeks in the UK visiting wire companies and the international trade fair wire Düsseldorf. A member of one of the organizations co-sponsoring the award will accompany the winner.

The scholarship will be awarded to the candidate who best demonstrates to the judges how the award will help him or her to grow professionally, gain a broadened knowledge of the industry and share those benefits with his or her company. All expenses will be met by the sponsors during the trip to the UK, including return airfares, internal flights, all hotel accommodation, and meals. The only cost to the employer will be the employee’s time in relation to the overseas stay and travel to and from the departure airport.

History

The Wire Link Traveling Scholarship was founded to provide an educational experience to the next generation of wire and cable industry leaders. The fund is sponsored by the Wire Association International and the Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers of England.

The award was the inspiration of several members of the “Clockwinders” Club, a group of British wire professionals who maintain a 60-year tradition of traveling to the US for the annual winding of an 18th Century English long-case clock at WAI headquarters in Connecticut. The clock was a gift of the British wire industry bestowed in 1949 in appreciation of American support for Great Britain during World War II. The scholarship is intended as an extension of the continuing bond between the two nations' industries and as a way to continue fostering the special relationship between Great Britain and America.

Selection Criteria

The scholarship winner should be an individual in the early stages of his/her career within the industry and has potential to become an industry leader. The scholarship will afford the individual an opportunity to expand his/her knowledge of the wire and cable industry globally. As such, the winner will be an individual who, most likely, is under the age of 35. The winner should be an individual who is expected to remain within the wire and cable industry within the United States.

The individual must have a minimum of three years experience in the wire and cable industry, ensuring some knowledge of the industry. The scholarship is intended to expand that knowledge, not to provide basic training. Nor is it intended to provide an opportunity for an individual or his/her company to copy confidential technology from England. The winner cannot be a seasoned, technical expert.

Click here for a description of Rules and Regulations.

Click here for a copy of the Wire Link application.

Applications should be submitted c/o Marc Murray, Wire Association International, Inc., 1570 Boston Post Road, Guilford, CT 06437; tel. 203-453-2777, ext. 121; fax 203-453-8384; e-mail mmurray@wirenet.org.