The only Lone Star College-CyFair student recently selected as a semifinalist of the highly competitive Jack Kent Cooke (JKC) Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship is on track to become “a mechanical engineer focused on designing innovative marine renewable energy systems.”
Ricardo Perla is one of 18 students across the LSC system - the most of any college in Texas - named as a JKC semifinalist. In all, 459 semifinalists were chosen from a pool of more than 1,600 applicants nationwide this year. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship covers a substantial share of educational expenses, providing as much as $55,000 per year for two to three years at any accredited four-year undergraduate institution in the nation.
“Growing up in Honduras, I was challenged by my home and financial instability. I struggled to dedicate myself to academics and community engagement. As a result, I saw a STEM career as too intellectually and financially idealistic,” said Perla.
However, moving to the United States to study motivated Perla and in Fall 2022 when he enrolled at LSC-CyFair as a first-generation student, he was ready for an enriching education. He found The Honors College at LSC-CyFair provided a mentorship environment with research and leadership opportunities and said “I realized how having a diverse community of shared diligence and vision fuels my desire to improve.”
Receiving multiple scholarships that alleviated his economic hardship allowed him to focus on excelling academically and to take advantage all LSC-CyFair offers. Perla contributed to the community at LSC through the Honors College Leadership Program and an Academic Service Seminar. He was a member of Phi Theta Kappa and the college’s student section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He also conducted STEM research projects and applied engineering skills in NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Innovation and Tech Transfer Idea Competition (MITTIC) and the Texas Space Grant Consortium (TSGC) Design Challenge.
In addition, he said his Honors College involvement, including as a participant in the Take Flight STEM Pathway program (an LSC, San Jacinto College and Rice University partnership), led him to secure a summer research in climate and sustainability internship in Rice University’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program.
“I am confident in achieving my career goal to reduce both our carbon footprint and electricity costs for low-socioeconomic homes globally through aquaculture robotics and hydropower sustainability,” said Perla, who hopes to transfer to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the fall.
Since 2012, LSC-CyFair has had 5 students awarded the prestigious JKC scholarship. Finalists will be announced this May.
Registration for May mini-mester or summer classes at LSC-CyFair is underway. Fall enrollment begins April 10. For information, go to LoneStar.edu/cf-mini-mester or LoneStar.edu/regcyfair.