Sunflower Mission Scholarships Build Bright Future
December 20, 2016
Originally posted on eSilicon.
Sunflower Mission presented a total of 59 university scholarships to engineering and technology students in Ho Chi Minh City on November 29 and in Da Nang on December 1. Sunflower Mission, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization, was founded in 2002 to improve the lives of people in Vietnam through educational assistance programs and to also provide life-long leadership skills for students in America. Sunflower Mission Engineering & Technology Scholarship focuses on students who demonstrate not only academic excellence but also exemplify civic leadership potential.
“These scholarships will help students finish their university studies and, we hope, build a career in the semiconductor industry, either in integrated circuit (IC) design or software development. More importantly, these are students who will give back to the community. We chose students who understand that success is not just about money, it’s not just about the individual or the extended family — it is also about working for a greater cause,” said Duy-Loan Le, founding member of Sunflower Mission and an independent member of the board of directors of eSilicon Corporation, eSilicon Vietnam’s parent company.
“Sunflower Mission’s corporate partner, eSilicon Corporation, a leading independent provider of semiconductor design and manufacturing solutions, made its Vietnam engineering team available to act as technical advisors and select the top 59 students. The program had a rigorous selection process that included writing an English essay, followed by an interview that focused on technical areas, leadership qualities and commitment to contribute to the community,” said Bruce Newton, VP, Global HR and country director of eSilicon Vietnam. Mr. Newton also commented, “eSilicon Vietnam was also very pleased to provide four of the winning students with an offer of employment to join our 300-strong engineering team in Vietnam after they graduate, as well as offer internships to two winning students this year.”
“This year, we focused on students who have a passion for either IC design or software application development because we believe the ability to design and support advanced technology is critical to a country’s sustainable development and its long-term economic success,” said Ms. Le.
eSilicon, a donor since 2005, administered the scholarship program with the guidance of Sunflower Mission and hosted the ceremonies at venues in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City. The ceremony began with remarks from Ms. Le, a world-leading engineer who holds over 20 patents through her prior work with Texas Instruments and Mr. Jack Harding, eSilicon president and CEO. As part of the ceremony, the scholarship recipients, along with 2015 scholarship alumni, participated in a lively question-and-answer session with a panel of experts in the STEM field and were advised by Mr. Harding to “follow their career choice with passion and have the flexibility to adjust to changing circumstances.” The ceremony ended with a scholarship presentation to the students and a photo session with family members and university representatives.
“By giving the students an opportunity to dialog with executives who are accomplished, experienced and caring, I want to show students life’s possibilities,” said Ms. Le. “Through our interactions, I hope to inspire them with the simple message that they can work hard with passion to change their lives, and then go on to change others’ lives. That is what humanity is all about.”
FBNC news on SFM 2016 (in Vietnamese) can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7vcxe03nkk (from minute 13:56 to minute 14:58).
About Sunflower Mission
Sunflower Mission is a U.S.-based, nonprofit, non-political, non-governmental organization. It seeks to improve the future of Vietnam, one student at a time, by providing classrooms, educational materials and scholarships. Since 2002, it has built and maintained 149 classrooms and provided nearly 16,000 scholarships to students at all levels, from elementary school through college. Please visit www.sunflowermission.org to learn how you can participate.
