BET students earn TechNation scholarship awards

Samantha Muhhuku, an international student from Uganda, earned a $500 TechNation scholarship at Penn State New Kensington.

Jacob Hetu of New Kensington, Pennsylvania
Samantha Muhhuku of Kampala, Uganda

Jacob Hetu and Samantha Muhhuku, second-year students in the Biomedical Engineering Technology (BET) program at Penn State New Kensington, are the 2014 recipients of the TechNation scholarship.

The $500 annual award is based on essays written by BET students. The winning essays were published in the May issue of TechNation magazine by MD Publishing. Headquartered in Peachtree City, Georgia, the publishing company is an online source for dealers and manufacturers of medical and surgical equipment.

The scholarship was established by BET program coordinator Myron Hartman, who is on the editorial board for two of MD Publishing's magazines -- Medical Dealer and TechNation. In addition, Hartman writes three articles a year for TechNation. His yearly stipend for the articles and funding from John Kreig, publisher of MD Publishing, support the awards.

The BET associate degree program trains students to operate, maintain, troubleshoot and repair medical equipment. The curriculum includes hands-on medical equipment instruction that covers operation, inspection procedures, preventative maintenance and troubleshooting. The campus program is one of only three accredited programs in the United States.

For more on the BET program, visit http://www.nk.psu.edu/bet

Myron Hartman, right, coordinator of the Biomedical Engineering Technology program, teaching second-year
students at Penn State New Kensington.