Education is the cornerstone of NASSCO’s mission to set industry standards for the assessment and rehabilitation of underground infrastructure. In addition to the Pipeline Assessment Certification and Inspector Training Certification programs, NASSCO works to attract new professionals and expand the knowledge of those already in the trenchless industry through our scholarship programs.

NASSCO’s Jeffrey D. Ralston Memorial Scholarship is available to applicants currently enrolled in college who are related to an active NASSCO member. It is also open to individuals who are sponsored by NASSCO members and have worked actively in the industry.

Our newest opportunity, the PACP Scholarship Program, is also open to industry professionals who are sponsored by NASSCO members and evaluates applicants on qualities of ethics, leadership, past work experience in the sewer service industry, and potential for his or her contribution to further NASSCO’s mission to set standards and ensure the continued acceptance and growth of trenchless technologies. Scholarship recipients get a free, two-day PACP training course.

To encourage more operators to consider PACP certification, NASSCO also offers the PACP Scholarship to participants in the Water Environment Federation (WEF) tOperations Challenge, a highly competitive event that incorporates portions of PACP training content to expose collection systems operators to standard codes used to document structural, O&M and construction features and defects in pipelines. The event currently requires teams of operators to compete in the repair of a sewer pipeline with live flow while one operator views and identifies pipeline defects such as fractures or H2S corrosion in a test format that is graded for accuracy. After the repair, a pressure test is performed to evaluate the quality of the repair.

Each team is sponsored by a WEF member association or recognized operator association. Winners are determined by a weighted point system for five events – collection systems, laboratory, process control, maintenance and safety – each designed to test the diverse skills required for the operation and maintenance of wastewater treatment facilities, their collection systems and laboratories.

Collection system foreman Jacob Miller of the Bergen Point Wastewater Treatment Facility in Suffolk County, N.Y., a participant in the 2013 WEF Operations Challenge, was the first participant to win a PACP Scholarship. Miller was certified on April 2014 in a class led by Laurie Perkins, a PACP trainer in the New England area who is also a national collections event coordinator for the WEF Operations Challenge.

Miller currently oversees 22 miles of pipeline. He has quickly recognized the importance of standards and is focused on spreading the knowledge he gained through the PACP Scholarship Program to others in his field.

Finally, NASSCO will be introducing a new scholarship opportunity in honor of the late David Magill, founder of Avanti International and longtime NASSCO member. Mr. Magill attended Virginia Tech, and the scholarship will support students enrolled in Virginia Tech who plan to enter the industry

To learn more or to apply for NASSCO scholarships, please visit www.nassco.org. The application deadline for the Jeffrey D. Ralston Memorial Scholarship and the PACP Scholarship Program is Jan. 31, 2015. The David Magill Scholarship will be available for application in October 2014.