Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology

Contact: Caroline Chetelat at ABYC

(410) 990-4460, x22

Westlawn Students Granted All Three Of NMRA’s First Scholarship Awards

National Marine Representative’s Association Offers Financial Support

To Marine-Industry Students

December 8, 2008, Annapolis, MD: Committed to fostering growth in the marine industry, the National Marine Representatives Association (NMRA) recently awarded it’s first ever academic scholarships. The Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology is very pleased to announce that Westlawn students were selected to receive all three of these initial NMRA scholarships. We are grateful for NMRA’s decision to support the marine industry and to help students studying for careers in boating. All three Westlawn students selected have demonstrated a commitment to following in the footsteps of the many Westlawn alumni who have gone on to become successful boat designers and leaders in the marine industry.

Oren Niskin, Andrew Grossi, and Frederick Richardson, who are all currently enrolled in one of the four modules within Westlawn’s professional Yacht & Boat Design program, were each awarded $1,500 scholarships to be used to further their education.

NMRA past president Ron Gueterman

of GSW & Associates (L) and Oren Niskin

Module One student Oren Niskin’s plans to start a boatbuilding company with his two brothers. Brought up in a family that has always participated in sailing, he has been fascinated with boats since childhood. Oren enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2002 as an electrician’s mate. While in the Navy, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering technology from Thomas Edison State College. He is a member of the Coconut Grove Sailing Club in Miami Florida.

NMRA’s Kathy Munzinger, of Munzinger and Company (L)

and Andrew Grossi

Andrew Grossi is currently enrolled in Module 2 of Westlawn’s Yacht & Boat Design course. Having spent his childhood along the shores of New York's Hudson River and the coasts of New Hampshire and Massachusetts, boating has always been an important and fun part of his life. Around age nine, his father converted a large wooden canoe to a sailboat. This was the first of several sailboats on which Andrew developed his sailing skills. During the summers during his college years, he was a crew member on a 65-foot whale-watch boat, on which he performed a major overhaul to both the systems as well as the finishes.

Currently practicing as an Architect in New York City, Andrew plans to obtain a Diploma in Yacht & Boat Design. Upon completion of his studies, he would like to gain employment with a top-notch yacht designer or naval architect, either at an independent firm or in the design and engineering department of a boat/yacht building company. After that he hopes to either open his own yacht design firm and boatyard, complete with build and repair/re-fit facilities, or work his way up to become the head of an already established business. He has a special interest in large sailing yachts, and hopes to include a research and development component that concentrates on sailing systems in his practice.

Fredrick Richardson (L) and NMRA member Chris Stevens

of Atlantic Marketing

Module 2 student Frederick Richardson’s career goals include designing and building safe, dependable craft for private, public and military use. He also hopes to one day open a design office in the Northeast, specializing in sportfishing vessels built to the highest standards with the best materials available. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Richardson is a member of the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) and the Royal Institution of Naval Architects in the UK.

The National Marine Representatives Association (NMRA) is a national organization dedicated to serving independent sales representatives and manufacturers who sell through them. Contact National Marine Representatives Association, PO Box 360, Gurnee, IL 60031. 847-662-3167; Fax: 847-336-7126: info@nmraonline.org. Web: www.nmraonline.org

Founded in 1930, the Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology is the only nationally accredited and state-certified distance-learning school of small-craft design in the United States. As the not-for-profit educational affiliate of the American Boat and Yacht Council, the mission of the Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology is threefold:

■ To provide our students with the skills and knowledge required to build a rewarding career in the profession of yacht and small-craft naval architecture.

■ To support continued growth of the recreational and small-craft marine community through the development of well-trained, safety-oriented, boat designers developing better products for the benefit of the boating public.

■ To provide continuing education to marine-industry professionals.

To learn more about Westlawn, please call (860) 572-7900 or visit the Westlawn website at: www.westlawn.edu.