In June, the AlabamaGermany Partnership presented the Bill Taylor Scholarship to Wallace State Community College student Scott Bartlett.

The scholarship was named after former Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI) CEO and President Bill Taylor (now President of EDPA). This award is given annually through the AAMA Scholarship program. The scholarship is given to a student residing in Alabama with an objective in pursuing a career in automotive manufacturing.

Scott Barlett, who turned 42 that month, is currently in this third semester of Wallace State’s Industrial Electronics. The Fairview native says “I’m very honored and surprised to earn the scholarship. I didn’t apply myself as I should have in high school and didn’t deserve anything back then. As an adult, I’m more mature. It’s actually flattering to be named as scholarship recipient. Any scholarship money you can get helps”. Mr. Bartlett also received the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association (AAMA)’s scholarship.

As a young man, Mr. Bartlett was interested in the field of electronics, but life took him a different direction. After marrying his high school sweetheart, he started in the construction field. Learning how vulnerable the industry was during the recession motivated him to research his old interest of electronics. With a fascination of how machinery works, Mr. Bartlett found the maintenance field to be interesting. In fall 2014, he started the Electronic/Mechatronic program while still running his own business working 30-35 hours sanding and finishing hardwood floors. I ask him how he balances work, school, and family; “My wife and family are backing me up and have picked up a lot of my chores at home and I could not have done it without their support” Mr. Barlett says, and continues, “When I go home, I usually put three hours into the books. It is not easy, you have to make sacrifices and I had to cut down on all Saturday football to only follow Alabama”. His wife, Bethany, attended Wallace State 3 years ago taking the Business Administrative Assistance program and is now working at REHAU.

Mr. Bartlett is the oldest in the class but several of the class mates are in their thirties. Joe Hendrix, Department Chair and Instructor for the Industrial Electronics/Mechatronics department, says “50-60% of our students are recent high school graduates and the rest are students that work and are coming back”. He continues “Employees are looking for diversity age wise and gender wise, to avoid mass exit when ready to retire”.  Mr. Hendrix has been with Wallace State for 20 years.

According to Mr. Barlett, Wallace State has been great and instructor Joe Hendrix goes a step and above. Whatever effort you put in as a student he will match.  Brad Baggett, Human Resource Manager at REHAU chimes in, “Mr. Hendrix is the leader in the region to teach industry needs. When I see Wallace State on a resume – I feel confident.  I can’t say enough about Joe Hendrix and the Wallace State staff. ” Wallace State students’ tour industries to help motivate them and many past students are now in supervisor positions.

 “Mr. Barlett earning this scholarship is absolutely a big deal. He’s the first one to do so in our department,” Mr. Hendrix said. “The AlabamaGermany Partnership in the automotive industry is certainly hot and we welcome any time we can interact with them. We appreciate them considering Mr. Barlett for the scholarship.” Wallace State’s German connection has grown through partnerships with local German manufacturer REHAU and Mr. Hendrix attending advanced training for mechatronics instruction in Germany last year. Partnerships with REHAU include apprenticeship programs and REHAU Academy partnership for Fast Track for Industry students.

Scott Bartlett’s goal is to graduate in May 2016 with a GPA of 4.0. He is hopeful that he will land a job in the maintenance field and is willing to working anywhere between Huntsville and Birmingham.