Aiken Tech student receives scholarship, opportunity to attend international conference

Aiken Technical College student Ashton Clements has been awarded a $5,000 scholarship from the Roy G. Post Foundation and an opportunity to attend the 2024 Waste Management (WM) Conference presented by WM Symposia.

“Being awarded the Roy G. Post Foundation Scholarship will help me achieve my goals in many ways,” said Clements, who is enrolled in the Associate in Applied Science Radiation Protection Technology program. “First, this scholarship allows me to focus on school without having to worry about how I will fund (my education). Second, I can continue to further my education and possibly take this degree to earn a bachelor’s. Lastly, this scholarship allows me to work and gain all the experience I can in the radiation protection apprenticeship program at the Savannah River Site.”

The Roy G. Post Foundation and the ATC Foundation entered into a two-year agreement to establish the scholarship fund at Aiken Tech. Clements is the first student to benefit from the new partnership.

“This partnership is important as it benefits the future workforce in the nuclear field with both scholarship and professional dollars,” said ATC Foundation Director Beth LaClair, Ph.D. “This provides the recipient the opportunity to further their knowledge beyond the classroom and interact with professionals across the nation who work to manage radioactive waste.”

As a scholarship recipient, Clements will attend the WM Conference in March in Phoenix, Ariz. According to the Roy G. Post Foundation, the conference “is widely regarded as the premier international conference for the management of radioactive material and related topics.”

“I am most looking forward to possibly meeting the person who funded this scholarship to thank them in person. I am also looking forward to meeting other students, teachers, and facilities who also share an interest in what I am doing,” said Clements.