Emmanouel Sofillas, Managing Editor
Paul Harrison, a junior Manhattan University student in the School of Engineering, has been selected as a 2025 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power & Energy Society (PES) Scholarship Plus Initiative Recipient, a prestigious honor accompanied by a $10,000 stipend.
The IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization, supports more than 486,000 engineering and STEM professionals globally with a mission of advancing technological innovation for the benefit of humanity. The PES Scholarship is awarded to high-achieving undergraduate students in electrical engineering programs who demonstrate strong potential to contribute to the future of the power and energy industry. Recipients must be U.S. or Canadian citizens, a requirement tied to addressing the aging workforce across the sector.
Harrison, a native of Carmel, New York, originally envisioned a future in law. Instead, his involvement in high school stage crew—working with electrical and sound systems—set him on an unexpected engineering path.
“Originally, I was actually in computer engineering,” Harrison said in an interview with The Quadrangle. “I started programming and realized it wasn’t really what I liked. A mentor introduced me to the energy industry and the challenges with the grid, and that’s when I realized I really wanted to be an electrical engineer.”
Harrison is pursuing a B.S. in electrical engineering with concentrations in power grids, green energy and applied artificial intelligence.
Harrison is also a MU Trustee Scholar, an honor awarded to students in the top 5% of the applicant pool, and a member of the Gamma Alpha chapter of Eta Kappa Nu, placing him among the top quarter of electrical engineering students at the university. He also serves as vice president of the IEEE Manhattan University Student Branch and president of the 7×24 Exchange Student Chapter, promoting awareness of the mission-critical/data center industry with a focus on energy efficiency and cooling.
Harrison credits MU’s alumni network and supportive faculty for helping him reach this milestone, as news of this scholarship excited him.
The scholarship’s structure—$3,000 awarded in each of the first two years and $4,000 in the third—has also strengthened his motivation to continue his education.
“It’s a huge motivation,” Harrison said. “It will help me financially pursue my master’s and do what I ultimately want to do: work on electrical infrastructure, anything grid-related, anything power-energy related.”
Faculty and student leaders in the IEEE chapter emphasized the scholarship’s significance.
Rwan Farag, senior electrical engineering major and chair of the IEEE chapter at MU, noted the pride felt within the chapter.
“I’m proud of him,” Farag said. “It’s a big achievement, and it represents the school in a better way.”
Kyle Burdick, an electrical engineering GTA involved with the student chapter, explained that faculty and chapter leadership work to ensure students hear about opportunities like this one.
“We do our best whenever we hear about scholarship opportunities,” Burdick said. “Professors send them out, and we advertise them as much as possible… It’s about confidence and community.”
Kathryn Jablokow, Ph.D., dean of the School of Engineering, praised Harrison’s academic performance, leadership and research contributions.
“Paul’s achievements thus far are a testament to his academic abilities, his leadership skills and his research activities with our electrical engineering faculty,” Jablokow said. “The Jasper network continues to support our current students, positioning them to become leaders in their chosen fields.”
For the IEEE chapter and the university, Harrison’s recognition highlights the commitment of students and faculty to excellence in engineering education and professional development.
Harrison plans to pursue a master’s degree after graduation. His long-term career goals center on improving the nation’s electrical grid and advancing micro-grid technologies for data centers.
“A dream job would be working on grid infrastructure or doing micro-grid work for data centers to lessen their strain on the grid,” Harrison said. “I want to make a positive, lasting impact in my field and hope to give back by becoming an adjunct professor.”