Engineering student to spend spring semester in Italy on scholarship

PUEBLO -- Wyatt Farris, a junior engineering major and Italian minor from Carbondale, Colo., will continue his studies in engineering this spring at the Univesità degli Studi di Bergamo in northern Italy as the recipient of the prestigious Praxair-SIAD scholarship.  Farris was selected by a scholarship committee consisting of representatives from Praxair, SIAD, the University of Bergamo, and CSU-Pueblo.  A Math Learning Center tutor, Farris has a 4.0 cumulative grade point average.   During his period of study in Bergamo, Farris will take courses in Engineering and Italian and will participate in weekend excursions to various European destinations. 

CSU-Pueblo implemented the Praxair-SIAD scholarship exchange five years ago.  In that time, the university has hosted several Italian Engineering students, who have studied English, Engineering and other topics, while contributing to our multicultural and dynamic student population.  Farris will join two CSU-Ft. Collins students, Corrie Noah and Jordyn Dahlke, who also received the prize.  Farris will be the first student from the Pueblo campus to accept the award.

“I cannot begin to say how happy I am to have won this scholarship and how grateful I am to Professor Picicci for telling me about it,” Farris said. “I am so excited to live and study in Italy, and I can't wait until next spring.”

While in Italy, Farris will practice his Italian and learning about the northern region of Lombardy.  Bergamo is a sister city of Pueblo and one of the international universities with which CSU-Pueblo shares an exchange agreement.  Farris will act as a representative of CSU-Pueblo while living and studying in Italy, helping to fortify our relationship with the town and its people.  Additionally, he was invited to participate in a three-month summer internship with SIAD, a leading Italian chemical group specializing in industrial gases, engineering, and industrial goods. Praxair is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America and is proud of its partnership with SIAD in Italy. 

Chris Piccici, associate professor of foreign languages, said the Praxair/SIAD and University of Bergamo/CSU-Pueblo partnerships provide invaluable learning and development opportunities for promising engineers in a study abroad scholarship.