DALLAS - The American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) is pleased to offer assistance, through its online scholarship program, AFSAScholarship.org, to 10 lucky graduating high school seniors as they pursue their higher education goals. These national winners were randomly selected from 66,682 students who entered to receive a one-time $2,000 AFSA scholarship payable to their respective college, university, or trade school. This online scholarship contest awards ten $2,000 prizes annually.  

The ten national winners for 2017-2018 are:

• Vanessa Castellon, Chula Vista, California

• Isaac Dienes, Nelsonville, Ohio

• Katie Kohlman, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania

• Lilia Nikoomanzar, Chandler, Arizona

• Daniel Popach, Marysville, Washington

• India Richardson, Prince George, Virginia

• Erik Simonsen, Redmond, Washington

• Devin Wade, Vandalia, Ohio

• Haley Wilkerson, Houston, Texas

• Zoe York, Cary, North Carolina

"Our hope is through the AFSA scholarship program we can educate high school and continuing education students to think about new and different options that they may not have previously considered as a career path and, moreover, that we can save lives by increasing awareness of the critical issue of fire safety," states AFSA Director of Communications Nicole Duvall.

To be eligible, applicants must be a current high school senior planning to attend an accredited U.S. college, university or trade school in the coming fall. Applicants are required to read a passage about fire sprinklers - which describes their history, how they operate to save lives and property, and the types of careers that are available in the industry - and take an eight-question reading comprehension test. For each question answered correctly, the student receives one entry into a drawing for one of ten $2,000 scholarships. A total of eight entries per applicant into the drawing are possible.

Since its creation in 1996, the AFSA Scholarship Contest has sought to promote the scholarship outside of the fire sprinkler industry in the hope of reaching students who may otherwise never have recognized the importance of automatic fire protection.

Now entering its 23rd year, the AFSA scholarship continues to grow, attracting over 186,086 unique visitors to its website, afsascholarship.org, during the 2017-18 school year alone. The 2018-19 contest will begin in September 1, 2018.

For more opportunities to win, AFSA also offers a $5,000 Second Chance Scholarship Contest, which is open to anyone who has graduated high school or equivalency and wants to pursue a college degree or trade school education. The 2018 Second Chance Scholarship will award five $1,000 scholarships and is accepting applications through noon (CT), August 31, 2018.

The AFSA Scholarships are open to U.S. citizens or legal residents and are not based on financial need. For details or to apply for either scholarship, visit afsascholarship.org.

About AFSA

Established in 1981, the American Fire Sprinkler Association is an international association representing fire sprinkler contractors. AFSA is dedicated to the educational and professional advancement of the automatic fire sprinkler industry. Visit firesprinkler.org.     

Copyright © American Fire Sprinkler Association. All rights reserved.

OCALA, FL—REV Group, a manufacturer of specialty vehicle brands, has entered into a multiyear partnership with HAAS Alert Safety Cloud service on E-ONE, Ferrara, and KME fire apparatus.

E-ONE, Ferrara, and KME fire apparatus with AXIS™ Smart Truck Technology will also be equipped with the HAAS Safety Cloud to allow first responders to broadcast their route to nearby motorists via smartphone apps when emergency vehicles are nearby. By delivering real-time alerts to drivers and connected cars, the HAAS Alert Responder-to-Vehicle (R2V) service can aid in preventing collisions and enabling safer and faster emergency response. The new service will give firefighters another tool in protecting their crews and the public.

“HAAS Alert’s Safety Cloud service aligns perfectly with our commitment to fleet and crew safety,” said Jay Johnson, vice president of product management, marketing, and aftermarket at REV Group’s Fire Division. “Fire Departments are always looking for ways to make their communities safer, and they turn to E-ONE, Ferrara, and KME to help make that happen.”

Cory Hohs, CEO of HAAS Alert, commented, “HAAS Alert is proud to provide safety-focused technology to the First Responder market through our R2V Safety Cloud service. This partnership with REV Group’s fire division will make these innovations more accessible than ever, allowing more fire departments to introduce R2V real-time alerts into their communities.”

For more information, visit www.revgroup.com and www.haasalert.com.

United States Seating Company ("USSC"), a leading manufacturer of high quality, ergonomic seating for the commercial and military markets, has entered into a partnership with ClearMotion, an automotive technology company specializing in digital chassis control. The two companies announce a strategic licensing agreement for ClearMotion’s proprietary control software, algorithms, and mechatronics for active seating. ClearMotion’s active suspension seat, formerly known as Bose Ride, cancels road disturbances and reduces whole-body vibration and fatigue for drivers by up to percent.

"United States Seating is excited to partner with ClearMotion, the clear market leader in active technology and a company that is equally as passionate about improving the quality of life of drivers,” said Joseph Mirabile, President and CEO of USSC. “This technology will help us improve the health and safety of our customers in ways that were not previously possible.”

“We are glad to partner with USSC, a company that mirrors our commitment to enhance comfort, safety, wellness and quality of time in vehicles”, said Shakeel Avadhany, CEO and Co-Founder of ClearMotion. “This partnership will expand our technology into new markets and deploy groundbreaking products to our customers.”

ClearMotion’s active suspension seat technology replaces standard commercial air ride seats with a proprietary base unit and an integrated seat upper, providing drivers with an unmatched level of isolation from road induced vibration. Third party scientific research concludes that whole-body vibration induces fatigue and stress to the spine and body, both of which are central to the health, wellness, and safety of commercial drivers.

USSC has acquired an exclusive license of the ClearMotion active suspension seat technology formerly known as Bose Ride I and II, for the transit bus, train, motor coach, and first responder markets. USSC is the market leader for seating for these applications. As part of the partnership, USSC will also manufacture seat systems for ClearMotion.

More: http://www.usscgroup.com/

By Ryan Stout

I’m one of those guys whose life would be crap if I had to sit in an office. When I was 18 years old, I woke up one morning and walked down to the United States Coast Guard office. I was living with my girlfriend in El Paso, Texas, and until that time I’d been struggling to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. The Coast Guard offered me the ability to work in a dynamic environment vs. at a desk. I signed up and spent 18 months in the law enforcement division where I realized that my true passion was first response, and I signed up to become a rescue swimmer.

I spent over two yeas of my life in boot camps, training for the demands of the job. Rescue swimming was exhilarating and it took me all over the world. Ultimately, I dislocated my hip in rough seas off the east coast of Africa and had to call it quits. I moved back to Texas, where I worked as a car mechanic—but I missed the mental and physical rewards of first responder duty. I signed up for the El Paso Fire Academy, and finished as valedictorian. I was one of two people from our class chosen to go directly to El Paso Special Rescue #3, where I worked for 5 years.

The day that changed the course of my career was during a nighttime ladder operation. An evacuation call was given, and I got disoriented and was unable to find my ladder. The roof gave way under my feet, and I fell through. In addition to reinjuring my hip, I suffered a torn ankle and a ripped knee. But I was thankful to be alive.

The very first day of my rehab, I was lying in my hospital bed, thinking about how none of this would have happened if I had just been able to see my way out. Grabbing a napkin left over from the less than delicious hospital lunch, I sketched out a design for a high-intensity light that could mount seamlessly on the end of a ground ladder. During my nine months of rehab, I became obsessed with this idea, and created a 3D printed prototype, which I made into an aluminum model so I could show it to other firefighters. I literally went door to door to various fire stations, where I got great response. Many of the guys told stories about situations where they of one of their buddies had lost sight a ladder at critical moments on the fireground.

In time I recovered and moved to Austin, Texas, where I joined a local department. But my injuries were extensive enough that I ultimately had to decide to leave the fire service. I followed another passion and started an automotive business, but I never stopped hoping this this thing I dreamed up would someday find its way onto ladders. Thanks to a career entrepreneur from Austin, LadderLight was developed and launched in November 2017.

I know LadderLight is going to save lives. There is a firefighter this year, somewhere, who’s going to go home not ever knowing that he might not have made it out safely to return to his kids and family. And, the amount of money to outfit all the ladders in a department is small when compared to the cost of a simple injury, causing lost work time and diminished crew integrity. I’m proud of what we invented, and hope you’ll check it out.

For more information, visit www.ladderlight.com.