The AVIXA Foundation awards thousands of dollars to students and emerging professionals from secondary, undergraduate and graduate programs, who show a keen interest in pursuing careers in the audiovisual industry.
Scholarship Amount: $2,500
This scholarship supports the growth of women and gender equality in the audiovisual and integrated experience industry.
This scholarship is intended as encouragement for women to become active leaders and role models in the industry. The award recognizes a young adult or student determined to leave her mark as an AV professional. This person demonstrates grit and a commitment to her future, displaying a passion for creative solutions to challenges she faces in life.
This scholarship is a one-time award towards tuition for an applicant studying a subject related to AV anywhere in the world. This person is enrolled at a community or technical college, entering at least their third year of undergraduate, or graduate study at a recognized, accredited program.
- Be at least 16 years of age
- Strongly encourage people who identify as women to apply
- Enrolled in vocational, undergraduate, or a graduate program related to the audiovisual and integrated experience industry
- Is not currently employed full-time by an audiovisual service provider or company (does not exclude interns, apprentices, or contract workers)
- Demonstrates keen interest in an AV career through studies and extracurricular activities
- Previous winners are ineligible
- Applicants may only apply to one AVIXA scholarship
Applications are judged by a panel composed of industry leaders and volunteers. Winners are considered holistically and selected based on:
- Presentation of application
- School performance and standing in community
- Interests, work experiences, extracurricular activities
- Written Essay
- Recommendation letter
Megan Duncan – California State University, Northridge
Megan Duncan is an Instructional and Media Technologist with CSUN's Academic Technology team. Originally from Seattle Washington, Megan attended Shorewood High School where she was heavily involved in the fine performing arts including video production, photography, theatre, and several music programs. After graduating from Western Washington University with a B.A. in Technical Theatre and a focus on leadership studies, she moved to the San Fernando Valley to work in entertainment until the great pandemic shuffle landed her in a new position at California State University, Northridge. With a new appreciation for Educational and Instructional Technology, she is pursuing a Masters degree in Educational Technology, and has been accepted into the 10th cohort at CSUN starting Fall 2023. In her free time, you can often find her enjoying the simple pleasures in life, such as: reading, table-top games, crafting, photography, spending time with friends and animals, and exploring the natural beauty of Southern California, and beyond!
Scholarship Amount: $2,500
This scholarship honors the legacy Michael Vergauwen, late COO of AVI Systems and long-time AVIXA board member. It is aimed at students in pursuit of a technical or advanced degree towards an audiovisual career.
Michael firmly believed that growth in our industry comes from providing opportunities to anyone with the passion and desire to build a career as an AV professional. This scholarship is a one-time award paid towards tuition for an applicant studying a subject related to AV at a community or technical college, entering at least their third year of undergraduate, or graduate study at an accredited program.
- Be at least 16 years of age
- Enrolled in vocational, undergraduate, or a graduate program related to the audiovisual and integrated experience industry
- Is not currently employed full-time by an audiovisual service provider or company (does not exclude interns, apprentices, or contract workers)
- Demonstrates keen interest in an AV career through studies and extracurricular activities
- Previous winners are ineligible
- Applicants may only apply to one AVIXA scholarship
Applications are judged by a panel composed of industry leaders and volunteers. Winners are considered holistically and selected based on:
- Presentation of application
- School performance and standing in community
- Interests, work experiences, extracurricular activities
- Written Essay
- Recommendation letter
Kaela Patterson – University of California San Diego
Kaela Patterson is a Senior at UC San Diego, pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Visual Arts Media. She feels very lucky to learn and work alongside the experienced professionals at UCSD who have supported her along the way. She is very passionate about storytelling and hopes to work in the entertainment industry as a filmmaker, photographer, and AV technician.
Scholarship Amount: $2,500
Our motto is AV is for everyone. We strive for a future where our industry fully represents the world in which we live. The more perspectives shared, voices heard, and onramps we can build, the more we can achieve together.
This scholarship was conceived by AVIXA's Diversity Council to
support further inclusivity within our community. It recognizes individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds, races, gender identities, sexual orientation, religious affiliations, veterans status, disabilities, and national origins, whose
imagination and thinking will influence the future of our global industry.
It is a one-time award towards tuition for an applicant studying a subject related to AV anywhere in the world. This person is enrolled at a community or
technical college, entering at least their third year of undergraduate, or graduate study at a recognized, accredited program.
- Be at least 16 years of age
- Enrolled in vocational, undergraduate, or a graduate program related to the audiovisual and integrated experience industry
- Is not currently employed full-time by an audiovisual service provider or company (does not exclude interns, apprentices, or contract workers)
- Demonstrates keen interest in an AV career through studies and extracurricular activities
- Previous winners are ineligible
- Applicants may only apply to one AVIXA scholarship
Applications are judged by a panel composed of industry leaders and volunteers. Winners are considered holistically and selected based on:
- Presentation of application
- School performance and standing in community
- Interests, work experiences, extracurricular activities
- Written Essay
- Recommendation letter
lo Arteaga – North Carolina
lo's tech journey started with a self-study of JavaScript, which sparked their passion for software development. They are further honing their skills through an immersive Full Stack Development bootcamp. lo hopes to use the skills I learn to help make tangible contributions to technology.
Ashay Dave – University of Miami
Ashay Dave is pursuing a Master’s degree in Music Engineering Technology from the University of Miami. He is a Musician, an Audio Programmer and an XR Developer. He is the audio engineer and one of the lead developers of Mangrove City VR, a project that won an Auggie Award at AWE ’23 for “Best in Educate – XR Climate Change”. Ashay believes that audio, combined with visual aspects, plays an extremely important role in how a player feels when playing a video game and that it can act as a medium of euphoria. He aspires to set a precedent and be a guide for anyone who wants to pursue a career in the Game Audio industry and wants to inspire the use of various audio-visual technology for innovative and thoughtful expressions.
Faith Pierce – Berklee College of Music
Faith is from Hattiesburg, Mississippi and now resides in Baton Rouge, Louisiana as a Morning Show Producer for iHeartMedia. In 2022, she graduated with a bachelor's in Sound and Recording Arts from The University of Southern Mississippi. Faith will apply this scholarship toward Berklee College of Music's prestigious music production master's program and is expected to complete her studies by 2024. Faith envisions herself forging a lasting career in the audio industry, exploring different opportunities to discover her talents and excel in her professional journey.
Hanni Shahatto – Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology (OIART)
The 2023 recipient, Hanni Shahatto, is a recent honors graduate and a current intern at the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology (OIART). As a student at OIART, he majored in Audio for Visual Media and received several awards, including the Post-Graduate/Sabbatical Scholarship, the 'Poilus' Best in Class Award, and the Production Award for Excellence in Audio for Visual Media. Hanni’s long-term goal is to become a re-recording mixer for film and hopes to pave a path to audio for others from marginalized communities. Prior to attending OIART, he led several equity-based initiatives as a schoolteacher and aims to extend these efforts to his audio engineering career.
Previous Recipients:
- 2022- Nathan Erthal – University of Miami Graduate Program, Faith Pierce – Berklee College of Music Graduate Program, Madison Pierce – Belmont University, Akash Mungra – University of Massachusetts Amherst, AJ Panepinto – Full Sail University, Katharina Sawatzky – American University
- 2021 - Irene Ataifo - Howard Community College, Angelina Jonkaitis - Valencia College, Carter Kucier - Lebanon Valley College
- 2020 - Iris Douka, New York City City College of Technology, Adam Waldmiller - Rochester Institute of Technology, Esmeralda Monroig, Lincoln Technical Institute
- 2019 - Rachel Brown, University of Minnesota & Ryan DeMello, Oregon State University
- 2018 - Marc Carbon, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt; Matthew Hancock, CTS-D, College of Charleston & Rishabh Waghela, Vidyalankar Institute of Technology (Undergraduate), Northeastern University (Masters)
- 2017 - Jacob Faber, University of British Columbia
- 2016 - Lauren Koske, University of Central Missouri & Sarabeth Mullins, Biola University
- 2015 - Dean Philip, University of South Carolina
- 2014 - Rebecca Nattress, University of Wisconsin-Stout
- 2013 - Mitchell Walker, Georgia Institute of Technology & Dustin Stout, The University of Central Oklahoma
- 2012 - Jeong Sik Yoo, CTS-D, Yale - School of Drama, Technical Design and Production
- 2011 - Kevin Rhodus, CTS-D, Ohio State University
- 2010 - Dawne Meade, CTS, University of Maryland - University College
Michael Vergauwen's Legacy
The memorial fund honors Michael Vergauwen's career achievements in the AV communications industry and his participation in and leadership of the association. Vergauwen's dedication to the industry and to its members serves as a role model for all AVIXA members.
Michael Vergauwen was the COO of AVI Systems and a long-time board member of AVIXA.
Michael took pride in awarding $200,000 in scholarships to deserving recipients. He strongly believed that growth in the AV industry comes from providing opportunities and support to those wanting to enter the industry and those seeking to develop their careers.
His talent — and his kindness — strengthened the AV community. After his death in 2009, AVIXA created this scholarship to carry on his beliefs of strengthening and growing the AV industry through education.
"Michael Vergauwen was a valued member of the Board of Directors and was a tireless advocate for the audiovisual industry. He offered wise counsel and was a good friend to so many of us in the association's family. He will be missed greatly."
Jay Rogina, CTS
CEO Spinitar
Do you have a Michael Verguawen memory you would like to share? Email [email protected].