CEF Celebrates the Class of 2026

On June 12, 2026, Chicago Engineers’ Foundation honored the high school and college students named as 2026 Incentive Award recipients.  At this year’s event, the Chicago Engineers’ Foundation presented more than $120,000 in scholarship awards to Chicago students.

Over 120 guests including students, educators, engineering professionals, alumni, and friends attended the Award Celebration, held at the Union League Club of Chicago. Dr. John Anderson, President Emeritus of the National Academy of Engineering, served as this year’s keynote speaker.

His remarks inspired everyone in the room as he congratulated all the future engineers and spoke about engineering as the bridge between science and innovation.

The 2026 Incentive Award Celebration was generously sponsored by:

A highlight of the evening was remarks presented by four Incentive Award recipients, who were named the organization’s recipients of Engineering Futures Fund awards. The Engineering Futures Fund creates high-value scholarship award opportunities for Chicago’s future engineers who demonstrate outstanding achievements and addresses student needs like rising tuition costs, financial stress and loan debt, and to help improve attrition rates in engineering. The Engineering Futures Fund was established with seed funding from the Cless Family Foundation and members of the Chicago Engineers’ Foundation Board of Directors. With philanthropic support, the Fund will continue to create at least four $5,000 awards per year.

The Class of 2026 are Chicago students pursuing engineering careers. They are graduates from public, private, parochial, and charter high schools throughout the city. Many commuted across Chicago daily to attend their high schools, from neighborhoods on the south, west, and north sides, as well as many suburban towns.

Almost 40% are the first generation in their family to attend college.  The average GPA among all of the recipients is 3.7.  Incentive Award recipients are studying many facets of engineering in college ranging from civil and mechanical to biomedical, aerospace, and computer science. They are attending some of the finest engineering schools in the country from local universities to programs nationwide.   Incentive Award recipients are in engineering classrooms across the country and represent some of the best of the next generation of engineers.

Incentive Awards are made possible by individuals, families, professional associations, and companies committing to fully fund awards for the recipients. Some sponsors support annual awards for different students each year, and others may follow specific students through 4 years of study. The sponsorship program grows each year, and Chicago Engineers’ Foundation is honored by every partnership. Many thanks to the 2026 Award Sponsors!