Proton Energy endows four CT scholars

No one was more pleasantly shocked than Southbury high school pupil Jenny Lu when New England Entrepreneur Tom Sullivan tore up his script and awarded $1 million in scholarships to her and nine other finalists on behalf of one of his companies, Proton Energy Systems in Wallingford.

Sullivan, also founder of the Virginia-based Lumber Liquidators wood-flooring chain, handed out the Proton Energy Scholarships May 4 at the National Hydrogen Association Conference and Expo in Long Beach, Calif. The four-year, $100,000 scholarships are targeted at high-achieving students in science and technology.

"We had all assumed that only one of the finalists would be the winner,'' said Lu, a 17-year-old graduating senior at Pomperaug High School.  "So it came as a huge surprise.''

Lu wasn't the only lucky Connecticut student to walk away with a Proton scholarship: Philip Lubik, Lewis S. Mills High School in Harwinton; Carolyn Bai, Old Saybrook Senior High School; and Andres Parrado, Westhill High School in Stamford. The rest were from California, Iowa, Maine, Missouri, South Carolina and Texas.

"It was hard enough to choose those 10 to start with,'' Sullivan said Wednesday. "And to have to choose one ... I just named them all.''

Lu says her scholarship will underwrite her fall attendance at Harvard University, where will concentrate on courses in biology, physics and chemistry.

She was headed to Harvard whether or not she had gotten the award, she said.

"It's such a great school,'' she said. "But the scholarship made it much easier for me and my parents.''

Her parents are software engineers.

She admits knowing little about Proton before the scholarship contest, but says that now I definitely realize how far hydrogen has come as a potential renewable energy source.''

Sullivan's says his goal is to use Proton's patented technology for harvesting hydrogen from water to develop a network of refueling stations for hydrogen-powered vehicles. One such station will open next month in Wallingford, he said.