Joshua Albert loves engineering.

The Andale High School senior has participated in robotics competitions for the past four years.

On Friday, he became one of 11 recipients of the Wallace Scholarship through the Wichita State College of Engineering.

“My dad’s an engineer, and it’s rubbed off on my and my brother,” Albert said.

Each scholar will receive a four-year renewable scholarship for a total of $20,000. Selection for the Wallace Scholarship is based on recipients’ high school GPAs, ACT scores and performance at the annual Wallace Invitational for Scholarships in Engineering competition (WISE), held last November.

“We go beyond their GPA’s and ACT scores. During the WISE competition, we see how the students interact with each other,” said Samantha Corcoran, scholarship coordinator for the WSU College of Engineering. “We see their team working skills, if they keep quality in mind.”

The scholarship’s recipients have the opportunity to become part of the Wallace Scholars, a community of engineering students from several majors in the College of Engineering. As Wallace Scholars, the students are involved at WSU and within the Wichita community to promote engineering, math and science.

“It’s definitely pushed me to work harder,” said Elisa Acosta, a current Wallace Scholarship recipient and engineering senior at WSU. “It is great to be around so many intelligent young minds.”

Acosta said she enjoyed company of the Wallace scholars and of Velma Wallace, the few times she met her.

“We miss her at our functions,” Acosta said. “She passed away two summers ago, and while being a Wallace Scholar isn’t the same experience now, it is still a great experience to know all the people.”

The Wallace Scholarship is funded through the Dwayne and Velma Wallace Endowment, created in 1976. Since 1980, the endowment has benefited more than 270 engineering majors at WSU.