Woodard, Emhardt, Henry, Reeves & Wagner LLP awarded Eric Martinez with its first USPATENT.COM Diversity Scholarship.

Eric graduated from Purdue Polytechnic High School in May 2021 and is pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering with a minor in electrical engineering at Purdue University. As a student at Purdue Polytechnic, Eric worked on numerous projects including creating a chair made of cardboard that withstood the weight of a seated person.

“We are proud of Eric and his accomplishments and thank the administration of Purdue Polytechnic for selecting Eric as the first USPATENT.COM Diversity Scholarship awardee,” Dan Lueders, Managing Partner.

Woodard established the USPTENT.COM Diversity Scholarship to relieve financial burdens, help reduce other outside pressures and support the pipeline of diverse science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) talent in Indiana.

“We want to encourage and support diverse candidates that start and finish in STEM in college, go on to law school, and decide to be patent attorneys. And then want to live and work in Indy. We believe exposure to the legal profession, specifically patent law, before law school will help build that pipeline of talent,” said Lueders.

The scholarship will be awarded annually to a diverse Purdue Polytechnic High School senior who will be majoring in STEM in college.