This National Scholarship Month, Yondr is focused on connection. Because scholarships aren’t just a way of providing financial aid for bright students, but of deepening connections between education, industry, and the communities Yondr operates in.  

It’s no secret that the data center industry is facing a persistent talent shortage. The industry has the potential to bring new and exciting lines of employment to different locations, but given the specific skill requirements, talent isn’t always available locally. For local people to feel the benefit of the data center industry in their community, work needs to start on a different kind of campus – a university campus.  

Yondr’s latest UK scholarship was awarded to Yahye Aden. As part of the program’s focus on supporting the local community, eligibility was restricted to students living in Slough, helping ensure the support reaches local students who stand to benefit most from the opportunity. 

Ahead of starting his physics degree at Queen Mary University London, Yahye was awarded a £27,000 scholarship, to be paid in instalments over the course of his four-year studies. After learning he had been selected on the day he received his A-level results, he visited Yondr’s Slough campus to receive a plaque, a laptop for his studies, and a tour of the data center. This visit gave him a firsthand look at Yondr’s work and the opportunities available within the industry.  

Partnering with Blackbullion, a scholarship funding organization, Yondr stakeholders were deeply embedded throughout the interview and selection process. Students applied by answering three questions relating to their background, what the scholarship would enable, and what they already know about the data center industry.  

Following an initial review process, 633 applications were narrowed down to seven shortlisted candidates. These applications were assessed by representatives from Yondr’s Slough operations and construction teams, including Chris Bennett and Ruth Berkowitz, as well as Neil Hoskinson, Director of Education at Slough Borough Council. After a panel discussion, four candidates were invited to interview with Ciara Murray, Sustainability Manager at Yondr, and James Watkins, Director of Talent Acquisition.  

It wasn’t just academic excellence on the scorecards, but grit; candidates needed to show determination, persistence, and resilience, with a willingness to see challenges through. Qualities that prove valuable not just in education, but in the data center industry itself.  

Driving this scholarship was a desire to join the dots between Yondr and the communities where it operates, as well as the next generation of talent. This requires long-term investment, but when a scholarship is awarded to a student, the benefits go beyond the individual.  

The Slough scholarship joins Yondr’s existing work with universities internationally, including Queens University, Belfast, Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), and the University of Toronto. Yondr’s first scholarship student in Belfast, Orla, has just come to the end of her MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering course. Throughout the program she shared progress updates with Yondr, benefiting from more time for her studies and volunteering as a result of the scholarship funding.  

Meanwhile, University of Toronto scholarship recipient, Taysen Victory, recently got in touch to say:  

‘Receiving the Yondr Group Scholarship last year helped ease the financial pressure of tuition and other costs, which meant I could dedicate more time to my coursework, research, and hands-on projects instead of splitting my focus with a job at the same time. It also gave me a bit more breathing room to take on extracurricular commitments.’ 

With Yahye settling into his first semester, the focus now is how Yondr deepens ongoing connections with scholarship students and communities. Whether this is bringing students into Yondr environments so they can see how their learning translates to a rewarding career, or providing mentorship during their studies.