The Natural Refrigeration

IIAR’s annual conference this year showcased the organization’s growing scholarship program, which saw twelve new IIAR scholarships awarded. The 2026 scholars attended IIAR’s annual conference as part of a fast-growing mentorship effort led by the Natural Refrigeration Foundation.

NRF has continuously increased the number of scholars each year, said John Flynn, Chairman of the IIAR Education Committee. The recipients get the benefit of a scholarship which helps defer the cost of their education, but IIAR also covers the cost of travel to the annual conference.

“We also bring them to our conference and pair each student with a guide or mentor to introduce them to our industry,” said Flynn. ”That experience of our conference and the networking that happens here is probably more valuable than many experiences they have at the beginning of their career.”

Flynn said NRF scholars are paired with NRF trustees and member companies who engage them with discussions and questions about their knowledge of the industry. “We introduce each scholar to different people involved in different areas of our industry at the conference. They can get an idea of the equipment used in our industry, what it does and where the technology is going so they can relate that to what they’re learning in the classroom.”

Dayna Martinez, IIAR Education Programs Manager, said the NRF scholarship program gives students a foundation for natural refrigerants, especially through their participation at the IIAR conference.

“They get a real taste of what natural refrigerants are and how this industry can be a resource for them,” said Martinez. “I think the need for this program to recruit new talent to our industry is very big. We’re a niche industry and not a lot of people outside our industry know about what we do.

This program raises awareness. It’s always important to have young talent join us to diversify our industry. Diversity is the future of the industry, literally.”

Martinez said the NRF scholarships are growing in popularity with 84 total applications received by NRF. Of those, 12 scholarships were awarded for 2026.

“Each year we’re making this experience better and better,” said Flynn. “We’ve gotten great feedback from our scholars this year.” “I think the scholarship program is extremely valuable to the natural refrigerant industry because the scholarship links interested students with great refrigeration companies who are always looking for new talent,” said Zach Laser, a NRF scholarship alum and refrigeration sales engineer for Bassett Mechanical.

“The IIAR conference provides the perfect opportunity for students to have face-to-face interactions with industry professionals who are looking to hire them.” “For me, the scholarship helped with tuition, but it also directly introduced me to the industry I would become a part of by bringing me to the IIAR conference,” said Laser. “Attending the conference let me appreciate the scale of equipment firsthand which further sparked my curiosity, and I quickly found that companies at the conference are eager to hire students that express an interest in the natural refrigeration industry. I have no idea where my career would have gone had I not attended the IIAR conference and I’m glad I did.”

NRF’s scholarship is awarded annually to collegiate juniors exhibiting exceptional character and interest in pursuing an engineering or related technical degree leading to a career in the refrigeration field.

Awards provide $4,000 to students during their junior year and $9,000 in their senior year for those who attended IIAR’s Annual Natural Refrigeration Conference and Expo during the spring of their junior year.

A big advantage of the scholarship program is that it introduces new engineers to natural refrigeration at a time in their lives when they’re making big decisions about where to invest their talent and start their careers, said Flynn.

The industrial refrigeration industry is a multidisciplinary field that offers exciting job opportunities in virtually all engineering fields of study. Engineers working in the industrial refrigeration industry have the opportunity to help address the urgent issue of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by applying environmentally friendly natural refrigerants in energy efficient refrigeration and heat pump
systems.

As new technology develops that puts natural refrigerants at the center of a global push towards sustainability and draws attention to the global cold chain as the vital infrastructure that feeds the world’s poorest populations, many students find purpose in their involvement with IIAR.

“The annual conference is really an opportunity to pair these students with industry veterans and show them firsthand our pride in our ability to have a career in this industry,” said Flynn.