ORONO – Three new scholarships are being offered this fall at the University of Maine for electrical and computer engineering students.

The scholarships are being offered through Kepware Technologies, a Portland software development company whose chief executive officer said he wants to help keep young people in Maine.

Kepware’s founder, president and chief executive officer Corson Ellis, is providing the department with three annual scholarships of $7,500 each for the foreseeable future, the university announced Friday.

Kepware designs and builds drivers and other software that allows automated manufacturing equipment to communicate.

The company employs 45 people, up from 30 employees last year, including several UM engineering graduates. In the past two months, Kepware has hired two permanent employees and two co-ops from the university. Kepware’s vice president and chief technology officer, Tony Paine, also is a graduate of the electrical engineering program at Orono.

Ellis said in a news release the company wants to keep students in Maine after they graduate.

“And we’re interested in having a close relationship with the graduates so that we have a shot at hiring them,” Ellis said.

Information about the new scholarships is available on the UM electrical and computer engineering department Web site at www.eece.maine.edu.