Educator Grants
Overview
The IPC Education Foundation recognizes educators and instructors who enrich the lives of students interested in a career path in the electronics industry. These scholarships support professional and technical development. Scholarship funds can be used towards costs associated with industry-related on-line courses, seminars, workshops or conferences, and other educational enrichment purposes, as needed and approved by the IPC Education Foundation.
Thank you to our sponsors!
Guidance for Educator Applicants
Please note: Educator Applicants will be notified by The IPC Education Foundation about available professional development and training scholarship opportunities and will be provided with a specific code to access the application site.
An educator can only apply for an Educator Grant if a nomination has been received from a student in your classroom. To be nominated – a student needs to email: [email protected] with the following information:
- First name, last name, email and phone number of the educator
- Title/Role of educator
- Reason for nomination in a short motivational statement (max 300 words)
2022 IPC Michael V. Carano Teacher Excellence Award Winner
Sitao Huang
Title: Assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
University: University of California, Irvine
Bio: Sitao Huang is an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine. He received his Ph.D. degree and M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2021 and 2017 respectively. He received his B.S. degree in Electronics Engineering at Tsinghua University in 2014. He is a 2022 DARPA Forward Riser. His research won several awards, including the Best Paper Award at IDEAL 2021, Best Paper Nomination at ASP-DAC 2021, the Student Innovation Award at the 2018 IEEE HPEC Graph Challenge, and the first place at DAC 2019 System Design Contest.
Personal Statement: “It is a great honor for me to receive this very special award. Getting this award is a milestone for me as a teacher, advisor, and scholar. This award is a great encouragement to me to keep pursuing the high standard of educating and serving my students. This is also a recognition of the excellence of my students. I feel very fortunate to have an excellent group of students at [email protected] and broadly at UCI.”
2021 IPC Michael V. Carano Teacher Excellence Award Winners
Joel Tomlinson
Bio: Joel Tomlinson is a Lecturer/Laboratory Manager with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering Technology at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Throughout his six years of teaching courses related circuit analysis, troubleshooting, industrial controls, and instrumentation and measurement, he has been involved in curriculum development of electronics and engineering technology courses. The majority of his curriculum development is focused around industry preparedness of students entering a highly technical and rapidly evolving electronics industry.
Additionally, to curriculum development, Mr. Joel Tomlinson infuses practical electronics training with real world experience learned in the electronics and manufacturing field with the goal of increasing industry preparation for students. Mr. Tomlinson was a certified IPC-WHMA-A-620 Specialist while employed as a manufacturing engineer for a wire-harness manufacturing company. Mr. Tomlinson has worked with his previous employment to develop an internship program where students can gain valuable industry experience while implementing the WHMA standards and other IPC standards received through student membership in the IPC Education Foundation student chapter on campus.
Personal Statement: “Being awarded the Michael Carano Teacher Excellence Award will be a great honor for me because it will reinforce my commitment to teaching and preparing the next generation of electrical/electronic technicians, technologist, and engineers. I appreciate the support and dedication of the IPC Education Foundation’s commitment to assisting educators and students in industry readiness in the field of electronics manufacturing.”
Andrea Blaylock
Bio: Andrea Blaylock is a full-time tenured professor at Triton College in River Grove, Illinois, where she has been the Faculty advisor for IPC Student Chapter for the past 2 years. During her nearly ten years of experience teaching in the Engineering Technology Department. Prior to Triton College, she spent nine years in the Industrial Power Systems and Electrical Distribution and Controls industries, working for General Electric and Bosch-Rexroth/Indramat Division, respectively, as an Area Account Manager, Outside and Inside Sales Engineer.
Andrea graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, with a Master of Arts degree in Career and Technical Education. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Apparel Design from Dominican University. Recently Andrea has obtained her Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Substitute Teacher License and AWS GMAW D1.3 (MIG) Welding Certified Qualification.
Andrea believes that the best way to help students develop into industry professionals themselves is to instill in them the need to communicate honestly, be helpful with each other, and maintain integrity in their work. She does this by being this way herself, so teaching by example, not just words. She works with her colleagues at the college in the same manner.
When she is not working, you can find her spending time with her family, reading, and listening to music (jazz and inspirational). Her motto is “Life is not a destination but a journey” and she feels her journey has just begun.
Personal Statement: “It is an honor and privilege to be recognized as a candidate for IPC Michael Carano Teacher Excellence Award. As the IPC Student Faculty advisor, I consider myself privileged to have been nominated for such a distinguished honor by one of my students. The majority of my experience has been in industrial power systems, electrical distribution, and controls, as well as residential and commercial building applications with small to medium scale power distribution, generation, and use. I've largely focused on teaching electricity/electronics, robotics, and programmable logic controllers since joining Triton College, Engineering Technology as the lead Mechatronics program instructor. Success cannot be attained on one's own; it can only be attained with the assistance and support of peers. Without the help of several people, I would not be where I am now. It takes a village to achieve success. This award is a chance for me to express gratitude and appreciate all of those who have helped me get to where I am now. In addition, the IPC Michael Carano Teacher Excellence Award funding will allow me to further my professional development so that I can better serve students by assisting them in achieving their goals in the field of electronics and automation. Thank you for recognizing me with the IPC Michael Carano Teacher Excellence Award.”
2020 IPC Michael V. Carano Teacher Excellence Award Winner
Christopher T. Middlebrook, Ph.D.
Title: Associate Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Affiliate Associate Professor Department of Physics
University: Michigan Technological University
Personal Statement: “I am really appreciative to have been nominated by my student(s) as well as being selected by the committee. My passion and drive has been strengthened by the recognition with an award of this magnitude. Receiving the award helps to promote the exciting educational and research programs to recruit and retain students at my university. My hope is that being selected for the award will inspire my colleagues and students to aspire for scholarships as well as other career enriching opportunities.”
