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ETA International Applauds the 2019 Technician and Educator of the Year

The contributions of an outstanding technician and brilliant educator, dedicated to the highest standards of electronics excellence, will be recognized during the ETA® International annual awards banquet at Education Forum in Las Vegas on April 2, 2020. Those deserving recognition for their enthusiasm for the electronics industry and their willingness to volunteer at a moment’s notice to represent their association will be honored.

Greencastle, February 7, 2020: ETA International awards pay respect to industry professionals who promote the education and execution of the arts and sciences of electronics technology. Industry peers and colleagues will gather at ETA’s annual Awards Banquet during Education Forum April 2nd in Las Vegas, NV to celebrate those individuals deserving recognition.

Technician of the Year

This distinguished award is given in honor of the late Norris R. Browne, president of the National Electronic Association (which was the original ETA International before the name changed) and a service business owner. For outstanding enrichment to fellow electronics technicians, the 2019 ETA Technician of the Year award is presented to Bruce Mues, FOI, FOT-OSP, Servo Technical Specialist III at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Socorro, New Mexico.

“Bruce goes above and beyond what is expected of him as a fiber/servo technician. He is always willing to take the time to gather the information to do the job right. I have a lot of respect for Bruce as a fellow teammate and technician. He has integrity and presents himself very professionally. Bruce is always willing to learn new things to better our team, including helping fellow teammates along with learning or just doing the task at hand. He seems to know when a job is going to be a two-person job and takes me with him to troubleshoot servo issues on the antennas any chance he gets because he knows I am trying to learn that side of our team. He is willing to help everyone on every team at NRAO – not just those on our team. I am very proud of Bruce and what an awesome job he does. He helps me any time I ask and sometimes when I don't,” wrote his nominator and co-worker Cindy George, FOT, FOT-OSP.

Bruce was nominated as NRAO’s Omsbud this year, which is a neutral third party for employees to confide in with workplace issues. He is currently working on becoming a site technician who will maintain fiber, servo, cryogenics and antenna mechanical issues for NRAO’s next-generation Very Large Array (ngVLA).

“Bruce's professionalism, skills, and great ability to work with coworkers from many different groups in our organization is wonderful. He is making a difference for our operations and maintenance on the Very Large Array,” said Ephraim Ford, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, NM Electronics Division Head.

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Educator of the Year

This prestigious award is named in honor of Wallace “Wally” Medeiros, PhD, CETma, a US Veteran, communications professional and instructor at Honolulu Community College and the U.S. military. For outstanding devotion in educating those pursuing careers in electronics and related fields, this award goes to Aaron Cleveland, CET, Electronics/Instrumentation Instructor at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC), Jackson County Campus.

“Aaron spearheaded MGCCC’s recent work with ETA to provide technical content for the Basic Systems Technician (BST) competencies and exam that we are using to track Technical Skills Attainment for our programs related to electronics. He also is continuously involved in developing new lab assignments and procedures for all of our electronics, instrumentation, and automation courses. Not only does he develop the labs, but he also designs and constructs many of our lab stations with industry standard equipment. By designing and building our lab stations in-house, Aaron has saved MGCCC tens of thousands of dollars over commercially available equipment,” said his nominator and supervisor John Poelma.

In addition, Aaron also co-presented a session with ETA at the High Impact Technology Exchange 2019 conference in St Louis, MO. He elaborated on the reasons that the college selected ETA to develop a certification exam designed for individuals being trained in the basic foundational levels of electronics used in troubleshooting systems and their functions as systems-based rather than component-level circuit analysis and gave a quick orientation to the MGCCC electronics/instrumentation program that delivers ETA core competencies and the different sections of the ETA competencies that comprise its electronics/instrumentation program.

ETA sincerely thanks these professionals and recognizes their dedication and enthusiasm for electronics and electronics-related technologies and their willingness to share their expertise with other technicians and students to improve their industry vocations and their trade association.

About ETA - Since 1978, ETA^® International has delivered over 250,000 certification examinations. Widely recognized and frequently used in worker job selection, hiring processes, pay increases, and advancements, ETA certifications are often required as companies bid on contracts. ETA’s certifications are personal and travel with the individual, regardless of employment or status change and measure competencies of persons, not products or vendors. All ETA certifications are accredited through the International Certification Accreditation Council (ICAC) and align with the ISO-17024 standard. www.etai.org .

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