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ETA Announces the Technician and Educator of the Year

(Greencastle, Indiana) March 17, 2023: To congratulate the hard work that educators and technicians do each day, ETA® International awards one technician and one educator each year who has proven their excellence to their peers. ETA members have the opportunity to nominate their peers and colleagues for this prestigious award. 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. It is ETA® International’s pleasure to announce the 2022 Technician of the Year and the 2022 Educator of the Year!

2022 Technician of the Year

Christopher Cisco, CETsr, GROL, KI5KLR
Communications Division Secretary/Treasurer

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 2022 ETA Technician of the Year award is presented to Christopher Cisco, CETsr, GROL, KI5KLR.

As a native of Freehold, New Jersey, Christopher broke into the communications industry at the age of 19 after enlisting in the United States Army as a Signal Support Systems Specialist. After 10 years of active service and 3 years as a Government Contractor, he translated his field experience into the civilian and Public Safety realm of Two-Way Communications as a Field Service Technician. During that time, Christopher developed a lot of experience and understanding of digital/conventional radio technologies and industry best practices for installing and commissioning these different platforms. From there, he ventured into the realm of in-building wireless coverage, where his career stands today. Currently, Christopher is serving as a DAS Systems Engineer out of Houston, Texas, supporting different wireless services, such as Public Safety, Cellular, and LMR. In this role, Christopher strives to deliver reliable, cost-effective, code-compliant, in-building wireless solutions to customers at many different echelons.

Christopher’s Training and Certifications Include:

General Radiotelephone Operator’s License (GROL)
General Communications Technician, Level 1 (GCT1)
DAS Installer (DASI)
Advanced RF Interference Mitigation (AIM)
Line Antenna Sweep (LAS)
Wireless Communications (WCM)
iBWave Design Level 2 Certified
iBWave Public Safety Design Certified
FCC Amateur Radio Operator License (KI5KLR)

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2022 Educator of the Year

Christopher Hoch, CETma

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 to educating those pursuing careers in electronics and related fields, this award goes to Christopher Hoch, CETma.

Christopher Hoch has been with Motorola Solutions for 33 years and currently serves as a Systems and R56 Subject Matter Expert (SME). Christopher attended Basic Electronics and Ground Radio Communications training while serving in the United States Air Force. He has 43 years of experience in the electronics industry. Christopher is a Master CET (CETma) with numerous ETA certifications, including areas in Wireless and Telecommunications, RF Line Sweeping, Industrial Technician, T1 Link Audit, RF Signal Investigation, Customer Service, and Certified Service Manager, as well as an FCC license. He served on the ETA Board in 2015 as the Certified Technicians Division Chair. Christopher is a member of the Motorola R56 committee and has played an instrumental role in the development and update of the Motorola R56 manual. Christopher is involved with the development of several of the Motorola Solutions certification exams and training classes including Communications Site Installation Inspector/Auditor (CSIA), Communications Site Installer (R56), and Video Evidence Systems Implementation (VESI). In addition, Christopher teaches these classes to Motorola employees, partners, contractors, and customers.

About ETA - Founded in 1978 by electronics technicians, ETA^® International is a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) association whose mission is to represent and support the technical professional. ETA offers over 80 accredited, vendor-neutral certification programs in a variety of technology fields such as fiber optics, communications, electronics, biomedical, smart home, and renewable energy. ETA aligns with the ISO 17024 standard, vocational and education curriculums, and businesses’ resource initiatives through certification programs, conferences, and publications. For more information, please visit www.etai.org.

Download this press release at – https://www.etai.org/pr/ETA_Announces_the_Technician_and_Educator_of_the_Year.pdf