Entrepreneurship Award in Electrical Engineering Encourages Students to Take the Reins of their Future
Walter and Mary Chudobiak have established the Entrepreneurship Award in Electrical Engineering with a generous gift of $1 million to Carleton University. The award will be granted annually to one or more graduate students who have shown an entrepreneurial spirit.
Hasan Orion Ayyad, who is currently working toward a Master’s of Applied Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering in the area of radio frequency integrated circuit design, has been named the first recipient of the award. Ayyad, who received a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Carleton last spring, was cited for projects which focused on inventive, functional products for use by the general public. With a particular interest in radio frequency integrated circuits, Ayyad hopes to own his own company one day.
Quick Facts:
- Dr. Chudobiak earned his Master’s of Engineering from Carleton in 1965 and completed his Carleton PhD in Electrical Engineering in 1969.
- Thanks to a unique university partnership, he was able to conduct off-campus research in the Department of National Defence.
- From 1969 to 1975, he was with the Department of Communications, Communications Research Centre in Ottawa, and he also served as a Carleton University adjunct professor.
- He became an associate professor in the Department of Electronics in 1975, a position he held for six years.
- He founded Avtech Electrosystems Ltd., in 1975. The manufacturer specializes in design, manufacturing and marketing of nanosecond electronic test equipment and has grown to serve research and development laboratories in more than 53 countries.
- The scholarship winner will be chosen each year by the dean of Engineering and Design jointly with the dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs.
- With preference given to students working in hardware design, students who are accepted to Carleton’s graduate program are eligible to receive the award following completion of their Bachelor of Engineering degree at Carleton University.
- Once fully endowed, this award will provide approximately $40,000 a year for students. This year’s recipient has received $10,000 towards his graduate studies.
Quotes:
“My company’s success is the result of a combination of my graduate studies at Carleton University, my work as a faculty member and my work at the Defence Research Boardand the Communications Research Centre. Carleton engineering has this sort of unique characteristic of being open to the outside world. It just exceeded my wildest dreams that I could be encouraged and helped to conduct off-campus research. I’m so grateful to have had that exposure. – Dr. Walter Chudobiak, founder of Avtech Electrosystems Ltd.
“This scholarship will reinforce the long-standing, international reputation the Carleton University Faculty of Engineering and Design has for its excellence in education and research. As our engaging program offerings continue to grow and adapt to the changing needs of the outside world, we strive to ensure our graduates have the knowledge and skills to shape the future. I sincerely thank Walter and Mary Chudobiak for their incredibly generous contribution and also for encouraging a culture of entrepreneurship amid Carleton’s engineering students.” – Rafik Goubran, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Design.
“I would like to become a specialized expert in this area of research and I am positive that this scholarship has provided me with the financial support to kick-start my graduate studies. Because of the Chudobiaks’s generosity, if I ever find myself in a situation where I’m able to, I will definitely give back so that others can have the tremendous opportunity I have been given.” – Hasan Orion Ayyad
Associated Links:
Avtech: Avtechpulse.com
Faculty of Engineering and Design: Carleton.ca/engineering-design
Faculty of Graduate Affairs: Gradstudents.carleton.ca
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Chris Cline
Media Relations Officer
Carleton University
613-520-2600, ext. 1391
christopher_cline@carleton.ca
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