J. David Irwin is Professor and Department Head Emeritus in the Department of Electrical and computer Engineering at Auburn University. He is the author or coauthor of 10 university-level textbooks, one of which is currently in the 12th edition and has been used both nationally and internationally for more than 35 years. He has served as President of two IEEE Technical Societies and Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics. He served as a Series Editor for both CRC Press and the Academic Press and in those capacities oversaw the development of 23 books. He has served as both a member and chair of a host of IEEE technical committees and has been General Chair or Honorary for a number of IEEE conferences throughout the world. He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE, and a Fellow of ASEE, AAAS, and NAI. He is the recipient of numerous education, professional, and technical awards including the IEEE’s James H. Mulligan Jr. Education medal. The IEEE industrial Electronics Society created the J. David Irwin Early Career award in recognition of the many contributions made to the development of young professionals and the award is given annually to outstanding IEEE members throughout the world.

David V. Kerns, Jr is the Founding Provost and Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering Emeritus at Olin College. Dr. Kerns led the development of the entire academic and student-life programs and introduced project-based, student-centered learning into all facets of the Olin College Curriculum. He currently is Adjoint Professor of Electrical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, and previously served as the Electrical Engineering Department Chair, Associate Dean, and Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University. He also has served on the faculties of Florida State University, Auburn University, and Bucknell University, where he taught electrical engineering courses for over 25 years and has coauthored two electrical engineering textbooks. Dr. Kerns also served in industry at Bell Telephone Laboratories and as an entrepreneur in cofounding two successful electronic companies. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, served multiple terms as President of the IEEE Education Society, and served as Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Education. He has over 100 publications in the areas of microelectronics research, engineering education, and entrepreneurship. He has received numerous awards recognizing accomplishments in these areas. Dr. Kerns is recipient of the National Academy of Engineering’s Bernard M. Gordon Prize in 2013 for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education.