Jaime De La Ree Lopez receives Philip and Sadie Sporn Award
Jaime De La Ree Lopez, of Blacksburg, associate professor and assistant department head of the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, received the Philip and Sadie Sporn Award for teaching introductory engineering subjects.
The Sporn Awards were established in 1966 to cite an outstanding teacher of introductory subjects and an outstanding teacher of introductory engineering subjects. Philip Sporn was president and chief executive officer of the American Electric Power Company. Recipients are nominated and selected by students at Virginia Tech.
De La Ree Lopez’s students consistently describe him as the best professor they have had at Virginia Tech. Even students who have him as a guest professor describe him this way. He is passionate about teaching and takes time to make sure everyone understands the material, regardless of whether they are his students.
A student in De La Ree Lopez’s Electrical Theory class said, "the material was daunting, and the problem solving was frequently difficult, but the class was one of the most enjoyable classes I have taken at Virginia Tech, due almost entirely to the pleasant teaching style of Dr. Jaime de la Ree. He has a unique capacity to make the students feel confident about the material and to make it seem manageable, even when it is difficult. He is extremely patient and willing to take extra time to explain things when needed."
Another student said De La Ree Lopez’s impact on students was great and that he was able to get "the principles of electrical theory and circuitry across to those like myself who struggle in the particular area." The student said de la Ree "enriches the faculty and quality here at Virginia Tech..."
De La Ree Lopez received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Monterrey (Mexico), and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. His teaching interests lie in power systems, and he currently performs research in the area of power engineering.
The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is internationally recognized for its excellence in 14 engineering disciplines and computer science. The college’s 5,600 undergraduates benefit from an innovative curriculum that provides a "hands-on, minds-on" approach to engineering education, complementing classroom instruction with two unique design-and-build facilities and a strong Cooperative Education Program. With more than 50 research centers and numerous laboratories, the college offers its 2,000 graduate students opportunities in advanced fields of study such as biomedical engineering, state-of-the-art microelectronics, and nanotechnology.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become among the largest universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.
