Gorur Family Award established with first recipient
Ravi Gorur
After nearly 30 years at Arizona State University, Emeritus Professor Ravi Gorur took it upon himself to leave behind more than just friends, colleagues and an empty desk. A longtime advocate of the Electric Power and Energy Systems concentration of the electrical engineering program, Gorur and his family generously established an award for outstanding graduates in the field, ensuring a lasting impact for years to come.
In the spring of 2016, the Fulton Schools recognized an outstanding graduate with the first ever Gorur Family Award. Candidates must hold at least a 3.75 grade point average to be eligible for this award.
Gorur joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Arizona State University in 1987 as an assistant professor, became a full professor in 1995, Director of Undergraduate Studies in 2006 and Program Chair of the Electrical Engineering Program in 2010. He is currently a professor and department chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
“My motivation for making the award was to encourage and promote power engineering education,” says Gorur. “My family, both here and in India, have always valued education and this was a way to positively project the family name. I have enjoyed my stay at ASU and this was my way of saying thank you for the experience.”
Gorur credits ASU with maintaining the power program over the years. “ASU was one of the few institutions that decided to keep the power program when it was fashionable for many universities to get rid of it 30 years back due to a temporary lull in hiring power engineers. Universities must look at the long term and not simply follow the herd.”
William Bushman became the first recipient of the award this spring as he completed his bachelor’s degree in the program. Bushman is now a graduate student in the Fulton Schools pursuing a master’s degree in electrical engineering.
“The emphasis of my degree is electric power,” Bushman says. “After graduation, I plan on working in the electric power industry. Much of the power industry infrastructure is aging, creating new challenges that must be overcome to safely and efficiently supply electricity to customers. Distributed generation is also creating challenges to grid reliability. I look forward to helping develop solutions to these issues.”
Bushman’s love of learning new things and applying his knowledge to solve problems helped guide him to study electrical engineering. “I have always enjoyed learning how things work, especially when electricity is involved,” he says. “I grew up on a farm where I had the opportunity to learn some of the fundamentals of electricity by participating in various jobs, such as jump-starting vehicles, wiring a new house, and even fixing a portable welder/generator. I decided to pursue a degree in electrical engineering to learn real-world skills that I could use to tackle issues related to electricity.”
“I was really excited when I found out that I was the recipient the award,” Bushman says. “I was already planning on going to graduate school and I knew that this award would help me as I pursued a master’s degree.”
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Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering
