OSU Alumni Win Tektronix President’s Award
7-24-09

Tektronix recently awarded their President’s Award to two Oregon State alumni. The award recognizes recent graduates who clearly stand out among their peers with significant demonstrated achievements or technical leadership.

Nathan Mullen received his BSEE from Oregon State University in 2005, and is a test and trim engineer within the test engineering department at Maxtek/Tektronix. “In my short career at Tektronix I’ve worked hard to maximize my contributions to the projects I have been a part of. I have been very lucky with the mentors I have had, both at OSU and Tektronix, and their help and guidance have been a big part of my successes,” Mullen said. “I am honored to have won the award.”

“OSU prepared me with the tools to overcome the difficulties inherent in solving technically challenging problems,” said Mullen. But he also noted that education is more than developing technical proficiency. “OSU also did a great job of preparing me to be a member of a team: communication, collaboration, etc. Being able to successfully work in a team environment is more important than I ever would have imagined.”

Michael D. Phillips is a manufacturing test engineer at Tektronix, working within the logic analyzer, signal sources, and test mixed signal product lines. Phillips graduated from Oregon State University with B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering in 2002 and 2005 respectively.

Aleks Neubauer, an operations program manager at Tektronix, nominated Phillips for the award. “Michael is a unique test engineering talent at Tektronix,” wrote Neubauer. “He combines strong technical and applied knowledge to provide exceptional support to production, and has been a key enabler in our conversion to lean manufacturing. He has made significant contributions within his first four years with Tektronix, and is increasing his scope of impact and responsibilities.”

Phillips sees this award as more than a plaque to hang on the wall. “More important than the award is the understanding that my peers see me as a contributor and an innovator. I have always been a little bashful of personal recognition but relish the respect my peers have shown me for the nomination and selection.”

“I enjoyed my academic career at OSU. The faculty made all the difference in my education and training leading up to my employment at Tektronix. The faculty were approachable, engaging, and challenging of my abilities to understand and evaluate complex scenarios and problems. I enjoyed my graduate level classes and had a passion from my graduate research. I appreciated the curriculum driven towards industry as well as the theoretical.”