Each year, the University of Washington College of Engineering confers “Diamond Awards” on alumni in four categories: Distinguished Achievement in Industry, Distinguished Achievement in Academia, Entrepreneurial Excellence, and Distinguished Service.
The recipient of the 2013 Diamond Award for Distinguished Service – to be conferred at an award banquet on May 31 – is 1988 UW CSE bachelors alum Kevin Ross.
In 2002, while working as a senior design engineer at Microsoft, Kevin became concerned that enthusiasm seemed to be declining among entry-level engineers just out of college. While book-smart, they lacked passion. In response, Kevin founded Washington FIRST Robotics. Today, Washington FIRST Robotics works with over 7,500 students and 2000 volunteers each year in Washington State, matching student groups with mentors to provide high quality experiences. Their goal is to have a FIRST robotics team available for every student in the state of Washington. Kevin and Washington FIRST Robotics are changing lives across our state – inspiring the engineers of the future.
Congratulations to Kevin! Read more here. Learn about Washington FIRST Robotics here.