Michelle and Alex Bratton Senior Design Awards

Established 2014

 

Michelle and Alex Bratton

When ECE ILLINOIS alumnus Alex Bratton (BSCompE ’93) decided to give back to the University of Illinois, he turned to the class that he believes best exemplifies the spirit of engineering: Senior Design.

Bratton and his company, Lextech Global Services, are donating $50,000 over five years to ECE ILLINOIS, which will be used to award to students taking ECE 445, Senior Design. It’s a capstone class that allows students to work with industry and community partners to solve problems through engineering.

The awards include the Michelle and Alex Bratton Senior Design Instructor’s Award, the Lextech Senior Design Best Engineered Project Award, and the Lextech Senior Design Most Marketable Project Award.

Since becoming a successful entrepreneur, Bratton has been looking for ways to give back to the university where it all started for him. He wanted to help students develop real-world knowledge of engineering that he believes is necessary to enter the industry today.

“For me, the Senior Design award is the perfect example of combining academic learning, understanding how things work, the core of ECE, and the real world,” Bratton said. “It is the perfect crossover between the academic and real-world execution.”

Description:

These awards go to seniors taking ECE 445, Senior Design.

Selection Process:

Winners of this award chosen each semester by Senior Design instructors each semester.

Award:

The recipient(s) will be recognized during an annual Student Awards Banquet. All student recipients are featured on the second floor of the ECE Building's Student Honors Wall.

Past Recipients of the Award