J. David Irwin

Infobox_Scientist
name = J. David Irwin


caption =
birth_date = birth date and age|1939|8|9
birth_place = Minneapolis, MN, USA
death_date =
death_place =
residence = United States
nationality = American
field = Electrical Networks,Industrial Electronics
work_institution = Auburn University
alma_mater = Auburn University University of Tennessee
doctoral_advisor =
awards = IEEE: Centennial Medal (1984); Undergraduate Teaching Award (1998); Third Millennium Medal (2000); Richard M. Emberson Award (2000);

ASEE ECE Distinguished Educator Award, 2001
Society of American Military Engineers: Bliss Medal(1985)
IEEE Educational Activities Board: Meritorious Service Citation (1991); Vice President's Recognition Award (2006)
IEEE Industrial Electronics Society: Anthony J. Hornfeck Outstanding Service Award (1986); Eugene Mittelmann Achievement Award (1991)
IEEE Education Society: Achievement Award (1991); Hill/Jacob Millman Award (1993), Meritorious Service Award (2005)
Auburn University Distinguished Auburn Engineer, 1992; Presidential Award for Excellence (2007)
Institute for Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Science: Honorary Professor (2004)

J. David Irwin (born August 9, 1939 in Minneapolis, MN, USA is an American engineering educator and author of popular textbooks in Electrical Engineering and related areas. He is the Earle C. Williams Eminent Scholar and Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Head at Auburn University. Irwin is one of the longest serving Department Heads of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) in the world, having been appointed to lead the (then Electrical Engineering) Department at Auburn in 1973 [cite web|url= http://www.eng.auburn.edu/users/irwinjd/ |title= J. David Irwin|accessdate=2008-07-24|publisher=Auburn University] . He had also served as President of the ECE honor society Eta Kappa Nu; President of the US National Electrical Engineering Department Head Association; and President of two IEEE technical societies, on Industrial Electronics and on Education.

Biography

John David Irwin was born in 1939 in Minneapolis, MN. He received the B.E.E. degree from Auburn University in 1961, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1962 and 1967, respectively. In 1967-1968 he worked in Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., Holmdel, NJ. He joined Auburn University in 1969 as an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering. Currently he is the Earle C. Williams Eminent Scholar and ECE Department Head at Auburn. He is Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) “for contributing to industrial electronics, control instrumentation, and engineering education,” and Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). Among his notable awards is the IEEE’s Richard M. Emberson Award (2000) “for a long and distinguished record of service to the IEEE in the educational, technical and publication areas.” [cite web|url= http://www.ieee.org/portal/pages/about/awards/pr/embpr.html|title= IEEE Richard M. Emberson Award Recipients |accessdate=2008-07-24|publisher=IEEE] .

Authorship of Popular Textbooks

Irwin is widely known in the ECE and engineering education communities for his popular, effective, and highly regarded undergraduate university-level textbooks in Electrical Engineering and related areas cite journal|title=2006 IEEE Educational Activities Board Awards|journal=IEEE Transactions on Education|date=May 2007|first=Bruce|last=Eisenstein|coauthors=|volume=50|issue=2|pages=163–167|id= doi|10.1109/TE.2007.895275|accessdate=2008-07-25 ] .

Of special significance are his books on electric circuit analysis and introduction to electrical engineering, which are being used in hundreds of colleges of engineering worldwide. He has also written on multimedia computer communications, digital logic circuits, microcontrollers, industrial electronics, industrial vibration and control, and learning and career planning for undergraduate engineering students.

A list of selected books authored or co-authored by Irwin is provided in Table 1.

Professional Leadership

During his long career, Irwin served in leadership positions in several major engineering and engineering education professional associations. Table 2 provides a list of key positions.

Entrepreneurial Activities

Irwin was associated with several start-up companies, including Aunigma Network Solutions [cite web|url= http://www.aunigma.com/|title= Aunigma Network Solutions |accessdate=2008-07-24] . Aunigma is an IT company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia USA, addressing new generation Internet Protocol (IP) connections. Aunigma’s products are based on intellectual property created by the ECE Department at Auburn University.

References