UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Robert Collins, associate professor of computer science and engineering at Penn State, and Chris Giebink, Charles K. Etner Early Career Professor of Electrical Engineering at Penn State, were recently selected to receive the Joel and Ruth Spira Excellence in Teaching Award.
Established with an endowment by the Lutron Foundation in honor of the company's founders, the award recognizes individuals who excel in the classroom by helping students learn, understand and apply the fundamentals of engineering.
Collins joined Penn State in 2005. His research area is computer vision with an emphasis on video scene understanding, human body segmentation, activity analysis and real-time tracking.
Giebink has been a faculty member in the Department of Electrical Engineering since fall 2011. His research focuses on challenges related to solar energy conversion with the ultimate goal of developing an economically viable alternative to fossil fuels.
Engineering science alumnus Greg Altonen, vice president, commercial product management at Lutron Electronics, presented the awards at a luncheon held Dec. 16 at the Nittany Lion Inn.