Ed Hernandez is head teacher and director of the T-Tech Academy of Technology & Engineering at Tustin High School in Tustin, CA.

After graduating from UCI with a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mr. Hernandez began his career in the semiconductor industry working in applications and technical support and later as a sales engineer representing companies like Intel and AMD. Despite finding success in a highly completive environment, Ed decided to make a career change and become a teacher. He returned to college at night earning his Masters degree in Education with teaching credentials in both Mathematics and Engineering Technologies. After 13 years, he left the electronics industry and began his new career in education where his start as a teacher would coincide with a rising national emphasis in STEM education. 

Soon after starting as a math teacher in Tustin, he was asked to lead the development of a new engineering academy model, meant to introduce students to multiple engineering and computer science disciplines. Four years later he was no longer teaching math, having switched completely to engineering and becoming the academy's lead instructor.  Over the subsequent 12 years, hundreds of his students have benefitted from a hands-on, immersive technology education previously unavailable at most public schools. His methods are a break from the traditional drab academic models and include relevant technology skills like 3D modeling, material science, electronics, fabrication methods, coding and more. A rarity in high school, many of his students also take part in genuine engineering summer internships, giving them an authentic way to experience the tech industry at places like Boeing, UPS, EON Reality, Edwards Life Sciences, Medtronic and others. Mr. Hernandez has also been instrumental in the development and implementation of interscholastic engineering competitions throughout Orange County like the OC Maker Challenge, UC Irvine's Energy Invitational vehicle competition, and STEM on the Sidelines in cooperation with UCI and the LA Chargers football team.

In the sixteen years since becoming a teacher, Ed has amassed numerous awards and recognitions including Tustin High School's Teacher of the Year, Orange County's Engineering Teacher of the Year, OC Parenting Magazine's High School Teacher of the Year, and California's Career Technical Education Teacher of the Year. Under his direction, Tustin High School's engineering program has become a model for STEM and CTE education in Orange County and beyond. The T-Tech Academy has been named Orange County's Best High School Engineering Program by the Orange County Engineering Council and was also selected as a winner of the Golden Bell Award by the California School Board Association. Students from his academy have gone on to study engineering at all UC and Cal State campuses, and many of the country's top private universities. Today, you'll find graduates from his program working for companies like Boeing, NASA, Google, UPS, JPL, SpaceX and many more.

Ed is also a winner of the Lemelson-MIT Excite Award and was an InvenTeams grant recipient, a partnership between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Lemelson Foundation. He has since become one of LMIT's Master Teachers, and visits the MIT campus on a regular basis guiding teachers and students alike in the process of Invention Education. As a nod to his alma mater, you can email him by simply using the word "Anteater" with the traditional MIT email domain.

Dr. John D. Lincoln (Johnny) is founder, President and CEO of Axiom Materials, Inc., an aerospace materials business known for its specialization in advanced composites, including thermally resistant carbon composites and oxide-oxide ceramic matrix composites. Lincoln is a hands-on leader who specializes in building and developing organizations and engineering processes. He has managed the development, data analysis, and approval processes of hundreds of aerospace and industrial material qualification programs, including materials used for aircraft engines and interiors, rocket nozzles, advanced energy, national defense, auto racing, and electric vehicles. Lincoln’s values are work ethic, regenerative leadership principles, integrity, and authenticity. He is a contributor and mentor to both business and scientific communities, holding board advisor and director positions for companies, non-profits, and institutes. He is an active researcher and publisher with interests that span the fields of advanced composite materials, industrial ecology, and sustainability.

Born in Las Vegas, NV, and raised in Southern CA, Lincoln completed his undergraduate work at the College of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 2000. After graduation, Lincoln started his career as a researcher at Umeco Advanced Materials. Lincoln concurrently enrolled at UCI in 2002, earning his Master’s in Engineering (2004) and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering (2007) while acting, in promoted succession, as Technical Vice President of Umeco. At UCI, Lincoln’s graduate research focused on strategies for identifying and mitigating electronic waste; his collaborators were Professors Dele Ogunseitan, Andrew Shapiro, and his advisor, James Earthman. During graduate school, Lincoln also earned his pilot’s license and interned at NASA JPL in Pasadena, CA. Following graduate work Lincoln spent 1 year travelling abroad. Shortly thereafter he founded Axiom Materials, Inc. in 2009. Axiom Materials grew quickly under Lincoln’s leadership, and in 2019 he sold Axiom Materials to Kordsa, Inc for 181 MM, merging leading international businesses in advanced materials.

In 2017, Lincoln founded the Lincoln Dynamic Foundation in Henderson, NV, which seeks to address problems affecting community, youth, and environment. In 2020, Lincoln founded the WISDOM Institute at UCI, with the goal of guiding the development and adoption of sustainable materials through interdisciplinary collaboration with professionals in the fields of business, chemistry, materials engineering, and public health. Lincoln and his wife Bethany enjoy raising their 2 young boys in Henderson, NV.

Ramin Massoumi received his BS in Civil & Environmental Engineering, with an emphasis on Transportation Engineering, from UCI in 1994. He serves as senior vice president and general manager at Iteris, overseeing the company’s consulting and software practices. Ramin has advised local, regional, and state governments across the country in ways to improve mobility across all modes of transportation. Ramin also servs as the Chair of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America’s (ITS America) Board of Directors and UC Irvine Engineering Leadership Council. With over 20 years of leadership experience, Ramin is a key proponent of using a platform-based approach to solve mobility challenges, with a particular passion for driving data-focused solutions.

Over the years, Ramin has turned to his Alma Mater to aid in the development and mentorship of highly accomplished and capable students at UCI. For many years Ramin has spent his personal time teaching UCI engineering students real-world projects that offer hands-on experience. Realizing the effectiveness of this approach, he converted the course into a teaching program at his company. Internships for UCI students have many times translated into full-time jobs for Anteaters upon their graduation. A debt of gratitude to UCI has driven Ramin towards continual service to UC Irvine.

Beyond UCI, Ramin earned an M.S. degree in Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1996 and an M.B.A. from the University of Southern California in 2003. He has also published over 100 papers in national and international conferences and holds a patent in transportation analytics visualization.

Ramin is married to a fellow Anteater and lives in Orange County with his three kids.