View Ed Hernandez's Induction video
Hernandez, head teacher and director of the T-Tech Academy of Technology & Engineering
at Tustin High School, began his career in the semiconductor industry working in applications
and technical support and later as a sales representative for companies like Intel
and AMD. Despite finding success in a highly competitive environment, he decided to
make a career change and become a teacher. He earned a master’s degree in education
and teaching credentials in 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 being hired by Tustin High School, 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 benefited from a hands-on,
immersive technology education previously unavailable at most public schools. His
methods are a break from the traditional academic models and include relevant technology
skills like 3D modeling, material science, electronics, fabrication methods, coding
and more. Many of his students also take part in engineering summer internships, giving
them an authentic tech industry experience, at places like Boeing, UPS, EON Reality,
Edwards Life Sciences, Medtronic and others. Hernandez has also been instrumental
in the development and implementation of interscholastic engineering competitions
throughout Orange County like the OC Maker Challenge, UCI's Energy Invitational vehicle
competition, and STEM on the Sidelines in cooperation with UCI and the LA Chargers
football team.
In the 16 years since becoming a teacher, Hernandez has been recognized with numerous
awards, 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. 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. His students 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.
Hernandez 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.
Hernandez arrived in the United States at the age of 12 and was the first in his family
to graduate from high school and college. He credits his time at UCI as the most formative
experience of his life and constantly shares advice and stories from his time in college
with his students. Today, his immigrant success story, industry experience and passion
for learning make him uniquely qualified as a teacher and role model for the next
generation of engineers and scientists.
In his spare time, Hernandez plays golf, builds electronic gadgets and fixes things
that don't need fixing. He also builds and refurbishes electric guitars, unfortunately
leaving little time for actual practice.
