Tim Carroll, owner and CEO of Automated Control Technologies, didn’t start his engineering career the traditional way; he was going to school to join the police when he got a job writing electrical diagrams.

“I had drafting and electrical experience from my high school days, and I needed a job because I lived in the boondocks of Michigan,” says Carroll.

Tempe-based materials handling company Automated Control Technologies has set up a scholarship to benefit ASU electrical and software engineering students. The scholarship started with two recipients last year and is growing to four this year. Image courtesy Shutterstock
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Following this serendipity, life then took him across the country to establish his Tempe-based material handling equipment company in 2002. Automated Control Technologies provides software, conveyor systems for sorting and moving parcels and mail, control consoles and installation services. The Company’s customers include government organizations such as the US Postal Service.

Carroll says he values ​​his employees and rewards those who have a strong work ethic. He believes in paying people fairly and providing a solid benefits package, which is why many employees have worked for him for 10 and even 25 years.

Helping ASU engineering students

Carroll’s desire to provide opportunities for those who work hard inspired him to create a scholarship fund.

He first had the idea a few years ago. After reaching out to the right contacts, he decided to offer support for undergraduate electrical engineering and software engineering students at the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. Carroll focuses on students in these two majors because his company’s engineers work primarily in electrical and software fields.

“I’m looking to do something to help, and obviously ASU has a good reputation,” he says. “Good school, good program, right in my backyard.”

The Automated Control Technologies Scholarship was launched in the 2021-2022 school year with two students and will grow to four students this upcoming school year.

Electrical engineering student Cameron Aquino was one of the first recipients, and he says it helped him stay focused on his studies.

“I’ve been able to make my education a priority in my life over the past year, and that wouldn’t have been the case without the scholarship being awarded,” says Aquino. “I was also able to learn more about the man who showed me such generosity, and meeting him and his wife was a pleasure.”

Although he would like to get a graduate degree in the future, his internship at Garmin has got him excited to start working in the industry after graduating in December.

Jared Dyet, a fellow and software engineer, has spent years working in process and packaging automation. He returned to school at the start of the pandemic with the goal of improving his existing material handling skills using artificial intelligence.

“This scholarship was the first good thing that came to me in a long time,” says Dyet. “It was really necessary financially, but it was also a huge moral boost to continue my studies.”

Dyet believes AI can advance quality control inspections for processing and packaging, and he looks forward to applying his new skills in the field.

Editor’s Note: Any undergraduate studying electrical or software engineering who completes a FAFSA application is automatically considered for the $5,000 scholarship.