A pioneer in the power and energy field with 33 years of teaching experience, Dr. Thomas Overbye has been selected as a recipient of the 2024 Association of Former Students College-Level Teaching Award. Since 1982, this award recognizes outstanding faculty members for their commitment to teaching and contributions to upholding educational values.
Overbye is a world-renowned professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station Smart Grid Center (SGC) director.
“I have valued teaching my entire career, so I was very honored to get a teaching award, especially from the Association of Former Students,” Overbye said. “The part I like about teaching is interacting with the students. I like the enthusiasm that they bring into the classroom.”
To inspire that enthusiasm and engagement in the classroom, Overbye’s research group, the Energy and Power Group (EPG), hosts social events to interact with students and develop relationships with them. They put on an EPG dinner every semester where students and professors can create lasting connections and enrich their academic experience.
“It was something that I saw modeled when I was at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and when I came down here to Texas A&M, I kind of kept that model,” he said. “As the Group Leader of the EPG, I've hosted it among other faculty. It's fun, and last year, they surprised me on my birthday by coming over.”
As a university educator, Overbye mostly teaches undergraduate and graduate courses but often teaches practicing engineers through SGC short courses. Even in his personal life, Overbye leads by example, teaching Sunday school to elementary school children.
“I enjoy teaching all groups. Teaching Sunday school to third and fourth graders is very different than teaching college students, but I enjoy all of them,” he added.
Throughout his academic career, Overbye recalls the impact of good teachers, going as far back as his sixth-grade science class. In graduate school, Overbye’s faculty showed him the benefits he could have as a faculty member, and how he could influence the upcoming generation.
“My science teachers taught us a lot of good things that I use all the time, like the importance of the scientific method and always being open to the unexpected because you never know what will occur. I have been greatly influenced by teachers throughout my career,” he said.
Though his time with students is short, Overbye said he enjoys collaborating with former students on projects or research areas, even working with them as colleagues. In fact, two electrical and computer engineering faculty in the energy and power group (EPG), associate professor Dr. Katherine Davis and assistant professor Dr. Adam Birchfield, are his former students.
“A fun part of teaching is staying in touch with former students,” Overbye said. “Since I started teaching in 1991, some have advanced quite a way in their careers, and it's always fun to see and celebrate their accomplishments with them. The most rewarding part of teaching is helping students become great engineers.”