Jared Boone '23

Jared Boone of Wabash, who earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in Advanced Automation and Robotics Technology (AART), was honored with the Chancellor’s Award for Academic Excellence.

Boone was selected from those students honored with the Dean’s Award in each program who have a 3.5 GPA or higher. Other considerations for this award include leadership, community service, and school involvement.

In nominating Boone for the top student academic honor, Deborah Ku, department chair of the AART program for the Ivy Tech Kokomo Service area, cited his accomplishments in and out of the classroom.

“In his two years at Ivy Tech, Jared earned several certificates and technical certificates on his way to his associate degree,” Ku said. “And his academic achievements were matched with extracurricular activities that have helped him grow in many ways.”

While at Ivy Tech, Boone served as president of the Alpha Phi Pi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa international honor society and was named to the National Society for Leadership and Success. As president of the Student Government Association, he represented Kokomo students as a student member of the Ivy Tech State Board of Trustees, bringing a focus on manufacturing. He also is an emergency medical responder, a certified firefighter and lieutenant in a volunteer fire department.

After an internship through Ivy Tech Kokomo’s Ivy+ Career Link office, Boone has been hired full-time at Mid-State Engineering in Tipton. He has already been promoted to the position of controls engineer, a job that he says would not have been possible without the help he received from faculty and staff. Boone is configuring hardware parameters in robotic systems to effectively manage manufacturing processes in a way that is safe and efficient, a role one faculty member said is usually handled by bachelor-degreed engineers.

To learn more about our Advanced Automation and Robotics program