12/04/17 

HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State University’s Department of Applied Technology was recently awarded the Order of the Filament at the Colorado Technology Education Association’s 32nd Rocky Mountain States conference in Denver.

Marc A. Finer, Colorado Technology Education Association’s president, presented the award. The award started in the 1950s and was only awarded to a department one other time.

“The Department of Applied Technology has been active in presenting and participating at the CTEA Annual Conference for at least 25 years that I know of,” said Dr. Duane Renfrow, associate professor of applied technology.

“The department has also been active in recruiting from Colorado to help in providing teachers since Colorado has no Technology and Engineering Education Teacher Preparation programs,” he said.

The award is given to those who are dedicated and inspirational, whose main objective is to further the goals of the Colorado Technology Education Association through service and teaching.

“The Order of the Filament award is the highest honor that the association can bestow on a member or program,” said Renfrow. “Typically, individual members of the association receive the award, but our department is only one of two university programs that have received it.

“I was overwhelmed when I realized that the president of CTEA was describing our program just before he announced that we were being presented with the award,” he said.