Binning Cinches Distinguished Alum Award

David Binning, 43, a senior lab specialist with IBM, is this year’s winner of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Distinguished Alumni Award for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID).

Distinguished Alumni Awards are presented annually to graduates who bring distinction to their college through their professional achievements. With Binning, a 1981 graduate, those achievements have been accomplished by working for a single employer for nearly 20 years.

"I had two co-operative work experiences with IBM while I was a student, and my employer liked what he saw and offered me a full-time job right on the spot," Binning recalled.

Binning, who received an associate degree in electromechanical technology from NTID/RIT, has been employed by IBM since 1982, first as lab specialist, then as technical lab specialist, and today as senior lab specialist in the Storage Systems Group (SSG) at IBM’s Research Triangle Park in North Carolina.

In his job, Binning uses his technical skills to acquire and upgrade equipment, order and stock parts, manage inventory, and troubleshoot hardware and software problems.

In a letter nominating Binning for the award, Bill Stern, manager of IBM’s Technical Support Strategy & e-Care in SSG, said, "David is very dedicated and professional. He is always willing to go the extra mile to make our products successful. He has voluntarily taught his coworkers sign language. He is a great ambassador for NTID/RIT and I’m privileged to know him as a coworker and friend."

Binning noted that IBM offers him interpreting services as needed and credited Internet communication tools such as e-mail and Instant Messenger with assisting him in communicating with coworkers.

Binning has been president of the North Carolina Association of the Deaf since 1997. He is married to Andrea (Kovach), a former NTID student. The couple has two children: Matthew, 16; and Heather, 14.

The first and largest technological college in the world for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, NTID, one of eight colleges of RIT, offers educational programs and access and support services to the 1,100 deaf and hard-of-hearing students from around the world who study, live, and socialize with 14,000 hearing students on RIT’s Rochester, N.Y., campus. Web address: http://www.rit.edu./NTID.

For more NTID news go to http://www/rit.edu/ntid/newsroom.


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