What do you get when you combine a passion for cars, music, engineering, the environment and people? If you stir it just right, you end up with Brandon Baldwin.
Baldwin, associate professor in the Automotive Technology Department at the Canton Campus of the State University of New York (SUNY) is the latest candidate in the 2023-2024 Instructor of the Year Program.
The Instructor of the Year Program, presented by Tomorrow’s Technician and sponsored by B’laster Products, recognizes the auto instructor who takes an unconventional approach to education, works through the inevitable challenges with creativity and passion and, most importantly, is committed to educating the best future technicians.
Baldwin’s background is in Agricultural Engineering. He earned his associate degree from SUNY Morrisville and his bachelor’s from Cornell University. Following a career as an automotive technician, he earned a masters in Career and Technical Education from SUNY Buffalo State to launch his teaching career. He’s currently working on his doctorate degree.
“I grew up around cars and tractors and prefer being a technician to being an engineer,” Baldwin says. His early career emphasized that. He worked as a Cadillac/Buick tech at a dealership in Buffalo, then as a tech at an independent shop where he worked on domestic, Asian and European cars.
“I grew to love Volvo, Jaguar and Honda as a result, and Mercedes a little bit,” he says, but still considers himself a GM guy at heart. “Therefore, all the cars I own fit into these categories.”
He has taught in the Automotive Technology program at the Canino School of Engineering Technology, since 2006 and has helped the college achieve National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF) certification, which led to a partnership with Subaru Distributors Corporation. Baldwin has built relationships with Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen of America through the program’s advisory board. Both companies have donated vehicles and equipment to aid in the college’s continuing evolution.
After being permanently hurt being a tech, Baldwin worked at Goodyear as a service manager while working on his Master’s Degree. He learned about teaching by being a substitute at many schools in his area, and as an adjunct instructor at Erie Community Collegein Buffalo.
“This was all while working second shift at Towne BMW,” he explains. “All the while, I was looking for a full time teaching position when SUNY Canton came up, and I have spent many a happy year here.”
Brandon has been an instructor to students at both the high school and collegiate level, has been an enthusiastic participant in the racing community and continues to be a mentor to techs and customers at his own repair shop as well. He’s the author of a textbook, Auto Engine Performance, published last year; the creator and teacher of the first SUNY dedicated hybrid and electric vehicle course, and he’s a dedicated supporter in his classroom.
The SUNY Canton Automotive YouTube channel is a great source for recruiting students and educating the community.
He takes time to help students and faculty outside his degree program with their automotive issues. He collaborates with students who are interested in derby racing and is an avid competitor himself. He makes his workshops safe for everyone, not just the physical safety of tool and vehicle usage, but he implements policies against sexism and racism that are sustained in and out of the classroom.
He exercises patience in helping students with learning disabilities, giving his personal time to show them until they grasp the concept efficiently. He’s also an avid, active and successful Rallycross driver and uses the sport to build interest in the classroom and the classroom to build interest in the sport.
For more information on the 2023-2024 B’laster Instructor of the Year program or to nominate a worthy instructor, visit Tomorrow’s Technician today.
