While continuing to juggle endless priorities, LaMeres is clear about his most important career contribution.
“My real contribution is that I can help people become great engineers,” he said. “All I do is mentor the students and show them how to do it.”
It’s a contribution that others are noticing as well. The American Society for Engineering Education awarded LaMeres the society’s prestigious National Outstanding Teaching Award for 2025. Todd Kaiser, head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at MSU, nominated LaMeres for the award because of his work to modernize the university’s computer engineering curriculum.
Former MSU President Waded Cruzado described LaMeres as “an outstanding educator and most deserving of this recognition.” Kaiser said he “couldn’t think of anyone more deserving” of national recognition than LaMeres. Brett Gunnink, Dean of the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering said, “when it comes to instruction, LaMeres is among MSU’s finest.” From his chair, LaMeres said he’s grateful for the award because teaching has always meant more to him than talking in front of a whiteboard to students who are required to take his class.
“This award is a huge honor for me because it is meant to recognize teaching in all forms at a university,” LaMeres said. “When we think about teaching, we usually think about a professor lecturing in a classroom. But I spend as much time working with students in my research lab as I do lecturing in the classroom. The magic really happens when students come through my classes to learn about computers and then work in my research lab and figure out how to actually ‘use’ them to do cutting-edge stuff. That’s how my team was able to put a computer on the moon.”
In addition to teaching, authoring five textbooks and running a startup, LaMeres has published over 100 papers on digital systems and been granted 16 U.S. patents related to computer technology, including three for RadPC. He also has a growing YouTube channel where he shares his expertise on everything from how to change a fuse in your car to how to build a robot. Today, four core classes in the electrical and computer engineering department at MSU use textbooks authored by LaMeres.