Julie Alano, computer science department chair at Hamilton Southeastern High School, received the Tech Educator of the Year Award during TechPoint’s 18th annual Mira Awards honoring the best of tech in Indiana.

Julie Alano began her career teaching math in 1998 at Hamilton Southeastern High School, and a year later she added an experimental computer science class to her course lineup. Nearly 20 years later, Alano’s influence on the district’s computer science footprint extends from kindergarten through eighth grade and four levels of CS instruction at HSE High School. Alano currently chairs the Digital Age Information Technology Academy and the Applied Science Department at HSE.

The Mira Awards judges recognize Alano’s devotion to working from within the system to help HSE students develop critical 21st century skills through coursework and numerous clubs and events — nearly all of which she founded and led for many years.

In 2016, one of Alano’s students was one of just two winners selected from the state of Indiana for the U.S. Congressional App Challenge, and Alano herself was named HSE District Teacher of the Year — an impressive accomplishment given HSE is the fourth largest school district in the state employing more than 1,200 teachers. The National Center for Women & Information Technology also recognized Alano for encouraging more young women to pursue tech careers.

TechPoint, the growth initiative for Indiana’s tech ecosystem, honored the successes and innovation of Indiana companies, entrepreneurs, educators, and other leaders at The Westin Indianapolis during the 18th annual Mira Awards gala presented by Angie’s List, Genesys, and Salesforce.

A total of 15 award winners and three honorable mentions were chosen from the 90 outstanding companies, organizations, and individuals who were selected as nominees this year out of the 180 applications received highlighting achievements during the 2016 calendar year.

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Fifty independent, volunteer judges spent more than 850 total hours reviewing and ranking applications, interviewing nominees, and selecting this year’s winners. Judges included company founders, CEOs and presidents; CTOs, CIOs and software developers; professors and chancellors from Indiana universities; design, human resources and sales professionals, and a variety of other subject matter experts.

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The Mira Awards are named after the first of the brilliant variable stars to be discovered – the Mira Star. It is also the Latin root meaning “worthy of admiration, wonderful, marvelous.” The awards represent the best of tech in Indiana each year.