Kudos: “All Systems Go!” Thanks to AJ Settlemyer
Congratulations to Aaron “AJ” Settlemyer, the recipient of this month’s Huck Kudos award. AJ is a systems administrator with the Huck Institutes’ Technology and Data Systems group (TDS – formerly IT), and has been working at the Huck since 2011.
An avid motorcyclist and model railroad enthusiast, AJ is responsible for the implementation and management of key network and server infrastructure, particularly as it relates to Huck’s core instrumentation facilities.
Keeping information technology systems up and functioning in an organization as large and complex as the Huck is a task marked by near-constant challenges, but AJ manages to stay calm, cool and collected in the face of it all. The benefits, though largely invisible to we who receive them, seem to come to our attention only when something fails. And that’s precisely when the ability to “stay calm and administrate on” is most appreciated.
A pair of incidents this past November gave AJ a chance to demonstrate this ability – and won him the praise of grateful colleagues.
“Kudos for AJ,” said one. “There had been a network problem causing negative impact on a couple video-conferenced seminars. AJ made time during a hectic period to correct the problem before those seminars run again. Good job! and Thank you! to AJ.”
Said another, “One point to AJ Settlemyer for ‘persistence in the face of adversity’ - getting UPS batteries changed for Krios.”
Ans as the ever-changing IT landscape at Penn State continues to shift beneath our proverbial feet, AJ stands ready to help the Huck function at the forefront of what’s possible, so that we can continue to evolve with the times.
“AJ’s job as a system administrator is key to the initiative to modernize and automate some of the complex work of the instrumentation facilities over the coming year,” said his supervisor, Scott Lingle.
The Huck Kudos program is designed to recognize these kinds of outstanding staff efforts, awarding the recipients with an extra day off work. Each month, kudos are collected from anyone in the Huck who wants to recognize a staff member going above and beyond the call of duty. To send in your kudos for someone’s job well done, email your positive comments to Laura Drew:
