People

Christoph Ziegler, a Palm Beach State College graduate, is among the Florida High Tech Corridor’s 2018 “Faces of Technology.” 

Ziegler, lead industrial and product designer at AVEO Engineering in Palm Coast, is among nine individuals selected because they “embody the talent behind the Corridor’s burgeoning 23-county high tech region.” They are featured in the Corridor’s annual magazine, florida.HIGH.TECH 2018, and online at www.facesoftechnology.com.

“The Corridor is proud to recognize individuals like Christoph for their contributions to our region’s high tech industry,” Ed Schons, president of The Corridor said. “These brilliant minds embody the talent that makes our 23-county region an ideal place for research, discovery and business development.”

Launched in 2008, The Corridor’s “Faces of Technology” initiative has recognized the efforts of nearly 160 people who represent the more than 250,000 high tech scientists and technologists driving diverse clusters of innovation throughout the region.

Ziegler started his higher education at the College in fall 2002. He moved to the United States from Germany when he was 15 and graduated from Olympic Heights High School in 2002. He enrolled at the College and completed an Associate in Arts degree in 2007 while continuing to hone his English skills. He then transferred to Florida Atlantic University and originally selected international business as his major, but he changed his major and his college. He transferred to the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Product Design in 2013.

“After some time in the International Business program, I realized it just wasn’t for me. I wanted a trade and had always been passionate about design,” he said. “A degree in industrial design brought my previous education at PBSC and FAU together with my creativity.”

In his role at Aveo Engineering, Ziegler develops new solutions for aircraft lighting. “One of the main goals at Aveo is to update the current lighting systems of aircraft and bring the latest technology to that part of the aviation industry. We exclusively use high quality LEDs in our designs making the lights smaller, more lightweight and most importantly brighter, which means safer conditions for pilots and passengers.”

Ziegler said he’s honored to be included among the Faces of Technology and pleased that his boss hired him right out of college in 2013. He also said he’s happy that he was able to start his education at Palm Beach State.  “My time at PBSC had a huge impact on me. I have struggled with dyslexia since I was very young and the challenges it brings made learning in English on a college level that much harder.  The small class sizes, approachable teachers and comfortable learning environment at PBSC allowed me to overcome these difficulties.”

The Florida High Tech Corridor Council is an economic development initiative of the University of Central Florida (UCF), the University of South Florida (USF) and the University of Florida (UF). The mission of The Corridor is to grow high tech industry and innovation through partnerships that support research, marketing, workforce and entrepreneurship. A partnership involving more than 25 local and regional economic development organizations (EDOs), 14 state colleges and 12 CareerSource boards, The Corridor is co-chaired by the presidents of UCF, USF and UF. The Corridor Council includes the presidents of two state colleges, the president of the Florida Institute of Technology and representatives of high tech industry.  For more information, visit www.floridahightech.com.