Tony R. Kuphaldt

Tony R. Kuphaldt is a Professor in the Electronics Engineering Technology department at Lewis-Clark State College's Schweitzer Career and Technical Education Center in Lewiston, Idaho. With over 25 years of full-time teaching experience in the Washington and Idaho college systems, he specializes in electronics education and curriculum development. His office is located in STC 222, and he teaches in room 237 of the Schweitzer Career and Technical Education Center with regular office hours throughout the week.

Kuphaldt is renowned as the author of the 'Modular Electronics Learning Project' (ModEL), an open-source collection of tutorials and problem sets designed for inverted instruction of electronics at the two-year college level. He is also the founding author of 'Lessons In Electric Circuits,' an early open-source textbook on electronics. His educational philosophy emphasizes first-principles understanding, Socratic dialogue, and problem-based learning approaches. The ModEL project, copyrighted 2016-2025, represents over two decades of professional instruction experience in industrial electricity and electronics.

His work integrates computer-based simulation tools including SPICE and programming languages like C, C++, and Python to enhance circuit exploration. The ModEL curriculum is structured across four semesters with theory, experiment, and project components, totaling less than 60 semester credits. Kuphaldt has developed comprehensive practice exams that mirror industry standards for electronics technician assessment.

A lifelong learner himself, Kuphaldt studied Instrumentation and Industrial Electronics at J.M. Perry Technical Institute (1987-1989) and earned his Electronics Engineering Technology degree from Skagit Valley Community College in 2004. Before teaching, he gained extensive industry experience including 2 years with CNC machine tools, 2.5 years as an instrument/electrical technician at ARCO Cherry Point oil refinery, and 6.5 years as a meter/instrument technician at Intalco aluminum smelter.

An amateur radio operator with call sign AJ7FJ, Kuphaldt has created numerous educational resources covering mathematics fundamentals, electrical principles, semiconductor devices, amplification, communication systems, and programmable systems. His materials are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, making them freely available for educational use while maintaining attribution requirements.