CONTACT: Jennifer Read
678-393-9990
jread@ecianow.org
October 28, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ECIA Announces the 2026 Distinguished Service Award Recipients
Six recipients exemplify outstanding industry engagement and leadership.
Atlanta – ECIA’s CEO and President David Loftus announced the recipients of the 2026 Distinguished Services Awards at the Executive Conference held last week at the Westin O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois. The recipients are:
Rene Aelvoet of TTI. Since 2024, Rene has led ECIA’s Global Industry Practices Committee, (GIPC). In that role, he took on one of the most volatile challenges our industry has faced in years: the constantly shifting US tariff situation.
Bob Garcia, QuadRep Ferrari Technologies in Southern California and TSC Kruvand in Arizona. Bob has served on the Executive Conference Committee for more than a decade, since about 2014. When COVID forced the committee to cancel the conference not once but twice, Bob stayed the course.
Maryellen Stack of Sager Electronics. Maryellen joined the Executive Conference Committee in 2023, where she co-chaired the Speaker Vetting subcommittee and helped put real structure in place. She went on to co-chair the 2024 conference, and in 2025 she was chair. She has supported ECIA’s 100-year history effort and PACE training.
Pete Shopp of Mouser. Pete’s ECIA story goes back nearly 25 years, to the NEDA roundtable in the early days of RoHS. Through every iteration since, he has been there, including three years as chair or co-chair of GIPC.
David Herring, former President and CEO of PUI. His involvement with this association began in the 1980s with Southern California NEDA. Since 2018 he represented the small distributors on ECIA's Distributor Council.
Mike Lauri of IBM. Mike was not present at the conference, but for over 30 he has been a steady contributor to ECIA’s industry standards work, and he served as Chair of the S-1 Steering Committee. Standards rarely get applause, but our industry runs on them.
“This year’s Executive Conference theme is ‘Delivering Clarity in Chaos,’” David noted during the Awards presentation. “In 2026, our industry faced tariffs, shifting regulations, supply chain disruptions, and constant uncertainty about what comes next. In moments like these, the people who step forward make the difference. They bring perspective when things feel uncertain, steady the conversation, and help the rest of us see a path forward. These Six Distinguished Service Award receipients, who somehow found time in their very busy lives to make significant contributions to ECIA and our industry, received unanimous and enthusiastic approval from ECIA’s Board of Directors for recognition with the ECIA Distinguished Service Award.”
The awards were presented at the 2026 ECIA Executive Conference. The conference is specifically tailored for senior management and executives in the industry's leading companies.
About ECIA
The Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA) is made up of the leading electronic component manufacturers, their independent manufacturer representatives and authorized distributors. ECIA members share a common goal of promoting and improving the business environment for the authorized sale of electronic components. Comprised of a broad array of leaders and professionals representing all phases of the electronics components supply chain, ECIA is where business optimization, product authentication and industry advocacy come together. ECIA members develop industry guidelines and technical standards, as well as generate critical business intelligence. For more information, visit www.ecianow.org or call 678-393-9990.