David and Amy Collins
Meet the Collins Family
Many of you know David as our past Vice President and now our President of Temple Sinai. Both he and Amy have been very active in our Temple. Amy was a teacher for 12 years and David was a past trustee on the board at Temple Sinai too. David and Amy have lived in Williston for the past 20 years. Prior to moving to Williston, they briefly lived in South Burlington and Colchester after moving to this area.
What you may not know is that David has participated in the generation of several US patents while working as an engineer. Those patents have to do with semiconductor devices or processes. When asked what events in his life that nobody in the congregation knows about, David said, “prior to my career in semiconductors, I worked with a talented team that designed and installed aftermarket fire protection systems on airplanes that the airlines owned or leased.”
David grew up in New York City as well as Long Island and Amy in southern Connecticut David has one older sister who lives in a Chicago suburb and works in the medical field. Amy has an older sister who is a stay-at-home Mom and lives in Connecticut. Both Amy and David have ties to Rhode Island, where David attended Brown for his Master’s degree and Amy attended the University of Rhode Island (URI) for her Bachelor’s degree. They met at URI’s Hillel one Shabbat evening. “The rest is history”, as they say! David went to Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta for his Bachelor’s degree.
They have two children, Alec and Maddie, who live with them and are both students. Alec is interested in the Social Sciences and Maddie will soon enter college to study Urban Planning. Alec enjoys playing guitar, Ultimate Frisbee and outdoor activities. Maddie works after school, enjoys music and socializing with her friends.
David said that the biggest influence in his life was one teacher in high school who was the architecture and engineering graphics teacher. He also was a sculptor of wooden birds (his parents still have one of his birds on their living room coffee table that they got 30+ years ago). He taught the class at the level of each students' capability rather than keeping the class all on the same level assignment, which David really appreciated. Also, he would generate 3-D balsa-wood frame representations of homes being designed before there ever was readily available computer aided drafting software, which took a lot of effort to do. Also he was a nice person to talk with even though he levied high expectations on you. Amy said that the most influential person in her life is her Mom. She was widowed two years ago and spends each and every day living life to the fullest. She has amazing friends, a great social life and travels extensively.
Professionally, David manages a design team comprised of engineers and technicians at GLOBALFOUNDRIES. Amy is a service dispatcher for a local Heating Ventilation and Cooling company.
Both Amy and David were drawn to Temple Sinai because many of their friends were already members.
When asked what they like to do in their spare time David said, “My 3 favorite things to do are going out to eat with family or friends as well as playing tennis and going downhill skiing. I also enjoy biking and hiking at a leisurely pace. Amy said, “I like to read, spend time with friends and kayak in the summer.”