alumni in the news

Here are some more of the accomplishments of the distinguished community of Stanford engineers to which you belong. If you have news of your own, we want to hear it.

Allan Abbott (BS EE 1964) has unretired to help develop a biodiesel start-up in Ghana. Keep your eye on news about Sequoia Energy.

Alice M. Agogino (PhD EES 1984) Mechanical engineering professor Alice M. Agogino was recognized by the National Science Foundation (NSF) with the Director's Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars, the foundation's highest honor for teaching and research excellence.

Jean-Christophe Berlot (MS ME 1982) has just published a new book "I Am a Purchaser for the First Time." And it has been a great success here in France!

Sabeer Bhatia (MS 1993 EE) the prolific entrepreneur best known for co-founding Hotmail was profiled in the March The Financial Times.

John Brunski (MS MatSci 1972), professor of biomedical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, received a renewal of an National Institutes of Health grant entitled "Mechanobiology at Healing Bone-Implant Interfaces".

Joseph Buley (MS CEE 1962) has been named a Fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

Jean-Lou Chameau (MS 1977, PhD 1981 CEE) has been named the eighth president of Caltech.

Morris Chang (PhD 1964 EE) founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., as been named by Electronic Business magazine has named one of the 10 most influential executives in the electronics industry.

Tsu-Wei Chou (PhD MSE 1969) has been named a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

Cora Claudio (PhD 1987 EES) is now President of EARTH Institute Asia, Inc., a non-profit, non-governmental organization that harnesses human power, science and technology, and other resources and disciplines to address issues of environment and sustainability affecting Asia. She co-founded it with two other Stanford alumni and four other friends who have extensive experience in the fields of environment and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.

George S. Cole (CS, MS, 1987) is running for Judge of the Superior Court in Santa Clara County; if elected, he would leave his patent practice to bring a dual background in law and Computer Science to the Silicon Valley bench.

Jim Colton (PhD ME 1974) is a fellow at SRI International. He is an expert in the effects of explosions on materials and structures and developed a system for preventing window glass from entering a building when a terrorist truck bomb goes off outside.

Larry Cutler (MS CS 1996) recently completed work as the supervising character technical director on the computer-animated feature film Shrek 2. His job draws directly upon the seminal research Larry conducted as a child while playing with Star Wars figures. For more details check out http://millimeter.com/mag/video_sophisticating_shrek/index.html.

Larry has been with PDI/Dreamworks since 2001 and is now focused on a new project...Shrek 3. He previously worked at Pixar Animation Studios on such films as Monster’s Inc, Toy Story 2, and A Bug’s Life.

Ellen Estes (BS, ME, 2002) Scored a cruical goal in women's water polo to earn the USA the bronze metal against Austrialia.

Walter Eversman (MS ME 1961) will receive the 2008 AIAA Aeroacoustics Award for pioneering contributions in numerical methods in duct acoustics.

Tau-Chao Fan (Eng Aero/Astro 1962) is currently serving as honorary dean of research in material science at Beijing University of Chemical Techonology and concurrently as a visiting scholar at the Univ of Washington in research for bio-mechanics in tissue disorders.

Marty France (MS Aero/Astro 1984), Col, USAF, was nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the US Senate onSeptember 30, 2005 to be the next Permanent Professor and Head of the Department of Astronautics, United States Air Force Academy.

Francois Gayet (MS EE 1970) is serving as Secretary General of the Aerospace and Defense Industries Association of Europe which represents companies from 20 different countries.

Debi Gore-Mann (BS 1983 IE) and former Stanford basketball player, has been named the athletic director at the University of San Francisco. She is the school's first female athletic director

Mark Horowitz (PhD EE 1984) was elected a fellow of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Latha Iyer (MS CS 1999) has launched presino.com (‘‘play with friends’’), a social gaming start-up in India for passionate sports fans to compete and punt on popular sporting events. Launched beta June 2008, Presino is gaining popularity with sports fans in India.

Earle Jones (MSEE 1958) has served as a Docent/Naturalist at the Año Nuevo State Reserve (a bit north of Santa Cruz) for the past seven years. He is also looking for other volunteers who would like to join the training program (Sept. - Dec.) and become a Docent. Email Earle at earle.jones@comcast.net.

Jenny Hou (MS MS&E 1998) has founded her own company, JH2 Risk Advisors, LLC.

Barbara Kontogiannis (MS Aero/Astro 1989) is currently the engineering manager of the Atlas Launch Vehicle program.

Dr. Burton H. Lee (PhD ME 2002, MBA) recently joined the National Academy of Sciences and Engineering in Washington DC as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow.

Bill Leighty (BS 1966 EE) returns to his Iowa roots with a plan to deliver clean hydrogen fuel via pipeline to power vehicles more sustainably.

Jim Lerner (MS AA 1965 & PhD AA 1973) is airport and aircraft air quality lead person at the California Air Resources Board (CARB). In January 2006 Jim received a Silver Superior Accomplishment Award from CARB in honor of his outstanding work as a member of the Jet Emission Testing for Speciation (JETS) Team.

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto (MS IE, CEE 1977) is overseeing the rebuilding of northern Sumatra, devastated in the tsunami.

Roy Martin (MS Aero/Astro 1977) has been inducted as a fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) for his prominent contributions to flight testing. Martin is one of only 194 test pilots to have received this distinction--the highest grade of membersihip attainable in SETP, an international organization of more that 2,100 members. He is the chief test pilot for Air Combat Systems of Northrop Grumman and has logged approximately 9,400 flight hours in more than 60 aircraft including the F-4 and F-5 fighters, C-141 transport, E-34 airborne warning and control system (AWACS). Last August, he flew a modified F-5E as the test pilot for Northrop Grumman's historic shaped sonic boom demonstration.

Kent Mather (BAR Arch 1959) was nominated by his colleagues and awarded the Executive of the Year Award by Council of Architectural Component Executives President Elizabeth Mitchell.

Tom Mast (MS ME 1961) has written Over a Barrel: A Quick Guide to the Oil Shortage. One can learn more about the book at www.overabarrelbook.com.

Christopher K. McGlothlin (BS IE, MS EE 1987) has been named chief information officer at Domino's Pizza.

Heather McKinney (AB Architecture 1973) has just been elected to The College of Fellows of The American Institute of Architects.

Jeffrey Neal (BS ME 1991) was deployed to Mississippi to provide Hurricane Katrina Relief. As a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps stationed with the Amphibious Construction Battalion TWO, Little Creek, VA, he deployed 113 SEABEES to Mississippi to provide relief and recovery support.

Tarik Omer Ogurtani (PhD MatSci 1965), emeritus professor of materials science at Middle East Technical University in Turkey, has published two comprehensive papers entitled "Morphological evolution of voids by surface diffusion driven by capillary, electromigration," and "Thermal -stress gradient induced by steady-state heat flow in passivated metallic thin films and flip chip solder joints, I- theory and II-Application," in JAP 104,023521-023522 (2008). Part I-Theory selected for the VJST-Aug. 4, 2008 issue. These papers are dedicated to honor Prof. Bill Nix and Prof. Bob Huggins for their 70th and 80th birthdays, respectively.

Ron Patrick (PhD 1989 ME) has a need for speed so great that he has attached a jet engine to his VW beetle. It's an unusual hobby, but to him 'it's entertainment.

William Peng (PhD Aero/Astro 1973) announces the publication of his book, entitled "Fundamentals of Turbomachinery.".

Marcelo Perrupato e Silva (MS 1968 CEE), was hired by the Brazilian Gov't as the Project leader for the "National Plan for Logistics and Transportation".

Peter Pitsker (BS 1955 ChemE) has won ISA’s Life Achievement Award. ISA is a leading, global, nonprofit organization that is setting the standard for automation by helping over 30,000 worldwide members.

James Plummer (PhD EE 1971) was elected a fellow of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS).

Greg Raleigh (MS 1994, PhD 1999 EE), a former student of EE Professor John Cioff founded Airgo Networks which won EE Times magazine's Startup of the Year award.

Jim Ruddell (BS CEE 1977) has been honored by The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) with its 2007 Construction Management award.

Theresa-Marie Rhyne (ENG CE 1979) was appointed to serve on the National Research Council Transportation Research Board's Committee on Visualization in Transportation as of January 2008.

Bernadine Santistevan (MS ME 1988) has just written, directed and produced her first feature film called The Cry (La Llorona) based on a Medea-like legend in the Latino community. The film is one of only seven films selected to compete at a main competition in a top US film festival.

Vineet Sarin (PhD 2000 ME) recently completed the "Executive Program" at UCLA's Anderson School of business and was named Chief Operating Officer for Kinamed Inc, a small orthopaedic and neurosurgical device company in southern California.

Charles Schrader (BS 1969 CEE)a construction and labor law attorney in the Oregon law firm of Jordan Schrader PC, was awarded the Association of General Contractor (AGC) Oregon-Columbia Chapter’s Ross B. Hammond Award at the 2006 AGC Annual Conference in Sunriver, Oregon. The Ross B. Hammond Award is an AGC Oregon-Columbia Chapter honor given every year to a construction industry leader in Oregon, recognizing outstanding service to the Northwest construction industry in the field of labor relations.

John Schumacher (PhD 1973 MSE) founded Peak Sun Silicon Corporation to eliminate the polysilicon bottleneck currently plaguing efforts to expand the use of photovoltaic solar cells on a worldwide basis.

Sharon Ma Schwab (MS IE 1985) is working as a product development consultant, and published her first book "Moolah or Bummer! A Humorous Look at Finance and Investing" under penname Moget Africa. Visit www.moolahorbummer.com to learn more. Free ebook to all engineering alumni - email her at MogetAfricaMB@yahoo.com.

Jim Seebold (ENG ME 1965) has been traveling the world with "Pyrolatry Unlimited" and is currently working on the Greater Gorgon Development LNG Plant that will be on Barrow Island offshore Western Australia. This Chevron & Joint Venture Partners project is headquartered in Perth. However, the work goes on at present in Houston.

Art Sheridan (MS Aero/Astro 1985) represented the Joint Strike Fighter STOVL Weight Attack Team (SWAT), which he led, in receiving a Lockheed Martin NOVA Award for teamwork. The NOVA Award is the corporation's highest honor for outstanding contributions in fulfilling the corporation's missions and objectives.

Sami Joe Small (BS 1998 ENG) is an alternate goalie for the Canadian womens hockey team.

Yong Tao (PhD, MS&E, 1991) founded (as Chairman & CEO) SDR Telecommunications Technology Inc., to provide mobile telecom value added services focusing on China's 350 million mobile customers. Due to fast expansion, the firm recently spun off its consulting arm, SDR Decision & Management Resources, with Tao as its CEO, and is relocating to Jianwai SOHO in Beijing, China. SDR Decision & Management Resources provides consulting services to the major mobile telecom operators and vendors in China.

Sara Wadia-Fascetti (PhD 1994 CEE) has been honored for her distinctive accomplishments in engineering education by earning the 2006 Sharon Keillor Award for Women in Engineering from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). She is an Associate Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement Northeastern University.

Joe Wallace (MS ME 1985), founding president and CEO of GAGE the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville, would like to announce the completion of the construction phase of the Innovation Pointe Building in downtown Evansville, IN. GAGE promotes new business, existing business growth, and revitalization of greater Evansville. Please investigate the Web site www.innovationpointe.com.

Sharon Wang (MS 1995 MS&E) is a co-founder of AcGene, a start-up new concept biopharmaceutical outsource service provider and project management firm. Unlike traditional CROs, AcGene, partnered with its vast network of biopharmaceutical and biotech laboratories in China, provides its U.S. clients with the best technology in China and efficient and trackable western project management.

Ernest Y. Wong (MS MS&E 2002) is beginning his third year as an instructor with the Department of Systems Engineering at the United States Military Academy. He has been named a NASA Fellow for the 2006 Exploration Systems Summer Research Opportunities at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

Alice Wu (MS CS 1992) has a new movie. Wu wrote and directed Saving Face, a romantic comedy now playing.

Kaoru Yano (MS 1975 EE) has been named president of Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp.

Bob Zeidman (MS 1982 E) has been granted U.S. Patent Number 7,050,962, entitled “Method for Connecting a Hardware Emulator to a Network.” The patent has been assigned to Zeidman Technologies, the company that Bob founded and that develops software tools for the efficient design of embedded systems.

Your Turn

Have you made the news lately? Awards, publications, start-ups, significant appointments? We want to hear from you. Please send an e-mail to engineering-alumni@stanford.edu giving us the pertinent details of your accomplishments and adventures. We really want to hear from you! To keep things current, we will refresh the news monthly. We may forward your information to other school or university outlets. However, your submittal will only be used for Stanford University purposes.

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