Home : Volume 33 : Spring 2007 :
Alumni news

Please let us know if you and your alma mater are mentioned in the news — we'll highlight it here. If you're being interviewed, don't forget to mention that you're a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering! And, as always, tell us your news.

Chemical and Biological Engineering

A March 16 story in the Chicago Tribune profiled Jeffrey Sprecher (BS ’78), whose 7-year-old Atlanta-based company, Intercontinental Exchange Inc., or ICE, recently launched an unsolicited $9.9 billion bid for the 150-year-old Chicago Board of Trade, potentially breaking up a proposed historic marriage between the CBOT and Chicago Mercantile Exchange. According to the story, the bold move culminates a meteoric rise for Sprecher in the rough-and-tumble world of futures trading.

In February, Curtiss-Wright Corporation named Allan A. Kozinski (PhD ’71) to its board of directors. During his career, Kozinski has held senior management positions for British Petroleum, Amoco and Quaker Oats. He currently lives in Incline Village, Nevada. News of Kozinski’s appointment appeared on yahoo.com.

Civil and Environmental Engineering

A Fehr-Graham & Associates engineer-in-training, John Vendel (BS ’01) has passed the Fundamentals and Principles and Practice of Engineering examination and now can register as a professional engineer. Vendel is a project engineer in the FGA Civil Division, based in the Rochelle office. News of his accomplishment appeared in The Monroe (Wisconsin) Times.

University of Maryland Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Ahmet Aydilek (PhD ’00) received the 2006 Arthur Casagrande Professional Development Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). The award is the highest ASCE research award given to a junior researcher and was established to provide professional development opportunities for outstanding young practitioners, researchers and teachers of geotechnical engineering.

Electrical and Computer Engineering

A March story in the Wisconsin State Journal about Gillware, a growing Madison company that specializes in retrieving data from failed computer hard drives, quoted Greg Piefer (BS ’99, MSNEEP ’04, PhDNEEP/MedPhys ’06), company chief technology officer.

In February, Axcelis Technologies Inc. named Patrick Splinter (BS ’81) an Axcelis Fellow, the highest company technical award. Director of engineering and technology development for Axcelis, Splinter is recognized industry-wide for his contributions in ion implantation for advanced semiconductor manufacturing. News of the award appeared in The Salem News, Beverly, Massachusetts.

Engineering Physics

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher Steven J. Zinkle (BS ’80, MS ’82, MSMS&E ’85, PhD ’85) won the Department of Energy Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award, which honors mid-career scientists and engineers for exceptional contributions in research and development. A UT-Battelle Corporate Fellow and director of the ORNL Materials Science and Technology Division, Zinkle studies metallurgy of structural materials and investigates the effects of radiation on ceramic materials and metallic alloys for nuclear reactors and space reactor systems.

Mechanical Engineering

Virginia Tech Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Dennis Hong (BS ’94) received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award to create a robotic locomotion mechanism based on the motion of single-cell organisms. A semi-professional magician, Hong lectures on the science of magic and its applications to engineering.

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers named Warren R. DeVries (BS ’71, MS ’73, PhD ’75) the 2007 recipient of the Albert M. Sargent Progress Award for his pioneering research in material removal processes and manufacturing systems. DeVries is dean of engineering and information technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; he is a leader in the national push for excellence in engineering education.