John J. Legato (B.S. Mechanical Engineering/Materials Engineering, ’86), program manager for GE Industrial Solutions in Plainville, CT, was a featured speaker at the 11th Annual Partners in Achievement Breakfast supporting the financial literacy, workforce readiness and entrepreneurship programs of Junior Achievement.  Close to 500 guests were in attendance at the annual event held this year at the Hartford Marriott Downtown.  Touted as one of the region’s premier networking opportunities for local business leaders, it’s a celebration of the accomplishments of students, educators and volunteers participating in JA programs.

 

Richard P. Broderick (B.S. Mechanical Engineering, ’81) has been appointed president at Fountain Quail Water Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aqua-Pure Ventures Inc. based in Fort Worth, TX.  A 30-year veteran of the oil and gas exploration industry, he joined Fountain Quail in September 2012 as vice president of corporate and business development.  Prior to joining Fountain Quail, Broderick spent 29 years with Schlumberger, where he served in such senior capacities as marketing and technique manager for Schlumberger East Africa/East Mediterranean Geomarket. There, he negotiated service programs for BG, BP, Shell, Apache, Repsol and AGIP joint ventures.

George Kruk Philbrick (B.S. Mechanical Engineering, minor Mathematics, ‘10) is an Ensign in the U.S. Navy. Prior to entering Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI, he was employed as an engineer with Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford. He is stationed at Naval Air Station Pensacola where he is training as a Naval Flight Officer.

 

Dr. Baki Cetegen, Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department, has been elected a Councilor to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE). He will serve a five-year term commencing July 1, 2014. Dr. Cetegen joins colleague and fellow Council member Dr. Harris Marcus on the prestigious 11-member Council; professor emeritus Dr. Lee Langston serves as Chair of the CASE Energy Committee. The CASE Council comprises members from industry and academia and is responsible for a variety of activities and decisions, including setting the procedures governing election of new members, overseeing staff, confirming presidential appointments to committees, establishing the annual budget and dues, recommending changes to the CASE bylaws, hosting symposia and approval of CASE studies and the distribution of study reports.

Scott W. Tyler (B.S. Mechanical Engineering ’78), Ph.D., a Foundation Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno, will receive the John Hem Award for Excellence in Science and Engineering at the 2013 NGWA Groundwater Expo in Nashville in December. The award recognizes individuals who make significant contributions of service, research and innovation to the industry. He was recognized with a collaborator, Dr. John Selker (Oregon State Univ.), for their development and application of fiber-optic temperature sensing for hydrology and development of the first community user facility in hydrology for instrumentation. The researchers have used innovative fiber-optic/laser technology to capture temperatures around the globe, in a variety of hydrological, climatological and geological settings such as glaciers, caves, creeks, mines, avalanche areas, volcanoes and farmlands. Dr. Tyler has even studied the water temperature at Devils Hole in Death Valley to help protect the endangered pupfish and drilled through 200 meters of Antarctic ice to take the temperature of the McMurdo Ice Shelf and the 800 meters of ocean underneath it. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1990. Read more about Dr. Tyler’s award here.

 

Lake H. Barrett (B.S. Mechanical Engineering, M.S. Mechanical/Nuclear Engineering ’67, ’71), an independent consultant in the energy field with more than 40 years’ experience in nuclear energy and nuclear materials management, is a special advisor to the president of Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), the company that operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that was breached during a March 2011 magnitude 9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami. Mr. Barrett retired in 2002 from federal service after serving as the former head of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Civilian Nuclear Waste management. He oversaw the removal of nuclear waste from a Three Mile Island reactor in 1979 and led the Yucca Mountain Geologic Repository program through site selection and confirmation by Congress.

 

 

William J. Foley (B.S. Mechanical Engineering ’72), Ph.D. is a lecturer in Industrial and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  William teaches courses in engineering economy, production and operations management, design of work systems, operations research, computer simulation, probability and statistics, product design and innovation, invention, and engineering design. He received his Ph.D. in Operations Research & Statistics from RPI in 1983.

 

Dennis Bushnell (B.S. Mechanical Engineering ’63), Ph.D., NASA Chief Scientist of Langley Research Center, appeared as a guest on The Space Show, hosted by David Livingston in July 2013.  Dennis discussed his space industry technology and capability analysis, “Advanced-To-Revolutionary Space Technology Options-The Responsibly Imagined.” In his role at Langley Research Center, he is responsible for Technical Oversight and Advanced Program formulation for a major NASA Research Center with technical emphasis in the areas of atmospheric sciences and structures, materials, acoustics, flight electronics/control/software, instruments, aerodynamics, aerothermodynamics, hypersonic airbreathing propulsion, computational sciences and systems optimization for aeronautics, spacecraft, exploration and space access. He received his M.S. degree at the University of Virginia. He is a member of the prestigious National Academy of Engineering andwas inducted into the University of Connecticut’s Academy of Distinguished Engineers in 2003.

 

Morton K. Pearson (B.S. Mechanical Engineering ’74), P.E., Chairs the Engineering Advisory Councilat Trinity College.  He is one of five Mechanical Design Technical Discipline Chiefs for Pratt & Whitney, responsible for the aftermarket engineering business segment, insuring that mechanical design practitioners, tools, and processes produce superior mechanical solutions.  His team maintains the mechanical design system and works closely with other United Technologies organizations to assure that best practices and experience are captured and used, and that tools, practices and processes are common, where applicable.   He received his M.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Hartford.