Alumni Updates

Check out recent updates we have received about alumni from the college. Have something you would like to have included about yourself or another alumnus/a? Share the details with us. Updates are organized with the most recent being listed first. 

  • Mohamed Ali (MechEngr MS '84, PhD '88) is a professor at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. He published a paper about recycling face masks for the COVID-19 pandemic to lower the environmental impact titled "New novel thermal insulation and soud-absorbing materials from discarded facemaks of COVID-19 pandemic" published in Scientific Reports in 2021. 
  • Jose Contreras-Vidal, Ph.D. (ElEngr MS '90) is the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor at the University of Houston. Dr. Jose L Contreras-Vidal was recently appointed a member (2021-2025) of the National Advisory Board of Medical Rehabilitation Research (NABMRR) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Board advises the directors of NIH, NICHD, and NCMRR. He is also the Director of the NSF IUCRC BRAIN University of Houston Site, and a Fellow of the IEEE and the AIMBE for his contributions to brain-machine interfaces and wearable exoskeletons.
  • Beth Myers (Biochem '06; MEngrMgmt '11; CivEngr PhD '16) was named the associate vice chancelor for academic planning and institutional effectiveness at the University of Colorado Denver effective February 28, 2022. 
  • Donna Auguste (TechMedSoc PhD '19) is the founder and CEO of Auguste Research Group, LLC which works with drones as mobile sensor platforms Additional, she is doing research to educate diverse communities of commercial drone pilots.
  • Michael Leeds (MechEngr '66) happily retired in Central Texas after a 50-year career in the Aerospace Industry. He worked 36 years designing and building Spacecraft propulsion systems for various NASA Planetary Missions, followed by 16 years of consulting for many of the aerospace industry leaders.
  • Del Shannon (CivEngr MS '93) was recently elected President of the US Society on Dams (USSD). His two year term begins in 2021. The USSD is the US representative of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) and its mission is to empower professionals to advance sustainable benefits of dams and levees for society, and create a world where all dams and levees are safe and valued by the communities they serve. Del will represent the United States at the upcoming ICOLD conferences in Marseille, France in 2021 and Gothenburg, Sweden in 2022. Throughout his 30 year career he has worked on the planning, design, construction and safety evaluations of many earthen and concrete dams throughout the US and abroad.In addition to his work with USSD, Del was also the lead author of the dam and levee sections of the American Society of Civil Engineers Infrastructure Report Card and he presented their grades (both D's) at a media event in Washington, DC in March, 2021. He lives in Boulder with his wife, Beth.
  • Scott Hudson (CompSci PhD '86) alumnus and computing advisory board member who received the SIGCHI (ACM Special Interest Group in Computer-Human Interaction) Lifetime Achievement Award in Research.
  • Bryan Root (ElEngr’84) was awarded IEEE Fellow status for semiconductor testing innovations. Read the annoucement. 
  • David R. Olson (CivEngr'79) recently opened Olson Forensic Solutions, LLC, a firm concentrating on legal support in the fields of HVAC, plumbing and fire protection.
  • Kent Burkhardsmeier (ArchEngr’84) did something many intended but few have accomplished during the COVID-19 quarantine: He published a book.
  • Kalpana Chawla (MAeroEngr '86; PhD'88; HonDocSci '03 - posthumously) Northrop Grumman names US spacecraft after late astronaut.
  • Brian L. Weinstein (MechEngr '94) recently retired after 27 years serving in the United States Navy Civil Engineer Corps from his position as Vice Commander of Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific. Read the full press release documenting his outstanding career with the United States Navy.
  • Vincent L. Kontny (CivEngr '58,;HonDocSci '91) passed away on August 9, 2020 at the age of 83 having made a lasting impact on the construction industry. Read about his long  storied career and impact on the world from his friend and former Assistant Dean Lanny Pinchuk (HonDocSci '14).
  • Herbert S. Vogel (MechEngr '82) was named the next president of SM Energy on July 23, 2020. 
  • Dr. John W. Lund, (CivEngr '58; PhD '67) gave the keynote address at the virtual opening session of World Geothermal Congress 2020 on April 27.