Distinguished alumni honored in College of Engineering event

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The College of Engineering honored the 2017 Distinguished Engineering Alumni/Alumnae during award ceremonies on Feb. 23.

The 12 honorees were recognized from a range of disciplines: Stacy Bartoletti, William Elmore, James Greenleaf, Amy Hess, Keerti Melkote, Doreen Mitchell, Patricia Poppe, Jennifer Rumsey, Vijay Swarup, Donald Ufford, Lisa Veitch and Ravi Venkatesan.

* Bartoletti (BSCE 1991), considered an industry expert in the seismic strengthening of existing buildings, serves as chairman and chief executive officer of Degenkolb Engineers, one of the nation’s leading structural engineering firms.

* Elmore (BSEE 1975, MSEE 1976) is co-founder and general partner of Foundation Capital, a venture capital firm.  He has a long track record of coaching, nurturing and developing early-stage businesses into Silicon Valley leaders.

* Greenleaf (MSES 1966, PhD 1970) is a professor of biomedical engineering and associate professor of medicine in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and is recognized as a pioneer in medical diagnostics, making contributions in ultrasound-based medicine and therapeutics.

* Hess (BSAAE 1989) has served in the Federal Bureau of Investigation for more than 25 years.  Early in her career, she led the Louisville division’s first joint terrorism task force and now currently serves as special agent in charge of the FBI Kentucky Field Office in Louisville.

* Melkote (MSEE 1993) co-founded Aruba Networks, in 2002, with a view to addressing the irreversible trend towards mobility.  In 2015, Hewlett-Packard announced plans to acquire Aruba as an HP Enterprise Company, where Melkote now works as senior vice president and general manager.

* Mitchell (BSCE 1981) is the vice president of Facility Asset Management for Walt Disney World Co. and has been an integral part of projects designed to enhance the overall guest experience, including the MyMagic+ system, launched in 2014.

* Poppe (BSIE 1989, MSIE 1991) assumed the role of president and chief executive officer of CMS Energy Co. and its principal subsidiary, Consumers Energy Co. in 2016, becoming the first female president in the 130-year history of the company.

* Rumsey (BSME 1996) is the first female chief technical officer of Cummins since its founding in 1919.  She has always been focused on clean energy and has served as a key player in helping the company develop into an industry leader for highly efficient, ultra clean diesel engines.

* Swarup (BSChE 1986, BSCH 1986) is vice president of research and development for ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company overseeing innovative technology solutions that are employed in ExxonMobil’s operations, as well as customers’ plants and facilities worldwide.

* Ufford (MSME 1989) became director of Global Vehicle Engineering for Ford Motor Co. in 2016 and has led engineering teams who have earned recognition, including Motor Trend’s “2010 Car of the Year” for the Ford Fusion and “Truck of the Year” for Ford’s F-series pickup.

* Veitch (MSMSE 1986, PhD 1989) has worked for the Institute of Defense Analyses for the past 20 years as a weapons systems analyst on projects including the Comanche helicopter, and the Presidential helicopter – Marine One, as well as the Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters.

* Venkatesan (MSIE 1986) has served in senior executive roles for two Fortune 500 companies:  Cummins and Microsoft.  From 2004 to 2011, he was responsible for business development efforts that resulted in India becoming Microsoft’s second largest world presence.  He now serves as chairman of the board for the Bank of Baroda in India.   

Writer: Brian L. Huchel, 765-494-2084, bhuchel@purdue.edu 

Source: Hadley Thomas, 765-496-6035, HBThomas@prf.org