February 28, 2018

Distinguished alumni honored by College of Engineering

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The College of Engineering honored the 2018 Distinguished Engineering Alumni/Alumnae during an award ceremony Thursday (Feb. 22).

The 13 honorees were selected for their engagement in engineering work and recognized from a range of disciplines. Honorees were Christine Barman, Thomas Beutner, Arindam Bose, Dennis Cooke, Peter Kraemer, Richard Kyle, Gerald Lyles, Paul McEnroe, Michael Moses, Carlos Odio, Milo Riverso, Allen Salmasi and Kimberly Underhill.

* Christine Barman (BSME 1994) is principal at New Shore LLC. She was named one of Michigan’s 100 most influential women by Crain’s Detroit Business in 2016, and her work has made many contributions to advancements in the automotive industry.

* Thomas Beutner (BSAAE 1987) was recently named deputy director of the Tactical Technology Office for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense. His current research explores oblique wing designs, the use of flow control for alleviation of aero-optic distortions, and the development of railgun technologies.

* Arindam Bose (Ph.D. ChE 1980) a consultant at AbiologiesB LLC, a biotechnology and bioengineering consulting firm he founded in 2016.  Bose had spent 35 years as an executive in the biopharmaceutical industry.

* Dennis Cooke (BSEE 1986, MSEE 1988) leads all global business for Ryder System Inc., as president of Global Fleet Management Solutions. His responsibilities include overseeing truck leasing and rental and maintenance in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.

* Peter Kraemer (BSChE 1988) has spent almost 30 years working various positions at Anhueser-Busch InBev and now serves as the chief supply officer. As a fifth-generation brewmaster, he grew up visiting breweries. He now oversees 150 breweries across four continents and 25 countries.

* Richard Kyle (BSME 1988) became the CEO and president of the Timken Co., a global manufacturer of bearings and related components, in 2014. He has improved profitability and expansion of the company and has demonstrated strategic leadership in the mechanical systems industry.

* Gerald Lyles (BSCE 1964, MSIA 1971) is president of Lyles United LLC and senior vice president of Lyles Diversified Inc., his family’s companies. He has led the pipeline, utility and concrete and mechanical construction firm that his parents started in 1945 to become the second-largest environmental contractor in California and a top 50 environmental firm in the nation.

* Paul McEnroe (MSEE 1960) and his team created, developed and produced the universal barcode that appears on almost all products, while he also worked as a lab director for International Business Machines. After spending decades developing new technologies and serving as a leader in his career field, he now spends his time as the owner and operator of Rancho La Purisima in Santa Ynez Valley, California.

* Michael Moses (BS, physics and astronomy, 1989; MSAAE 1995), as president of Virgin Galactic, is working to successfully send tourists into outer space. Before joining Virgin Galactic, he served as the launch integration manager for NASA and oversaw 12 space shuttle missions from start to finish. Today, he leads a team in improving all aspects of the commercial human spaceflight program, including flight planning and vehicle processing.

* Carlos Odio (BSIE 1965, BSCE 1965) improved thousands of lives in his home country of Costa Rica through co-founding TicoFruit, the third largest supplier of orange juice in the U.S. He and a partner established TicoFruit in 1986 in San Jose, Costa Rica and Odio served as president of the company until 2014.  

* Milo Riverso (MSCE 1982, Ph.D. CE 1984) has worked on many famous landmarks throughout his career, including the One World Trade Center in Manhatten and the Anaheim Convention Center expansion in California. Today, he serves as the CEO of STV Group Inc., a top-ranking engineering and architectural firm in the country.

*  Allen Salmasi (BSEE 1977, BSIM 1977, MSEE 1979) revolutionized wireless communication by developing and implementing the first mobile network operator service with his team at NextWave Telecom Inc. in 1996. He is now the founder, chairman and CEO of his venture capital firm, NLabs Inc.

* Kimberly Underhill (BSChE 1987) has worked for Kimberly-Clark Professional, a multibillion worldwide business-to-business company that focuses on health and hygiene products, for thirty years. She worked her way up through the company and is now serving as the global president, where she has demonstrated leadership in supply-chain and marketing across the North American commercial products industry.

More information on award recipients can be found online.  

Writer: Olivia Crouse, ocrouse@purdue.edu 

Source: Vanessa Buntin, associate director of special events in the College of Engineering, VMBuntin@prf.org

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