Chemical Engineering Alumni
Alumni News
04/15/13
Penn State graduate alumnus recognized
for lifetime achievements by the Graduate School at Penn State
John R. McWhirter, who received a doctorate in chemical engineering, was a recipient of the 2013 Graduate School Alumni Society (GSAS) Lifetime Achievement Award. This award recognizes graduate alumni who have achieved exceptional success throughout the course of their profession and have demonstrated loyalty to the Penn State and the Alumni Association.
Dr. McWhirter was honored at the GSAS Recognition Dinner, one of the events held in March 2013 during the Graduate School's Celebration of 150 Years of Graduate Education at Penn State.
View the excerpt from the Penn State Live Website.
View the original artcle "Two Penn State graduate alumni recognized for lifetime achievements" on Penn State Live.
04/9/13
Thomas Lancaster named a 2013
College of Engineering Outstanding Engineering Alumni
Chemical Engineering Alumnus Dr. Thomas Lancaster is a recipeint of the College of Engineering 2013 Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award.
Dr. Thomas Lancaster recently became the Vice President of Research and Development for Akston Biosciences Corporation. Located in Beverly, Massachusetts, Akston Biosciences is a pharmaceutical preparation company.
The College of Engineering Outstanding Engineering Alumni Awards recognize graduates who have reached exceptional levels of professional achievement. This annual tradition of honoring our outstanding alumni began in 1966.
View past Chemical Engineering Outstanding Engineering Alumni Recipients.
03/14/13
Chemical Engineering Alumnus Raj Shah receives the ASTM Award of Excellence
Chemical Engineering Alumnus Raj Shah (PhD, '95), director at Koehler instrument Company recently received the ASTM Award of Excellence in recognition of his many years of dedicated contributions and outstanding service to the subcommittee on Oxidation of lubricants.
ASTM International, is a globally recognized specialist in the development and delivery of international voluntary consensus standards.
Originally named the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), it now includes members from 120 nations.
Today, some 12,000 ASTM standards are used around the world to improve product quality, enhance safety, facilitate market access and trade, and build consumer confidence.
Dr. Shah is an active member of ASTM, STLE, NLGI, SAE, ACS, AOCS, IFT, SPE and AICHE and chairs subcommittees in several of these organizations.
He is a recipient of the NLGI Fellow award and in 2012 he was conferred with the Presidents Felicitation Award from NLGI - India along with the Shawl of honor and citation.
Congratulations Dr. Shah.
01/31/13
Jack McWhirter honored with Lifetime Achievement Award
Jack McWhirter has been selected for the 2013 Penn State Graduate School Alumni Society Lifetime Achievement Award.
This award is presented in recognition of graduate school alumni who have achieved exceptional success throughout the course of their profession, demonstrated a lifetime of service and contributions to their community, and loyalty to the University and the Alumni Association.
Jack is a former recipient of the College of Engineering Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award and he was also recognized as one of the top 100 Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era by AIChE.
The official presentation will be held during March 2013.
10/29/12
AIChE Institute Award Honors Chemical Engineering Alumnus
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers honors Penn State Chemical Engineering Alumnus Kevin Dorfman with the Allan P. Colburn Award.
Kevin is being received the Allan P. Colburn Award for his publication titled "For the integrated use of theory, simulation, and experiments to understand the structure and dynamics of DNA and their application to genomics technologies".
View an excerpt from the AIChE Institute News.pdf
10/16/12
Chemical Engineering Alumnus Honored
by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers
Chemical Engineering Alumnus Dr. Narayan Ramesh was awarded the AIChE Industrial Progress Award "For championing and implementing a physics of failure approach to reliability for the Dow POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle, and the photovoltaic industry".
Dr. Ramesh will formaly receive his award at the annual Honors Ceremony, on October 28, at the AIChE Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.
Congratulations Dr. Ramesh on your continued success.
09/12/12
Dr. Narayan Ramesh receives the first
Early Career Alumni Recognition Award in Chemical Engineering
We are honored to announce that Narayan Ramesh has been selected to receive the first Early Career Alumni Recognition Award in Chemical Engineering. Our Alumni Programming Group helped establish this award to recognize and honor an outstanding alumnus / alumna from our Department during the early stages of his / her career.
Narayan was nominated by his colleagues at Dow for his outstanding contributions to the development of the Dow POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle — Narayan was responsible for both the process and product development on this project, which was recently awarded a Gold Medal for Best New Product by the 2012 Edison Awards.
Narayan was presented Award at the Department's Research Symposium held on September 11, 2012.
View the article "Penn State University Honors Dow Solar's Dr. Narayan Ramesh with the Early Career Alumni Achievement Award" on the DOW POWERHOUSE Website.
View the article "Chemical engineering department honors alumnus Ramesh" on Penn State Live.
08/17/12
Intellectual property attorney got his start in chemical engineering
With the help of his adviser, chemical engineering alumnus Steve VerSteeg began at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and now works as an Intellectual property attorney.
As an undergraduate, working with Dr. Ronald Danner in chemical engineering gave Steve technical experience that would prove useful in his career.
In the summer of 1994, Steve says, "Dr. Danner had purchased a mass spectrometer that needed to be assembled. I was given the parts, did the research on how to put it together,
and even made a cart for it, so it was portable. I got paid, but the experience was worth
a lot more than the paycheck."
View the complete article on the August 2012 College of Engineering Alumni Spotlight web page.
View all of the College of Engineering Alumni Spotlight articles about chemical engineering alumni.
06/22/12
Chemical Engineering alumnus Glenn Brown
to receive the H. Peter Burg Regional Vision Award
Regional economic development group Team NEO will honor Chemical Egineering alumnus Glenn R. Brown with the H. Peter Burg Regional Vision Award.
Glenn Brown is a 1952 Alumnus of Chemical Engineering and the department's 2010 recipient of the College of Engineering Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award.
The Burg Award is its highest honor given by Team NEO, commemorating the late chairman and CEO of FirstEnergy Corp., the founding chairman of Team NEO.
The award recognizes Glenn's tireless commitment to economic development and academic achievement in Northeast Ohio.
View the article "Team NEO to honor Glenn Brown, Jeanette Grasselli Brown with Burg Award" on www.crainscleveland.com.
Mark Capone named a 2012 Outstanding Engineering Alumni
Congratulations to Mark Capone, the recipient of the 2012 College of Engineering Outstanding Alumni Award for The Department of Chemical Engineering.
Mark Capone became President of Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Inc. in March 2010 after having served as Chief Operating Office (2006 - 2010) and Vice President of Sales (2002 -2006).
Myriad Genetics is a molecular diagnostic company that has developed a number of proprietary technologies that can be used to understand the genetic basis of human disease and the role that specific genes play in disease onset, progression, and treatment.
This genetic information can be used to identify an individual's risk of developing a particular disease and determine a patient's likelihood of responding to a particular drug therapy.
Prior to joining Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Mr. Capone spent 17 years with Eli Lilly and Company where he held positions as Product Development Manager, Manufacturing Plant Manager, and Area Sales Director.
In addition to his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Penn State. Mr. Capone has an M.S. in both Chemical Engineering and Management from MIT.
View past Chemical Engineering Outstanding Engineering Alumni Recipients.
View the excerpt from the 2012 Outstanding Engineering Alumni Booklet.
04/10/12
Ronald D. Ondechek Jr. receives 2012 Alumni Achievement Award
Chemical Engineering alumnus Ronald D. Ondechek is one of 11 alumni to receive the 2012 Alumni Achievement Award from the Penn State Alumni Association.
The Alumni Achievement Award recognizes recent alumni, 35 years of age and younger who demonstrate that Penn State alumni succeed in exceptional fashion at an early age in their careers.
Ronald D. Ondechek Jr. (Class of 1999) is currently an investment professional at Altira Group LLC, a venture capital firm that invests in breakthrough energy technology companies. Ondechek sources new investment opportunities and supports portfolio companies throughout the growth process.
Ondechek performs organizational, technological, and market analysis and has overseen dozens of transactions valued at more than $300 million. He serves on Penn State's College of Engineering Industrial and Professional Advisory Council and frequently lectures in engineering classes.
View the Ronald D. Ondechek Jr. Alumni Achievement Award.pdf
View all the 2012 Alumni Achievement Award Recipients.
Penn State Live article "Eleven Penn Staters honored with Alumni Achievement Award". - Link added on 04/19/12
06/21/11
Chemical Engineering Alumnus John H. Sinfelt dies at the age of 80
Penn State Chemical Engineering Alumnus John H. Sinfelt, dies at the age of 80 on May 28th in Morristown, N.J.
As a chemical Engineer for the Standard Oil Development Company (now Exxon Mobil Research and Engineering), Dr. Sinfelt developed gasoline without lead. Lead was used in gasoline until the 1970s to raise octane levels to help keep engines from knocking, but it posed environmental and health hazards.
Dr. Sinfelt's successful process was patented and earned him the President's National Medal of Science in 1980.
View the complete story "John H. Sinfelt, Who Helped Introduce Unleaded Gas, Dies at 80" on The New York Times Website