IMAGE: PENN STATE
College of Engineering names inaugural 40 Under 40 Alumni Award honorees
4/15/2021
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State College of Engineering has selected the first cohort of honorees as part of its new 40 Under 40 Alumni Award program, which recognizes graduates who are 40 years old or younger for their early career impact. In subsequent years, the number of honorees in the program at any one time will grow to 40.
“We are proud to have these extraordinary young alumni as part of the Penn State engineering community,” said Justin Schwartz, Harold and Inge Marcus Dean in the College of Engineering. “Every day, they inspire change and impact tomorrow — as leaders and mentors in their careers and communities — demonstrating that, with hard work and determination, a Penn State engineering degree has limitless potential.”
The following 22 engineering alumni — nominated by Penn State faculty, staff and alumni — were selected for the 2021 cohort of honorees based on their representation of Penn State’s core values: integrity, respect, responsibility, discovery, excellence and community; their commitment to maintaining a lifelong relationship with the college; and their success in professional experience, leadership and community service. They will be honored at a 40 Under 40 Alumni Award ceremony on Sept. 24.
- Benjamin Cooper is an assistant professor, medical student clerkship director and director of proton therapy and department operations faculty representative at New York University Langone Health, Department of Radiation Oncology. He earned his bachelor of science in bioengineering in 2007.
- Michael Hargather is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and Dean’s Research Scholar at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and research scientist at Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center. He earned his bachelor of science and doctorate in mechanical engineering in 2004 and 2008, respectively.
- Kevin Irick is founder and chief executive officer of SiliconScapes LLC. He earned his master of science and doctorate in computer science and engineering in 2006 and 2009, respectively.
- Jeffrey Kutz is vice president of global engineering operations at Bridge Gap Engineering LLC. He earned his bachelor of science in mechanical engineering in 2005.
- Paul Lynch is associate professor of industrial engineering at Penn State Behrend. He earned his bachelor of science, master of science and doctorate in industrial engineering in 2004, 2007 and 2011, respectively.
- Matthew Malone is vice president of operations at Barber-Nichols. He earned his bachelor of science in mechanical engineering in 2008.
- Lourdes Medina is assistant professor of industrial engineering at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. She earned her master of science and doctorate in industrial engineering in 2009 and 2012, respectively.
- Natalie Miller is senior project manager at Davis Construction. She earned her bachelor and master of architectural engineering in 2009.
- Gopal Nadadur is a senior adviser to the to the Clinton Health Access Initiative. He earned his master of science and doctorate in mechanical engineering in 2010 and 2012, respectively.
- Benjamin Ross is founder and chief technology officer at POWR.io. He earned his bachelor and master of science in engineering science in 2006 and 2007, respectively.
- Jason Ryan is project leader of magnetic resonance spectroscopy at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He earned his master of science in engineering science in 2006 and his doctorate in materials science and engineering in 2010.
- Robert Salko is a staff research scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He earned his bachelor of science in mechanical engineering and nuclear engineering in 2006 and his master of science and doctorate in nuclear engineering in 2010 and 2012, respectively.
- Brodie Schultz is lead launch engineer at Ford Motor Company. He earned his bachelor of science in mechanical engineering in 2015 and his master of business administration in 2017.
- Guneet Sethi is senior manager of hardware reliability engineering at Amazon. He earned his master of science in engineering science in 2004 and his doctorate in engineering science and mechanics in 2008.
- Jill Seubert is navigation engineer IV at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She earned her bachelor of science in aerospace engineering in 2005.
- Joseph Sinclair is founder of Verde Mantis LP. He earned his bachelor of science in mechanical engineering and nuclear engineering in 2015 and his master of engineering in additive manufacturing and design in 2018.
- Josh Sorkin is vice president of solutions at Science Applications International Corporation. He earned his bachelor of science in industrial engineering in 2005.
- Umamahesh Srinivas is a senior scientist at Apple Inc. He earned his master of science and doctorate in electrical engineering in 2009 and 2013, respectively.
- Paul Suhey is co-founder and chief operating officer at Revel. He earned his bachelor of science in chemical engineering in 2014.
- Kate Tice is a senior program reliability engineer at SpaceX. She earned her bachelor of science in industrial engineering in 2012.
- John Waldeisen, entrepreneur, earned his bachelor of science in engineering science in 2007.
- Xiaolong “Tom” Zhang is U.S. head of bioanalysis and senior director of large molecule at WuXi AppTec. He earned his doctorate in biomedical engineering in 2015.
Nominations for the 2022 40 Under 40 Alumni Award program open on July 1. For more information, visit the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society’s website.
Share this story:
