The Penn State College of Engineering Early Career Award recognizes alumni who earned their degree in the last 18 years and have already demonstrated significant commitment to their professions, communities and Penn State. Credit: Kelby Hochreither/Penn State. All Rights Reserved.
College of Engineering recognizes early career alumni
June 03, 2022
By Ashley J. WennersHerron
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State College of Engineering will recognize 11 alumni with the Early Career Award for their achievements and demonstrated commitment to their professions, communities and Penn State at a ceremony on June 17 at University Park.
“The Early Career Award specifically honors alumni who earned their degrees in the last 18 years and have become leaders in their fields, communities and in their involvement with Penn State,” said Justin Schwartz, Harold and Inge Marcus Dean in the College of Engineering. “These individuals are talented engineers, as well as strong representatives of the college and Penn State, embodying the University’s core values of integrity, respect, responsibility, discovery, excellence and community. We are proud of these honorees, who have already contributed so much to their fields and to the College of Engineering community.”
Recipients may be nominated by their peers or members of the college community and are selected by a committee including, but not limited to, academic deans, department heads, faculty, members of the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society and the development council.
The 2022 Early Career Award winners are:
- Julia Balla, 2017, bachelor of science in aerospace engineering; Principal systems engineer, Northrop Grumman Corporation
- Jason Beebe, class of 2008, master of science in nuclear engineering; class of 2005, bachelor of science in nuclear engineering; director, Global Transformation Office, Westinghouse Electric Company
- Brady Bonsted, class of 2010, bachelor of science in civil and environmental engineering; project director, ENTACT
- Birgitt Boschitsch, class of 2018, doctorate in mechanical engineering; co-founder and chief executive officer, spotLESS Materials
- Seifu Chonde, class of 2016, doctorate in operations research, industrial and manufacturing engineering; central analytics manager, Facebook
- R.T. Custer, class of 2014, bachelor of science in industrial engineering; co-founder and chief executive officer, Vortic Watch Co.
- Feng Guo, class of 2015, doctorate in engineering science and mechanics; assistant professor of intelligent systems engineering, Indiana University Bloomington
- Prashant Khare, class of 2009, master of science in mechanical engineering; assistant professor of aerospace engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Cincinnati
- Chloe Mehring, class of 2008, bachelor of science in aerospace engineering; flight director, NASA
- Justin Mulhollan, class of 2006, bachelor and master of architectural engineering; principal/senior project engineer, TLC Engineering Solutions
- Abhradeep Guha Thakurta, class of 2013, doctorate in computer science; staff research scientist, Google Research — Brain Team