ineerin - Pratt School of Engineering

Mission of the Association
The mission of the Association is to advance the cause of engineering education, to
promote the interests of and loyalty to the Duke University School of Engineering, and to
promote a spirit of cordiality, mutual acquaintances, good fellowship and communication
among the members of the Association.
The Association has three main focuses: supporting extracurricular student projects;
recognizing outstanding alumni and those who serve our school through our annual awards
program; and facilitating continuing engagement of Pratt alumni with the school.
Engineering Alumni Association dues are $35 a year. Dues are spent by the Engineering
Alumni Council to sponsor alumni receptions, speakers and open houses to forge
connections between the alumni, students and faculty; provide the primary support for
engineering student projects, enabling a richer and more fulfilling educational experience
for dozens of students; host the annual Awards Banquet and determine each year’s
Distinguished Alumnus, Distinguished Young Alumnus and Distinguished Service
awards. You can pay dues at gifts.duke.edu/daadues. Then select “ Engineering Alumni
Association Dues ($35.00).”
The Engineering Alumni Council is responsible for executing the mission of the
Engineering Alumni Association. A member of the Alumni Council is an active
observer to the Pratt Board of Visitors, insuring that an alumni perspective is heard in all
deliberations concerning Pratt’s future direction and priorities. How to join the council?
Contact Pam Hanson at 919-660-5130 or [email protected] if you are interested in
joining the council or recommending someone.
Stay Connected...
Keep connected with your classmates and your alumni association.
Facebook:
facebook.com/dukealumni
Twitter:
twitter.com/dukealumni
LinkedIn:
linkedin.dukealumni.com
YouTube:
youtube.com/user/DukeAlumniVideo
Pinterest:
pinterest.com/dukeualumni/
Engineering
ALUMNI
NEWSLETTER
2013
Engineering Alumni Council
2013-14
President
Jason O. Piche E’97, Memphis, TN
President Elect
Ershela L. Sims E’93, Durham, NC
Immediate Past President
J. Michael Drozd E’89, G’97, Raleigh, NC
Council Members
Anthony R. Baldassari X’06, Raleigh, NC
R. Brian Drozd G’00, X’02, Lexington, NC
William G. Gardner E’09, G’11, Fredericksburg, VA
Grant T. Hollett IV E’93, Chesterfield, VA
Ronald Barton Houck II E’86, Apex, NC
Tiffany Hui E’08, Arlington, VA
David S. Lindquist E’86, B’91, Raleigh, NC
Andrew J. Longenecker E’07, Jupiter, FL
Rebecca R. Lula E’78, Rougemont, NC
Bridge D. L. McDowell E’84, Kitty Hawk, NC
Tracy A. Nickelsburg E’88, Alexandria, VA
Allan Bruce Shang E’83, Wake Forest, NC
William B. Senner E’06, X’06, Durham, NC
W. Neal Simmons G’01, Bahama, NC
Dixie T. Wells E’91, Greensboro, NC
Michael A. Wesley E’97, X’98, Chapel Hill, NC
Student Representative
Derek Schocken - ESG President
Alumni Directory:
alumniconnections.com/olc/membersonly/DUKE/mypage.jsp
Read and submit class notes and photos:
alumniconnections.com/olc/membersonly/DUKE/classnotes/classnotes.cgi
Upcoming Alumni Events:
dukealumni.com/events
Visit the Pratt School of Engineering website: pratt.duke.edu
Give to Engineering at: gifts.duke.edu/pratt
Duke University Engineering Alumni Association
2013 Awards Banquet
Duke’s Engineering Alumni Association Awards Banquet on April 20, 2013, honored alumni
and faculty members who have had a hand in making Pratt what it is today. Three distinguished alumni and six faculty and staff members were honored for their career accomplishments, service to Pratt and excellence in teaching, mentoring and research.
Michael R. S. Hill BSE’86 was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award. He joined
Medtronic, Minneapolis, in July 1992 as a scientist in the cardiac rhythm management division. He has served in research, clinical, program, international and management roles over
his 20 years there. He is a Technical Fellow (1998) and Bakken Fellow (2001). In 2012,
Hill was inducted as a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. He now leads the research and development efforts for the heart failure business unit
at Medtronic. He holds over 50 patents, has authored several manuscripts and abstracts, and
often is an invited lecturer at international cardiac-related conferences and university events.
Hill received his undergraduate degrees in biomedical and electrical engineering and in
mathematics from Duke; his master’s and PhD degrees in biomedical engineering from Case
Western Reserve University; and a master’s of business administration from the University of
St. Thomas in Minneapolis.
(L-R) (Front) LaTondra Murray, Rebecca Dupre, Lisa Huettel
Nicholas A. J. Millington BSE’98 was awarded the Distinguished Young Alumnus Award.
(Back) Charles Gersbach, Roger Barr, Ed Koffenberger, Stefano Curtarolo,
He leads product development at Sonos, Inc., in Santa Barbara, Calif., where he was a founding
Michael Hill, Nick Millington
member of the product team in 2003. Millington and his team developed the Sonos Wireless
HiFi system, including hardware and software for wireless music and home theater sound, apps for controlling the system using smartphones and tablets, and connections to
streaming audio services. Millington received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Duke, where he was an Angier B. Duke Scholar and a member of Tau Beta
Pi and Phi Beta Kappa.
Edward L. Koffenberger BSME’47 was awarded the Distinguished Service Award. He retired as a DuPont executive in the textile fibers department in 1989 after a 42-year
career. At Duke he worked on several annual fund drives and served on the engineering Board of Visitors for 15 years. He also served as a volunteer coach for football
and basketball in Richmond, Virginia and Newark, Delaware for many years and was a competitive tennis player, playing in two national Senior Olympics. During the time
commitment to the military and the 21-hour-per-semester academic schedule for the first two years at Duke, he played basketball and lacrosse and was president of his social
fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, and treasurer of the Pan-Hellenic Council. His honors during his undergraduate career included election to Omicron Delta Kappa and Pi Tau Sigma
and service as vice president of the Student Government Association.
The following Pratt faculty and staff were honored. Roger Barr was awarded the Klein Family Distinguished Teaching Award; Stefano Curtarolo was awarded the Stansell
Family Distinguished Research Award; Lisa Huettel was awarded the Lois and John L. Imhoff Distingished Teaching Award; Charles Gersbach was awarded the Capers
and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Teaching andResearch; LaTondra Murray was awarded the Capers and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising; and Rebecca Dupre was awarded the Dean’s Award for Leadership in Program and Operational Excellence. Those who provided scholarships, fellowships
and/or professorships were also recognized at the event.
Over 170 engineering alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends attended the Awards Banquet. The Banquet is sponsored by the Engineering Alumni Association with the
help of your EAA dues.
See What You May Have Missed—Join the Duke Engineering Alumni Association!
Free
Tickets
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
With your paid 2013-14 Engineering Alumni Association (EAA) membership, you will
receive a Duke Engineering business card holder. Don’t miss out! Be sure to join today!
Please send in your EAA dues in the envelope provided or go to gifts.duke.edu/pratt.
Then select “I would like to make a dues payment: Engineering Alumni
Association Dues ($35.00).”
2013
Engineering
ALUMNI
2013
NEWSLETTER
Pratt School of Engineering Alumni Association • Duke University
Durham, North Carolina
Letter from EAC President Jason Piché E’97
Dear Fellow Alumni,
I have the honor and privilege to serve as your Engineering Alumni Council (EAC) President for the 2013-2014 academic year. As
you may know, the primary responsibility of the EAC is to coordinate the activities of the Engineering Alumni Association in support
of the Pratt School of Engineering. Our efforts are focused on three core activities: supporting extracurricular student projects, helping Pratt alumni stay engaged with our school, and recognizing outstanding alumni with annual alumni awards.
• Extracurricular Student Projects
We have been expanding our contributions to student projects. We were able to help fund many diverse organizations this year,
including the Duke Motorsports team, the Duke Eco-Marathon Team, the Pratt chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers
(NSBE), and the Pratt chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). The number of groups we support and the funding we provide each group is
directly correlated to the number of alumni who pay their annual Engineering Alumni Association dues. Please keep this in mind when you receive your next
dues notice or other communications from the EAC. Even a small increase in funding can make a significant impact on the ability of our students to accomplish their project goals.
• Alumni Awareness and Engagement
We have also been expanding our use of online resources to give alumni more convenient tools to stay engaged with the school. The EAC has been expanding
its online presence through Facebook and LinkedIn to help you stay connected with the school and your fellow alumni. Please take advantage of these tools,
even if you only use them to keep your contact information updated or pay your dues with a few clicks.
• Annual Alumni Awards
Once again, we were able to recognize three outstanding individuals from the Duke Engineering community with alumni awards. Our efforts to find deserving
candidates for these awards have become more sophisticated over the years as online resources have expanded and information on alumni is easier to find. As
always, your nominations for these awards are appreciated as we want to make sure we do not overlook any good candidates. The Distinguished Alumnus,
Distinguished Young Alumnus, and Service Awards recognize individuals who have achieved great success in their careers and in service to their communities. The annual banquet hosted by EAC in April is our opportunity to thank them for representing Duke and Pratt so well, and to celebrate with them.
As usual, our annual Engineering Alumni Banquet in April 2013 was a memorable occasion. For those of you who have not been able to attend an Alumni
Banquet in the past, I would recommend trying to attend one in the near future. The event features presentations by a number of current Pratt students participating in extracurricular student projects that have benefitted from EAC funding. The evening also provides a great opportunity to look back on your years at
Duke and the impact your experience has had on the rest of your life. You can also share a very special day with Alumni Awards recipients, Pratt Faculty and
staff Awards recipients, current Pratt students and your fellow alumni.
Finally, I’d like to recognize two members of the EAC. Over the past year, J. Michael Drozd E’89 G’97 has served as EAC President. Michael has worked
hard to continue advancing the goals of the EAC. His commitment and leadership are very much appreciated. The previous year, Kevin R. Lyn E’87, G’89
served as EAC President. This past year, in his last year on the council, Kevin continued to help the EAC in the position of Past President. He now rolls off the
EAC after nine years of service. Thank you, Kevin, for the many years you have given to Pratt and the alumni association.
Jason Piché E’97
President, Engineering Alumni Council