Dennis Elsenbeck, M. Eng. '96, Chair of the Dean's Advisory Council, is the Regional Executive of Energy Solutions Services for National Grid's western division. In this capacity, he is responsible for representing the region's large commercial and industrial customers in terms of energy sales, reliability, and service, along with public affairs and community relations. He was previously regional manager of the Mohawk Valley region, and has been with National Grid for twenty years. Prior to joining National Grid, Dennis held positions with United Technologies Building Systems Group and Carrier Corporation. Dennis holds an associate's degree from Mohawk Valley Community College, a baccalaureate degree from SUNY Institute of Technology in Utica, an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester, and a masters in engineering from the University at Buffalo. He is currently Chairman of the Board of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the Executive Board of Directors for the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, the Board of Directors for the Buffalo Niagara Enterprise and the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation, and a member of the Advisory Council of USA Niagara Development in Niagara Falls. Dennis has a mechanical engineering degree from UB.
Russell L. Agrusa, B.S. '76, is the founder, president, and CEO of ICONICS, Inc., a leading international software development company that specializes in PC-based, off-the-shelf, Web-enabled visualization of factory automation and manufacturing systems. Their software projects span a wide area of manufacturing, automation, and process control. Projects include complete data acquisition and monitoring of the Trans Russian pipeline, security and building controls for the Pentagon, automotive factory automation for Ford, Delphi, Honda, and American Axel, and monitoring of self propelled airport people movers at the Madrid, Dallas Forth-Worth, and London Heathrow airports. ICONICS has been a two time Inc 500 Winner, and has had double-digit growth for the last six straight years. Russ has over 25 years of experience in product marketing, leading, and managing software development for the manufacturing and process control industries. He started his career at Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Russ earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University at Buffalo and has done graduate work in computer science at Boston University.
Ravinder K. Bansal, Ph.D., is the co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AirSep Corporation. AirSep Corporation began its operations in Buffalo, NY, as a manufacturer of medical and industrial oxygen generators in 1987. Today it generates over $120,000,000 in annual revenues, employs 400 people, and has sales in over 100 countries around the world. Ravi earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1977. Over the past 30 years, while promoting his business, he has traveled to more then 80 countries around the world. In 1993, Ravi was chosen to be the Entrepreneur of the Year for the Upstate New York Region by INC. magazine. In 1998, he was awarded citation as a business leader for his contribution to the Western New York economy and exports by the Buffalo Council on World Affairs.
John F. Billingham, Ph.D., is the Director of Process Equipment R&D at Praxair in Tonawanda, NY and is responsible for several areas including turbomachinery, systems and distillation. John has been with the company since 1994 where he was responsible for development of Praxair distillation technology, design and development of regenerative heat exchangers, supply system product lines to the semiconductor industry including cryogenic air separation plants and purifiers and lead three groups responsible for the development of Praxair non-cryogenic supply system technology, ultra-high purity product lines and carbon dioxide production plants. Before his current responsibilities, John spent two years in Shanghai, China as the regional role establishing R&D presence in China and India to support growth of applications of industrial gases to emerging markets. He has authored several technical publications and holds ten patents. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology where he graduated 1st in Class, Courtaulds Scholarship.
Michael Cadigan, B.S. '79, was appointed by IBM to General Manager of Semiconductor Solutions, Microelectronics Division, Systems and Technology Group in January '07. He is responsible for overseeing the Technology Development and Manufacturing for the IBM Semiconductor Business. His responsibilities also include the Joint Development Alliance activity, a collaborative multi company Alliance, which include seven leading edge semiconductor technology companies. Prior to this, in January 2003, he was appointed Vice President of Manufacturing and Logistics at Integrated Supply Chain. This included the internally manufactured and fulfilled operations as well as the outsourced manufacturing activity worldwide. Prior to this appointment, Mike was Vice President of Technical and Business Operations for the Storage Technology Division. Mike has spent the majority of his career in the Technology Group where he held a number of executive positions including General Manager of the Interconnect Business Unit, several site location executive positions, plant manager, and engineering positions. The majority of his assignments has been in manufacturing and supply chain operations. He joined IBM in 1979 and holds several US Patents in the electronic packaging area. Mike has a mechanical engineering degree from UB.
Heather Erickson, is President of MedTech, a not-for-profit association focused on connecting the Upstate New York biosciences community and facilitating the commercialization of new medical products. She has served in this capacity since the Association's founding in 2004, building MedTech from four founding companies to more than 85 member organizations across the state. Prior to MedTech, Erickson was a Senior Consultant at the San Francisco headquarters of Edgar, Dunn & Company, an international strategy consulting firm. At Edgar Dunn she managed a senior executive benchmarking program representing more than 70% of the consumer credit industry, in addition to developing business plans and new product development strategies for her clients. She has also worked with the genomics research group at Chiron Corporation, now part of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, and researched synthetic protein function in the Pathology Department at Yale Medical School. She currently acts as a board member for the American Heart Association and Central New York Biotechnology Research Center. Additionally, Erickson serves on the Metropolitan Development Association's Grants for Growth advisory committee, the Life Sciences Industry Council Executive Committee, the New York State Center of Excellence in Photonics & Microsystems Infotonics Technology Center Economic Development Advisory Council, and the State University of New York at Oswego Engineering Advisory Board. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Erickson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from Yale University.
Ephrahim Garcia, B.S. ‘85, M.S. ‘88, Ph.D ‘90, is an associate professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University. He heads the Laboratory for Intelligent Machine Systems at Cornell which exploits mechatronic systems and smart materials technology to create new types of machines and devices that respond to their environments. Previously, he was a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and an associate professor at Vanderbilt University. He is the recipient of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2003 Adaptive Structures Prize for "significant contributions to the sciences and technologies associated with adaptive structures and/or material systems." As the recipient faculty fellowships in the defense and intelligence communities, he investigated the application of mechatronic systems and smart materials technology to variety of systems and missions. Ephrahim was appointed a Presidential Faculty Fellow by President Clinton, named an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator, and held a NASA graduate student is an associate professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University. He heads the Laboratory for Intelligent Machine Systems at Cornell which exploits mechatronic systems and smart materials technology to create new types of machines and devices that respond to their environments. Previously, he was a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and an associate professor at Vanderbilt University. He is the recipient of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2003 Adaptive Structures Prize for "significant contributions to the sciences and technologies associated with adaptive structures and/or material systems." As the recipient faculty fellowships in the defense and intelligence communities, he investigated the application of mechatronic systems and smart materials technology to variety of systems and missions. Ephrahim was appointed a Presidential Faculty Fellow by President Clinton, named an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator, and held a NASA graduate student fellowship. Ephrahim received the 2000 George W. Thorn Award from the University at Buffalo. His aerospace engineering degrees are from UB.
Lester A. Gerhardt, M.S. ‘64, Ph.D. ‘69, joined Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1970. He was promoted to full professor, and was selected as the first chairman of the newly merged electrical, computer, and systems engineering department following a nationwide search. At RPI, his specialty is Digital Signal Processing, emphasizing image processing, speech processing, and brain computer interfacing. He has served in the roles of ECSE Department Chair; Founding Director of the Center for Manufacturing Productivity; Director of the Computer Integrated Manufacturing Program, which was awarded the National Leadership, Excellence, and Development Award; Director of the Center for Industrial Innovation; Associate Dean of Engineering for Research; an RPI VP of Research Administration and Finance; Dean of Engineering; and most recently as Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Education. He was the Inaugural Recipient of the National ASEE Research Administration Award. Internationally, he has served as a Delegate to NATO; consultant to the governments of Singapore, Portugal, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom; co-founder of the ongoing Global Engineering Education Exchange Program and served as its Chair of the Executive Committee for over a decade; originator of the Rensselaer Engineering Education Across Cultural Horizons (REACH) Program requiring an international experience of each undergraduate student in 2008; on the International Advisory Board of the ASEE; was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Technical University of Denmark. Before RPI, Lester was with Bell Aerospace Corporation, where he worked on the visual simulation of space flight including the Apollo Program's moon landing. In 1999, he organized Space Week at Rensselaer, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the moon landing. Buzz Aldrin and three astronauts who walked on the moon attended this event. He is an active consultant to industry, government, and academe, sits on the board and directs the research of a privately held company, is a Fellow of the IEEE and ASEE; and holds several patents. His graduate degrees are from UB in electrical engineering, earned while working at Bell.
Ramji L. Gupta, '72, Ph.D. '74, is Director of Technology Development for the Medical Devices Group of Moog Inc. Beginning his career as a Control Systems Engineer, Ramji became the Chief Engineer for Moog's Industrial Division. Subsequently, he held positions of Engineering Manager in Moog's Space Products Division, Chief Engineer for Missile/Motion Systems Division, and Product Line Manager for Space Launch Vehicle and Missile Flight Controls, Electronics, and Commercial Systems product lines. He earned his B.S. (Honors) in mechanical engineering in India, and M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University at Buffalo.
Gina B. Hammond, PMP, M.S. '73, is currently Director, Integrated Management & Support Operations, Capital Region, Army Programs at Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) in the North American Public Sector. In this role she is responsible for solutions and service delivery on task orders in support of Army enterprise infrastructure and infostructure goals worldwide. Prior to this assignment she served as vice president of CSC's GWAC (Government Wide Acquisition Contracts) Service Center, coordinating the use of all GWAC vehicles and multiple GSA schedules held by CSC resulting in over $1.3 billion in work in FY 2007. From 1999 to 2006 she served as vice president of Mission Support Services managing over 800 employees providing both mission-related and information technology services to multiple agencies within the federal government including the General Services Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Labor and all branches of the military. Gina has over 30 years of experience in programming, systems analysis, program management, consulting and contract management. Prior to her work at CSC, she served in increasingly more responsible positions at DynCorp Systems & Solutions, Cincinnati Bell Information Systems Federal, Vanguard Technologies, Inc. and Marine Midland Bank. Gina received a B.A. degree in mathematics from Vassar College where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and an M.S. degree in computer science from UB. She recently completed the certificate, "Executive Leadership: Preparing for an Uncertain Future", through Cornell University. She earned her Project Management Professional certification in 2005.
Douglas J. Hillman, B.S. '82, MBA '89, is President and CEO of Aerosonic Corporation in Clearwater, Florida. Aerosonic (AMEX: AIM) is a designer and manufacturer of flight control avionics and transducers for commercial and military aircraft. Doug has more than 25 years of experience working in the business of developing and deploying new products and services for high technology companies. His background includes engineering work at Cooper Power Systems and almost 16 years working for Moog as an engineer, program manager, division manager (Germany), and product line manager. Prior to his current position, he was VP / GM for Kearfott Guidance and Navigation in Asheville, NC, an engineering/manufacturing firm specializing in motion feedback and control components and systems for aerospace and defense applications. He earned a B.S. in electrical engineering and an MBA from the University at Buffalo.
Dexter Johnson, , BS ’87, MS ’89, Ph.D. ’95, is an Engineer, Educator, Entrepreneur, Minister, and Musician. Dr. Johnson is currently employed at the NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field in Cleveland, Ohio, as the Chief of the Structural Systems Dynamics Branch, and has worked there for over 18 years. He has previously served as an Aerospace Research Engineer in the Structural Dynamics and Aeroelasticity Branch, the Acting Branch Chief of the Controls and Dynamics Technology Branch, and the Acting Deputy Chief of the Life Prediction Branch. He also worked at Cleveland State University as a part-time faculty member in the Mechanical Engineering Department. He graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a Bachelors Degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1987, and a Masters and a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Mechanical Engineering, in 1989 and 1995, respectively. He is also pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Cleveland State University College of Business. His current engineering interests involve overseeing Structural Systems Dynamics personnel, projects, and resources focused on Launch Vehicle and Spacecraft Dynamic Environments applicable to Spaceflight Hardware Design, Development, and Testing. In 1998, Dr. Johnson was one of 6 individuals selected nationwide to participate in the prestigious NASA Administrator’s Fellowship Program. During his two-year tenure in the program, he was a visiting professor at the Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering, worked at NASA Headquarters in the Office of Aero-Space Technology Programs Division, and was a visiting researcher at Pratt & Whitney in E. Hartford, Connecticut, Veridian Engineering in Buffalo New York, and Moog Inc. in East Aurora, New York. Also, in 1998, Dr. Johnson received the esteemed “NASA Honor Award -- Exceptional Service Medal” for “the successful development of power-saving magnetic bearing controls for magnetic suspension systems, the development of a magnetic suspension and excitation system for the Dynamic Spin Rig, and contributions to the NASA Administrator’s Fellowship Program.” In 2003, he won the Structures Division Mentor of the Year Award at NASA Glenn. In 2003, he won the National Technical Association Technical Achiever of the Year - Technologist Category Award. In 2006, he won the Science Spectrum Magazine Trailblazer Award. The Science Spectrum Trailblazers are outstanding Hispanic, Asian American, Native American, and Black professionals in the science arena whose leadership and innovative thinking on the job and in the community extend throughout and beyond their industry. In 2006, he was selected as a University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences 60 years of Excellence - Distinguished Alumni. In 2008, he won the NASA Honor Award - Group Achievement Award for contributing to the design and development of the NASA Ares I-X Upper Stage Simulator. The Ares I-X will be the first demonstration flight test of NASA’s new launch vehicle, which is planned for launch in April, 2009.
Timothy J. Klein, B.S. '84, is co-founder and CEO of ATTO Technology, a leader in high performance computer storage products for digital video/audio, imaging, and back-up markets. From humble beginnings in the University at Buffalo Technology Incubator, ATTO has grown to be an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) supplier of products to top tier companies including Quantum, NEC, Apple, Avid Technology, and Sun. Previously, Tim was employed in an engineering level capacity for Barrister Information Systems, and prior to that, at Motorola in Tempe, A.Z. Tim received the 1998 George W. Thorn Award from the University at Buffalo. His degree in electrical engineering is from UB.
Maria Lehman, P.E., B.S. '81, is currently the Vice President and Business Segment Director of Transportation of Bergmann Associates. Before Bergmann Associates, she was the vice president and northeast regional business line leader for URS Corporation, the largest engineering consulting firm in the US, as ranked by Engineering News Record. Prior to rejoining URS, Maria was the commissioner of public works for Erie County. She is a registered professional engineer with over 27 years of multi-disciplinary experience in highway and facility planning, environmental assessment, design, management, construction monitoring, and on-going operations and management of facilities. She is the recipient of many awards, including: the National American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) President's Medal 2004 for service to the profession and contribution to public policy, New York Governor's Award for Women - Excellence in Business 2002, American Consulting Engineers Council New York President's Award 2004, New York State Society of Professional Engineers 2004 Engineering Manager of the Year, 2003 State University of New York at Buffalo Engineering Alumna of the Year, APWA Western New York Public Works Leader of the Year, and Buffalo Business First - 1994 "40 under Forty." Maria has been elected a national board member and then vice president of ASCE, and was a member of the board of governors of the Environmental & Water Resources Institute. Maria has her civil engineering degree from UB.
Thomas Lynch, B.S. '76, MBA '85, is the Senior Vice President, Americas Region for Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services. BVCPS, formerly ACTS Testing Labs in Amherst, NY, is a leading quality assurance provider for global consumer product and retail markets with expertise in testing, consulting, training, inspection, auditing, and social accountability. BVCPS offers its services through 63 offices and laboratories in 41 countries with 6,500 employees. Through the strategic use of quality assurance services, from design stage to distribution, BVCPS offer clients the ability to lower costs by effectively monitoring the outcomes and performance of products while assuring regulatory compliance. As a third-party laboratory, it is committed to developing strong partnerships with clients and to offering integrated account management to provide one-stop shopping for all client's quality assurance needs. Prior to joining BVCPS, Tom worked for Corning, Inc. in business management, plant management, and engineering; he also worked for Fisher-Price in various manufacturing and engineering positions. Tom serves on the Penn State Behrend Plastics Technology advisory board as well. His undergraduate degree at UB is in chemical engineering.
Hormoz Mansouri, P.E., B.S. '79, is currently President and CEO of EI Team, an architectural and engineering firm, and NPTS, an engineering consulting company serving the nuclear and power industries. Hormoz incorporated NPTS in 1982 and by 1990. The firm's total number of employees exceeded 400 professionals. In 1985 Hormoz was appointed to Managing Director of EPIC Inc. and by 1989 the firm's total professional fees exceeded 75 million dollars annually. In 1997 he purchased EI Associates, an architectural and engineering services company with offices in NY, NJ and PA. Hormoz attended UB for nuclear engineering in the 70's an earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Arizona.
Kitty Pilarz, B.S. '80, is director of worldwide product safety for Mattel, Inc. She is chairman of Fisher-Price's safety committee, chairman of ASTM F15 executive committee, vice chairman of Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association Certification Committee, and chairman of the ASTM subcommittee on non-full size cribs/play yards. She serves on numerous committees for ASTM, ANSI and UL responsible for safety standard development for children's products. Kitty is a board member of ASTM International and past president of the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO). She received her B.S. in mechanical engineering from UB and an MBA from Canisius College.
John V. Pilitsis, M.S. '70, Ph.D. '75, co-founder, President and CEO (retired 2006) Cyoptics, Inc. a global optoelectronics company that designs, develops, manufactures and distributes a complete line of compound semiconductor products for high speed internet access, metro and long haul telecommunications. Prior to Cyoptics, Inc John served as President of Lucent Technologies Optoelectronics (1993-1998) and is widely credited with leading its turnaround and growth globally. During his 30 year career with AT&T/Lucent Technologies and Bell Laboratories, John held corporate officer and Directorship positions in International Marketing, Corporate Strategic Planning, IT, domestic and international Manufacturing, Product Development and Product Engineering. He is and has been a member of numerous corporate boards in the US and Europe. In addition to his commercial Board positions he is on the Board of Trustees of several not-for-profit organizations in the Boston, MA area and was Chairman of the Board for the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association (OIDA) in Washington, D.C. John has authored and/or coauthored over 50 publications in refereed journals and textbooks and has received advance academic management training at The International Institute For Management Development (IMD), Lausanne, Switzerland. John has his industrial engineering degree from UB.
Leroy Runk, B.S. '61, is retired president of Metaldyne's Forming Technologies Group, a manufacturer of steel forgings and powder metal products for the automotive industry with 25 worldwide manufacturing locations. Lee's career also includes the presidency of Harvard Industries and Acustar; both are automotive parts suppliers. Prior to that, he spent 26 years with Chrysler Corporation; part of his time there was spent as vice president of Powertrain operations and components operations. He holds an industrial engineering degree from the University at Buffalo and graduate degrees from Wayne State University and Purdue University. He received the 1992 Dean's Award from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at UB.
John D. Stanfill, received a bachelor of science degree in physics from the University of South Florida, and a master of business administration degree from Duke University. He completed post-graduate work in laser physics at the University of South Florida and has completed executive education programs at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and at Harvard University. John joined Northrop Grumman Corporation in 1987 and has held numerous positions within the Engineering, Business Development and Program Management disciplines. In 1999, he was appointed Director of Integrated Electro-Optical Systems for Litton Lasers. In 2001, he was named Director of Litton Lasers Business Development and has served as Director IRCM Commercial Program for Northrop Grumman in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. John was appointed President of Amherst Systems, Inc. (a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Corporation) in April 2006. He is responsible for the successful execution of all Amherst Systems programs as well as operations at the site.
Scott D. Stevens, P.E., B.S. '79, founder and president of Dimension Fabricators, Inc a steel products manufacturing company based in Schenectady NY. Scott began his career with Lockheed Martin in New Orleans, as a facilities engineer on the space shuttle program. Following five years as a designer of a variety of industrial, transportation and power generation projects, he established Dimension in 1984. Dimension Fabricators has produced parts and assemblies for many notable projects including the Boston Central Artery, Constellation Energy power plants, and most of the sizable highway bridges throughout the northeastern US. Scott is a licensed professional engineer and a member of the board of directors of the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute. His engineering baccalaureate in civil engineering is from UB.
Dr. Thomas P. Stewart, is Gaymar's President and Chief Clinical Officer and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Gaymar companies. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1974 in Chemistry and Biology from Daemen College (Rosary Hill). He earned his doctorate from the University at Buffalo in 1980 and is an alumnus of its School of Medicine. Following his graduate studies, Tom was awarded a fellowship from the National Institute of Health to study various aspects of cancer metastases at The Roswell Park Cancer Institute. After a short cancer research career, he joined Gaymar Industries, Inc. to oversee clinical studies and educational offerings. He also plays a role in the medical aspects of product design and is a holder of a patent for controlling patient's temperature. Tom has spent the last twenty years studying various aspects of pressure ulcer pathophysiology, wound healing, support surface design and measurement, thermophysiology, and nosocomial lesions acquired by the patients during operating room and hospital stays. He founded the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel in 1987, and in February of 2003, he was the recipient of the first "Dr. Thomas Stewart Award" that will be given biannually to leaders in pressure ulcer care. He continues to hold an adjunct faculty appointment at UB, has authored over thirty articles in scientific and medical journals, has written a book chapter on support surfaces, and is a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal Wounds. Tom has been and continues to be an invited speaker at numerous wound care conferences and was recently named a Department Editor for the Journal Wounds. In June, 2008, he was awarded a Life Time Achievement Award from the World Union of Wound Healing Societies.
John P. Stopher, B.S. '86, M.S. '88, Ph.D. '94, is founder and President of 377 Omega, Inc.,a consulting firm that serves government and industry clients in the intelligence community. 377 Omega specializes in foreign, military, and domestic intelligence programs, including intelligence policy, technical intelligence programs, capabilities, and their budgets and resources. Currently, John directly supports several intelligence agencies and elements within the Department of Defense. He participates on the NRO's Technical Advisory Group, and provides strategic and technical support to several senior leaders across the intelligence community. 377 Omega also provides support to industry clients for strategic planning, market analysis, business development, independent reviews, and technical engineering support primarily in technical intelligence programs. Prior to establishing 377 Omega, John was a Professional Staff Member with the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence from 1998 until 2007. His positions included Budget Director, Staff Director of the Technical and Tactical Subcommittee, and Program Monitor for the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Before joining the Congress, John was a systems engineer for several companies, including Northrop Grumman TASC, Seicorp, and Eastman Kodak Company, always supporting national technical programs. John has received his degrees from UB, where he studied advanced power systems for space applications.
Edward O. Watts, P.E., received his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Tuskegee University in Alabama and his MBA from Baldwin Wallace College in Cleveland Ohio. He is licensed as a professional engineer in seven states. He is also certified as a Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP) by the Institute of Professional Environmental Practice (IPEP). Prior to starting his own firm in 1986, he was employed as a senior engineer for a fortune 500 company in Cleveland, Ohio and Niagara Falls, New York. Ed is currently president of Watts Architecture ampersand Engineering, P.C. (Watts), a 73-person full service, multi-disciplined, architecture/engineering (A/E) consulting firm with its primary office in Eggertsville, New York and satellite offices in Alexandria, VA and Syracuse, NY. His firm has won numerous performance/special recognition awards from organizations which include: the Federal Highway Administration, the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACECNY), the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the state of New York. Ed has served on the Advisory Board of the University at Buffalo's Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) and participated as a mentor and panelist for this program. Ed helped the CEL program spearhead the start-up of the Minority and Women Emerging Entrepreneurial program (MWEE) aimed at helping minority and woman businesses move their businesses to the next stage of development. He is actively involved in numerous professional organizations such as the New York State Society of Professional Engineers (NYSSPE) and ACEC New York, having served in various leadership positions, including president of local chapters.
Ann Wegrzyn, B.S. '85, MBA '90, is Assistant Vice President at National Fuel Gas. National Fuel is a diversified energy company with its headquarters in Williamsville, NY. She is responsible for Information Technology and Engineering Services. Ann started her 23-year career at National Fuel as an engineer, and later moved into the role of Superintendent of field construction and customer service for National Fuel's New York territory. In 2000, she moved into Information Technology, with responsibility for all computer resources of the company, and most recently, into Engineering Services, which supports pipeline maintenance and design activities for the Utility and Gas Pipeline segments of the company. Ann is a past board member of the UB Engineering Alumni Association. Her undergraduate degree at UB is in industrial engineering.