Source: Mary Rankin, 785-532-6715, mrankin@k-state.edu
Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AT K-STATE HONORS 11 ALUMNI FOR CAREER SUCCESS
MANHATTAN -- The Kansas State University College of Engineering will honor 11 alumni for professional career accomplishment during the first 20 years following their graduation. The honorees will be recognized at ceremonies on the K-State campus Saturday, Nov. 3.
Recipients of the college's Professional Progress Award were nominated by their respective department heads and confirmed by John English, dean of the College of Engineering. The honorees are:
* Brian Linin, Goodland, a 1993 K-State graduate in mechanical engineering. He serves as chief financial officer for Frontier Ag Inc., an agribusiness firm whose revenue has grown by nearly 400 percent in the last two years through mergers, acquisitions and sales growth. Linin began his career with Procter and Gamble Manufacturing Company in Kansas City, Kan., and has since worked for ITW Dymon Inc. and Liquid Soap Products in manufacturing and plant management. He is president of the board of the Goodland Area Chamber of Commerce and serves on the oncology advisory board to The Children's Hospital in Denver.
* Troy Kolb, Hiawatha, a 1988 K-State graduate in agricultural engineering, completing his master's degree in 1991. He is a field manager with Capstan Ag Systems Inc., based out of Topeka. He has worked for Osborn Industries designing livestock ventilation systems and components and as an engineering manager with RHS Inc. in Hiawatha. Kolb has been involved with three patent awards and has another patent pending. In 2003 he received the Mid Central Region American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers "Young Member of the Year" award. He also currently serves as a member of the K-State Biological and Agricultural Engineering Industrial Advisory Council.
* Tracy Olivier, Olathe, a 1989 K-State graduate in electrical engineering. She also has a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico. Olivier is the engineering manager for OEM and fitness products at Garmin International. Her work activities have included product design, product management and engineering management of fitness and automotive OEM engineering development teams. Olivier began her career at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in biomedical research and missile systems analysis. She also designed electronics to support research activities associated with the Human Genome Project.
* Michael Hafling, Topeka, a 1977 K-State graduate in architectural engineering, who earned a master's degree in the same discipline in 2000. He has served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for CAS Construction since 2002. The Topeka-based company specializes in water and wastewater treatment facilities. Hafling's previous industry experience includes project and construction management responsibilities with Pizzagalli Construction Co., Fedcon Corporation and Algernon-Blair Industrial Contractors Inc. From 1997-2002, Hafling taught in the department of architectural engineering and construction science at K-State and was recognized with numerous local and national teaching and advising awards. He is a registered professional engineer.
* Craig Mattox, Topeka, a 1985 graduate of K-State in civil engineering, who also completed a master's degree in 1992. He is a partner at Finney and Turnipseed Transportation and Civil Engineering, Topeka, where he oversees all projects, staff assignments, project development and coordination, and plan development. A structural engineer, Mattox has more than 20 years experience in bridge design/analysis, bridge inspection/load rating, bridge hydraulics, construction management/inspection, roadway design, drainage design and surveying. He is a licensed professional engineer. Mattox is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and has served as the president of the Kansas Section.
* John McIntyre, Torrance, Calif., a 1990 graduate of K-State in industrial engineering. He also has a master's in business administration from Harvard University. McIntyre is the founder and chief executive officer of PixelFish Inc., a leading provider of online video advertising solutions. Prior to PixelFish, McIntyre was co-founder and CEO of Affinity Internet, one of the largest Web-hosting companies in the U.S. He grew the business from start-up to more than $35M in three years. Previously, he led marketing and product development for Interliant Inc., an online applications hosting provider, as well as working as a management consultant for PRTM, which focuses on product development and manufacturing process implementation for Fortune 500 companies.
* Sheila Hayter, Golden, Colo., a 1990 graduate of K-State in mechanical engineering. She also completed a master's in mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado in 1997. Hayter joined the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., in 1992 where she is currently a senior engineer with the energy management and federal markets group. She is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Colorado and a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-accredited professional. She is active in the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers where she has been awarded the society's Distinguished Service Award and serves on the board of directors.
* David Ott, Madison, Ind., a 1988 graduate of K-State in chemical engineering. He is the operations manager at Dow Corning's Carrollton, Ky., location. This site is the world's largest producer of silicone fluids and silanes. Ott began his career in 1988 at Dow Corning Corporation. For the next 16 years with Dow in Midland, Mich., he held roles in process development, manufacturing engineering, production supervision and corporate economic evaluation. He currently serves on the K-State Chemical Engineering External Advisory Board and is Dow Corning's lead recruiter at K-State.
* Mark Schonhoff, Kansas City, Mo., a 1988 K-State graduate in computer science. He serves as vice president for Cerner Corporation. In this role, Schonhoff is responsible for leading Cerner's development strategy for pharmacy, radiology, laboratory and revenue cycles. He joined Cerner in 1988 as an application developer. He also led the patient management enterprise before being named engineering director for Cerner Millennium ProFile. Since then he has held a number of engineering executive positions for a variety of Cerner enterprises.
* Thomas Whittaker, Kansas City, Mo., a 1987 K-State graduate in construction science. He went on to earn his law degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1991. He is the senior vice president, general counsel and assistant secretary of J.E. Dunn Construction Company, where he has been since 1994. He is licensed with the state and federal courts in Kansas and Missouri. Whittaker was co-chair of the labor-management council of greater Kansas City in 2004 and 2005, and was also a member of the board of directors for Hands and Hearts, a Children's Mercy Hospital auxiliary from 2003-2005. Most recently, Whittaker was named the Builders' Association chairman of the board for 2007.
* Jeffery Thetge, Tulsa, Okla., a 1988 K-State graduate in electrical engineering. He is vice president and currently responsible for international operations for the engineering/EPC business segment of Willbros Butler Engineering. He began his career as a design electrical engineer for the company in Tulsa in 1989. He has worked on various oil and gas and government projects as lead design engineer, project engineer and project manager. In 1999, he worked in Nigeria as project engineer, project manager and senior project manager both onshore and offshore. In 2002, Thetge transferred to Tulsa as manager of engineering for the Willbros' international division.