It's easy to start your application.
McKelvey Engineering Awards
2022
The McKelvey Engineering Awards honor the professional accomplishments and service of distinguished alumni and friends.
McKelvey Engineering Awards
|
|
Randall Bateman, MD, is the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Distinguished Professor of Neurology, director of the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) and director of the Knight Family DIAN Trials Unit. His research focuses on the pathophysiology and development of improved diagnostics and treatments of Alzheimer’s disease.
In 2011, Dr. Bateman launched the DIAN-TU Pharma Consortium with major pharmaceutical companies to support and assist in developing trials for autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease. The DIAN-TU trial
is an advanced worldwide adaptive platform that tests therapeutics targeting the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease with the goal to slow, stop or reverse the disease.
As a productive innovator, Dr. Bateman has 47 active or pending patents and is co-founder of C2N Diagnostics, which provides the first high-accuracy blood test for Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Bateman has established multiple research consortiums, including the DIAN-TU Pharma Consortium, Tau SILK Consortium, and the NfL Consortium, which are joint academic and industry collaborations to develop biomarkers useful for tracking and staging disease.
Dr. Bateman has received numerous awards, including the Beeson Award for Aging Research, Alzheimer’s Association Zenith Fellows Award, Scientific American top innovator, the Washington University Chancellor’s Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and the Potamkin Prize. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Inventors.
He received a scholarship to attend WashU as an undergraduate and remains a dedicated supporter of the university as a Life Eliot Society member.
Dr. Bateman earned bachelor of science degrees in electrical engineering and biology from Washington University in 1996. He earned a doctor of medicine from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 2000 and completed a residency in neurology with Barnes- Jewish Hospital and a clinical fellowship in dementia with the Washington University School of Medicine.
|
Marcia Brown-Rayford |
With over two decades of experience, Marcia Brown-Rayford is an expert on research and development transformation, clinical trials optimization and process excellence.
Marcia is the vice president of the Global Life Sciences R&D practice at RGP, a global consulting firm that enables rapid business outcomes by bringing together the right people to create transformative change. In her role, she supports clinical research phases, scale-up, technology transfer and commercial launch of drugs, medical devices and diagnostics.
Prior to RGP, she made significant pharma industry contributions during her 13-year tenure at Merck, leading clinical drug development efforts in various roles, including co-inventing Singulair for asthma, Crixivan for HIV/AIDS, Proscar for prostate cancer, and Heartgard and Ivermectin for animals. She also brings experience from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Life Sciences practice, where she was an executive management consultant for Fortune 100 global pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. She is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Project and Change Management Expert, and an Enterprise Process Professional Master, impacting nearly a half-billion dollars in efficiencies.
In 2019, Marcia launched BrightPath STEAM Academy, a nonprofit organization purposed to bridge the gap for marginalized African American/Black youth and expose them to possibilities in science, technology, engineering, arts and math. The academy partners with highly skilled STEAM educators, corporations, universities and the faith-based community to advance the cause.
Marcia serves on the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Council at RGP and the McKelvey School of Engineering EDI committee. Additionally, Marcia has served as an adjunct instructor for Georgia Institute of Technology’s Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department and as a mentor for its minority students.
Marcia earned a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Washington University in 1991. She also earned three master of business administration degrees in strategic management, entrepreneurial management and finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
|
Verneta Simon |
Verneta Simon has been an on-scene coordinator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for almost 35 years. In this role, she coordinates all federal efforts with and provides support and information to local, state, and regional response communities. Verneta provides expert leadership to teams responding to environmental emergencies in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota. She has primary responsibility for spills and releases to inland areas and waters. Once a release or spill has been identified, she determines whether federal assistance will be necessary to help control and contain it, and coordinates all aspects of the emergency response.
A passionate leader, Verneta has managed teams responsible for responding to a variety of serious and potentially dangerous environmental issues, including mercury spills, contaminated drinking water, tire fires, chemical plant explosions, train derailments and multi-million-dollar radioactive cleanup. Her career has included work on significant environmental incidents, including Hurricane Katrina, Deepwater Horizon and the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster.
Verneta is a trustee of the Western Society of Engineers, and a registered member of the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers. She is a former director of the Junior League of Chicago and a former member of the Chicago Section of the American Chemical Society.
Since 1985, she has served on Washington University’s Black Alumni Council. She regularly participates in the Alumni Association’s Travel Program, is an Eliot Society Patron member and supports the annual Verneta H. and William D. Simon Jr. Scholarship named in honor and memory of her parents.
Verneta earned a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Washington University in 1982. She also earned a master of science degree in environmental health engineering and a certificate in executive management for design and construction from Northwestern University.
|
Rajesh Bhat |
Rajesh Bhat is an innovator and entrepreneur who saw a need to transform technology that empowers lenders to open doors for more people. His experience and challenges as a first-time home buyer instilled a passion to increase the transparency and simplicity of the consumer lending journey.
Rajesh co-founded Roostify to provide consumers with an accelerated and streamlined home-lending process. The single, intuitive point-of-sale platform helps lending teams close loans faster, improve margins and deliver a personalized borrower experience. As the chief executive officer of Roostify, Rajesh is responsible for establishing and executing the vision and deliver on the brand promise of “Reinvent Lending. Realize Dreams.”
Rajesh has scaled the company from three employees to over 150 and has crossed major industry milestones. Roostify is one of the top digital lending platforms in the home lending industry and processes over $50 billion a month in loan volume across 200 financial institutions.
Under his leadership, Roostify has received numerous awards, including the 2020 Google Cloud Technology Partner of the Year Award for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the Forbes Cloud 100 Rising Stars Award and is a six-time HousingWire’s Tech100 Award recipient. Rajesh has been recognized twice as a Goldman Sachs 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneur, a HousingWire Vanguard Award winner and a Mortgage Bankers Association Tech All-Star.
Prior to starting Roostify, Rajesh spent 14 years in management consulting, most recently at Pace Harmon, a boutique transaction advisory firm, where he helped to establish its West Coast practice while working with Fortune 500 companies to define technology strategy. He began his career at Ernst & Young LLP.
As an undergraduate, Rajesh worked in the Alumni Association, the Center for Engineering, and the Engineering Computing Lab. He is a loyal Eliot Society member. He earned a bachelor of science degree in computer science from Washington University in 1998.
|
Herman T. & Phenie R. Pott Foundation |
In 1963, Herman T. Pott (1895-1982) and his wife, Phenie R. Pott (1898-1993), established The Pott Foundation. Herman was one of the 20th century's best known and most distinguished river transportation executives and pioneer river industry entrepreneurs. The son of German immigrants, he was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin as a civil engineer in 1916. Beginning in 1933, he developed the St. Louis Shipbuilding & Steel Co. into a thriving enterprise. During World War II, his company constructed ships for the United States and Russia, and by the 1950s, the company was the world's largest designer and builder of inland river towboats. In 1953, Herman purchased the Federal Barge Lines from the government and built the M.V. America and the M.V. United States, the two most powerful towboats in the world. Herman steadily expanded the company and changed its name to Pott Industries Inc. in 1967.
Phenie Hope Ryals Pott was born in Fort Deposit, Alabama. She moved to St. Louis in 1923 where she met and married Herman Pott. Phenie was a long-time volunteer and philanthropist, devoting countless hours of her time to the Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary, the Missouri Botanical Garden and Missouri Girls Town, among other organizations.
The Pott Foundation is dedicated to supporting children, education and health and human services in the St. Louis region. Today, the foundation’s grantmaking is managed by an advisory committee comprised of seven members, four of whom are descendants of Herman and Phenie Pott. The foundation distributes impactful grants to more than 100 charities each year. Mary Jane King, a niece of the Potts who earned a master’s degree in social work from Washington University in 1983, is the executive director.
The Pott Foundation has been a generous donor to Washington University and the McKelvey School of Engineering. The foundation has funded annual engineering scholarships since 1994, which have benefited 111 Pott Foundation Scholars to date.
Emerging Leader Awards
|
|
In the world of high-speed trading, Christine Hansen delivers results with a proven expertise in U.S. equity options microstructure and analytics. Her knowledge of both the trading business and technology allows her to bring a unique skill set to the table.
As a partner at IMC Financial Markets, Christine manages a team of derivative traders. IMC is a leading global market maker that uses algorithmic trading and advanced technology to buy and sell securities on over 100 regulated trading venues worldwide.
Since 2014, Christine has led the U.S. Equity Options desk, which manages responsibilities for daily trading operations, business development and company alignment with a strategic vision. Crain’s Chicago Business recognized Christine for the “20 in their 20s” list in 2018 highlighting her impressive career. Christine also is a member of Women in Listed Derivatives.
As a John B. Ervin Scholar, Christine embodies the values of leadership, community service, and diversity the program espouses. A Life Eliot Society member, her support of Washington University includes the Ervin Scholars endowment and annual scholarships. She is a member of the Chicago Regional Cabinet and formerly served as a member of Alumni Board of Governors and the Washington University Chicago Professionals Network executive committee.
Christine was the valedictorian of her graduating class, a member of the Student Associates Executive Board, Delta Gamma sorority and the Alliance of Students Against Poverty.
Christine earned a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering with a minor in computer science from Washington University in 2010. She also is a graduate student-at-large at the University of Chicago.
|
|
Melissa Holtmeyer Terlaje has worked at the highest levels of government translating complex science and engineering issues into public policy. As a science adviser in the legislative and executive branches, she has worked with some of the nation’s most senior leaders to mitigate climate change, increase energy resilience and develop innovative military capabilities.
Going from her graduate research lab to the floor of the U.S. Senate and then to the halls of the Pentagon was not a typical path for a combustion researcher. By being selected for American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowships, she was placed in key positions to use her engineering background to shape science and technology policy at the national level.
She served as an energy, environment and climate advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders; an operations analyst assessing fuel logistics in the Office of the Secretary of Defense; a lead scientific analyst for the chief of Naval Operations; and the special assistant to former Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Hon. Christine Fox.
In Melissa’s current role of strategy and technology development at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, she shapes strategy for advance air and missile defense. With her engineering expertise, she develops strategic visions and identifies technologies and policies that are needed to make the visions real.
At Washington University, Melissa was a graduate student representative to the Board of Trustees, officer in the Graduate and Professional Council, president of the Formula SAE team, and led several initiatives for the Office of Sustainability.
Melissa earned bachelor of science and master of science degrees in mechanical engineering from Washington University in 2006 and 2007, respectively. She also earned a doctor of philosophy in energy, environmental & chemical engineering from Washington University in 2012.
|
|
Jennifer Pangborn-Dolde is a transportation planner and engineer who oversees mobility, complete streets, multimodal planning and last-mile connectivity projects across the country. Her thoughtful approach with stakeholders makes a positive impact on the quality of life for residents of all communities.
As the a ssistant vice president, Midwest & Plains Traffic and ITS managerat WSP, she concentrates on connecting people to places through innovative, safe and sustainable multi-modal transportation solutions. At WSP, she supports key committees and initiatives including the Equity Center of Excellence, Inclusion and Diversity, Future Ready, Vision Zero, Social Value, active transportation and mentoring in the Developing Leaders Network. Her portfolio includes the award-winning Armour Road Complete Streets in North Kansas City and the rebuilding of Interstate 270 North in St. Louis to enhance community connectivity.
Engineering News-Record named Jennifer to the regional Top 20 Under 40 list in 2022. This publication honors the best of the next generation of construction industry professionals. Jennifer is active in several industry organizations, including the Institute of Transportation Engineers, for which in 2011 she served as one of the first female co-hosts for the annual international meeting.
With her great enthusiasm for STEAM education, Jennifer serves as an elected director for the Kirkwood School Board. She is also a board member for St. Louis Bworks, a volunteer-run program that teaches kids in underprivileged areas to ride bikes.
Jennifer earned a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering and a master of science degree in construction management from Washington University in 2006.
|
|
John Schupbach is passionate about combining disciplines to transform life at a large scale. As an emergency medicine resident physician at Mayo Clinic, he improves the quality of health and brightens lives with his optimistic manner.
John is a firm believer that making health care and education valuable, affordable and accessible worldwide requires transforming and restructuring the health care system. His mission is to disrupt these complex, fragmented and inefficient industries through compassionate entrepreneurship and business-model innovation.
In 2011, John founded Squalor to Scholar, a nonprofit that enables bright and talented children in India to attend high-quality private schools. Squalor to Scholar has provided more than 1,000 annual scholarships over the past 10 years as well as life-changing support, social and healthcare services to hundreds of families. As the chief executive officer of this international organization, John empowers and inspires children to become leaders who improve the world.
As an undergraduate student, John participated on the Thurtene Junior Honorary and was a member of the Emergency Support Team.
He earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering with minors in aerospace engineering and architecture from Washington University in 2010. He also earned a master of business administration from Harvard Business School and a doctor of medicine from Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine.
John resides in Rochester, Minnesota. In July 2022, he will be joining the Mayo Clinic Department of Emergency Medicine as a faculty member.