Mechanical Engineering Alumni in the News

Professor Keith Lindler has been selected as the new Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Professor Lindler formerly served as the Program Director for the Marine Engineering curriculum at USNA before a merger of that program and the Mechanical Engineering program earlier this decade. Lindler was a Maryland ME student advised by Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering Davinder Anand.

Scott Roza recently joined Bellevue-based i-Conclude as vice president of marketing and business development. In his new role at iConclude, Roza's mission will be to drive marketing strategy and develop iConclude's partner programs, including channel reseller partnerships, services partnerships, and technology alliances. Roza holds a B.S. degree in marine engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, an M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from University of Maryland in 1990 under Don Barker, an M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an M.B.A. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School.

Balaji Panchapakesan, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at University of Delaware and 2001 Maryland mechanical engineering Ph.D., has been presented the National Science Foundation's prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award. The award will support Panchapakesan's work in the development of carbon nanotube actuators, which have applications in both medicine and deep space research. The award is one of the National Science Foundation's highest honors for young faculty members, and it recognizes and supports the early career activities of those teachers and scholars who are most likely to become the academic leaders of the future. Panchapakesan was the first Ph.D. student advised by ME Professor Don DeVoe.

[More at the University of Delaware UDaily...]

Helena (Huiqing) Jin, former Ph.D. student of Associate Professor Hugh Bruck, was recently profiled on the Engineers Week website as an ASME New Faces of Engineering Program. A native of China, Jin is a post-doctoral researcher at Sandia National Laboratories/California in Livermore, California. Jin’s Ph.D. work concentrated on new metrological techniques for mechanical characterization at the microscale and nanoscale and involved advances in the development of nanometrological techniques. Since joining Sandia National Laboratories/California, Jin has continued to make innovative contributions to the mechanical and material characterization of microsystems and nanostructured materials.

[More at the Engineer's Week website...]

Obinna Ekezie, a 6'9" power forward/center for Lottomatica Roma's basketball team, is under consideration to represent Nigeria in the FIBA World Championship in Japan this fall. Ekezie is enrolled in the ME undergraduate program. “My dad is an engineer and I grew up wanting to be an engineer. Having that major taught me a lot about discipline,” says Ekezie. He also gained discipline as a hoops player under Maryland coach Gary Williams, who led the Terps to their national title in 2002.

Steve Schrantz has been named a Principal Engineer in Structural and Life Methods for GE Aircraft Engines in Evendale, Ohio. Steve has worked at GE specializing in Finite Element Analysis Methods in the Rotating Parts Center of Excellence. Steve is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ohio, received an MS degree in 1987 from the University of Cincinnati, and his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering at Maryland in 1984. Steve and his wife, Danielle, have two children, Joe and Emma, and live in West Chester, Ohio.

Published February 15, 2006