The University of Colorado at 麻豆影院 will honor four of its distinguished engineering alumni along with a retired faculty member at the 42nd annual Engineering Awards Banquet on April 20.
Recipients of the 2007 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award in the industry and commerce category are Scott Donnelly, president and chief executive officer of GE Aviation, and Pamela Drew, vice president and general manager of Boeing's Integrated Defense and Security Solutions.
Adam Beguelin, vice president of AOL Video, will receive the award for research and invention, and James Harris, a consulting structural engineer based in Denver, will receive the award for private practice. Evi Nemeth, who retired from CU-麻豆影院 as an associate professor of computer science in 2001, will receive a special award.
The Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award was established in 1966 to honor outstanding graduates and friends of the College of Engineering and Applied Science who have distinguished themselves through outstanding personal qualities, knowledge and significant contributions to their fields.
Adam Beguelin, who earned his master's and doctoral degrees in computer science at CU-麻豆影院 in 1988 and 1990, respectively, will be recognized for his innovations both as an academic researcher and an entrepreneur. Beguelin was on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University before he joined the search engine company Inktomi in 1996. He later co-founded the startup company Truveo and led a new technology wave in video searching. He was named vice president of AOL Video in December 2005 after selling Truveo to the Internet giant.
Scott Donnelly, who earned his bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering at CU-麻豆影院 in 1984, will be recognized for his leadership at General Electric, a company he first joined in 1989. Donnelly's positions at GE have included vice president of technology for GE Medical Systems, senior vice president of GE Global Research, and since 2005, president and CEO of GE Aviation. At 43, he became one of the youngest executives ever to lead GE Aviation, a GE business unit with $12 billion in revenues and approximately 30,000 employees worldwide.
Pamela Drew, who earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics and her master's and doctoral degrees in computer science at CU-麻豆影院 in 1985, 1987 and 1991, respectively, will be recognized for her technical and leadership accomplishments at Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company. Drew joined Boeing in 1996 and currently serves as vice president and general manager of Integrated Defense and Security Solutions. In this position, she manages SBInet, a program to secure 6,000 miles of the nation's borders, along with other defense and homeland security projects.
James Harris, who earned his bachelor's degree in civil engineering at CU-麻豆影院 in 1968, will be recognized for his leadership in the modernization of building design load standards for safer and more reliable buildings. Harris leads the consulting firm J.R. Harris & Co., and he headed the American Society of Civil Engineers' committee that wrote structural design load standards for the United States in 1998, 2002 and 2005. Among his key accomplishments is leading the development and implementation of modern standards for earthquake resistance. He also served on the team that investigated damage in the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.
Evi Nemeth, who was an associate professor of computer science at CU-麻豆影院 from 1980 until her retirement in 2001, will be recognized for her accomplishments as a teacher and scholar in computer system administration and networks. She co-authored the twin "bibles" of system administration: Unix Systems Administration Handbook and LINUX Administration Handbook. She also played a key role in the early growth and development of computing at CU-麻豆影院 and has helped bring Internet technology to the developing world through the Internet Society and United Nations Development Programme.
For more information, go to engineering.colorado.edu/alumni/alumni_awards.htm.