Stay in touch with fellow UConn engineering alumni. Visit our Engineering alumni website  or our LinkedIn alumni page and fill us in on your latest activities or learn what your college friends are doing nowadays!  Some recent alumni news follows:

Joel Becker (M.S. Materials Science ’74) and his wife Nancy Becker, owners of Torrington Supply Company of Waterbury, were named recipients of the 2012 Brass Button Award presented by the Mattatuck Museum. The Brass Button Award recognizes outstanding contributions of individuals in the greater Waterbury area who are dedicated to the cultural and social enrichment of their community. Joel joined the Torrington Supply Company in 1975 and became CEO & COB in 1990.  He has served as a board member for many industry organizations including the Connecticut Business & Industry Association as well for many non-profit organizations including the Waterbury YMCA, Naugatuck Valley Development Corporation (Waterbury Development Corp) and the Greater Waterbury United Way.

James M. Culmo (B.S. Computer Science & Engineering/Electrical Engineering ’81) was named Vice President of Northrop Grumman Corporation’s new High-Altitude, Long-Endurance (HALE) Enterprise. In this role, he will lead the HALE Enterprise organization, comprising such signature unmanned programs as the U.S. Air Force Global Hawk; the EURO HAWK®, the first high-altitude, long-endurance, signals intelligence unmanned aircraft system for the German Ministry of Defense; the U.S. Navy MQ-4C Triton; and NATO Airborne Ground Surveillance. Prior to this appointment, James served as Vice President and deputy General Manager for Northrop Grumman’s Military Aircraft Systems business.  He first joined Northrop Grumman in 1999. James received a master’s in electrical engineering from Syracuse University.

William L. D’Agostino (B.S. Chemical Engineering/Materials Science, ‘84), P.E., has been named Senior Director of Manufacturing & Engineering at InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp.  of Cambridge, MA (NVIV), a developer of groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI) and neurotrauma. Bill worked previously at Covidien and, most recently, at Angiotech Pharmaceuticals where he served as Vice President, Engineering. Bill has launched more than 100 new polymer products to date, including families of biodegradable sutures.

Peter H. Lewis (B.S., Mechanical Engineering/Materials Engineering ’83; MBA ‘88) has been named Chief Financial Officer of Nabsys, Inc., a life sciences company pioneering solid-state, single-molecule positional sequencing for broad applicability in DNA analysis. Peter brings more than 20 years’ experience in accounting, financial management and corporate process development in the life science industry.  Prior to joining Nabsys, he served as Vice President of Finance and Administration at Bioscale, Inc.  Earlier in his career, he held top-level positions with Affymetrix, Genetic MicroSystems, First Boston Pharma, Instron Corporation and Perkin-Elmer. 

Jennifer Stockburger (B.S. Mechanical Engineering, ’88) was named Director of Operations for Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center. Jennifer will handle the day-to-day running of the center, and she will be responsible for Consumer Reports’ child car seat and tire test operations. Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center is the largest independent automobile testing center in the world. The organization buys and tests roughly 80 cars and light trucks a year. Jennifer joined Consumer Reports in 2000 after working at the Walbro Corporation.  She previously worked as a test engineer at Pirelli Armstrong Tire Corporation.