ENGINEERING ALUMNI - Key Persons


Abby Harris

Job Titles:
  • Academic Advisor

Ahmed Elmadhoun

Job Titles:
  • Education Outreach / Process Engineer / Chevron
  • Member of COMMITTEE

Amanda Funai

Job Titles:
  • CLEAR Program Associate Instructor
Amanda teaches technical communication for graduate students throughout the college of Engineering. She previously taught engineering courses in engineering computation as well as advising biomedical capstone students at East Carolina University. Amanda holds a PhD From the University of Michigan in Electrical Engineering: Systems with a focus on biomedical statistical signal processing. She was funded as a National Science Foundation graduate fellow. Her dissertation was on the regularized estimation of magnetic fields in MRI. She was a National Merit Scholar and Presidential Scholar as an undergraduate at Northeastern University where she graduated as valedictorian. She has also previously worked in VLSI and circuit design. Her interests lie in technical writing, engineering education, STEM in K12, and retention and outreach for women in engineering.

Andrew Elkins

Job Titles:
  • Construction Project Manager
Andrew assists the Assistant Dean in representing college and department interests related to office, lab and other renovation projects, as well as providing support related to major building projects; provides expert and direct input regarding the development and management of these projects, including day-to-day involvement in meetings and providing other needed support to ensure projects are delivered on time and within reasonable budgets; maintains current maps of buildings where Engineering is assigned space, including current department space assignments, location of critical pathways and utilities, and location of emergency showers and other life safety equipment; provides copies for administrators and others and maintains display in building wayfinding locations. He also fills the role of College Safety Officer and works with the College Safety Committee to ensure our people, buildings and labs are safe and supports the committee's efforts by providing updated maps and other important data related to our physical facilities.

Andrew Radford

Job Titles:
  • Senior Engineering Manager

Angela Rasmussen

Job Titles:
  • Electrical Engineering / Computer Engineering Director

Anna Rice

Job Titles:
  • Lab Technician

Arnis Judzis

Job Titles:
  • Retired - Head of Development, Innovation & Services

Austin Van Otten

Job Titles:
  • Staff Mechanical Engineer / Northrop Grumman

Becca Ortmann

Job Titles:
  • Outreach Program Coordinator

Ben Danh

Job Titles:
  • Mechanical Engineering

Benjamin Harpster

Job Titles:
  • Outreach Coordinator

Benjamin Petrie

Job Titles:
  • Mechanical Engineering

Brent E. Higgs

Job Titles:
  • Program Manager

Brett Matsumura

Job Titles:
  • Retired / Davis School District and Kimberly - Clark Corp.

Brooke Wilkinson

Job Titles:
  • Process Engineer / Marathon Petroleum

Bryan Luu

Job Titles:
  • Structural Engineer Intern

BS CE

Job Titles:
  • Member of COMMITTEE

Cameron Kergaye

Job Titles:
  • Director of Research & Innovation

Carl Hellewell

Job Titles:
  • Lead Engineer & Manager, Ground Systems / BAE Systems

Cecile Paskett

Job Titles:
  • CLEAR Associate Instructor
Cecile teaches professional communication to undergraduates in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Using her technical writing experience in both electrical engineering and educational contexts, she teaches courses that combine communication theory and applied practice, giving students hands-on experience as professional writers, speakers, and media creators. She holds both her M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Utah. Cecile is also an instructional designer in the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering and enjoys consulting with faculty as they design engaging and innovative learning experiences for their students.

Chad Avery

Job Titles:
  • VP, Engineering and Core Services

Chad Forrest

Job Titles:
  • Lead Engineer EE & Aircraft Diagnostics

Chad Hogan

Job Titles:
  • Principal Engineer

Charles Musgrave

Job Titles:
  • Dean
  • Ex Officio Member
  • Dean / John and Marcia Price College of Engineering
  • Dean of Engineering / the University of Utah

Chris Miller

Job Titles:
  • Web Content Specialist
Chris creates and maintains websites for College of Engineering departments, student clubs, faculty, research groups, and more. He also manages the COE Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to promote our academic mission.

Clint Brown

Job Titles:
  • COO / Arena

Courtney Phillips

Job Titles:
  • Civil and Nuclear Engineering / Academic Advisor

Craig Pessetto

Job Titles:
  • Chief Engineer

Dan Hixson

Job Titles:
  • Senior Graphic Designer
Dan builds layouts, graphics, and communication pieces that effectively communicate the College's goals to a variety of audiences. He supports the creation of these pieces with creative work in photography, design, and publishing.

Dan Morales

Job Titles:
  • Production Engineering Manager

David B. Merrill

Job Titles:
  • Senior Mechanical Engineer

David Bean - CTO

Job Titles:
  • CTO

David Weinstein

Job Titles:
  • Senior Director of Virtual and Augmented Reality

Dean Musgrave

Dean Musgrave provides leadership to the College in strategic planning, administration, academic programs, faculty career development, and external relationships. He works closely with the department chairs and college staff on development, outreach and public relations.

Eric Pardyjak

Job Titles:
  • Associate
  • Associate Dean of Faculty
Professor Eric Pardyjak (Mechanical Engineering) serves as the inaugural Associate Dean of Faculty (ADF), supporting faculty success in research, teaching, leadership and professional growth while maintaining a balanced and fulfilling career.

Evan Lerner

Job Titles:
  • Communications Specialist
  • CLEAR Program Associate Instructor
Evan teaches professional communications to undergraduates in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Drawing on his background in science journalism and media relations, Evan's approach incorporates the elements of narrative story structure to help audiences understand complex topics. Evan holds an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and previously served as the Director of Communications for the University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science. He also works as a communications specialist in the Dean's Office.

Gabriela Coca

Job Titles:
  • Outreach Program Coordinator

Heather Hucks

Job Titles:
  • Academic Program Manager

Holli Burgon

Job Titles:
  • CLEAR Program Associate Instructor

J. Jeffrey Gunn

Job Titles:
  • Registered Patent Attorney

Jacob Isaac K. Abraham

Job Titles:
  • Supervisor - Reservoir Engineer

Jason Smith

Job Titles:
  • NT Systems Administrator
Jason administrates NT systems and provides desktop support to faculty and staff.

Jeff Brown - Founder

Job Titles:
  • Co - Founder

Jeff Pinkston

Job Titles:
  • Director of Software Engineering / Microsoft

Jennifer Kilcrease

Job Titles:
  • Accountant
Jennifer manages purchase card allocations, oversees financial transactions, and documents departmental financial procedures. She also serves as the Account Executive for the NSF-GRFS (Graduate Research Fellowship Program) activity, tracking individual NSF scholar fund balances and expenses. Additionally, Jennifer manages faculty start-up fund transfers. Her work is centered on supporting the finance team in maintaining fiscal accountability and ensuring smooth financial operations within the college.

Jessica Smith

Job Titles:
  • Corporate Vice President and Chief Regulatory Officer / Integra

John Bowers

Job Titles:
  • Head of Business and Partnerships

John C. Sutherland

Job Titles:
  • Chairman - Industry Advisory Board

John Coburn

Job Titles:
  • CLEAR Program Associate Instructor
John teaches professional communication to undergraduates in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He has over thirty years of experience working for The DuPont Company in a variety of engineering and managing roles. He has worked as a research engineer in Central Research & Development. He has also collaborated closely with process engineers at various manufacturing sites in the United States and abroad addressing production issues as well as scaling up production for new products. He has also worked in a variety of technical management roles. John has a BS in Chemical Engineering (Univ of Utah), a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Univ of Utah), and a MBA (Univ of Delaware). He has written numerous technical documents in industry and has published several peer reviewed articles in scientific journals. John's professional communication course covers technical writing and speaking, effective editing tools, critical and innovative thinking, and engineering ethics.

John Pickering

Job Titles:
  • NT Systems Administrator
John manages the Engman Lab and administrates NT systems.

Jonathan Rodriguez

Job Titles:
  • Associate
  • Software Developer

Jordyn Butcherite

Job Titles:
  • Academic Advisor

Josh Grant

Job Titles:
  • Ex Officio Member
  • Executive Director, Development & External Relations
  • Executive Director, Development & External Relations / John and Marcia Price College of Engineering
Josh provides oversight of the College Development program including activities related to fundraising, legislative, corporate and alumni relations. His responsibilities include management of the external boards, capital and principal gift fund raising, and oversight of development operations for the college.

Joshua Lenart

Job Titles:
  • CLEAR Program Associate Instructor
Joshua teaches technical communications for the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and the Department of Chemical Engineering. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Utah in Rhetoric and Writing Studies, a M.A. in English from Montana State University, and a B.A. in English from The Ohio State University. His research focuses on land management policy in two discrete areas. The first relates to civil infrastructure projects and landscape-scale impacts on habitat, community resilience, and long-term land use planning; the second involves the utilization, conservation, and management of big game wildlife resources. For the past six years he has led various transdisciplinary teaching and research projects examining land and wildlife resource management conflicts vis-à-vis public policy, assessing stakeholder needs and desires, resource analysis, and collective impact engagement. Currently, he is working closely with several local and national organizations to research stakeholder input and discourse on the sale or transfer of federal public lands.

Kathryn Lormand

Job Titles:
  • Accountant

Kelly Pearson

Job Titles:
  • Academic Advisor

Ken Milne

Job Titles:
  • Member of COMMITTEE

Ken Muir - CEO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive Officer

Kevin Whitty

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean for Research
Kevin is responsible for administration of the research enterprise of the college, including e-proposals, F&A reduction and cost-share requests, etc. He is also responsible for departmental BEEF awards, the Honors program, College graduate fellowships, and co-chairs the University Seed Grant program. He works with the Dean on Retention, Promotion and Tenure (RPT) reviews, faculty mentoring and publicity efforts. Kevin is also responsible for facilitating collaborative research efforts between faculty members from different departments and colleges across campus.

Kim Clark

Job Titles:
  • Owner

Kristian Blomquist

Job Titles:
  • Patent Attorney

Kristin Madden

Job Titles:
  • Senior Accountant
Kristin assists faculty and staff of the college and departments with financial and budgeting activities. She prepares activity and special reports across the college and for USTAR. She assists faculty with proposal submissions. She also spends a portion of her time supporting accounting functions in the Chemical Engineering department.

Kristy Parry

Job Titles:
  • Development Specialist
Kristy manages all operational support for development activities in the College, including: coordinating logistics for external relations events, managing the production of donor reports and other college mailings, maintaining the database for tens of thousands of alumni and donors, managing donor stewardship, and processing monthly reports on behalf of the college.

Kurt Kottke

Job Titles:
  • Retired - Senior Director, Engineering

Lance Hobbs

Job Titles:
  • Retired

Lane Sutton

Job Titles:
  • Mechanical Engineering

Larry Milner

Job Titles:
  • Retired

Lars Laurentius

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director for Research Development

Leslie Wallwork

Job Titles:
  • Academic Advisor

Lexi Crabb

Job Titles:
  • Academic Advisor

Linda Bachmeier

Job Titles:
  • Technical Manager / Chevron

Liz Rowberry

Job Titles:
  • Academic Advisor

Mario Costanzo

Job Titles:
  • Director T & D Project Delivery

Mark Fehlberg

Job Titles:
  • Mechanical Engineering Director of Graduate Studies

Mark Ogden

Job Titles:
  • Information Technology Manager
Mark supports various projects and ongoing support for information technology infrastructure.

Matt Gauthier

Job Titles:
  • Web Systems Manager

Matt Kitterer

Job Titles:
  • Ex Officio Member
  • Executive Director, Corporate & Foundation Relations
  • Executive Director, Corporate & Foundation Relations / John and Marcia Price College of Engineering
Matt provides support in building donor relations with alumni, corporate and foundation partners, and other individuals engaged with the advancement of the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering.

Matt Wright

Job Titles:
  • Windows Systems Administrator & Network Administrator
Matt administrates NT systems and provides desktop support to faculty and staff.

Michael Gill

Job Titles:
  • Director, Engineering & Project Management

Michael Kay

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean, Budget and Facilities
Michael assists the deans, chairs and staff administrators, faculty and other groups both in and outside the college with matters involving college financial resources, budgeting and reporting. He facilitates and represents the college interests and directly assists the chairs and other administrators in allocations of space, development of facilities (lab renovations and major building projects), as well as insuring that building and financial issues are addressed appropriately. He works with of the college accounting and facilities staff to provide high levels of service in support of college programs and personnel. He is a member of the College Executive Committee and the campus Budget Officers Professional Peer group. Having joined the college in early 1985, he is a source of college institutional memory.

Michelle Turner

Job Titles:
  • Academic Advisor
  • Mechanical Engineering

Mike Warner

Job Titles:
  • Director, Engineering & Technical Mgmt

Monica Heaton

Job Titles:
  • Administration Director
Monica oversees College of Engineering activities related to retention, promotion, and tenure (RPT), scholarships, convocation, and payroll.

Morgan Boyack

Job Titles:
  • Outreach Program Manager
Morgan supports outreach activities in the College of Engineering by advising student clubs, including Student Leadership Council, Engineers without Borders, Tau Beta Pi, and Society for Hispanic Student Engineers, among others. Morgan helps coordinate Club Rush, Engineering Day, Exploring Engineering Camp, Meet an Inventor Night, Meets with prospective students and the living learning communities for the College of Engineering. He also works on recruiting efforts and retention programs that support STEM education for under-represented student populations through MESA programming.

Mountain West

Job Titles:
  • Staff Member

Natalie Eastwood

Job Titles:
  • Materials Science & Engineering

Nate Warner

Job Titles:
  • Engineering Section Manager

Pete Singh

Job Titles:
  • Director, Rocky Mountain Power Field / Distribution Engineering

Phoebe Marsh

Job Titles:
  • Program Assistant
Phoebe provides administrative support to the Dean's Office, including our Outreach and Academic Affairs Teams.

Ragula Bhaskar - CEO, President

Job Titles:
  • CEO
  • President

Randal R. Sylvester

Job Titles:
  • Senior Technical Fellow / L3Harris Technologies Inc

Rebecca Jacobs

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director of Accounting and Finance
Rebecca Jacobs Associate Director of Accounting and Finance Phone: 801-646-8022 Office: 1796 WEB Expand Becca assists the Assistant Dean, deans, chairs, faculty, and staff with college financial resources, budgeting, and reporting. She provides support to the college through regulatory expertise, reporting knowledge, audits, and advice on best practices. Her approach is rooted in a service mindset, where understanding the unique needs of each Department leads to resources, training programs, and optimized practices that address the varied needs of the college. Collapse

Rheannon Burnside

Job Titles:
  • Mechanical Engineering

Richard H. Nordlund

Job Titles:
  • Senior Director

Rob Galloway - President

Job Titles:
  • President

Ruby Cantrell

Job Titles:
  • Civil Engineering / Construction Engineering / Academic Advisor / Nuclear Minor

Russell Askren

Job Titles:
  • CLEAR Program Associate Instructor
Russell Askren CLEAR Program Associate Instructor Phone: (801) 587-3723 Email: russ.askren@utah.edu Office: WEB 1603 Expand Russ spent more than 20 years in the software development industry working in the area of large system administration and integration in both technical and managerial roles. His classroom focus is upon workplace writing and presentation, engineering ethics and the role of technology and engineering in society. Russ holds a Ph.D. from the University of Utah in philosophy with a specialization in applied ethics. His interests focus upon the application of philosophy to public policy in the areas of technology, business, medicine and global justice. Collapse

Ryan Boyack

Job Titles:
  • Development Director
  • Development Director / John and Marcia Price College of Engineering

Ryan Brown

Job Titles:
  • Director, Entrepreneurship Program
Ryan is a patent attorney with eight years of experience and an award-winning patent practice in Texas. He develops and teaches courses in technical communication and intellectual property law. Ryan holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from a large private university, which he attended as a Presidential Scholar and a National Merit Scholar. He holds a J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where he served as an editor of the Michigan Law Review. He blends interests in engineering and argumentation with sincere philomathy as he teaches engineers to write and speak better.

Ryan Packer - CTO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Technology Officer

Sara Wilson

Job Titles:
  • Materials Science & Engineering

Scott Morley

Job Titles:
  • Systems Administrator

Scott Pessetto

Job Titles:
  • President - EAA Engineering Board John and Marcia Price College of Engineering

Sneha Kasera

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Sneha develops, administers, and promotes student programs and support functions within the College. He manages outreach staff to define and meet College goals for recruiting and retention. He coordinates the development, changes, and reviews of academic programs internally for the College and with external accreditors. Sneha oversees policies, planning, and implementation of the continuing development of majors, minors, and academic programs within the College.

Stan Lockhart

Job Titles:
  • Consultant / Lobbyist
  • Consulting & Lobbying

Steven Dean

Job Titles:
  • Director, Computer and Networking Services
Steven manages computer labs, IT staff, and facilities while overseeing operations and strategic planning for the college's IT infrastructure.

Stewart Brock

Job Titles:
  • Network Administrator
Stewart is a network administrator and Apple technology specialist.

Swomitra (Bobby) Mohanty

Job Titles:
  • Director

Taylor Sparks

Job Titles:
  • Director of Graduate Affairs
  • Professor
Professor Taylor Sparks (Materials Science and Engineering) serves as the inaugural Director of Graduate Affairs (DGA), strengthening graduate education and research support.

Taylor Thorpe

Job Titles:
  • TAR Engineer / Marathon Petroleum

Tina Bradford

Job Titles:
  • Executive Assistant
Tina provides administrative support to the Dean including scheduling appointments and managing the national surveys for the College of Engineering.

Tony Curtis - CTO, President

Job Titles:
  • Chief Technology Officer
  • President

Tony Niven

Job Titles:
  • Software Engineer

Vance Checketts - CEO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive Officer

Wanda Brown

Job Titles:
  • Academic Advisor

Wendy McKenney

Job Titles:
  • Civil Engineering / Construction Engineering / Academic Advisor / Nuclear Minor

Zane Zak

Job Titles:
  • Linux Systems Administrator
Zane manages the Linux servers, virtualization and container infrastructure (e.g., VMware, Kubernetes), storage systems, and core network infrastructure. He ensures system reliability, security, and performance using automation tools (e.g., Ansible, Salt) for streamlined deployment and maintenance.