Class Notes

Did you get a promotion? Get married? Receive an award? Expand your family? Write a book? Meet a personal goal? Chat with a fellow alum about the good old days? We want to hear from you and your WPI classmates do, too! Tell us your latest news and it may appear in Class Notes—it’s a great way to reconnect with your fellow alumni: classnotes@wpi.edu.

Howard Tinkham celebrated his 100th birthday in November 2022. He was featured in an article by Sippican Week Today, where he discussed his childhood, his education, his time in the U.S. Army, and his traveling (he has visited every continent). He was a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth for 40 years. “Yesterday, I went to the cardiologist to verify that I’m alive,” he said in the story, “and he said yes, I still am.” To celebrate his birthday, his hometown of Mattapoisett gathered for a town-wide party and parade.

Bill O’Neil writes, “My wife, Adele, and I have moved to our new Naples, Fla., home permanently after 52 years in Morristown, N.J.”

David Bareiss’s novel First Frigate was reviewed by Bensinga.com. The review described the novel as a “must-read” fiction spy adventure story that he self-published in August 2022. He spent six years in the U.S. Army and worked 17 years as an engineer for a manufacturer of fossil fuel-fired and nuclear power plants.

Bill Krein is an adjunct faculty member in The WPI Business School. He writes, “Great article about my former roommate and Vermont neighbor Jim Kachadorian [Winter 2023]. I really appreciate the digital version of the Journal.”

Alden Bianchi has joined McDermott Will & Emery’s benefits and executive compensation practice group in Boston, after nearly 40 years as an attorney in Central Massachusetts. His new role focuses on welfare benefits. He says, “I’m becoming more of the best part of who I already am. I’m getting to focus on the practice areas that I know the most about, that I have the deepest experience with, and that I really enjoy.” He also represented the administration of then-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney during the reform of the state’s healthcare system and testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee in the lead-up to the Affordable Care Act’s passage.

Scott Bicknell writes, “I retired in 2008 after a 31-year career with General Motors as a project engineer. Bob Taylor (mechanical engineering technician at WPI), who taught many of us how to weld and build things like Formula SAE race cars, became a lifelong friend. He instilled in everyone he touched that having fun while getting work done was possible. Unfortunately, Bob’s time with us was cut short at 58. Brenda, my life partner, and I are loving life in Michigan and Florida with our children and grandchildren.”

Robert Ballinger was appointed by President Biden to the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. He is also serving his third four-year term on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards. He is Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Material Science and Engineering at MIT. According to the announcement, “His areas of research include environmental effects on material behavior and component life, stress corrosion cracking and hydrogen embrittlement in Light Water Reactor systems, environmental degradation of nuclear waste canisters, and the effect of radiation on aqueous chemistry.”

Jason Providakes was named #31 in The Top 50 Consulting Firm CEOs of 2022 by The Consulting Report. He is the president and CEO of The MITRE Corporation, a nonprofit consulting firm. He joined the company as a lead scientist over 30 years ago, eventually leading its groundbreaking work with military and civilian government agencies. According to the announcement, “he helps MITRE deliver next-level solutions to critical issues in defense, healthcare, cybersecurity, and engineering through cutting-edge technology operated at federally funded research and development centers.”

Al Spada was named executive vice president and chief scientific officer at Histogen Inc., a clinical-stage therapeutics company. With more than 35 years of experience in pharma and biotech, he most recently served as president and CEO of Aya Biosciences, focusing on the discovery and development of novel therapies for the treatment of severe neuropsychiatric disorders. “Histogen’s focus on developing potential first-in-class pan-caspase and caspase selective inhibitors focused on treatments for infectious and inflammatory diseases is perfectly aligned with my scientific and industry expertise,” he said in the announcement. “I am excited to join the Histogen team at this pivotal time and look forward to working with them to advance the company’s caspase pipeline through clinical development.”

Gregory Phipps was appointed general manager for the Reading Municipal Light Department. According to the announcement, he has “decades of leadership in several high-tech industries, including solar power, software, materials, and 3D imaging, during periods when each industry was undergoing dramatic market change.” He said, “This is an exciting time for the electric utility industry as we work to decarbonize our portfolio in accordance with Massachusetts climate legislation.”

Glenn Gerecke is the global head of technical operations at Sandoz, a business focused on improving access to medicines, medical information, and medical capacity building. He is responsible for “operational functions across Sandoz manufacturing, supply chain, and distribution around the world,” according to the company’s website. With a 35+ year career in the industry, he has extensive experience in chemical, pharmaceutical, and radiopharmaceutical manufacturing across the globe and has held leadership positions with Phlow Corporation, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Bristol Myers Squibb.

Karen Oliver was recognized as a 2022 recipient of the Herbert F. Taylor Award for Distinguished Service to WPI. She is an executive committee member for WPI’s Women’s Impact Network (WIN), a leadership and philanthropy group focused on advancing women in science, technology, engineering, and math. As a member of the WIN Impact Committee, she has raised funds for and led the distribution of $1.3 million in Impact grants to WPI students, faculty, and programs that support and advance women in STEM.

George Oliver, a WPI trustee, was interviewed at the Toronto International Economic Forum of the Americas where he discussed the importance of “Committing to Net Zero.” He is part of the World Economic Forum Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, a group that urges governments to set goals to accelerate the Net Zero transition. He is the chairman and chief executive officer at Johnson Controls and was interviewed by Ritika Gupta of Bloomberg Television.

Paul Howard retired from his position of senior vice president of Tata & Howard, a water, wastewater, and stormwater engineering solutions company that he co-founded in 1992 with Don Tata, whom he met while attending WPI. He will remain on the Board of Directors and serve as a technical advisor to the current leadership team. The company grew from a two-person start-up to a successful engineering firm with multiple New England and Arizona offices; it received the 2020 Bronze Award for Engineering Excellence from the American Council of Engineering Companies.

Michelle Bugbee was presented with the Massachusetts Bar Foundation President’s Award at its Western Mass Grantee Reception this past October. She works in intellectual property law as senior counsel for Eastman, a chemical manufacturing company. Her career spans work in engineering and law with companies such as GE and Spalding. She also mentors law students interested in intellectual property law and is the co-chair of the Women in Intellectual Property Committee of the Intellectual Property Owners Association.

Beth Phalen joined the board of directors for Insurity, a provider of cloud-based software for insurance carriers and brokers. She has more than 25 years of experience leading software, technology, and analytics organizations and is the former president of Dell EMC’s Data Protection Division. “I am excited to join Insurity’s board of directors and work with one of the fastest growing cloud-based SaaS companies in insurance software,” she said in the announcement.

Tom Arseneault was named #28 in The Top 50 Consulting Firm CEOs of 2022 by The Consulting Report. As president and CEO of BAE Systems, he is responsible for “maintaining the defense and security company’s international operations and workforce of over 34,000.” He is also an executive director and officer director on BAE’s Board of Directors and a member of the company’s executive committee. He served in various other leadership roles at Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sanders and remained with the company following its acquisition by BAE in 2000.

Rob Gremley was featured in a video as part of HxGN’s Spotlight series where he discussed “how leading brands optimize processes to deliver consistently high quality.” He is the CEO at ETQ, a quality management solutions company.

David Kolstad, CEO of Gentuity, spoke with reporters about the company’s first human use of its “Vis-M” High-Frequency Optical Coherence Tomography (HF-OCT) imaging system and probe. According to the announcement, this represents a significant technological advance for the field of neurointervention, making high resolution intravascular imaging in the brain possible. He said, “These procedures reflect years of technical innovation, development, and extensive testing. They are an important step in our mission to develop a platform that will improve the understanding of target diseases, facilitate the development of novel therapies, and ensure optimal treatment delivery for the benefit of patients worldwide.”

Paul Gaynor received WPI’s Robert H. Goddard Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement. Paul has more than 30 years of experience in the energy field, encompassing leadership and finance roles in energy, power, pipeline, and renewable energy sectors. He is the co-founder and CEO of Longroad Energy, where he is responsible for the overall management and strategic direction of the company. Prior to Longroad, Paul served as CEO of First Wind, which he founded in 2004. He has held various roles within Noble Power, Singapore Power, PSG International, GE Capital, and GE Power Systems. Throughout his career, he has brought more than 75 renewable projects to the grid. He is now executive vice president of SunEdison.

Lisa Barton was appointed president and CEO at Alliant Energy. In this role, she oversees the company’s two public subsidiaries, Interstate Power and Light and Wisconsin Power and Light, with a focus on enabling a clean energy future. She has held prominent leadership positions with several energy-based organizations, including Eversource and American Electric Power.

Kathleen Donaghue won her campaign for the 19th Worcester District of the House of Representatives in November after 250 days of campaigning. A longtime Democratic activist, she said, “I’m excited to represent the people of the 19th Worcester District and to advocate for healthcare, fighting climate change, and education.” She will represent a newly created district that covers parts of Northborough, Westborough, and Framingham, Mass. A retired software developer, she has lived in Westborough for nearly 50 years.

Bill Riccio was a finalist for the Glastonbury, Conn., town council. Glastonbury received 29 applications from 14 states and Canada before narrowing it down to three finalists, with Bill among them. He has served as director of public services for the city of Newport, R.I., for the past 16 years. According to the announcement, he has also worked as project manager and highway engineer for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation for 17 years.

Chris Fanning was interviewed by EHS Daily Advisor to discuss his work in and the current state of the software and technology industry. His 35-year career has included work in “building high-performance teams, driving innovation, scaling operations, and growing revenue and profitability.” He currently serves as president and CEO of KPA, a provider of software for a range of businesses that directs clients in manufacturing, automotive, construction, oil, and gas on employee safety and company compliance. He has held leadership positions with Survey Sampling International, Lattice Semiconductor Corporation, and Boston Consulting Group.

Patti Newcomer, a WPI trustee, was named among “The 101 Top B2B Marketing Influencers of 2022.” She is the chief marketing officer at FieldRoutes, an IT services and consulting company.

Michael Plourde was one of five telecommunications executives in the federal government contracting sector featured by the Potomac Officers Club, a division of Executive Mosaic. He is vice president of global engineering and programs for Comtech Telecommunications and his career spans more than 20 years in the fields of operations management, process management, and wireless communications, among others.

Michelle Gass was named to the 2022 Top Women CEOs in America of the Fortune 500 Companies list, coming in at No. 20. She served as Kohl’s CEO from 2018 to 2022 and held positions with Procter & Gamble and Starbucks. She currently serves as president and CEO of Levi Strauss.

William Oncay was appointed a member of the Easterseals Massachusetts (ESMA) Board of Directors. He specializes in web architecture and development and SQL database architecture and design. He is currently the director of ecommerce strategy at Berry Global.

Toby Wyman was appointed general manager for Stonehenge Asset Management and Sports Facilities Companies in Rosenburg, Texas. He leads the day-to-day operations of the Fort Bend County Epicenter, a 230,000-square-foot multipurpose event center slated to open in July 2023. He has extensive leadership experience in sports and event marketing, including with Academy Sports + Outdoors, the WNBA Atlanta Dream, the Atlanta Braves, and Foot Locker.

Stephen Kellett writes, “I retired from my ‘encore career’ as an ortho/sports medicine physical therapist in 2020 and recently enrolled in a sculpture atelier program at the prestigious Gage Academy in Seattle. My wife, Lee ’81, and I enjoy all the beautiful outdoor recreation opportunities the Pacific Northwest offers, including camping, hiking, and kayaking. We relocated from Massachusetts in 2016 and are fortunate to be close to our daughters and one-year old grandson. Look us up if you visit our beautiful city.”

Gunars Vinkel was named interim Chief Operating Officer of Power Solutions at NN, an industrial engineering and materials science company. He has served in various leadership roles with the company and was operations director for PEP Group at the time of its acquisition by NN in 2015.

Michael Chen was appointed CFO of UNICEF USA, after serving 10 years as senior vice president, finance, for American multinational medical technology company Becton Dickinson & Co. In his current position, he steers the organization’s finance and audit committees. As a native of Vietnam, he personally benefitted from UNICEF-supported programs during his time in refugee camps in the Philippines and Malaysia.

Patrick Tompkins is a director at CTA Construction Managers, which was recently recognized by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies for its construction of the Somerville West Branch Library. According to the announcement, the project received the combined organizations’ 2022 American Architecture Award, which “highlights excellence in design for new buildings, landscape architecture, and urban planning globally.” CTA Construction Managers is a general contracting firm focused on municipal, academic, multi-family residential, commercial, and senior care facilities, and provides contracts to small, disadvantaged, minority, and women-owned company partners with a focus on green initiatives.

John Harrington is the co-founder and chief product officer at HighByte, an industrial software development company. His role focuses on product management, customer and partner success, and company strategy. He is responsible for market research, customer use cases, product priorities, go-to-market, and financial planning.

Mike Caprio writes, “I continue to work on global partner integrations with HBO Max and discovery+ for the merged Warner Bros. Discovery in New York City. My wife, Diana, and I purchased our first home in Miller Place on the north shore of Long Island, where we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary in December 2022. Our 18-year-old cat Gau Underfoot succumbed to chronic kidney disease and has been cryogenically preserved in Scottsdale, Ariz.”

David Curry spoke with Worcester Magazine about his two-decade experience as a drum circle leader in Massachusetts. Nicknamed “Drumhead,” he discovered his love of hand drumming and percussion soon after graduating from WPI. In 2001, he started his own drum circle and eventually began teaching others the art of drumming. He has brought his love of drumming to schools, churches, yoga classes, and other events, and is the cofounder of Worcester Community Drum Circle. In addition to leading various drum circles around Massachusetts, he continues to teach drumming privately and with Assabet Community Education in Marlborough, Mass.

Dan Shreve was named vice president of market intelligence by Clean Energy Associates. The former head of energy storage for Wood Mackenzie, he has over 20 years of experience in power and renewables and is a “recognized authority on the decarbonization of power markets and the global renewable energy industry,” according to the announcement. “Global energy markets remain unsettled,” he said, “and with global conflict accelerating climate initiatives, executives require world-class commercial and technical market intelligence to support critical strategic and tactical decisions.”

Jason Hutt was interviewed by Spaceflight Insider to discuss his career with NASA. As a human-rating, systems engineering, and integration lead for the Orion crew module, he was an important part of the first Artemis 1 Space Launch System launch attempt at the Kennedy Space Center. He detailed his experiences working to prepare the Artemis 1 launch and his thoughts on the past and future of the space industry.

Lazarus Vekiarides was appointed to the Board of Directors for PerformLine, a provider of omni-channel marketing compliance software. He has over 20 years of experience in product engineering and has served in positions with Amazon Web Services, Google, and Dell. He also co-founded ClearSky Data, a data storage and management start-up and holds 10 patents in caching, storage, and encryption.

Deepthi Bathina joined SAIGroup as an operating partner and CEO-in-residence. SAIGroup, based in California, is a private investment firm focused on businesses with the potential to become leaders in enterprise artificial intelligence. According to the announcement, her role “will be responsible for building and launching a new customer-centric AI business applying SAIGroup’s advanced technologies and data-driven solutions to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs for payers and providers.” She is chair of the board of the Kerry Murphy Healey Center for Health Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Babson College, has held various leadership positions in the healthcare technology industry, and founded HealthTech Ventures.

Andrea Sullivan was named to Worcester Magazine’s 20 Women to Watch in 2023. She is deputy director of the Worcester Jewish Community Center (JCC), and also serves on the board of Women in Development of Central MA and the board of Friends of Wetherell Park. She said, “My goal for 2023 is to continue to lead the JCC professional team to recover from the immense impact COVID-19 had on our community center. Our membership and programming were devastated by the pandemic, and we are working tirelessly to regrow our community, diversify our programming offerings, and become stronger than we were before March 2020.”

Thomas Collins was promoted to Fastpath practice director at ProofID. He oversees a team of three engineers and a project manager to direct any and all clients that use ProofID to help them with their Fastpath solutions.

Jody Staruk is a 2022 recipient of the Ichabod Washburn Young Alumni Award for Professional Achievement. She has project management experience through her work at Consigli Construction and currently oversees a $25 million renovation of buildings at Tufts University, Boston College, and Eagle Hill School. She became Consigli’s first female project executive in 2017 and led the company’s first all-female team for a renovation project at the YWCA of Central Massachusetts.

Frances-Feliz Kearns was featured in an article by SouthCoast Today that discussed her work as director of engineering at Takeda Phamaceuticals and her involvement with Old Rochester Regional (ORR) School District’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Subcommittee. She talked about her experiences growing up as a woman of color and how she discovered an interest in the biomedical engineering field. She also connected the ORR district with WPI to bring grant funding to the district to purchase new robots and training for middle and high school students.

Jeff Stutzman was a panelist at NH Business Review’s webinar “How to Protect Your Business in the Current, Extreme Landscape of Cyber Threats.” He is the founder, CEO, and chief information security officer for Trusted Internet, a company that supervises virtual security for small, medium, and large companies. He has also worked for CISCO and Carnegie Mellon and has extensive experience with risk management, cyber investigations, and mergers & acquisitions in more than two dozen high-risk cyber threat areas around the world.

Tom Daly was interviewed by Jake Warner of Cycle Podcast in the episode “Simplifying Global Networks and Insights into Startup Investing.” He is the president and CEO at Big Network, a cloud-managed connectivity platform that works to connect people, places, clouds, and their devices anywhere. He formerly served as senior vice president of infrastructure at Fastly and cofounded Dyn, an Internet performance management and web application security company.

Michael McCann was promoted to CEO at Limbach Holdings, an integrated building systems solutions firm. Previously, he served as COO and executive vice president at Limbach. He said, “I am committed to continuing to build upon the company’s successes and leading the next chapter of Limbach.”

Pamela Lynch writes, “I am excited to announce that I am joining Aclarity as their Chief Operating Officer. We deliver innovative electrochemical systems, to eliminate cancerous chemicals and destroy PFAS forever, enabling clean water. As I reflect on the last six years at TPI Composites, I am extremely proud of all we have accomplished together. It is with mixed feelings that I am leaving TPI and moving on to the next chapter in my career.”

Greg Cole joined AiM Medical Robotics as Chief Technology Officer. AiM Medical Robotics is a leading developer of MRI-compatible intraoperative robotics for neurosurgery. His new position “will build and lead the teams of engineers and researchers that will develop and launch the company’s core MRI-compatible robotics platform,” according to the announcement. He has many years of experience in leadership roles in the medical devices and technology field. As a graduate student, he collaborated with WPI Professor Greg Fischer on research for interventional robotics and continues to develop the relationship between AiM and WPI’s PracticePoint, a state-of-the-art collaborative healthcare research facility.

Julie Mullen is a recipient of the Ichabod Washburn Young Alumni Award for Professional Achievement. She is the co-founder and CEO of Aclarity, a Massachusetts water technology start-up that develops and deploys patented wastewater treatment systems that cost-effectively destroy contaminants.

Dan Sullivan is a recipient of the John Boynton Young Alumni Award for Service to WPI. He is a development manager at WS Development, a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors and serves as treasurer of the Alumni Association.

Kathryn Gauthier is a recipient of the John Boynton Young Alumni Award for Service to WPI. She is a senior energy engineer at EBI Consulting, the chair of the Graduates of the Last Decade Committee, a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, and has served on the board’s finance and bylaws review committees.

Chris Walker is founder and CEO of Refine Labs, which received a $5 million investment from TIMIA Capital to help scale its growth and product development. The Boston-based company consults with venture-funded or private equity-funded SaaS companies and analyses new market needs and strategies for B2B marketing. Chris said, “We are really focused on how we deliver the right things for our customers. I believe that when you operate your business as if you’re not going to exit, you ironically end up being in the best position to exit at some point down the road.”

Raj Patel writes, “2022 has been a milestone year for me. I got married (shoutout to my lovely wife, Reshma) and we bought a new house together! A chapter has begun!”

KiJana Haney joined Arup’s fire team and process hazards, risk and compliance (PHRC) team, as fire and life safety consultant. Arup is dedicated to sustainable development and its offices span across the world.

Oat Tukaew joined STRATEG Consulting as a registered fire safety engineer. According to the company’s announcement, “Oat is passionate about working with stakeholders to provide simple, innovative solutions to challenging problems. In addition to a strong technical background, he also brings with him expertise from project management, mentorship, and business development.”

Yeejin Choi was featured in Design World’s “Spotlight on Women in Engineering” series. The article discussed her work as a test engineer at Allegro MicroSystems along with what motivated her to become an engineer—partly because of a program she participated in during her junior year in high school in Ghana (she is originally from Korea). She says, “The whole camp experience opened my eyes to envisioning and viewing the world from a different perspective, and my interest in science and technology was piqued.” Of her current position with Allegro, she says her job is to “test, develop, and debug newly designed products to ensure product capability and performance. I’ve worked on many great projects with brilliant teams.”

Amogh Raghunath was featured in an article by International Business Times that discussed his career in the data mining and analytics industry and the role of data engineering in organizations across the world. According to the article, he “designs detailed data platforms and uses Amazon Web Services to help support the business intelligence and marketing functions” in his current position. He has held various roles as a software engineer and data analyst at companies such as Modelytics and Red Hat. He is also a published writer for the Times of India and has peer-reviewed academic work in his field.

Emily Morra writes, “I’m happy to announce that this past fall I successfully defended my PhD thesis, Sterilization and Post Processing of Bioresorbable Polymers for Cardiovascular Stent Applications, at Queens University Belfast. Thank you to my supervisors, the BioImplantITN team, and everyone at Boston Scientific for this great experience!”

Jakub Kaminski (MRE) was featured in an article by SME for the humanitarian work he has done for Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. As project manager of the 3D Printing for Ukraine initiative, he works to bring much-needed tourniquets to the front lines in Ukraine. Due to a global shortage of tourniquets, he and his fellow volunteers set up resources for people around the world to produce the vital medical supply. “You do medical robotic research to plant a seed for the future,” he said. “But suddenly, in war time, you can use engineering skills to make a difference today.”

Daniel Pelaez was featured in a Boston Globe article that highlighted his work as the cofounder and CEO of Cyvl.ai, a company based in Somerville, Mass., that uses 3D software and artificial intelligence to help municipalities manage potholes and other infrastructure projects. He received support from MassVentures that funds tech start-ups with a focus on underserved founders and helping those founders turn research and early-stage innovations into viable commercial uses. His company has now partnered with civil engineering firms and its technology has been used in about 50 municipalities in the Northeast.

Jack Ruddat was featured in an article by The Trumbull Times for his work in searching for and identifying Connecticut’s oldest trees. Currently pursuing a master’s in theology at Holy Apostles College & Seminary in Cromwell, Conn., he has had a passion for trees from a young age. He often visits “old growth” forests to search for the oldest trees, taking samples from the tree to help discover its age. Some trees he has identified are more than 600 years old.

Stephanie Tam reports, “I am happy to announce I will continue my learning at Neuraxis, where I have accepted a full-time position as a biomedical engineer, and will be joining the team in developing a system for neuroprotection through localized hypothermia delivery. I am beyond excited for this opportunity to challenge my creativity and pursue my long-term dreams of designing medical devices. I look forward to seeing how my time as a WPI student these last four years will translate to yet another new and unfamiliar place in my life that I have yet to explore, and what new things I will learn and discover along the way.”