Class Notes
Since the first course in mechanical engineering was introduced in 1880, over 3,600 CSU Mechanical Engineering undergraduate and graduate degrees have been conferred.
We are pleased to share our graduates' accomplishments and invite you to send us your updates including photos to mech@engr.colostate.edu.
1960-1969
Ed Denham ('67) is in his 8th year as pastor of the Spirit of Joy United Methodist Church serving a large area of Pinal County, Arizona. He still practices as a licensed mechanical and electrical engineer in Colorado, Arizona and Califonia. He and wife, Jane, have 10 grandchildren, two of which live with them.
Stephen Light ('68) along with his wife, Carolyn, and the Flow International Board of Directors, rang the closing bell of the NASDAQ stock exchange on April 11, 2006. This honor came as the result of Flow's turnaround during Mr. Light's tenure over the past three years. Additionally, Mr. Light was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the Pacific Northwest in November 2005.
Rodney Wickwar ('68) currently lives in Leawood, Kansas, with his wife Susie and daughter Michelle. He is the co-owner of Finite Engineering Associates 3D, LLC (FEA3D) a consulting engineering firm with expertise in the design of mobile equipment providing engineering, design and drafting services.
1970-1979
David Robinson ('77) retired from the Air Force as a tenured Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering and is now a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff at Sandia National Labs in New Mexico. His research focuses on controlling uncertainty in the design and operation of complex systems with projects ranging from renewable energy systems to his current efforts on the Mars Science Laboratory. Dave has also coached his high school rugby team to two state championships and a Union championship. He and his wife, Joyce (Computer Science '76) have two daughters and will soon be empty nesters as they head off to college.
Steven Jackson ('79) is living and working in Lakewood, Colorado, as the Manager and Chief Investigator of the Intelligence Unit for the Law Enforcement Group at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation which provides threat information for infrastructure protection. He is also detailed to the FBI - Joint Terrorist Task Force and a two-term chairman of the Interagency Forum on Infrastructure Protection.
Donald Putzier, MD ('79) continues to work as a pediatrician at the Mankato Clinic in Minnesota, and stays active in volunteer efforts with his wife, Stephanie ('79) an internist at the Clinic. They have two children: Eddie (14) and Leslie (12).
1980-1989
Darren Dasburg, PE ('81) launched his own company, Cinteger LLC, an engineering management company after twenty five years at executive level positions. He is also a partner with Cerventis LLC, focused on cutting-edge electronic designs for niche needs such as infant monitoring and a board member of the Tammy Lynn Center, a facility that supports developmentally disabled children and adults in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Scott Kittinger ('81) works for Rocketdyne, a division of Boeing, and manages several teams that control software for the main engine computer and health management for the engine systems of the Space Shuttle Main Engine project.
Doug Finnefrock ('83) resides in Littleton, Colorado, with his wife, Peggy, and their three sons: Devin (4), Braedon (2) and newborn Ethan. He is currently an IT project manager in J2EE object-oriented web application development, analysis and design for the Bureau of Reclamation in Denver, Colorado.
William Brennan ('88) presently manages a global water mutual fund based in Luxemburg and is the Managing Director of Equities for Boenning & Scattergood, located in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
1990-1999
Robert Jones ('92) lives in Austria with wife Veronika and their three children: Laura (8), Vincent (6) and Linda (3). He works at Stadler Altenrhein AG, a general contractor for rail vehicles, as a technical project engineer since 1997.
David Chung-Ching Ng ('93) is currently the business development manager of a new branch office in Beijing China, that designs and manufacures hydrocyclones and slurry pumps.
Jason Fender ('94) and his wife Kerri live in Chandler, Arizona, with their two boys, Cayman (6) and Caleb (3). Jason works at Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., in the integration and yield enhancement engineering group at the GaAs fab located in Tempe, Arizona.
Brad Nolan ('94) is working as a Senior Manager of Global Support Services at Oracle Corporation. Brad joined JD Edwards / PeopleSoft after graduation from CSU in 1994; these companies combined with Oracle this year. He is enjoying living in Denver with his partner Eric, and they are busy traveling in their free time as Eric is now working for Frontier Airlines.
Justin Caruso ('99) is a mechanical engineer with the Department of Defense at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in the nuclear submarine and surface craft maintenance division.
Kimi Ceridon ('99) continued her education at MIT on an NSF Fellowship and received her Master's degree. She is currently working as a Project Engineer and Laboratory Manager for Lytron Incorporated located in Massachusetts. Lytron designs thermal management products for military, medical, electronics and industry.
Cyndi Ketzenberger ('99) is a value engineer in the Continuous Improvement Department for Johnson Controls Automotive Group located in Holland, Michigan. She and husband, Brent, have three children: Reegan (4), Hadley (3) and Braden (1).
Matthew Miceli ('99) and wife Kari ('99) reside in Las Vegas, New Mexico, with their two children: Maci (2) and Braden (1). Matthew is a sales engineer and waterside manager with Engineered Equipment & Systems Company.
Aaron Pankonin ('99) works for Austin Commercial, a construction management company from Dallas, Texas, currently managing the commissioning program for the Miami International Airport project.
2000-2009
Abdulrahman Ahmed Alansari, PE ('00) is a supply chain planner for Equate Petrochemical company in Safat, Kuwait. His work involves feasibility studies of simulation modeling and his current interests include linear programming of economic evaluations.
James Kulken ('00) lives with wife Kristin (Andrud) ('99) in Farmington, Michigan and works for DaimlerChrysler in suspension design for body on frame vehicles He is also currently pursuing his Masters degree in product development from the University of Detroit at Mercy.
Brad and Elizabeth Loyd ('00) recently purchased the franchise rights to Taco Del Mar and opened two restaurants in Fort Collins. They have received tremendous local support and welcome all to stop by, say hello and try a fish taco!
Jordan Smith ('01) currently resides in Houston, Texas, with his wife, Lindsay. He received a recent promotion to Design Engineer III at Cameron Compression Systems and is now in charge of several new product developments as well as one of their Cooper Bessemer test engines at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas.
Seth Gregg ('03) recently relocated from the Synchrotron Facility at Cornell University (Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source or CHESS) to Pioneer Engineering in Fort Collins, Colorado. He currently works as a design and vibration analysis consultant.
Leslie Beu (Siemens) ('03) is an energy engineer with Siemens Building Technologies in Littleton, Colorado. Leslie married Jason Beu ('03) in November 2005.
Steve Brandl ('04) is an Engine Application Engineer at Woodward Governor in Loveland, Colorado. His work includes engine emissions control calibration and customer support.
Nicolas Ferrington ('04) is employed as an Orbiter Mechanisms Engineer with United Space Alliance located at the Kennedy Space Center. Nic and his wife Katie Ford (also a CSU grad and currently pursuing a doctorate at the University of St. Augustine) reside in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Michael Schultze ('04) is a material specialist in the Piping Department of Washington Group International located in Denver, Colorado.
Nick Smith ('04) is a Mechanical Design Engineer with Samson Design located in Boulder, Colorado.
Vijay Surla ('04) is continuing his education here at CSU in the Ph.D. program in mechanical engineering. He is working on developing a laser-based diagnostic to characterize erosion rate in ion thrusters under the guidance of Dr. Azer Yalin which will be implemented on a real-time thruster at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL).
Dennis Schmitt ('05) started a new job with EnCana Oil & Gas in January, 2006. As a reservoir engineer, Dennis is involved in the exploration and production of natural gas in Colorado within the South Rockies Business Unit.
Sean Sullivan ('05) lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and enjoys his work as a mechanical engineer at Plasmon LMS. His girlfriend of 3 years, Melissa Bittinger, also a CSU graduate (speech communication) resides in Colorado Springs as well
John Beck ('06) is in Baltimore, Maryland, and after coursework at Johns Hopkins University, will teach high school math in a “high need” high school in Maryland this fall.
Chris Grapsas ('06) works as a product design engineer for the DATUM Turbo Products section of Dresser-Rand located in New York.