CECS distinguished alumni are our shining stars
Every year, CECS recognizes and honors distinguished alumni for their remarkable professional contributions and their dedication to the college and UCF. The University of Central Florida was established in the spirit that if we reach for the stars, dreams come true.
Meet the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients
Rana Riad
Class of ’14 ’15MS
Owner and COO, RAR Management Consulting
Debra Reinhart, Ph.D.
Class of ’76
Associate Vice President for Research and Scholarship, UCF
Yaser Sheikh
Class of ’05MS, ’06PhD
Director of Research, Facebook Reality Labs
Randy Morgan
Class of ’85
Founder and CEO, Innovative Systems and Mission Solutions LLC
Mark Calabrese
Class of ’78, ’79MS
Faculty member, UCF Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
Nidhi Bhardwa
Class of ’05MS
Senior Project Manager, Bristol Myers Squibb
Scott Keller
Class of ’08, ’09MS, ’13PhD
Director of Engineering, Doosan Turbomachinery Services
Past Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients
UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science
2011 – Benjamin Patz ’85MS
2012 – Oscar Rodriguez ’86
2013 – Vinod Philip ’00MS
2014 – Angel Ruiz ’78
2015 – Ian Ippolito ’93
2016 – Dr. Arun Ramaswamy ’92MS ’94PhD
2018 Spring – Dr. Ankush Oberai ’83 ’18PhD
2018 Fall – Frank A. St. John ’87 ’91MS
Ad Astra Awardees
2015 – Jason Dunn ’07 ’09MS
2016 – Justin Corini ’09
Dept. of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering
2013 – Dr. Tyng-Lin Yang ’92PhD
2014 – David Mulholland ’93
2018 Spring – Jeremy Dilmore ’02 ’05MS
2018 Fall – Dr. Anurag Pande ’03MS ’05PhD
2019 – Denver Stutler, Jr. ’87, ’89MS
Dept. of Computer Science
2012 – Jay Hackett ’87 ’89MS
2013 – Dr. Robert Franceschini ’92MS ’99PhD
2014 – Craig Miller ’89MS
2018 Spring – Dan Schiappa ’87-’90
2018 Fall – Dr. Kathryn Kinsley ’79MS ’83PhD
2019 – John Stevens ’96
Dean’s Award
2018 – Dr. Martin Wanielista
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
2012 – Brian Crutcher ’95
2013 – Dr. Richard Hull ’93MS ’96PhD
2014 – Terence Murphy ’85 ’89MS
2018 Spring – Dr. Shamik Sengupta ’07PhD
2018 Fall – Herb Gingold ’91 ’14MBA
2019 – Philip Dumas ’05
Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
2012 – Dr. Adedeji Badiru ’84PhD
2013 – LTC Gregory Fortier ’06MS
2014 – Dr. Thomas O’Neal ’96MS ’96MBA ’05PhD
2018 Spring – Amanda Mitskevich ’92MS
2018 Fall – Dr. Lucy Morse ’82MS ’87PhD
2019 – Tandreia Bellamy ’98MS
Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
2014 – Ajay Kale ’99MS
2018 Spring – Dr. Petya Georgieva Fernlund ’06PhD
2018 Fall – Dr. David Reid ’12PhD
2019 – Dr. Catherine Kammerer ’13MS, ’15PhD
Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
2012 – Joanne Puglisi ’73
2013 – Dr. Daniel Rini ’95 ’97MS ’00PhD
2014 – Paul Mirabella ’75MS
2018 Spring – Zachary Quandt ’84
2018 Fall – Mark Blue ’89 ’08MS ’10MBA
2019 – Michael Piatek ’02, ’05MBA