College announces COE alumni award honorees

An elite engineer instrumental in transforming the Olay brand into a $2.5 billion powerhouse; a world leader in climate change research; and a strategic business leader who has held leadership positions at Medronic and Advanced Sterilization Products are among the 16 recipients honored with 2021 Excellence in Engineering and Architecture Alumni Awards.

The honors recognize exceptional alumni from across the College of Engineering who have achieved distinction in their fields or through their extraordinary service contributions since graduating from The Ohio State University. A celebration of the 2021 winners will be held in 2022.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate these 16 exceptional alumni and their achievements in innovation, scholarship, leadership and service,” said Dean Ayanna Howard. “These Buckeyes not only inspire us and make us proud, they also illustrate how engineers, architects and planners benefit society and improve our world.”

The top three awards were the Benjamin G. Lamme Meritorious Achievement Medal, awarded to Nancy Coultrip Dawes (BS ’81, chemical engineering), a rare cross-disciplinary serial innovator and business builder recognized by Procter & Gamble as one of their most elite technologists. During her 38-year career at P&G, Dawes developed multiple industry-defining products that materially transformed P&G’s business results across Duncan Hines, Pringles, Olay, and Head and Shoulders.

Other awardees were Minnie M. McGee (MS ’76, mathematics) who has dedicated her life to providing access and opportunity to students as COE assistant dean director of the Minority Engineering Program, receiving the Meritorious Service Citation, and Carlos Castro (BS ’05, MS ’05, mechanical engineering), professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Ohio State, who received the Texnikoi Outstanding Alumni Award. 

Thirteen alumni will receive Distinguished Alumni Awards for outstanding professional achievement in three distinct categories.

Distinguished Alumni Award for Academic Excellence

Ah-Hyung (Alissa) Park (PhD ’05, chemical and biomolecular engineering) is the Lenfest Earth Institute Professor of Climate Change, and chair of earth and environmental engineering at Columbia University. She studies the sustainable conversion of energy sources and the development of carbon capture and storage technologies. Her research is advancing efforts to capture carbon dioxide from emissions and sustainably dispose of it.

• Santosh Kumar (MS ’02, computer and information science; PhD ’06, computer science and engineering) also received the award, which celebrates his cutting-edge research in artificial intelligence for wearables
• Nadine Sarter (PhD ’94, industrial and systems engineering), a National Academy of Engineering (NAE) member and Richard W. Pew Collegiate Professor in Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan won the award for her research on cognitive systems and interfaces that support safe and effective human-robot interaction and human-machine teaming.

Distinguished Alumni Award for Career Achievement

Experienced strategic business leader and technical innovator Aisha Barry (BS ’95, chemical engineering) is president of Advanced Sterilization Products, a global leader in infection prevention. She is also a member of the Kaman Corporation Board of Directors and national vice chair of the Jeremiah Program, a nonprofit that helps families transform from poverty to prosperity.

• Jacqueline H. Chen (BS ’81, mechanical engineering), an NAE member and a senior scientist at Sandia National Laboratories’ Combustion Research Facility, was recognized for her research contributions in turbulent combustion elucidating turbulence-chemistry interactions.  
• Innovator William (Bill) L. Clippard III (BS ’63, mechanical engineering), retired president of Clippard Instrument Laboratory, was honored for his 50 years of leadership that made the company a world leader in miniature pneumatics.
• Donald R. Graber (BS ’66, ceramic engineering), retired chairman and chief executive officer of Huffy Corporation, was previously group president of Black & Decker’s worldwide international group, president of Black & Decker Canada and vice president of manufacturing for seven global facilities at General Electric.
• Nationally recognized architect, mentor and educator Timothy Hawk (BS ’86, MS ’89, architecture) establishes knowledge exchange programs for architects and allied professionals and leads WSA, an interdisciplinary design studio in Columbus, Ohio. 
• Indian National Academy of Engineering member Shivkumar (Shiv) Kalyanaraman (MS ’94, PhD ’97, computer and information science) has had a successful, multi-faceted career as both an educator and industry leader. Currently he is CTO, Energy & Mobility, with Microsoft R&D India.
• Entrepreneurial engineer Ed Smariga (BS ’72, civil engineering) is the founder and managing member of Buckeye Development, a commercial and residential land development corporation in Frederick, Maryland.  

Distinguished Alumni Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

• Janet Braun (BS ’82, industrial and systems engineering; JD ’85), is the chief operating officer and general counsel for HBT Labs, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company in Brea, California. Previously, she co-founded and served as VP and general counsel for Brightside Innovations—now Bio-Up Mimetic Technologies—a technology-based, consumer products startup company.
• Rakesh Gupta (BS ’83, electrical engineering) is CEO of KiwiTech, a software development company he co-founded with his siblings, and managing partner of KiwiVenture, a venture capital seed fund. Previously he co-founded Aptara, a 5,000-employee technology services company acquired in 2012 for $144 million.
• As CTO for Redwire, Michael Snyder (BS ’09, MS ’11, aeronautical and astronautical engineering) leads the space infrastructure company’s R&D program. Previously, he co-founded Made In Space, which grew to be the leader of in-space manufacturing technology, and led its engineering efforts until it was acquired by Redwire.