College Honors Renowned Alumni

The designer of every Olympic Training Center in the U.S., a pioneer in air traffic safety systems and a top engineer in the oil and gas industry were among alumni honored at today’s Excellence in Engineering & Architecture Alumni Awards at the College of Engineering.

The Benjamin G. Lamme Meritorious Achievement Medal, the college’s premier award, was presented to innovator and businessman Paul Ryan, a 1956 electrical engineering graduate. Ryan in the 1970s developed a weather mapping system called the Ryan Stormscope for pilots and in 1981 established Ryan International Corp. to continue improvement of flight safety. His Traffic Advisory System, which generates a map of aircraft traffic up to 50 miles away for pilot viewing, is used in thousands of aircraft today. In 2005, Ryan, of Dublin, Ohio, sold his company, which merged with Avidyne Corp., a leading producer of avionics.

Gregory N. Washington, interim dean of the College of Engineering, presented the medal and other awards at today’s ceremony.

“It’s often that I can look out at our students and say I feel very, very good about our future,” Washington told the awardees. “But you represent our past, you represent our present, and you represent a big part of that future. Thank you for that partnership.”

Among the awardees was Elliot B. Ross, who received the Meritorious Service Citation for his support of the college as a member of the Strategy Council, advising Washington on college matters. Ross, a Cleveland resident, is co-founder of The MFL Group, a consulting firm that for the past 10 years has assisted clients in developing and implementing profitable growth strategies. Selected by Inc. magazine as a “Regional Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year,” Ross has been a partner and head of McKinsey & Co., president and director of State Industrial Products; director and COO of Essef Corp.; and founder of Inverness Partners. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in welding engineering from Ohio State in 1969.

Recipients of this year’s Distinguished Alumni Awards are:

• Lydia Bock, M.S. 1979, civil engineering, who is president and CEO of Geodetics Inc. in San Diego. Prior to founding Geodetics, she worked more than 30 years in industries including electronics, semiconductors and telecommunications in the commercial and defense sectors.


• Dr. William J. Dupps Jr., M.S. 1998, biomedical engineering, holds appointments in ophthalmology, biomedical engineering and transplantation at Cleveland Clinic and is an adjunct associate professor at Case Western Reserve University.


• Harry W. Ebert, B.S. 1948, welding engineering, a member of Ohio State’s first graduating class of welding engineers, has been a practicing engineer for more than 50 years, including more than 30 at Exxon. He has consulted and taught in 22 countries while continuing his work on various research subjects and engineering projects involving pressure vessels for the oil and chemistry industry and for super tankers, cranes, power shovels and piping systems.


• Brian K. Hajek, M.S. 1972, nuclear engineering, is president of Nuclear Education Training Services Inc., providing training and technical services to the nuclear industry. An administrative judge for the nation’s Atomic Safety and licensing Board Panel, he is on a board for an in-situ leach uranium mine in Nebraska and a technical team evaluating the safety of Yucca Mountain. He is a retired Ohio State senior research engineer who established nuclear engineering minor programs at Ohio State, Wilberforce and Central State universities.


• Julie A. Hartigan, M.S. 1989 and Ph.D. 1994, computer and information science, is chief technology officer of federal programs for Expert System USA, a world leader in semantic software, which discovers, classifies and interprets text information. In previous positions with Autonomy Inc., she made an impact in organizations such as the CIA, NSA, Secret Service, New York Stock Exchange and United Nations.


• Kathleen Applegate Hogenson, B.S. 1982, chemical engineering, is president, CEO and founder of Zone Energy LLC and sits on the advisory board for Samsung Oil & Gas USA Corp.


• Victor D. Irelan, B.S. 1957, civil engineering, is owner and chairman of Dublin Building Systems, which focuses on office, medical and retail projects. He helped create the college’s Construction Internship Program.


• Sam Lee, M.S. 1972 and Ph.D. 1974, electrical engineering, is a managing director of Fina Ventures, an international venture fund investing in technology companies. Earlier in his career, he served in executive positions at Global Communication semiconductors, NeoPad Technologies, Fairchild Semiconductor International, Raytheon Semiconductors, TRW LSI Product Division, Motorola and AMCC.


• John Makhoul, M.S. 1965, electrical engineering, is a chief scientist at BBN technologies, where he works on various aspects of speech and language processing and is the director of the science development program.


• Lisa A. McCauley, B.S. 1979, aeronautical and astronautical engineering, is vice president and operations manager for Battelle’s Applied Research and Laboratory Operations, leading the company’s efforts to provide chemical, materials and biomedical science solutions supporting our national security.


• Thad R. Perry, B.S. 1967, integrated systems engineering, is an expert and thought leader in corporate strategy and transformation, having worked as an executive consultant with Accenture for 32 years. A certified public accountant, for the last several years he has been an angel investor, entrepreneur and strategic advisor to senior executives and board members. He is co-partner of the Chetwood Group and founding board member of The Private Bank of Ohio, which is in the process of forming.


• Saeid Rahimian, M.S. 1982, mechanical engineering, is Robbins and Myers’ corporate vice president and president of its Fluid Management Group. He serves on the board of directors of Petroleum Suppliers Association and board chairman for Dalian Moyno Pump Co. Ltd.


• Guy-Michel Raynaud, Ph.D. 1982, metallurgical engineering, is director of technology networks at Alcan Engineered Products and manages the Voreppe Research Center, the largest European research center dedicated to aluminum transformation.


• Ajit K. Srivastava, Ph.D. 1972, agricultural engineering, is professor and chair of the Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department at Michigan State University. He has applied his expertise in understanding and developing machinery systems in food production, post-harvest and processing operations and holds two patents.


• W. Kenneth Wiseman, B.S. 1976 and M.S. 1978, architecture, is president of professional services at Cannon Design, an international architecture and engineering firm. One of the country’s premier architectural designers, he designed every Olympic Training Center in the U.S. and is working on facilities for the 2015 Pan-American Games in Toronto.


• Patrick Y. Yang, Ph.D. 1975, electrical engineering and computer science, is executive vice president and global head of technical operations of Roche Pharmaceuticals, based in Basel, Switzerland, where he is responsible for the company’s worldwide biopharmaceutical manufacturing operations, process research and development, engineering, regulatory, quality and compliance, supply chain management and manufacturing collaboration functions.

Read more about the awards and past awardees online.