Spring 2023 AlumNotes

Florida Tech June 2, 2023

1970s

Phil Henderson ’74 welcomed his newest grandchild, Josephine Joy DiPietro, in November 2022.

Capt. Paris Michaels ’74 A.S., ’76, ’83 MBA, won a Distinguished Alumni Award from the Altoona Area High School Alumni Association.

Dale Pierce ’76 M.S. recently accepted a position as a custodial manager for a church in Melbourne.

Wayne “Larry” Dandridge ’77 M.S. was awarded South Carolina’s highest civilian honor, the Order of the Palmetto award, for his selfless service to veterans. The award is in recognition of a lifetime of extraordinary achievement, service and contributions on a national and statewide scale.

Eric Simon ’79 A.S. was featured in “Sewer Divers,” a new reality show on Discovery Channel. The episode follows his son’s company, Shoreline Diving Services, where he is also employed.

1980s

Glen Gates ’81 was appointed vice president of A321 freighter programs with Global Crossing Airlines.

Craig S. Fabrikant ’83 Psy.D. was elected president of the Florida Psychological Association.

David Jerome ’85 MBA wrote Bill Virdon: A Life in Baseball, a biography published by McFarland and Co. Inc. in February.

Bora Erbilen ’89, ’91 MBA, was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Russ A. Rasmussen ’89 M.S., ’90 Psy.D., in partnership with Jeff Sievertson, released a book titled Becoming One as Husband and Wife: A Self-help Novel.

Herb Raybourn ’89, ’91 M.S., was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Edward Thomas Jr. ’89 has been appointed dean of Auburn University’s College of Sciences and Mathematics.

1990s

John Aitken ’90 was honored by Silicon Valley Business Journal as one of “Silicon Valley’s Power 100” movers and shakers.

Robert Hansen ’91 accepted a new position as Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s lifting and handling director and was featured in Service to the Fleet magazine.

Lainey B. Richardson ’91 Psy.D. retired in June 2022 after 23 years with the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice. Richardson was the clinical director at Metro Regional Youth Detention Center.

Jeff Shaw ’92 was promoted to director of sales and marketing with ProStar Aviation.

Sidney W. Thurston III ’92 M.S., ’99 Ph.D., was appointed vice president of global science & technology at EarthX.

John Dean ’93 works as the vice president of strategic accounts in the western region for ABM Industries.

Corey Criswell ’94 M.S. joined Adeption as the chief leadership officer, Americas, after 25-plus years in leadership development roles at the Center for Creative Leadership and as director of executive development at Target.

Matthew B. Schabath ’98 has been named co-leader of the Cancer Epidemiology Program at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.

2000s

Laura Gatz ’00 works as a specialist for the Congressional Research Service and recently testified at a hearing before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

Anuk Weerasinghe ’02 was featured in CEO Magazine Sri Lanka, discussing his life and career as co-founder and managing director of Kasper Global (Pvt) Ltd.

Martha K. Williams ’03 Ph.D. was named chemical professional of the year by the American Chemical Society Orlando chapter.

Aaron Beldner ’04 M.S. was appointed CEO of Truity Credit Union in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Tim Lingo ’06 M.S. was appointed the human resources senior director for Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Defense Business Unit headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama.

Kelby Morgan ’06 is employed with MWI Pumps as a regional sales manager, working with representatives in various markets across the United States to help design and sell engineered industrial water pumps.

Amanda Minks ’08 recently accepted a project manager position with Burns and McDonnell, producing renewable fuels to enhance utility services for profitable and lasting portfolios.

Apryl Alexander ’09 M.S., ’12 Psy.D., was presented with an American Psychological Association Presidential Citation for her substantial contributions as an early-career psychologist.

Jacob Allenbaugh ’09 started his own business in 2008 while attending Florida Tech. Pusher Intakes, located in Vero Beach, Florida, has now expanded to a 10,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.

2010s

Hayley (Donner) Thomas ’11 and Benjamin Thomas ’13 B.S. welcomed their newest Panther cub, Vivian, to the family along with big brother Whitman and older sister Adelaide.

Kimberly Townsend ’11 and her husband welcomed their second child in February.

Zachary Miller ’12 created a startup company, Triton Anchor, focused on floating offshore wind anchoring systems to reduce the cost of energy and support the goals of a more sustainable future.

Adam Paulauskas ’12 recently returned from Europe, where he served as the logistics officer for the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine mission. He now works as the 254th Transportation Battalion’s personnel officer with the Florida Army National Guard.

Lt. Col. Drewry L. Brown ’13 M.S. recently retired from the U.S. Army after 26 years of service. He previously served as senior logistics officer for the U.S. military’s premier all hazards command.

Tom Sepanik ’14 M.S. started a new position as enterprise IT program manager within the chief information office at Northrop Grumman Corp.

Amar Bayasgalan ’16 has been appointed vice president of the Mongolian Association of State Alumni, the largest alumni association in Mongolia, from 2022 to 2024.

Ariana Tate ’16 recently joined a new project supporting the National Cancer Institute within the National Institutes of Health at Booz Allen Hamilton. She is responsible for documenting and assessing software requirements for the engineering team.

Joemarie Reid ’17 has joined Kemp, Ruge and Green Law Group as a litigation associate in Tampa, Florida.

Sam Boyd ’18, ’20 M.S., is a relator with Dale Sorensen Real Estate and loves to help Florida Tech students, alumni and people from all over the world experience Melbourne.

John Breen ’18 works for Jacobs, supporting NASA’s Artemis 1 mission, a flight test for the Orion capsule to eventually return humans to the moon.

Paige Carlton ’18 was promoted to senior systems engineer at Medtronic. She was also awarded the Medtronic Medallion to celebrate her second anniversary with the company and her work on the Hugo™ robotic-assisted surgery System.

Colt Cusson ’18 recently became a senior operations manager at Goodbay Technologies, where he is managing clients and operations in Bangalore, India.

Sergio Ramirez ’18 MBA has accepted a promotion as business manager for lab service at University of Florida Health. He and his wife, Hillary, are expecting their first child this summer.

Jean Richelieu ’18 M.S. will be serving as a senior logistician and analyst, providing advice and assistance to Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps and non-Department of Defense representatives on their troop-support requirements.

Diana Niglio ’19 A.S., ’20, recently joined the Law Offices of the Public Defender, 20th Judicial Circuit, as IT help desk technician tier 2.

2020s

Joseph Moore ’20 was promoted to captain on a Citation CJ3 with Silver Air Private Jets.

Jesus Aviles ’21 started a new position with KPMG LLP as a supply chain and operations consultant.

Zachary Behlok ’21 A.S., ’22 A.A., took on the role of vice president at The Lawn Chair Philosophy Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating out of Philadelphia that aims to make academic philosophy more accessible.

Alyssa Headlee ’21 started a new position as a software developer at Captivea U.S.

Alexandra Yates ’21 was promoted to outside sales representative for H&E Equipment Services in Malabar, Florida.

Veronica Alvarado ’22 MBA was promoted to senior integrated program planner at Lockheed Martin Corp.

Cherrise Ficke ’22 was awarded the prestigious RADM Fred Lewis I/ITSEC Postgraduate Scholarship. She is set to graduate with her master’s degree in spring from Florida Tech.

Segovia Goodin ’22 MBA was promoted to electro-mechanical engineer senior at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, working on the next leading technology to defend our nation.

Ariana Lutsic ’22 M.S. started working at NanoRacks as a mission manager at Kennedy Space Center.