1970s
Michael Ray ’76 retired after 49 years working in pharmaceutical-related industries. Ray, pictured with his two grandsons at their family Independence Day event, continues to be involved in soccer as both a fan and coach of his local club on Amelia Island.
Sabrina Kipp ’78 A.S. assisted in teaching Florida Tech student Dennis Coyne in the pursuit of his SIC type rating in North American B-25J Mitchell “Panchito” with the Delaware Aviation Museum Foundation, which he successfully earned.
Robert “Andrew” Abernathy ’79, ’79, recently celebrated his third year of retirement in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, after 42 years of work in the aerospace field. His career highlights include STS-1 through 5 Launch Team at NASA-Kenndy Space Center (MMC ET Ops), Spacelab-1 through Astro-1 Payload Processing at KSC (MDTSCO), International Space Station proposal through Integration Testing (PMAs 1-3 and MT Test Director) at HB & KSC (MDC/Boeing), and supporting integration testing of a variety of satellites at El Segundo (Boeing).
1980s
Andrew Malek ’86 joined Dewberry as a business unit manager in the firm’s New York City office. In his new role, Malek provides strategic management across the community facilities, education, energy, federal, real estate and commercial development, transportation, water and risk, response and recovery market segments.
Sandra Cheung ’88 was included in Marquis Who’s Who in September 2025. Notably, Cheung founded AImpowered, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating people on safe and effective AI use.
1990s
Peter Barile ’90, ’93 M.S., ’01 Ph.D., a senior scientist at Marine Research & Consulting Inc. in Melbourne, was featured in Jake Tapper’s April CNN news story on the Indian River Lagoon. The news story featured Barile’s work on the Indian River Lagoon as an expert witness in a U.S. District Court case on the lagoon’s seagrass and manatee die off. As featured in the national news story, Barile’s expert testimony resulted in a landmark Endangered Species Act federal court victory.
2000s
Melissa Meisenburg ’05 M.S., a senior environmental specialist in Indian River County’s Natural Resources-Lagoon Division, received the Lagoon Champion Award from the Clean Water Coalition of Indian River County during a county commissioner meeting in September 2025.
Gavin Fahnestock ’06 has joined McFarland Johnson as regional planning manager in its Aviation Division. Fahnestock will be based in Melbourne and will focus on MJ’s growing airport and aviation consulting practice in the southeastern United States.
Kevin Luke ’08 reunited with his fellow College of Aeronautics alumni and Tau Kappa Epsilon brothers in Boston in October 2025.
2010s
Mark Greene ’11 M.S. recently co-authored The Silence of Sapphire, a 40-chapter thriller created through an unprecedented international collaboration with writers from Madagascar, Italy and Jamaica.
Gael Le Bris ’11 MSA co-led a research project focused on enhancing airport access with emerging mobility, along with contributors and fellow Panthers Karla Medina ’22 and Joshua Sattan ’24 MSA. Their team was recognized by WSP, a leading engineering and professional services firm, with a Global Excellence Award in Technical Excellence for their work on aircraft innovation and airport compatibility.
Jackie Griffin ’12, ’13 MBA, broker-owner of Florida Lifestyle Realty in Cocoa Beach and the 2026 president of the Space Coast Association of Realtors, was recently recognized as one of only 44 realtors statewide to earn the Florida Realtors Board Certified Professional endorsement— placing her among the top 0.1% of real estate professionals in the state. This distinction acknowledges her exceptional expertise, ethical leadership and dedication to serving Florida’s Space Coast community.
John Robertson ’13 and his wife, Ellie, welcomed their daughter, Lucy Ann, Aug. 27, 2025. Robertson is Florida Tech Alumni Association executive board secretary and works for Boeing as a technical lead engineer focusing on solar array and battery design and analysis.
Kevin Thompson ’13 received the Florida Airports Council Aviation Leadership Award, a prestigious recognition of his outstanding contributions to the aviation industry.
Melissa Chapman ’15 started a new role as the intellectual property manager for Emergent BioSolutions Inc., where she manages and enforces the patent and trademark portfolio for the company’s commercial and medical countermeasure products.
Katherine (Hausrath) Roof ’17 and Matthew Roof ’17 were married March 14, 2025. Their ceremony was officiated by a fellow Florida Tech alumnus, and in attendance were eight alumni friends from their time on campus.
Chad Spencer ’19 and Gregory Dunn ’22 flew together out of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in August 2025. The two were roommates when they attended Florida Tech.
2020s
Kenneth Hausrath ’20 works as a nanofabrication engineer in the semiconductor and photonics industries. He has spent time in the field at Los Alamos Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, University of Pennsylvania’s Singh Center for Nanotechnology, Meta Reality Labs and SkyWater Technology, supporting equipment used in advanced thin film technology development.
Anne Hamelin ’21 graduated with her degree in meteorology after securing a job as a meteorologist and finished the remainder of her coursework online. A few years into Hamelin’s television meteorology job, she realized her communication skills and attention to detail could better serve her community as a police officer. With her first year on patrol completed, she’s thankful that life didn’t go the way she had originally expected.
Andrea Chavez ’22 and Zachary Paul ’19 were married in July 2025. The couple met in fall 2018 on Florida Tech’s Street Dance Club. What was first a very close friendship slowly developed into unconditional love. Their wedding was filled with love, family and fellow Panthers.
Elijah Rines ’22 returned to Florida Tech as a full-time staff member in spring 2024 and started living on campus as a staff-in-residence coordinator for the first-year living learning communities in Roberts Hall.
Kristen Becker ’24 Ph.D. was promoted to environmental manager within the Coastal Engineering and Geology Group in the Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection in April 2025. Previously, she worked at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as an engineering specialist III, reviewing permits, site plans, surveys and applications for all beach projects around the state for the Beaches, Inlets and Ports Program.
Jock Botos ’24 graduated from Florida Tech in May 2024 and started working as a surveyor for the American Bureau of Shipping. Through this opportunity, he has moved to Accra in West Africa, where he will reside for the next three years.
Deztynee Bryan ’25 was awarded the 2025 American Meteorological Society Graduate Fellowship.
This piece was featured in the winter 2026 edition of Florida Tech Magazine.
