Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award
Established in 1966, the Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Engineering and recognizes graduates who have reached exceptional levels of professional achievement.
2024 Recipients
Bob Chylak
Electrical Engineering
Bob Chylak, chief technology officer and senior vice president of central engineering for Kulicke and Soffa Industries (K&S), is responsible for worldwide research and development and engineering for K&S assembly equipment. Since graduating from Penn State with his bachelor of science in electrical engineering in 1980, Chylak has held various roles with K&S for 40 years including wire bonding engineer, equipment development director, and vice president of process engineering.
Chylak is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Heterogeneous Integration Roadmap Committee, iNEMI Roadmap Committee, and the Penn State School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Industrial and Professional Advisory Council.
Chylak lives in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
Robert C. Doeffinger
Architectural Engineering
As principal/chair for ZMM, Inc. Architects and Engineers, Robert C. Doeffinger oversees the firm’s engineering and corporate management.
Doeffinger started his career at Point Pleasant Federal Savings and Loan as a technical consultant before joining Zando Martin and Milstead, Inc. in 1976 as a project engineer. In 1983, Doeffinger became principal/owner of ZMM, Inc. Architects and Engineers.
Doeffinger is a registered professional engineer in 13 states. He has served on the board of directors for Point Pleasant Federal Savings and Loan for 20 years and as an elected city council member in Point Pleasant, West Virginia for 25 years. He is a life member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers, where he is also a chair of the Technical Committee TC 4.1 Load Calculations Data and Procedures: Perform Research, Provide Methods of Calculations for HVAC Load Calculations, Write National Standards.
He is a member of the Penn State Department of Architectural Engineering’s Industrial and Professional Advisory Council. He was honored with an Award of Distinction from Marshall University in 2019.
Doeffinger earned his bachelor of science in mechanical engineering in 1973 from West Virginia University and his master of science in architectural engineering in 1976 from Penn State. He currently resides in Charleston, West Virginia.
Walter M. Everetts
Aerospace Engineering
Walter M. Everetts, former vice president, Space and Ground Services at Iridium LLC, was responsible for all space and ground operations and maintenance, software/hardware development, and new service initiatives to support delivery of communication services to the company’s consumer community until his recent retirement in December 2023.
Everetts joined Iridium in 2008 as executive director of Satellite Operations, leading constellation management. He also served as vice president of Satellite Operations and Space Engineering, leading satellite and teleport network operations, maintenance, and enhancements. Prior to joining Iridium, Everetts held multiple positions with Motorola and Lockheed Martin Astro Space, where he began his career in 1986 as an integration and test staff engineer.
He has served as a member of the Penn State Department of Aerospace Engineering Industrial and Professional Advisory Council since 2020.
Everetts holds a bachelor of science in aerospace engineering from Penn State. He resides in Fountain Hills, Arizona.
Donald F. Heaney
Engineering Science
Donald F. Heaney is the president and CEO of Advanced Powder Products, Inc. As the company’s founder and technical executive specializing in metal powder processing, Heaney builds and leads teams of diverse people to accomplish business and technical objectives.
Prior to his current role, Heaney served as an associate professor at Penn State, where he directed laboratory and contract research for the Center for Innovative Sintered Products. Earlier in his career, Heaney worked as a principal engineer for Zimmer Biomet and senior process development engineer for 3M.
He is a member of the American Society of Materials (ASM), formerly known as the American Society for Metals, and the Metal Powder Industries Federation and has served on the Penn State Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics Industrial and Professional Advisory Council since 2023.
Heaney has been honored with several awards including the 2012 Moshannon Valley Economic Development Partnership Entrepreneur of the Year Award and an ASM Fellow in 2021. He was named as the Ben Franklin Big Business Plan Contest Winner in 2000, and his company has been included on the 2016-23 editions of Inc. 5000’s fastest growing company list.
A Schreyer Honors College alumnus, Heaney holds a bachelor of science and master of science in engineering science, and a doctoral degree in material science and engineering, all from Penn State. He is a registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania and resides in Port Matilda, Pennsylvania.
Rachel Heidenreich
Mechanical Engineering
Rachel Heidenreich retired in 2019 as vice president of quality and continuous improvement from Rockwell Automation, where she was responsible for global product quality. Prior to joining Rockwell Automation in 2008, Heidenreich held several leadership roles with Delphi, Delphi Delco Electronics, and the Packard Electric Division of General Motors.
Heidenreich serves as a co-chair on the Kent State College of Engineering Advisory Council and holds numerous church roles. Her Penn State service includes Industrial and Professional Advisory Council (IPAC) member, vice-chair, and chair roles for the Department of Mechanical Engineering and IPAC co-chair for the College of Engineering, a role she currently holds.
Heidenreich holds a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Penn State and an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia.
She lives in Novelty, Ohio.
Arian Hushyar Van de Carr
Computer Science
Arian Hushyar Van de Carr serves as the vice president of product management – data cloud at Salesforce.com, where she most recently led the launch of the Platform Data Cloud SKU including customer awareness and internal enablement of Salesforce’s first data management solution. She has held several leadership positions since joining Salesforce.com in 2010 including vice president of product management-trailhead and sales enablement; senior director of product management-CPQ and billing; director of M&A integration; senior product manager-platform cloud; and senior IT product manager, mergers, and acquisitions.
Hushyar Van de Carr’s career spans 22 years. Before joining Salesforce in 2010, she served as senior managing consultant at IBM Global Business Services/PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting.
She co-founded an Iranian task force with six other Salesforce coworkers to drive awareness, fundraising, and support for the Women Life Freedom movement.
Hushyar Van de Carr earned a bachelor of science in computer science and a minor in statistics from Penn State.
She lives in Austin, Texas.
Casey A. Moore
Civil Engineering
Casey A. Moore is the executive vice president and regional director of transportation at Bowman Consulting Group, where he oversees transportation engineering operations and plays a crucial role in driving transportation services and staff growth across the firm’s national footprint. Prior to his current role at Bowman Consulting Group, Moore held various positions including regional director, executive vice president of corporate operations, and vice president and regional manager of the Mid-Atlantic at McMahon Associates, Inc.
Moore’s professional memberships include roles with the American Council of Engineering Companies, the American Society of Highway Engineers, and the MASITE Section of the Institute of Transportation Engineers as a past president. He is also active in the Penn State community, serving on several Penn State alumni and engineering associations, including the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society, Penn State Alumni Council, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Industrial and Professional Advisory Council, the Penn State Traffic Engineering & Safety Conference, and the Penn State Montgomery County Alumni Association Chapter.
Moore has received numerous awards including the Engineering Leadership Award from GVF Transportation Management Association in 2014, Peter P. Quinn Leadership Award from GVF Transportation Management Association in 2010, Young Engineer of the Year of the Delaware Valley region from the Engineer’s Club of Philadelphia in 2002, and Young Engineer of the Year from the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers in 2002.
Moore is a registered professional engineer in Florida, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. He lives in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania.
Minwoo Park
Computer Science and Engineering
Minwoo Park is a vice president at Nvidia, where he serves as the head of perception, fusion, and machine learning for autonomous vehicles. Prior to joining Nvidia, Park held multiple roles including manager of visual perception and autopilot with Tesla and research scientist positions with ObjectVideo and Eastman Kodak.
Park currently serves as a senior member with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), for which he has held several leadership committee roles and chaired workshops, symposiums, and chapters since 2011.
Park has been honored with numerous awards including Tesla’s Top Talent Award in 2016, Best Reviewer IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision in 2013, Best Paper IEEE International Symposium on Multimedia in 2011, and the First Prize Winner Korean Computer Scientists and Engineers Association in America MJC Scholarship Poster Competition in 2008. Park earned a master of science in electrical engineering and a doctoral degree in computer science and engineering, both from Penn State.
He lives in Saratoga, California.
Todd R. Reppert
Chemical Engineering
Todd R. Reppert dedicated his professional career to meeting the world’s energy needs and retired from ExxonMobil in 2020 as vice president after 38 years of employment.
Over the years at ExxonMobil, Reppert held executive-level management positions in a range of affiliated companies, spanning research, production, project development, and merger and acquisition, all supporting the economic development and production of oil and gas resources worldwide. His final position was serving as ExxonMobil’s corporate risk manager supporting the CEO and board of directors with their Corporate Enterprise Risk Management System, which included addressing strategic, operational, and reputational risks, among others.
Earlier in his career, Reppert held executive positions that developed proposals to secure capital funding for major development projects around the world and was functionally responsible for all global reservoir engineering at ExxonMobil Production Company.
Post retirement, Reppert enjoys cycling and running, and he currently serves on the board of directors of Energy Capital Credit Union, is a trustee of Houston Grand Opera, and recently completed terms on the Department of Chemical Engineering Industrial and Professional Advisory Council and as chair of the Industry Engagement Working Group for the College of Engineering at Penn State.
Reppert graduated with highest honors from Penn State in 1982, earning a bachelor of science in chemical engineering. He lives in Houston.
Rachel N. Slaybaugh
Nuclear Engineering
Rachel N. Slaybaugh is a partner at DCVC, where she focuses on climate tech investment, sources companies, develops thesis areas, and negotiates deals.
Before joining DCVC, Slaybaugh served as an associate professor of nuclear engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, where she held leadership roles in several data science and entrepreneurship efforts. Concurrent to being a professor, Slaybaugh was a division director at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where she ran the Cyclotron Road Division. She was a program director at the Department of Energy’s ARPAE, where she created the nuclear fission program and managed the agriculture portfolio and solar and virtual reality teams.
Slaybaugh contributes to several professional organizations in advisory and leadership roles including Lab Start, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Investor Advisory Board, Activate Leadership Council, and the board of directors for the Good Energy Collective, an organization she co-founded. She is also an independent director for Radiant, a microreactor company.
She has been honored with multiple awards including the University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Engineering Early Career Achievement Award, American Nuclear Society (ANS) Young Member Excellence Award, ANS Presidential Citation, and a Rickover Fellowship.
Slaybaugh holds a bachelor of science in nuclear engineering from Penn State, where she served as a licensed nuclear reactor operator, and master of science and doctoral degrees in nuclear engineering and engineering physics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Slaybaugh lives in San Francisco.
William E. Waltz
Industrial Engineering
William E. Waltz is the president and chief executive officer of Atkore, Inc., where he sets the company’s vision, strategic growth direction, and capital expenditures. Prior to joining Atkore, he held consulting and leadership roles with various companies including Strategic Materials Inc., Pentair, and Deloitte.
Waltz serves on several boards including the Quanex Building Products Board of Directors, National Electrical Manufacturers Association Board of Governors, and the National Association of Electrical Distributors Board of Directors.
He has been honored with several awards including the E&Y Midwest Entrepreneur of the Year in 2023 and ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy in 2022.
In his role at Atkore, Waltz has worked with Penn State engineering students and faculty as a Learning Factory capstone project sponsor.
Waltz earned a bachelor of science in industrial engineering in 1986 from Penn State, a master of science in computer science in 1990 from Villanova University, and an M.B.A. in 1997 from Northwestern University.
He lives in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.
Xiaolong “Tom” Zhang
Bioengineering
Xiaolong “Tom” Zhang is the chief scientist at Worldwide Clinical Trials, where he manages the bioanalytical arm of clinical trials and oversees the development of the fully automated bioanalytical laboratory.
Prior to joining Worldwide Clinical Trials, Zhang was a senior director for WuXi AppTec and a lab director for Frontage Laboratories. He has been honored with several awards including the 40 Under 40 Award, now known as the Early Career Award, from the Penn State College of Engineering in 2021, an Outstanding Achievement Award from WuXi AppTec in 2020, and a national scholarship from the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China from 2009 to 2014.
Zhang has served on the Industrial and Professional Advisory Council for the Penn State Department of Biomedical Engineering since 2020.
Zhang holds a bachelor of science in bioengineering from Northeast Agriculture University and a doctoral degree in bioengineering from Penn State.
He lives in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania.
