PROGRAM NOTES
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Sevgin Oktay MS’60 writes, “What started as a career in mechanical engineering with a BS degree in engineering science from Antioch College, followed by graduate school at Columbia Engineering under the guidance of wonderful professors such as Dudley Fuller, Ferdinand Freudenstein, Jerome Weiner, and Herbert Deresiewicz, prepared me well to delve into other fields of engineering and endeavors, including management, history, and politics. It has been a wonderful journey.” Sevgin had a longstanding career at IBM that began in 1963 as a research staff member at the IBM Watson Research Laboratories. He held many technical, managerial, and senior engineering positions at IBM until his retirement in 1993. During his career at IBM, he published extensively in scientific and professional journals and books in the areas of heat transfer, microelectronics, and
Top Row, from left to right: John Akbari MS’86; Riddhi Mehta MS’13 (third from left in blue top), pictured with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (center). Bottom Row, from left to right: Wael Ayache MS’12; William T. Sha MS’60, EngScD’64; Jean-Michel Rendu MS’68, EngScD’71.
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computer systems technology. He has more than 40 published inventions of which 13 are U.S. patents. He is an elected fellow of ASME as well as a life member of both ASME and IEEE. He cofounded the Society of Turkish American Architects, Engineers and Scientists, and served as its president in 1994. In retirement, Sevgin works in intellectual property protection and as a registered U.S. patent agent. He runs his own firm, Oktay Enterprises International, LLC. He enjoys flying to the extent that he has put his airplane to work in his job as a Flying Patent Agent to reach his clients more readily (www.flyingpatentagent.com), in addition to having provided volunteer work with Angel flight organizations in transporting people who are financially distressed and in need of time-critical but nonemergency medical attention (Sevgin earned his pilot’s license in 1968). Sevgin and his wife have flown in their Turbo Skylane airplane from Poughkeepsie,
NY, where they currently reside, to Alaska, Nova Scotia, and the Bahamas. He hopes to cross the Atlantic Ocean someday to visit his home country, Turkey. He writes, “For that, I am considering an amphibian airplane called SeaWind.” Recently William T. Sha MS’60, EngScD’64 (Nuclear Engineering) authored a book, Novel Porous Media Formulation for Multiphase Flow Conservation Equations, published by Cambridge University Press in 2011, and a paperback edition in 2013. Last year he published a paper, “Recent Improvements on Novel Porous Media Formulation for Multiphase Flow Conservation Equations,” in the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 73 (2014): 859-874. He has developed a theoretically derived multiphase flow conservation equation for the first time. He writes, “This is a major milestone for conservation of mass, momentum, and energy equations for multiphase flow.”
MINING ENGINEERING Jean-Michel Rendu MS’68, EngScD’71 writes, “After more than 40 years in the mining industry, I am trying to retire while giving a few short courses at universities, writing technical books, and doing some consulting. Over the years, I had senior management roles in mining and consulting companies worldwide, wrote more than 50 technical papers, received multiple awards from the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, and was elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (1997). I now live in Santa Fe, NM, where my wife and I are enjoying the nice weather, relaxed atmosphere, and the multiple art activities that the city offers. I had a very enjoyable and successful career, which I attribute a great extent to the exceptional education which Columbia University offers to its students.”