Spring 2021 Co-op Newsletter

NEWS CO-OP ChemE SPRING 2021

C O O P E R AT I V E E D U C AT I O N P RO G R A M

Biannual Publication of the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering

Co-op Student of the Year – Hannah Geisler Bioengineering major, Chemistry minor, Hannah Geisler, was awarded the 2020 Swanson School of Engineering Co-op, Student of the Year Award. Hannah completed her co-op with Zoll Cardiac Management and pioneered the first virtual testing procedure due to the pandemic, including a 50-page protocol, and test platforms. During her time at Zoll, Hannah also worked on a wearable defibrillator, LifeVest. She helped code the voice of the device, giving audio instruction on use and appropriate responses of the user. Beyond co-op, Hannah has published three papers. One in an upcoming edition the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and two poster publications.

This past summer, Hannah worked as a National Science Foundation, Bio-Materials Undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Ruder ‘s lab at Pitt. In addition to receiving a trophy and certificate, a monetary gift has been awarded. Hannah is scheduled to graduate April 2021. Congratulations, Hannah!

Mark your Calendars February 4 – Virtual Spring Co-op Fair February 12-15 – Summer Enrollment Begins April 3 – Fall Enrollment Begins

Co-op Student of the Year Nominees

Chloe Feast Industrial Engineer Logile

Lucas Karavolis Computer Engineer Rockwell Automation

Jonathan Perlman Mechanical Engineer Nissan Motor Corp.

Anthony Popovski Electrical Engineer GE Power Conversion

SOTY nominee picture not available: Devin Cortes, Bioengineer, Carmell Therapeutics; Michael Gresh-Sill, Chemical Engineer, Covestro

Haley Turkovich Justin Weber Civil Engineer Mechanical Engineer Mascaro Construction Conair/IPEG

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Derrick Ward knew from a young age he was destined to be a scientist or inventor. From the age of three, Derrick recalls his mother showing him how to hook up computer cables. At five his father included him in home improvement projects. Ninth grade he started to take computer programming courses and work on robotics research at Columbia University. From this point on, Derrick knew he wanted to be an engineer. In 2009, Derrick came to Pitt and immediately knew he was among a group of students that wanted to change the world with math and science. At the start of engineering school Derrick explains, “I was amazed at how many different engineering

electives we had to choose from.” When deciding to participate in the co-op program, Derrick explains, “There were two top things on my mind that made me want to co-op.” First, he describes the desire to earn income to help with paying tuition and secondly, “I would be able to graduate college with at least one year of real-world engineering work experience. This I knew would give me an advantage in the market among other recent grads.”

Mine Safety Appliances was where Derrick co-op-ed for all three rotations. Derrick began the program as an electrical engineering major

but after being exposed to embedded software, prototype testing, and involvement in a project called ‘Firefighter Location,’ he changed his major to computer engineering.

In Derrick’s tenure, Pitt EXCEL and the R.I.S.E. Mentoring program helped him academically.

When asked what advice he has for current and future co-ops students, Derrick suggests, “Do not be afraid to apply for opportunities you think are beyond your skill set at the current moment.”

And “Ask all the questions that come to mind to the professional engineers working around you.” Derrick started with Microsoft in 2018 as a software engineer II. Derrick attributes a customer mindset, continually learning, inventing and assisting others around him as reasons for advancement within the company to senior software engineer. Derrick is married to his Pitt sweetheart, Shantel (class of 2013) and lives in Redmond, Washington. He is currently enrolled in Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science pursuing his master’s degree in Computer Engineering. Congratulations Derrick and thank you for sharing your story.

Derrick Ward, BSCoE ’14 Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft

Co-op Employer of the Year – Zoll This year the Swanson School of Engineering Co-op Office has named Zoll Cardiac Management as the employer of the Year. Zoll has partnered with Swanson School of Engineering Co-op since 1998 and has helped place many students. The last time Zoll was honored with the award was in 2015.

To be considered for Employer of the Year, a company must first be nominated. The nominations are submitted by currently placed students. The other nominees for this year’s award are:

2020 Trailblazer Award Winner – Stephanie Thornton The Trailblazer award is given to a student who shows exemplary contributions. Stephanie started her first year with some uncertainty but rose to the challenge. Stephanie became a part of the honors college, a scholarship recipient, and stayed on the dean’s list. During her co-op at CardnoChemrisk, Stephanie helped design an industrial hygiene device and co-authored a publication in a professional journal. She designed and won the best poster award for toxicology. Stephanie was also active in Phi Sigma Rho as a VP of academic and professional development (2019) and VP of Service & Philanthropy (2017). Even with her busy schedule, Stephanie completed an international internship in Costa Rica. A member of the Society of Women Engineers, Stephanie held office of Public Relations from 2017-2019. She was also the Philanthropic award winner.

2020 Tenacity Award Winner – Adam McNeill PennAce Joanne Day STEM Winner – Cailyn Hall

Adam McNeill came into the co-op program unsure of a future path with co-op but over his three rotations with Harley-Davidson, Adam has excelled. As stated by his Harley-Davidson supervisor, “He is a self- starter who is goal oriented. He takes direction well and is willing to come into work early, stay late and even work on the weekends. He has accomplished and been responsible for more than any co-op has in many years of service at Harley-Davidson York Assembly Operations.” Adam has distinguished himself as an academic and co-op engineer. Great job Adam!

End of an Era After 33 years with The Swanson School of Engineering Co-op Program, Maureen Barcic retired this past fall. Maureen started working in co-op in 1987. She quickly moved into the director position and has transformed the program into the success it is today. Maureen has placed thousands of students over the years and helped shape many successful careers.

Maureen, thank you for all you have done for students and staff alike. Enjoy retirement.

Keep in touch.

The PennACE Joanne Day Student of the Year Award recognizes the achievements and contributions of an undergraduate student who has completed an internship or co-op. Cailyn Hall completed three rotations with Sherwin Williams: summer 2018, summer 2019, spring 2020.

Summing up her experience, Cailyn says, “In total, I worked on over 20 projects (ranging from $15M to $2.5MM) in various categories (e.g. ROI, safety, quality, asset preservation).” Cailyn worked in process engineering, project engineering, and design engineering. Cailyn was chosen from the many statewide applicants. Cailyn is now a full-time process engineer at McCormick. She would like to thank Steve Kauffman and Chris Ann Frankovic for their support in applying for this award.

Students Earning Co-op Certificates Bioengineering Haarika Chalasani Katie Gaines Hannah Geisler Sneha Jeevan Nicolas Ksharti Rachel Lau Jinghang Li Govardhan Nair Michael Shulock Johanna Siegel Katherine Stevenson Jordan Sturm Sean Tighe Chemical Engineering Perebo Altraide Ethan Arnold-Paine Anthony Barber Alyssa Bell Andrea Biernbaum Jonathan Bingaman Austin Blair Matthew Brekosky Katherine Brosky Erin Cannon Erin Cavanaugh Claire Chouinard Abigail Daniels Taylor Daniels Abigail Doyle Jonathan Fair Stephanie Folkmire Forrest Fordham Graham Gregorich Cailyn Hall Adam Head Nadine Humphrey Erin Hunter Nicholas Jacobyansky Darragh Johnston Maxwell Kimer Jonathan Lee

Eli Lipsman John Maclin Meghan McFadden Eric McElhinny Raymond Mihalko Joshua Misiura Harold Moll Sarah Newton Olivia Nolt Daria Och Carl Paasewe Michelle Pfahles Kenton Quach Ryan Rice Joshua Robinson Lydia Russell Lauren Sauer Stefan Sehne Erin Smith Jessica Sorick Robin Thomas Stephanie Thornton Nicholas Trinovitch Nicolas Valvo Sean Weber Tyler Weinstein Tristan Witek Zayne Zalich Meredith Zona Civil Engineering Timmy Ali Jacob Baker Katie DeOre Sophie Engel Curtis Fry Deveron Grupp John Guiheen Liam Hodgson Brian Hoover Kathryn Kennebeck Joshua Kimes Justin Komp David Mack

Adam Malagari Maya McCann Ivan Menz Adrian Minck Sonia Panic Katherine Paraskiewicz Kenneth Piland Keegan Ramser John Rozploch Alexis Savinda Patrick Schorr Stephen Stayduhar Nicole Thompson Haley Turkovich Carlisle Turner Michael Winiarczyk Computer Engineering Christian Armistead Denzel Beeman Jacob Brooks Grace Brueggman Nicholas CarnevaliDoan Adarsh Cavale Joseph Cavanaugh Timothy Cavrak William Derksen Nicholas Hicks Zachary Hicks Andrew Hill Lucas Karavolis Trinity Key Ayem Kpenkaan Evan Kutney Olivia Song Lazarchick Justin Long Darren Mascioli Wesley Miller Daniel Mingey Tristan Pitts Dawid Ryczek

Tyler Sheinberg Carly Sills Erik Wehner Hongye Xu Computer Science Jack Ansley Tristan Butz Kevin Chaplin Keegan Fouse George Gray Taylor Kveragas Kevin Lau Jeongeun Lee Trevor Lingle Sona Padinjarekutt Anna Shafer Michael Spila Austin Tercha Brian Torpey Nicholas Wilke Faruk Yucel Zikai Zhang Electrical Engineering Morgen Benninghoff Flynn Connelly Steven Corcoran Bradley Fox Brandon George Nicholas Gismondi Spencer Graves Jacob Heilman Sabrina Helbig Nicholas King Alexander Lee Cole Loneker Angelo Marsano Mohamed Morsy Daniel Morton Ashwin Nair Anthony Popovski Demetrius Pyo

Max Rayburg Nathan Riek Cameron Rossi Luke Sneeringer Kirah Strandquist Joshua Taylor Noah Torrieri Tessa Veurink Ruisi Wang Erin Welling William Zheng

Daniel Porter Dawson Prough Nathan Surgue Michael Urzillo Sophia Vidic Nicholas Vezzuto Rachel West Isreal Williams Jacob Winoker Sydney Winner Mara Wrzesniewski

Environmental Engineering

Materials Science

Trent Greener Lila Howard Madison McDade Jonathan Simasek

Megan Nescio Samantha Schloder

Industrial Engineering

Derek Adams Henry Adrian John Bach Cassidy Ball Anthony Barca Samiyah Basir Victor Beloshetsky Evan Bennis Thomas Benson Justin Berg Sean Brady Alan Brownin Jacob Bussieres Nicolas Cerilli Michaela Corrothers Paul Fox Caroline Curran Marissa Defallo Timothy Delp Chrisitan Edelmann Tyler Eklund Alexander Enzman Bryan Patrick Farren Solomon Fenton Sarah Fritzsche

Sean Cahalan Nicholas Cerep Michaela Chew Claude Corbett David Denoncour Chloe Feast Matthew Fletcher Adam Grachen James Henness David Hinton Anna Janero Alexandra Lee Elizabeth Lee Brian Lettrich Eryn McCormick Frank Meeteer Colleen Molczan Taylor Mungin Victoria Needham Oluyemisi Odunlami Christian Parker Venice Pascual Abigail Pinto

Mechanical Engineering

Adam Fryer Daniel Funari William Gleeson T. Hershberger Bailey Jones Evan Kaseman Peter Kelly Cameron Kisailu Nathan Knueppel Joseph Koniszewski Luke Kreider Davis Kuhn Anna Landry Dominic Lee Benjamin Lestourgeon Alina Limpert Ryan Loebig Bryce Merrill Gabrielle Moore Gabrielle Peal Jonathan Perlman Colin Pocock Scotty Poepoe Pedro Quiroga Brian Robb Jeremy Scholze Eli Sigman Leah Sirkis Ethan Smolik Jacob Stoner Emily Swedish Justin Szpindor Samuel Taylor John Thomason Christopher Turocy Justin Weber Caroline Westrick Holden White Frederick Wohlers

Cooperative Education Program Staff Chris Frankovic, Interim Program Director caf54@pitt.edu | 412-624-9883

engineering.pitt.edu/coop

Alicia Olalde, Global Program Manager A.Olalde@pitt.edu | 412-624-4579

Kristal Cheshire, Program Administrator krc120@pitt.edu | 412-624-9826

The information printed in this document was accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of printing and is subject to change at any time at the University’s sole discretion.

The University of Pittsburgh is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution.  01/21