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Dayton Engineer

Engineering Alumni News: Spring 2016

JAMES BLUST '92 (MEE) and ELIZABETH BIEDENHARN BLUST ’94 (JRN) live in San Diego. They write, “This past fall, James spoke at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., to present information about one of his patents with his employer, Solar Turbines. His presentation was part of the Innovation Festival held in conjunction with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. James talked about how his patented fuel injector technology reduces smog-causing emissions and saves money.”

JULIA STOJAK MAURER '94 (CME) and MATT MAURER ’93 (EDS) live in Mercersburg, Pa. They write, “Julia has been promoted to assistant head of school for academic affairs at Mercersburg Academy, a boarding school in south-central Pennsylvania. She is in charge of faculty development and curriculum and still teaches robotics and AP statistics. In summer 2015, four of Julia’s robotics teams traveled to China to represent the United States at the international RoboCup competition. This was the seventh time her robotics teams were represented at the international level of RoboCup, with prior competitions in Brazil in 2014, the Netherlands in 2013, Mexico City in 2012, Istanbul in 2011, Singapore in 2010 and the United States in 2007. We have five amazing children: Emma (11-24-99), William (11-10-01), Michael (3-7-04), Mary (1-6-10) and Nathalie (2-20-04)). We adopted Nathalie from Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.”

PATRICIA FORBES PEARCE '85 (CME) lives in Dayton. She writes, “The National Aeronautic Association and the Ninety-Nines awarded me the 2015 Katharine Wright Trophy, a lifetime achievement award. I am deputy chief of the High Speed Systems Division at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and have worked in this field for more than 28 years. While attending UD, I was in a co-op program at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and, after graduation, conducted aviation fuel research and high-speed system research at AFRL. In the past 19 years, I’ve participated in many UD engineering events, such as Women in Engineering Summer Camp, Straight Talk for Female Engineers, Career Awareness Day, Engineers’ Week, the special dinner for women engineers and the Summer Honors Institute.”

JON TIRPAK '85 (MAT) and ANGELA IMWALLE TIRPAK ’84 (FIN) live in Mount Pleasant, S.C. Jon has been named president of the board at ASM International, an association of metals-focused materials professionals, after serving one year as vice president. In addition, Jon serves on the ASM finance and investment committees.

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Chris T. Jones '91

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