1986 WISE ALUMNI Bulletin Board
Lisa Bullard: I’m on the Chemical Engineering faculty at my alma mater, North Carolina State University. I teach several undergraduate course and serve as Director of Undergraduate Studies. My husband Michael works for an environmental consulting firm here in Raleigh. Our daughter Meredith is a Ph.D. student in Civil Engineering at Virginia Tech. (4/2018)
Tom Cisewski is the President of Cognagora. He served as Director of Credentialing for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City and the 2004 G8 Summit. He was also the Manager of Olympic Family Accreditation for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He has consulted for five other editions of the Olympic Games: 1998 (Nagano), 2000 (Sydney), 2004 (Athens), 2006 (Torino) and 2008 (Beijing), for the International Olympic Committee and on other international sporting events. Mr. Cisewski has also worked for UPS Worldwide Logistics, CAPS Logistics and his own firm as a supply chain engineer and consultant. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Georgia and Bachelor of Industrial Engineering and Master of Science in Industrial Engineering degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). (07/05)
Tracy Shillenn Daly has a new position as Research Supervisor for Performance Chemicals. (11/98)
John Feltz is living in Fairborn, Ohio. (10/04)
David Gibby: After working in Utah, Washington, Tennessee and Oklahoma I have settled with my family in Idaho. I manage an Environmental Compliance organization at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. The INEEL operates world’s premier high-flux test reactor. I have three sons and one daughter. We enjoy spending time in the mountains and recreating in the snow. (12/02)
Tim Holmes, Like Tracy, I hired on with DuPont after graduation. I spent 18 years at the New Johnsonville, TN white pigments plant in maintenance & reliability engineering, including 2.5 years as a Six Sigma Black Belt. In September 2005, I joined our corporate Maintenance & Reliability Systems group, where I am Principal Consultant, Reliability and Maintenance (R&M) Engineering. I am the corporate subject matter expert for techniques like Reliability Centered Maintenance, Root Cause Failure Analysis, and creating Maintenance Plans in SAP-PM. I lead our corporate network for reliability practitioners, and I support our corporate R&M Council and Core Teams to set corporate R&M strategy. I am also 2018 Conference Chair for the Society of Maintenance and Reliability Professionals. My wife Lisa and I have four children, ages 30 (future radiology technician, married to an ICU nurse), 25 (civil engineer designing bridges for Tennessee, married to an accountant for Healthcare Corp of America), 23 (fine arts major and Membership Director for the local YMCA, married to an engineer for the local electrical utility), and 16 (Eagle Scout, basketball point guard, future mechanical engineer). We have two granddaughters ages 4 & 2. We still live west of Nashville in Dickson, TN, and are active in our churches (I teach adult Sunday School), homeschool groups, and Scouts. (7/2018)
Robert Margolis, P.E.: Currently I work at FPL at St. Lucie. The family is enjoying the warmer weather. (Previously Robert worked for Dominion and for ABB-Combustion Engineering in Connecticut as a safety analyst and project manager in the non-LOCA transient analysis group, which involved frequent travel to South Korea to support the Yonggwang nuclear power plants during their startup.) (Posted: 10/06)
Dennis Shields is a Specialist in Agricultural Policy in the Resources, Science and Industry Division of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) in Washington, DC. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and Members of the House and Senate. (7/14)
Jeff Varick reports: Wow, where does one start when the last update was 20 years ago?? After 2 years in Boston doing innovation consulting with Integral, I moved back to Detroit to help start an aftermarket business unit for Johnson Controls Automotive (((JCI). Six years later, I convinced JCI leadership to let me spin the group out as a separate company, and thats how I came to form my own company called Brandmotion. We take the same safety features offered on new cars (cameras, blind spot monitors, etc.) and offer them to the aftermarket nationwide, so your 2008 Honda Accord can be as safe as your 2018 Toyota Sienna. We’re in our 13th year, and now heavily involved in government pilots to advance Connected Car research. On the personal side, fellow-WISE classmate Gary White wrote in 2000 that I was helping him with his non-profit start-up called WaterPartners. Since then he’s made that a global household name called Water.org (give everyone an update Gary!) and I was fortunate to have helped him early on, including being Chairman of his Board from 2003-2006. In 2003 Gary suggested we take the Board to Honduras to see the work of WaterPartners. I’m glad he did because thats where I met my wife, who was my Spanish translator on the trip! Deedee and I are happily married with two girls ages 10 and 7, living in Ann Arbor Michigan. In addition to running my company I play a lot of tennis and serve on the Global board of SAE, the same org that sent me to WISE. I can definitely say WISE influenced my life in a big way! (7/2018)
received his MBA from the Wharton School in 1991. He has a new job at Integral, Inc., a product development and innovation management consulting firm, and will start an automotive sector. (11/98)
Courtney Reynolds White reports: After completing my Mechanical Engineering degree at Vanderbilt, I joined McKinsey & Company for a few years then attended Stanford for my MBA. During my last month, I realized that management consulting in Atlanta was not the long-term lifestyle for me. I made the last-minute decision to move to Boise, Idaho and have deeply enjoyed this outdoor-loving and progressive community for over 25 years. Work evolved through several roles, the most intense was building operations in five European countries for a networking equipment company. Beyond the tactical challenges, it was a great learning experience in understanding differences across cultures and how to get folks to work together collaboratively. Eventually, my husband and I had 2 daughters, and travel intensity took its toll. In 2003, I shifted gears to become an adjunct professor in the MBA program at Boise State University.
Since then, the combination of passionate daughters and teaching flexibility has been awesome. E.g., my girls started a non-profit and got a grant focused on saving an endangered species. Beyond teaching strategy and innovation stuff in Boise, I’ve had the chance to teach semesters abroad, including service learning and Ecotourism, in India, Costa Rica, Italy & Thailand. My older daughter, now studying Atmospheric Engineering at Stanford, claims my expertise is in doing things I’m unqualified to do.
My personal over-arching priority is to address climate change, so I’ve tried to find footholds where I can make a difference. I work with the Idaho Clean Energy Association, and also with Conservation Voters of Idaho to “Create the political environment for the natural environment.” My younger daughter is soon to be a high school senior and intends to study Materials Science when she heads off to college. Facing an empty nest, I will be less tethered and am on the lookout for projects or roles in which I can assist in environmental endeavors. (5/2018)
Gary White reports: During my WISE internship in 1986 I focused my research on the role of the American Society of Civil Engineers in international development. This research stemmed from my interest in finding a way to turn my civil engineering degree towards helping people in the developing world, particularly those in need of safe drinking water. My experience in the WISE program was one of the factors that led me to co-found the non-profit organizations, WaterPartners International. I am currently the executive director of WaterPartners. I thought that you might want to highlight our work in the WISE newsletter or web site for two reasons. First, as I mentioned, my WISE experience was one of the factors that led to the formation of WaterPartners. Second, Jeff Varick (WISE ’86) and my roommate during the our internship has also recently taken an active role in the organization. Jeff’s extensive business and management experiences are making a great difference to us through his role as one of our leading board members. Jeff and I would be glad to answer any questions you may have. You can also find extensive information about WaterPartners International on our web site at www.water.org. (5/00)
Calling all 1986 WISE Alumni. Let us know what you’re up to. You can use our online update form.
