The College of Engineering (COE) has been the starting point for thousands of careers. Through the Inspiring Engineers event series, the College invites alumni to share their journeys and accomplishments to encourage new generations of engineers.
In its first year, the series has hosted four impressive NC State engineering alumni who talk with COE leaders about their accomplishments and what they’ve overcome. The conversations are held on Zoom and are open to all COE alumni and students.
”Our hope is to share with alumni and students just how wide the College’s impact expands across disciplines, professions and experiences,” said Hannah Kunkel, assistant director of development, alumni engagement and stewardship at the NC State Engineering Foundation. “Every person’s story has the ability to inspire someone else and our goal is to continue to share as many stories as we can.”
The 2021-22 Inspiring Engineers speakers were:
Gil West
Mechanical Engineering ‘84
West, chief operating officer at Cruise, kicked off the series on Nov. 18, 2021, with a talk on his extensive history in aviation. Beginning his career as an engineer at Boeing, West went on to turn Delta Air Lines into one of the most profitable airlines after the company nearly went bankrupt. Now at Cruise, he has returned to the ground to chart a path for driverless autonomous vehicles.
Steffanie Easter
Chemical Engineering ‘85
Easter, vice president of strategy and planning for the defense and civilian sector at Science Applications International Corporation, spoke on Feb. 23 about her time with the Department of Defense with Griffin Lamb, assistant dean for development and college relations and executive director of the NC State Engineering Foundation. Easter worked in multiple leadership positions, such as the assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, and as the executive director for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.
Ben Burgess
Construction Engineering and Management ‘06
Burgess, president and CEO of Burgess Civil, LLC, joined Helene Lollis, chemical engineering ’87 and president and CEO of Pathbuilders, on May 23 to talk about how being fired from his first job gave him the motivation to start his own civil contracting firm. Now after seven years, his company, based in Tampa, Florida, makes more than $40 million in annual revenue.
Tony Blevins
Industrial and Systems Engineering ‘89
Blevins, former vice president of procurement at Apple, Inc., spoke on Aug. 30 with Dean Louis Martin-Vega about his role in overseeing the production of iPods, iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches. Before joining Apple, Blevins worked for IBM in the areas of engineering, finance, production control and procurement and was the program director of IBM’s development lab in Greenock, Scotland.
Stay tuned for additional Inspiring Engineers events during the upcoming year. Have a story you want to tell? Share it at go.ncsu.edu/inspiringengineers.
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