Alumni

The industry association, Healthcare Leadership Council, has named School of Engineering alumnus and Board of Visitors member Calvin W. Schmidt, BE’90, as Chairman of the Board for 2024-2025. Schmidt is currently a Senior Vice President at Johnson & Johnson. Over the course of his tenure… Read More

Zeno Power, a startup initiated through the Wond’ry, Vanderbilt’s Innovation Center, has received a total of $30 million from the U.S. Department of Defense and private investors to develop and build a flight-ready radioisotope-powered satellite by 2025. It is expected to be the first… Read More

Somtochukwu “Somto” Dimobi Okoye, BE’19, will begin a two-year term as Vanderbilt Board of Trust young alumni leader on July 1. Okoye, of London, was confirmed as a young alumni leader after serving a three-year term on the Vanderbilt Alumni Association board. Somto Okoye (submitted photo) After her graduation from Vanderbilt… Read More

By Amy Wolf When Somto Dimobi Okoye, BE’19, was growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, her mother would open their home to people who needed help—instilling a philosophy of building strength and community through a tightly woven support system. “Even if we had one piece of chicken, she’d cut that chicken… Read More

Aaron Niederman Aaron Niederman, BS’20, has been named to the 2023 class of Schwarzman Scholars. He is one of 151 scholars chosen from more than 3,000 applicants representing 33 countries and 106 universities. The Schwarzman Scholars Program, among the world’s most prestigious graduate fellowships, brings together the best minds from… Read More

An alumni-owned company that developed copper-based phone cases amid the COVID-19 pandemic has set its long-term sights on antimicrobial coatings for door handles, railings and other high-touch surfaces in public spaces. Aeris Copper also rebranded and added new phone case finishes to its product offerings. The company, now called… Read More

Allen X. Romero, BE’99, an entrepreneur and consultant, died May 16, 2021, as a result of a hit-and-run accident in Great Falls, Virginia. Allen Romero Romero, 43, of McLean, Virginia, was the founder of Hang Local Labs, Inc. in 2011, a mission-based U.S. company engaged in the research, design, development,… Read More

One tip:  Think like an engineer “Everything I’ve learned, I’ve learned the hard way,” laughs Hassan Sharaff, BE’07, gesturing to, well, everything: the polyethylene greenhouse walls with a soaring aluminum frame, torqued by last year’s derecho winds, and tray after tray of arugula, basil, kale and lettuce shoots, drinking… Read More

Christopher J. Wiernicki (BE’80) has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering for innovative leadership in the design, engineering, and operation of ships and offshore structures. Christopher Wiernicki Wiernicki is chairman, president and CEO of ABS and chairman of the ABS Group of Companies, Inc. He previously served… Read More

The Vanderbilt Board of Trust has elected two members who are alumni, or soon will be, of the School of Engineering. Senior Somto C. Dimobi was elected as a Young Alumni Leader for a two-year term to begin July 1, 2022, following her three-year term on the board of the… Read More