Stay in touch with fellow UConn engineering alumni. Visit our Engineering alumni website or our LinkedIn alumni page and fill us in on your latest activities or learn what your college friends are doing nowadays! Some recent alumni news follows:
Michael A. Cantor (B.S. Chemical Engineering/Materials Engineering, ‘80) was appointed by Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy to the Board of Directors of Connecticut Innovations Incorporated, the state’s quasi-public authority responsible for growing Connecticut businesses through innovative financing tools and assistance. Michael is Co-Managing Partner of Cantor Colburn LLP, a leading national firm specializing in intellectual property law. He previously served on the Board of the Connecticut Development Authority, now dissolved. He is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and also teaches patent law and procedure as an Adjunct Professor in Patent Law at the UConn School of Law. Michael received his J.D. from the UConn School of Law in 1983. He was inducted into UConn’s Academy of Distinguished Engineers in 2003.
Erik Johnson (B.S. Chemical Engineering, ’12), who began his graduate studies at the University of Texas – Austin just this fall, has published his first professional paper in the highly regarded journal, Nucleic Acids Research (impact factor: 8.026). The paper, entitled “Volatility in mRNA Secondary Structure as a Design Principle for Antisense,” was part of Erik’s undergraduate Honors thesis. Erik was first author on the paper, written with his Honors thesis advisor, Dr. Ranjan Srivastava. Dr. Srivastava notes that Erik’s work was funded entirely through the combination of two awards Erik received for academic and research excellence: a UConn SURF grant and a UConn Presidential Scholars Enrichment Award.
Alfred N. Kovalik (B.S. Civil Engineering, ‘92), P.E., has joined Advanced Environmental Interface, Inc. (AEI) as a Principal. A consulting environmental engineer for over 20 years, Al is a Professional Engineer (PE) licensed in eight states, a Licensed Environmental Professional (LEP) in Connecticut and an Accredited Professional (AP) by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) since 2007. A 2008 Consulting-Specifying Engineer 40 Under 40 award winner – a national competition of engineers in the building and construction industry – Al has led projects for commercial, private and municipal clients at Brownfield Sites throughout the northeast including several Superfund Sites. He is an active board member of the Connecticut Society of Professional Engineers and a non-profit organization focused on youth and outdoor environmental education and blight removal called Groundwork Bridgeport.
Roger Lawton (B.S. Civil Engineering, ‘75) joined Jansen Combustion and Boiler Technologies, Inc. in February and works out of the Atlanta area as a Senior Consultant. Roger has over 35 years’ experience in project technical, engineering, management, and business development with boilers in industrial and utility plants. He was previously employed with ABB Combustion Engineering, Tampella Power Corp., Ahlstrom Corp. and the Anthony-Ross Company, where he served as VP of Sales. Roger received his MBA at UConn.
