May 22, 2013 | Eli Freund - School of Engineering

Alumni Notes

Read about the exciting array of events planned in conjunction with Alumni Weekend (June 7-8), as well as recent career highlights of alumni like Keith Berger, Frederick Carlson, Michael Keefe and Edward J. Sarisley, Jr.

Be sure to attend UConn’s Alumni Weekend, which spans Friday and Saturday, June 7 and 8 at the UConn Storrs campus.  A range of fun activities is planned both days.  School of Engineering alumni are invited to attend engineering-sponsored lunch and dinner gatherings on Friday, and to participate in “A Taste of UConn” on Saturday afternoon. Please contact Heidi Douglas, Director of Engineering Alumni Relations, at hdouglas@engineer.uconn.edu for details of the Friday engineering events.

During the Saturday afternoon A Taste of UConn activity, which will take place on the South Campus Lawn and patio area, from 12 noon to 3 PM, events will include live music provided by The Cartells and the UConn Alumni Marching Band, a balloon artist, live sheep and tractors, a climbing wall, inflatables and mini-sports, a fossil exhibit, farmer’s market, and photo booth, plus other activities. 

The Taste of UConn food component is $20 for adults; $10 for students and new graduates; and $10 for children age 5 and older (free for children under 5). Families, students and friends are all welcome!  Please register for A Taste of UConn.

Two exciting engineering displays are on tap during the Taste of UConn event:

  • A collection of unmanned vehicles and adaptive auto-pilots – including a quad-copter, helicopter and underwater vehicles as well as wired autopilot devices – displayed by Dr. Chengyu Cao and his graduate students; and
  • A Formula SAE 2013 race car, truck and trailer, sponsored by Mastercam.

Bring your families and friends and enjoy these fun activities! 

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Keith Berger (B.S. Mechanical Engineering, M.S. Metallurgy & Materials Engineering, ’93, ’98) has been named a Managing Director at BlueWaters Investment Group (BWG), a new Atlanta-based private equity fund.  His prior experience includes leadership positions at Booz & Company, General Electric and Nokia followed by Research in Motion (now Blackberry) and Endeavor Telecom. He is certified in GE Six Sigma and GE Lean principles.

Frederick M. Carlson (B.S.E., M.S., Mechanical Engineering ’63, ’64; Ph.D., Electrical Engineering ’75), Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, was named a Professor Emeritus at Clarkson University, his academic home of 38 years. Dr. Carlson is credited with educating “several generations of undergraduates, developing important courses that introduced students to finite element methodology and new analytical software and engineering applications.” Dr. Carlson established a highly regarded program in the field of heat transfer in crystal growth, and was one of the reasons that Clarkson University, through the Center for Advanced Materials Processing, was selected by NASA to head up the NASA/Crystal Growth Consortium.

Michael N. Keefe (B.S.E. Computer Science & Engineering, Electrical Engineering, ’79) was promoted to Vice President of Engineering and Development at Kitchen Brains®, which he joined in 2008. Mike previously served as Director of Engineering and Product Development. Earlier in his career, Mike led a software development team for ASML. Kitchen Brains is a pioneer and global leader in the development and deployment of integrated, end-to-end, wireless machine-to-machine networking solutions and software as a service (SAAS) applications for the commercial kitchen/food service industry.

Edward J. Sarisley, Jr. (B.S., M.S. Civil Engineering, ’76, ’78; Ph.D. Structural Engineering ’89), P.E., a professor in the Manufacturing and Construction Management Department, School of Engineering & Technology at Central Connecticut State University, was presented the Educator of the Year award by the Associated General Contractors of Connecticut (2012). Edward teaches structures and materials courses and is the laboratory coordinator for the CCSU Materials Testing Laboratory.

In Memoriam

Chatschik Bisdikian (Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, ‘88), a researcher at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, died unexpectedly on April 24, 2013.  He joined the center in 1989 and was responsible for developing and analyzing communication protocols and leading efforts in developing standards for CaTV and wireless personal area networks. Dr. Bisdikian worked in a variety of research areas with IBM, including pervasive computing and personal area networking, broadband services and protocols, and modeling and analysis of local and metropolitan area networks. He co-authored the first and second editions of Bluetooth Revealed: the Insider’s Guide to an Open Specification for Global Wireless Communications, and was co-inventor on 25 patents. He was a Fellow of IEEE and an inducted member in UConn’s Academy of Distinguished Engineers. He is survived by his wife, Teresa Shen, and their sons.

Arthur Robert Sillano (B.S., M.S. ’57, ‘59), passed away April 16, 2013.  He was a resident of San Diego, CA.  Mr. Sillano was the author of Single-error-detection in a Parallel Arithmetic Unit of a Binary Digital Computer, published by UConn in 1959 (the only copy is located in the Homer Babbidge Library). He began his career in the aerospace industry during the early days of computers and later founded his own software company, Siltronix. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Hasmig, along with his children and grandchildren.