Each year, the School of Engineering honors exceptional engineering alumni and friends who have helped us in countless ways.
The UConn Academy of Distinguished Engineers, founded in 2003, honors School of Engineering alumni or friends whose careers are characterized by their sustained and exemplary contributions to the engineering profession through research, practice, education, policy or service. Members are individuals who bring enduring honor to the community as practitioners and as citizens.
Below are the 2016 inductees. The previous years’ inductees to the academy can be found here.
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John Augustyn
UConn B.S. ’79
John Augustyn earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Connecticut (1979), as well as his M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Hartford. He is the President and owner of Pyramid Time Systems, a role he has held for 17 years.
As President at Pyramid, Mr. Augustyn is responsible for the company’s strategic direction, the implementation of new products and developing a strong management team. He is currently the President of the Board of Directors at the Community Foundation of Central Connecticut and has served for several years on the Executive Board of the Meriden YMCA.
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Kenneth B. Bowes
Kenneth B. Bowes is the Vice President for Connecticut Engineering at Eversource Energy, where he is responsible for all of the engineering activities for the electric distribution system. Mr. Bowes establishes the reliability, asset management and system resiliency strategies for the annual program development and the five year capital program.
Mr. Bowes earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He serves on the Board of Directors of Special Olympics Connecticut, the Bristol Boys and Girls Club, and is Chairman of the Board of Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters.
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Kartik Chandran
UConn Ph.D. ’99
Kartik Chandran earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Connecticut (1999), as well as his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. He is Professor of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University, where he leads the Biomolecular Environmental Science program and the Wastewater Treatment and Climate Change Program.
He has received the Water Environment Research Foundation’s Paul L. Busch Award, the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and is a Fellow of the National Academy of Science.
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William D’Agostino, PE
UConn B.S. ’84
William D’Agostino earned his B.S. in both Chemical Engineering and Materials Engineering from the University of Connecticut (1984) and holds an MBA awarded with Highest Honors from the University of Dallas. He the Senior Vice President of Operations at InVivo Therapeutics in Cambridge, MA. He is also a co-author of the book Regulatory Strategies for Combination Products.
Mr. D’Agostino is the co-inventor of eight US patents concerning medical devices, smart fiber-optic sensors, and aircraft antennas as well as numerous European patents. He is the co-inventor of eight US patents concerning medical devices, smart fiber-optic sensors, and aircraft antennas as well as numerous European patents. He is a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician with over 30 years of service.
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Christopher Ecsedy
UConn B.S. ’88, M.S. ’90
Chris Ecsedy earned his B.S. (1988) in Civil Engineering and his M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering (1990) from the University of Connecticut.
He is the Senior Vice President of Energy and Facilities at Fuss & O’Neill, where he has worked for the past 24 years. He has extensive experience in environmental engineering, industrial wastewater management, and industrial waste management. Mr. Ecsedy oversees a team of structural, mechanical, electrical, and environmental engineers who work on a diverse range of complex projects.
In addition to his work at Fuss & O’Neill, Mr. Ecsedy has served on the Connecticut Business and Industry Association’s Environmental Policies Council steering committee, providing guidance on environmental and energy issues that affect the area’s businesses and industries.
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Manish Gupta
UConn M.S. ’98, Ph.D. ’01
Manish Gupta is the Executive Vice President and co-owner of GM2 Associates, Inc. Dr. Gupta earned his M.S. (1998) and Ph.D. (2001) in Structural Engineering from the University of Connecticut. He also holds a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
During his career Dr. Gupta has performed research and published in a wide area of engineering disciplines. He continues to maintain research activities with the Civil Engineering Department at UConn. His current strategic goals include the development of engineering support for alternative energy systems and civil engineering support for major energy infrastructure initiatives.
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Andrew Hoffman
UConn B.S. ’53
Andrew Hoffman earned his B.S. in Electrical and Systems Engineering from the University of Connecticut (1953), as well as his M.S. in Management Science from the Hartford Graduate Center (1983), now the Rensselaer at Hartford. After graduation, he worked at United Technology Corporation for 34 years, eventually becoming the Executive Vice President of the Hamilton Standard Aerospace division.
At Hamilton Standard, Mr. Hoffman was involved in a variety of programs related to the United States Space Program. He was one of the engineers responsible for helping the Apollo 13 crew return home after a liquid oxygen tank exploded, which knocked out the life-support systems to the command module.
Mr. Hoffman was also named to the International Academy of Astronautics Committee on EVA Protocols and Operations.
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John Schneiter
UConn B.S. ’78
John Schneiter earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Connecticut (1978) and his M.S. and Sc.D. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT (1982 and 1986, respectively). Dr. Schneiter is the CEO and co-founder of Free Form Fibers.
Dr. Schneiter co-founded Veratag in 2006 and GlobalSpec in 1996. He was president of GlobalSpec, a vertical search engine for engineers, for 10 years. Under his leadership GlobalSpec was named in the “25 Companies to Watch” list by Cahners.
In 2008 Dr. Schneiter received the Tech Valley Entrepreneur of the Year award for his work in GlobalSpec, Veratag, and the many early stage technology companies he has helped with guidance and advice. He holds eighteen patents.
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Scott Tyler
UConn B.S. ’78
Scott Tyler earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (1978) from the University of Connecticut, his M.S. in Hydrology from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and his Ph.D. in Hydrology and Hydrogeology from the University of Nevada. He is a Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering and the Director of the Center for Transformative Environmental Sensing Programs at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Dr. Tyler’s areas of research focuses on hydrology and environmental fluid dynamics.
He has served on review boards of the National Academy of Sciences (NSF) in the areas of nuclear waste management and directing the future of hydrologic science research at the NSF.
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Konstantinos G. Zografos
UConn M.S. ’83, Ph.D. ’86
Konstantinos G. Zografos earned his M.S. in Transportation Engineering (1983) and his Ph.D. in Urban and Transportation Engineering (1986) from the University of Connecticut. He is Chair Professor, Director of Research, and Director of the Centre of Transport and Logistics at the Department of Management Science of Lancaster University in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Zografos’ research interests include Applications of Operations Research and Information Systems in Transportation Systems and Logistics.
Dr. Zografos received an ENO Foundation for Transportation Fellowship in 1986, the President’s Medal of the British Operational Research Society in 2005, and the INFORMS Edelman Laureate Honorary Medal in 2008.
