Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

My job varies from day to day which is great! Some days I'm a chemist, and other days I'm a tech writer, PR guru, secretary, or all around catch-all. My job is mostly based outside the lab at a desk, but they let me dabble with my pet projects on occasion. Coolest thing about my job: There's a sign outside that says "use of deadly force authorized".

Pesonnal information

I live in the Haute (which is growing on me). My interests are spending all my hard earned paychecks shopping, keeping my fish alive, reading trashy romance novels, and keeping in touch with all my Rose friends.

Jade Wamsley-Katinas

Class/Year of Grad: 2005

1st Major: Chemistry/Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

2nd Major or Minor:

Employer, Title, Location

Chemistry Project Lead

eServ LLC., Peoria, IL

Description of job or current project

I am a consultant in the area of chemistry and chemical analysis. I manage both chemists and engineers in projects pertaining to validation, chemical analysis, and quality control. Because every company with a product has to think about chemistry in some form, my group is very diverse and will continue to grow as eServ continues to expand it's chemical department.

Pesonnal information

I married Christopher Katinas in 2005, before graduation, and we moved to Peoria, IL in July, 2005. Chris works with Caterpillar, Inc. We enjoy fishing and seeing the sites of Peoria, IL. Our two companies also offer several family events in which we enjoy participating.

Audra Curry

Class/Year of Grad: 2004

1st Major: Chemistry.

2nd Major or Minor:

Title, Employer, Location

Drug chemist

Indiana State Police, Fort Wayne Indiana

Description of job or current project

Audra Curry now spends her days working with illegal drugs. In addition to analyzing samples for drug traces, she often testifies in court and is on call for a number of big crime labs. She is also being trained into a team that is responsible for reviewing the safety of other investigators.

Personal information

Michael Ewing

Class/Year of Grad: 2003

1st Degree: Chemistry.

2nd Degree: Mathematics

Graduate School, Supervisor

University of Illinois, Dr. Jon Sweedler

Description of job or current project

l work for Dr. Jon Sweedler in bioanalytical chemistry.

Personal information

Mike did research for Dr. Jelski while at Rose-Hulman, and also worked for several years as a tutor in the Learning Center.

Craig Szymanski

Class/Year of Grad: 2003

1st Major: Chemical Engineering

2nd Major: Chemistry

Graduate School, Supervisor

Clemson University

Description of job or current project

He plans to study analytical chemistry.

Personal information

While at Rose-Hulman he was very active in ACS, both as Master of Ceremonies and has Chair of the Chemistry on Wheels program. He is also very proud of the fact that he is getting a double major, and though he will probably continue a chemistry career, using his engineering degree is always an option.

Charles Porter

Class/Year of Grad: 2003

1st Degree: Chemistry.

Graduate School, Supervisor

University of Illinois

Description of job or current project

Studying physical-organic chemistry

Personal information

As that implies, he enjoyed both his organic classes and physical chemistry classes at Rose-Hulman. He was an active member of ACS for 3� years. He very much appreciates all the people he met at Rose-Hulman.

Richard Spalding

Class/Year of Grad: 2003

1st Major: Chemical Engineering

2nd Major: Chemistry

Employer

Marathon/Ashland petroleum in Robinson, IL

Description of job or current project

Pesonnal information

He was president and captain of the Hockey Club at Rose-Hulman. He enjoyed his research with Dr. Allison, and he liked the biochemistry classes he took with Dr. Ball.

Corey Trobaugh

Class/Year of Grad: 2003

1st Degree: Chemistry.

Graduate School, Supervisor

He will attend IUPUI in Indianapolis

Description of job or current project

Graduate work in medicinal chemistry

Personal information

He really enjoyed his research with Dr. Allison on the synthesis of Sattabacin, and he also liked the biochemistry courses and lab with Dr. Brandt.

Chris Nicholson

Class/Year of Grad: 2002

1st Major: Chemistry.

Graduate School, Supervisor

U. of Notre Dame

Description of job or current project

I am working on synthetic and computational design of analogues of polyketide natural products.

Personal information

Maegan Peabody

Class/Year of Grad: 1999

1st Major: Chemistry.

2nd Major or Minor:

Employer, Title, Location

Assistant Senior Analytical Chemist , Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN

Description of job or current project

I currently work in the Biopharmaceutical Research and Development area. My work involves bringing potential new drugs from early-phase development through the commercialization phase and then (hopefully) to market.

Personal information

Aside from spending a lot of my free time running, biking or reading, I spend time with friends, many of whom are also Rose alumni, exploring the various cultural activities that Indy has to offer.

Erin Gawron

Class/Year of Grad: 1999

1st Major: Chemistry.

2nd Major or Minor: Mathematics

Employer, Title, Location

Chemistry Teacher

Heritage High School � Rockdale County Public Schools , Conyers , GA

Description of job or current project

I teach honors chemistry and AP chemistry, coach the Ultimate Frisbee team, and work with the marching band as a marching instructor
I was named High School Georgia Science Teacher of Promise in 2005 by the Georgia Science Teachers Association
I was named the 2006 Heritage High School Technology Teacher of the Year (for outstanding use of technology in the classroom)

Personal information

This past school year we were recipients of a GA Department of Education service learning grant on biofuels. I�ve done research in the summer of 2005 and will be doing research the summer of 2006 on biodiesel at the University of Georgia . The research is part of the Georgia Internship-Fellowship for Teachers (GIFT) program. My students and I spent the year continuing my research and testing of biofuels that culminated in a community-wide biofuels expo on Earth Day. Two students were also able to participate in sharing research data on biodiesel with engineers at the University of Georgia . The students and I also worked on converting an old diesel car to run on waste vegetable oil (French fry grease from the school cafeteria).

The picture is of me with two of my students at the University of Georgia (L-R Steven Etheridge, Erin Gawron, Matt Manning).

I�m really proud of what Rose taught to me and what I can pass along to my students!!

David Lafkas

Class/Year of Grad: 1998

1st Major: Chemistry.

2nd Major or Minor:

Employer, Title, Location

Patent and Trademark Attorney

LAFKAS PATENT LLC , Cincinnati , Ohio

Description of job or current project

Currently working with entrepreneurs and small/medium sized businesses throughout the country in assisting to define and secure their intellectual property. Recent chemistry-orientated client products include CUPRIDENT (www.cuprident.com), a copper-based toothpaste.

Personal information

Despite running my own patent and trademark practice for the past several years, I still make time to work on my house; play with my border collie/beagle, Domino; spend time with friends; boat on the Ohio River; assist at the Cincinnati Bar Association; and through various organizations, encourage young professionals in the Greater Cincinnati Area to experience more of the arts the region has to offer.

Scott Thomas

Class/Year of Grad: 1998

1st Major: Chemistry.

2nd Major or Minor:

Employer, Title, Location

Senior Chemist (Industrial Adhesives and Nonwovens Division)

Bostik Inc., Wauwatosa (Milwaukee), WI

Description of job or current project

Bostik provides a wide range of adhesives, sealants, and specialty chemicals for numerous industries around the world. On joining the company in 2004, I took over development and technical direction of their waterborne adhesives product lines for North America. The variety in the position can be staggering - I oversee manufacturing quality and consult with process engineering, take part in market assessment and planning, work on-site with customers in new product trials, direct R&D projects for my team, and on some occasions I even get into the lab myself! Products I've developed can be found in automotive applications, housing and construction, graphics arts and paper products, clothing and textiles, consumer goods and food packaging, and a host of other places. This year (2006) marks the first year of Bostik's internship program with Rose, and I hope to see it go on for many more!

Personal information

Fred Jacobs

Class/Year of Grad: 1990

1st Major: Chemistry.

2nd Major or Minor:

Employer, Title, Location

Research Chemist II

Tyco Healthcare, Mallinckrodt Imaging, Hazelwood, MO

Description of job or current project

Synthesis and characterization of biocompatible fluorescent dyes

Personal information

Brian Bell

Class/Year of Grad: 1989

1st Major: B.S. Chemistry, Technical Translators Certification in German into English (RHIT, 1989); MAT Chemistry/Education (Indiana University, 1991)

Employer, Title, Location

Quality Assurance Representative for Quality Control Labs

Eli Lilly & Co. Tippecanoe Labs, Lafayette, IN

Description of job or current project

Brief description of job or current project: After working as an Analytical Chemist in the Quality Control Lab at our Lafayette production site, I transitioned into a new role in January 2006. I am currently providing quality oversight for the QC lab that I used to work in. Some of my current projects are focused on streamlining the business process while providing the same level of quality necessary for the production of pharmaceuticals. I am in the midst of writing two papers: one on a novel technique for improving reproducibility of GC assays; the second is a guidance document on usage of water and buffers in quality control labs.

Personal information

Daniel R. Crane

Class/Year of Grad: 1998

1st Major: Chemistry.

1991 UC Santa Barbara, Ph.D., physical inorganic chemistry

Employer, Title, Location

Professor of Chemistry Chair, Science & Mathematics Department

Northwestern College, St Paul, MN

Description of job or current project

I teach General Chem, Organic Chem, and Introduction to Scientific Thought. I chair a department with 11 full-time faculty/staff.

Personal information

wife - Terry
children - Robert (7), Janessa (5), and Lily (1)

hobbies: motorcycling, woodworking, philosophy, and engineering (!) ; I was a chemistry/chemical engineering double major for a while at RHIT, and that got to be too much along with the German technical translation program, so I gave up the engineering major

Scott Thomas

Class/Year of Grad: 1998

1st Major: Chemistry.

2nd Major or Minor:

Employer, Title, Location

Senior Chemist (Industrial Adhesives and Nonwovens Division)

Bostik Inc., Wauwatosa (Milwaukee), WI

Description of job or current project

Personal information

Tad Hurst

Class/Year of Grad: 1978

1st Degree: Chemistry.

2nd Degree: Mathematics

PhD U. Illinois 1983

Employer, Title, Location

Vice President and CTO

ChemNavigator - a biotech sector company in San Diego that specializes in Chemical Information Software and Computer-aided Drug Design software.

Description of job or current project

I have worked in the Pharmaceutical/Biotech sector and Agricultural Chemistry areas for 22 years now

Personal information

I changed from Chemical Engineering to Chemistry at the beginning of the 2nd year, and I signed up for the Math degree as well. It took some resolve at that time to make that change, because the chair of the CE department did not want me to give up CE.

Anyway, Rose was a GREAT place to learn Chemistry! The small size and intimate settings was ideal for undergraduate studies. Later, when I was a graduate student at Illinois, I wondered how the undergrad students fared there. They rarely know the professors, and they have more interaction with the graduate students. At Rose, I played basketball with a couple of my professors on a weekly basis, and I had a good relationship with another professor (Dr. Benjaminov) because of my interest in the Terre Haute Symphony.