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It didn’t take long for Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology alumni Evan
Kokoska, David Reynolds, Floyd Yager and Brenton Young to achieve career success
in medicine, environmental engineering, insurance and optics.
Kokoska is director of minimally
invasive pediatric surgery at the Peyton Manning Children Hospital in
Indianapolis, affiliated with the Cincinnati Children's Hospital; Reynolds has been responsible for many of Chicago’s signature
“green” projects; Yager specializes in quantitative research and analytics for
Allstate Insurance; and Young is helping develop high performance atom optic
accelerometers.
Those successes will be recognized on Saturday, May 2, with the Career
Achievement Award, presented by the Rose-Hulman Alumni Association, during the
college’s Honors & Awards Ceremony. The award honors alumni from within the past
20 years for achievements within their communities and professions.
Members of Rose-Hulman’s Class of 1989 –- each from distinct academic majors --
being honored will be:
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Evan
Kokoska |
Evan Kokoska, a chemical engineering alumnus who realized his dream of becoming
a surgeon through working at the Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center
in St. Louis (1998-2001); J.W. Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis
(2001-2003); Arkansas Children’s Hospital and University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences in Little Rock, Ark. (2003-2008); and now the Peyton Manning Children’s
Hospital (since 2008). He has been named one of the Best Doctors in America
(2007), received the Red Sash Outstanding Teaching Award (2008) and Ross
Residents and Fellows Research Award (1999).
“My chemical engineer father had always instilled upon me the concept that a
degree in engineering, no matter what you ended up doing for a career, is
valuable in that it teaches one how to think,” stated Kokoska, who lives in
Zionsville, Ind., with his wife and two daughters. “The greatest asset of Rose-Hulman
is outstanding instruction from professors who usually had practical industrial
experience and came to work to teach.
In an undergraduate setting, this is very unique and, to the central core, it
was this faculty that made Rose-Hulman great.
“I was able to enter medical school with significantly less debt and, I believe,
a better engineering education, than I would have had elsewhere,” he added.
“Beyond the ‘practical’ factor, however, I had a lot of fun at Rose-Hulman and
was forced to use my time extremely efficiently –- a habit I have used
throughout my life and very pertinent in the field of medicine.”
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David Reynolds |
David Reynolds initially practiced civil engineering, the focus of his
undergraduate degree, but his career quickly moved toward environmental
engineering with a focus on improving the environmental performance of
buildings, infrastructure and open space. He was working for the Chicago
Department of Environment when Mayor Richard M. Daley began his quest to make
Chicago the "greenest city of the nation." Since then, Reynolds was directly
responsible for many of Chicago's signature green projects, such as the Chicago
Center for Green Technology, the Green Bungalow Initiative and the Green Homes
for Chicago. Two of his projects were included on the American Institute of
Architect’s annual listing of the “Top Ten Green Buildings” and a Phoenix Award
for Excellence in Brownfields Redevelopment from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
Since returning to the private sector, Reynolds has built a consulting practice
that includes both traditional environmental engineering services and
sustainable development services. He has been invited to participate in three
international workshops, including the Urban Toxics Workshop in Shanghai, China
(2000), and the Swiss Consulate’s Water Study Tour (2008).
“Rose-Hulman’s civil engineering program had a significant impact on my
professional life for two very practical reasons: Many of the courses required
the students to work in teams and required a course in technical communications
with team project presentations,” states Reynolds, who lives in Chicago with his
wife. “These requirements helped prepare me to succinctly and clearly present my
findings and ideas, which has proved to be an invaluable skill in my career.”
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Floyd Yager |
Floyd Yager has used his mathematics’ problem-solving abilities to become vice
president of quantitative research and analytics for Allstate Insurance. He has
worked through various levels, departments and subsidiaries at Allstate over the
past 20 years, including positions of manager in the pricing department,
director in the actuarial research department, assistant vice president and
assistant field vice president for Midwest Region, assistant vice president of
product operations and California state manager. Along the way, Yager earned
Allstate’s Good Hands Award for Community Service and the National Center for
Super Computing’s Industrial Grand Challenge Award.
“While there is no doubt that I was well prepared technically for my career –-
the undergraduate education in mathematics was incredible –- I believe the
leadership skills I acquired during my tenure as a Sophomore Advisor and
Resident Assistant made a huge difference,” states Yager, the father of three
young children. He and his wife and family live in Park Ridge, Ill. “Rose-Hulman
is a special place and gave me a wonderful springboard for my career as well as
in my personal life and roles as a husband, father, coach, teacher and friend.”
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Brent Young |
Brent Young, who earned degrees in physics and electrical engineering, is
president and founder of AOSense Inc., which seeks to develop high-performance
atom optic accelerometers, gyroscopes and gravity sensors for navigational and
geophysical exploration. Eight of AOSense’s 11 employees are scientists with
doctorate degrees.
Prior to AOSense, Inc., Young served as a senior research scientist for Stanford
and Yale universities, was a member of the technical staff for a Jet Propulsion
Laboratory at Yale and was a research associate for the University of Colorado
and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He has authored numerous
publications and papers in his area of expertise, and resides in Menlo Park,
Calif.
“The broad education that Rose-Hulman provided in physics, electrical
engineering and mathematics has been a key factor in enabling me to effectively
direct large, aggressive research programs in which innovative atom optics
sensors have demonstrated world-class performance,” Young stated.
Information about the Rose-Hulman Alumni Association’s Career Achievement Award
can be found at
http://alumni.rose-hulman.edu/?CAA.
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