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Rose-Hulman Commencement 2012
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Honorary Doctor of Engineering
May 25, 2012
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology will award Honorary Doctor
of Engineering degrees to the following people during the 134th
commencement on Saturday, May 26:
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| Thomas Hoback |
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Thomas Hoback
President and CEO of Indiana Rail Road
Company
Thomas Hoback attended Golden Gate University in San Francisco,
where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in transportation
and economics. In 1986, he founded the Indiana Rail Road Company,
an Indianapolis-based regional railroad serving south central
Indiana and eastern Illinois. He is also the owner, president, and
CEO of Central Midland Railway, a freight railroad serving the St.
Louis region.
He has led the Indiana Rail Road Company through 25 years of
exponential growth, from near bankruptcy to becoming one of the
most successful regional carriers in the U.S. His company was
awarded Railway Age Magazine's prestigious Regional Railroad of the
Year Award for 2012.
He has been active in helping Terre Haute to consolidate rail
yards and alleviate train/automobile traffic tie ups. He has worked
with several Rose-Hulman senior civil engineering majors on senior
projects that have been focused on improving local rail
traffic.
Hoback is a board member of the Railway and Locomotive
Historical Society and the George Krambles Transit Scholarship
Fund. He also serves on the editorial advisory board for Railroad
History, a scholarly journal covering railways. He was elected to
the Board of Trustees of the Indiana Historical Society in 2002,
and has a long association with the society, having co-founded the
Midwest Railroad Research Center in 1997. He also serves on the
Society's executive committee and collections committee.
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| Dean Kamen |
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Dean Kamen
Inventor and founder of DEKA Corporation and
FIRST®
Dean Kamen is not only one of the world's greatest inventors and
entrepreneurs, he is also one of America's greatest advocates for
science and technology education. Founder of FIRST (For Inspiration
and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization
dedicated to introducing young minds to science and technology,
Kamen works to get youth interested in science and technology
through fun competition.
Kamen founded FIRST in 1989 and by 2011 the organization was
serving more than 250,000 young people, ages 6 to 18, in more than
50 countries. High school-aged participants are eligible to apply
for more than $14 million in scholarships sponsored by leading
corporations, colleges and universities, including Rose-Hulman.
Studies have shown that FIRST alumni are highly motivated to pursue
careers in science and engineering. The organization has truly
fulfilled Kamen's goal of inspiring the next generation of
technological leaders.
Kamen has received many awards for his efforts. Notably, he was
awarded the 2000 National Medal of Technology by President Bill
Clinton in recognition for inventions that have advanced medical
care worldwide, and for innovative and imaginative leadership in
awakening America to the excitement of science and technology.
Kamen was also awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize in 2002, and was
inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005.
As an inventor, Kamen holds more than 440 U.S. and foreign
patents, many for innovative medical devices that have saved lives
and impacted health care worldwide. While still a college
undergraduate, he invented the first wearable infusion pump in
1976. He founded AutoSyringe, Inc. to manufacture and market the
pumps. He later sold that company to Baxter Healthcare Corporation.
Today, his invention has been used in dozens of applications
including chemotherapy, neonatology and endocrinology.
Following the sale of AutoSyringe, Inc., Kamen founded DEKA
Research and Development Corporation to develop new inventions as
well as to provide research and development services for major
corporate clients.
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| Bruce Cahill |
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Bruce Cahill
Founder and CEO of Centaur Corporation
Soon after graduating from Rose-Hulman with a degree in
electrical engineering in 1970, Bruce Cahill established himself in
the emerging semiconductor business in Southern California. By
1985, he had been named a Rose-Hulman Distinguished Young
Alumnus.
Early in his career, Cahill held a variety of sales management
positions with Fairchild Semiconductor. In 1983, he leveraged this
experience to found Centaur, a semiconductor-based manufacturers'
representative with headquarters in Irvine, California and offices
throughout the west.
Cahill has also founded a variety of other companies, including
1451 International, an art licensing company; Intensity Athletics,
a manufacturer of sportswear; Procyon Technical Sales; and a real
estate investment company.
Cahill has been active on the Rose-Hulman Board of Trustees
since 1999. He also serves as a trustee and member of the executive
council of the University of California Irvine Foundation, and the
MIND Research Institute. MIND also conducts basic neuroscience,
mathematics, and educational research to improve math education and
advance scientific understanding.
He has been active in fundraising for Children's Hospital of
Orange County; the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation; Harvest
Food Bank; Saint Margaret's Episcopal School; and Oceana, the
world's largest ocean conservation group.