Joe Matthews

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology electrical engineering graduate Joe Matthews now leads the Purchasing organization for both direct and indirect material procurement for Gentex Corp., Zeeland, Mich. Gentex is the world's leader in auto dimming technology for the automotive and aerospace industries. In 2011, Gentex crossed the $1B revenue threshold for the first time in the company's 38 year history.

Before working at Gentex, Matthews worked for Management Engineers, a German-based management consulting firm, and held several sourcing leadership positions at Whirlpool Corp. in the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor, Mich. Area. Prior to those roles, he worked in supply management and manufacturing engineering for Delphi in their Electronics and Safety sector located in Kokomo, Ind.

In addition to a B.S. of Electrical Engineering from Rose-Hulman, Matthews has a MBA and master's in engineering for operations research and industrial engineering from Cornell University.

A Gary, Ind., native, Matthews graduated as valedictorian from West Side High School. He and his wife, Vanessa, live in St. Joseph, Mich., with their three children.

Darrin Moody

Darin Moody, 1987 Magna Cum Laude graduate from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, is vice president, corporate engineering and continuous improvement for Eli Lilly and Co. In this role, he is responsible for global engineering and maintenance activity, as well as the Six Sigma initiative within Manufacturing and Quality. 

Moody earned a B.S. in chemical engineering and joined Lily after graduation as a process design and later a project engineer in Facilities Delivery Engineering, where he worked on the design and construction of bulk manufacturing facilities. During his tenure with Lily, he has served in numerous assignments, including serving as a manager in the United Kingdom. He returned to Indianapolis in 2001 and has assumed several management positions. He began his current position in September 2007.

Moody serves on the Rose-Hulman Board of Trustees and is a member of the International Leadership Forum of the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers. He also has served on boards of directors for:  The Charles T Hyte Community Center in Terre Haute, Ind.; The Partnership for Learning in Liverpool, United Kingdom; and The Eli Lilly Federal Credit Union in Indianapolis, Ind.

Heidi Park

Heidi Park's path to realizing a dream of becoming a high school teacher took a road less traveled. She's pursuing a teaching degree as a Knowles Science Teaching Fellow, and may soon become a science teacher in the Chicago Public Schools. This came after she earned a bachelor's degree chemical engineering in 2005 from Rose-Hulman and a master's degree from Cornell University.

The Knowles Science Teaching Foundation (KSTF) has invested $175,000 over five years to encourage Park and 33 others in this complex and challenging profession. She is currently a student teacher in the Chicago Public Schools and plans to earn her teaching credentials next spring from the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Park joins graduates of Harvard and Stanford who have left fledgling careers on Wall Street and academic research to make an impact in America's classrooms. Knowles Science Teaching Fellows ensure that high-caliber beginning teachers remain in the profession.

A part of that process is learning how to teach the material she knows. "If I just took my degrees in chemical engineering into the classroom, I don't believe I would be able to teach the students," she says. "I need to learn about how students learn. Today, there is more of a shift to help students and guide them to find the answers and develop positions. They learn because they do, not from a lecture."