Outstanding Alumni Awards 2023
Distinguished Alumni Award and Outstanding Young Alumni Award recipients.
About
The UMass Amherst College of Engineering recognizes alumni achievements with two annual awards: the Distinguished Alumni Award and the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.
Distinguished Alumni Award
Visionary leaders in their field, recipients of this honor have reached exceptional levels of professional and personal achievement. This award recognizes distinguished leadership, service, teaching, innovation, and other exemplary accomplishments that positively impact society and the engineering profession.
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Emerging leaders in the early stages of their careers, recipients of this honor are generally no more than ten years out from receiving their UMass Engineering PhD or generally no more than fifteen years out from receiving their UMass Engineering undergraduate degree. This award recognizes outstanding professional and personal achievements and highlights the recipient’s ambitions and potential to positively impact UMass, the Commonwealth, the nation, and the world.
Join us in congratulating this year's recipients.
Kristin M. Neff ’88 Electrical Engineering
Distinguished Alumni Award
Vice President of Clinical Operations, Provention Bio
Awarded by the Department of Biomedical Engineering
Arnaz Malhi ’06MS Mechanical Engineering
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Director, Strategic Operations Technical Development, Moderna
Awarded by the Department of Biomedical Engineering
Nilesh Shah ’85PhD Chemical Engineering
Distinguished Alumni Award
Research and Development Director, Dow (retired)
Awarded by the Department of Chemical Engineering
Sara Green ’14PhD Chemical Engineering
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Global Hydroprocessing Catalyst Solutions Lead, ExxonMobil
Awarded by the Department of Chemical Engineering
Peter J. Quigley ’84, ’88MS Civil Engineering
Distinguished Alumni Award
Principal, Thornton Tomasetti
Awarded by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Yesher Larsen ’09, ’11MS Environmental Engineering
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Director of Water Quality, Aquarion Water Company
Awarded by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Charlie Jacco ’02 Computer Engineering
Distinguished Alumni Award
Partner, KPMG LLP, and US Cyber Threat Management Leader and Global Financial Services Leader, KPMG LLP’s Cyber Security Services
Awarded by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Andrew C. Sousa ’15, ’17MS Electrical Engineering
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Manager of Hardware Engineering, American Robotics
Awarded by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Paul Banks ’81 Mechanical Engineering
Distinguished Alumni Award
Principal, B2Q Associates
Awarded by the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Rim Benoud-Schmitz ’12 Industrial Engineering
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Head of Technical Program Management, Amazon
Awarded by the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
2023 Outstanding Alumni Awards Celebration
Thursday, May 11, 2023
6:00 p.m. Reception
6:45 p.m. Program
7:00 p.m. Awarding Ceremony
Invitation-only event
Contact
Jillian Reardon
Oversees the stewardship and constituent relations programs for the College of Engineering.