Hollywood recently held the Oscars, and Connecticut engineers who make our state a leader in innovation just held the Engineers’ Night Awards. The Hartford Section American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) honored some of Connecticut’s most distinguished engineering professionals at their 29th Annual Engineers’ Night Awards Banquet at the Society Room in Hartford on February 19th. The event is a celebrated tradition among the engineering community, hosting over 230 executives, researchers, faculty, and students from local industrial and academic institutions who paid tribute to eighteen Distinguished Engineers of the Year award winners. Special guests included keynote speaker U.S. Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty, andState Representative Lonnie Reed, Co-Chair of the Energy and Technology Committee.
Each year during National Engineers’ Week, ASME celebrates the extraordinary accomplishments of fellow engineers and brings together technical professionals spanning the entire range of disciplines. The award involves a rigorous nomination and review process. Recipients represent the value that superior engineering can bring to people, products and performance. The award is often among the highest honors a company presents to their employees.
“Engineers in Connecticut are the innovators in every industry from aerospace to manufacturing to energy, who carry on our state’s tradition of creating solutions that make it a better world for all of us,” said Aaron Danenberg, Engineers’ Night Chairman. “These awards highlight the robust and vibrant engineering community we have here in Connecticut.”
Pratt and Whitney honored seven engineers, many who worked on the new Next Generation Product Family (NGPF) programs: Jesse Boyer, Christopher L. Dyer, Matthew R. Feulner, David P. Houston, Katherine A. Knapp Carney, John P. Virtue, Jr and Ryan Walsh. Belcan Engineering recognized Shaila Kambli, Chief Engineer, Systems and Software Engineering. Alstom honored three engineers: Danny Gelbar, Scott Herman and Rahul Terdalkar. Hartford Steam Boiler honored Peter Goodell, UTC Aerospace Systems honored Tadry Domagala FirstLight Power Resources Inc honored Edward Hathaway and Westinghouse Electric Company honored Michael Foster.
Three esteemed engineers at Connecticut’s universities who have educated generations of future professionals were presented awards from the University of Connecticut: Professor Nejat Olgac, University of Hartford: Professor Leo T. Smith and Central Connecticut State University: Dr. Alfred A. Gates.
The Annual Engineers’ Night Awards was made possible by the generous support of its Founding Sponsor Pratt and Whitney, Primary Sponsor Belcan Engineering and Gold Sponsors Alstom and Hartford Steam Boiler. The Connecticut Science Center also presented each honoree with complimentary tickets to its venue.
Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit organization that supports professional engineers and promotes the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME’s mission is to serve diverse global communities by advancing, disseminating and applying engineering knowledge for improving the quality of life and communicating the excitement of engineering. For more information and to view a video, visit www.asme.org, go.asme.org/hartfordengineersnight, or http://youtu.be/iPmdZJhVUfk.
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