Vincent A. Schiavoni received his B.S. degree in Engineering Mechanics from Penn State in 1975. From 1975-1987, he was employed at LTV Steel (Formerly J&L Steel), moving to Nucor Steel, Crawfordsville, IN, the world’s first thin slab flat rolled steel mill technology (1987 to 1994). Since 1994, Dr. Schiavoni served as President of Duraloy Technologies, Inc., in Scottsdale, PA. Duraloy is a high alloy foundry specializing in castings and fabrication for the steel, petrochemical, and heat treat industries worldwide.

Dr. Schiavoni has been married for 31 years to Sharon; with two children, Adam, 22, a senior at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh majoring in Media Animation, and Sarah, 17, a junior at Shady Side Academy. His interests are cycling, gardening, and their three cats: Cleo, Maddie, and Scribbles.

Dr. Steven A. Ringel is the Neal A. Smith Endowed Chair Professor in Electrical Engineering and Director of the Ohio State Institute for Materials Research at The Ohio State University. Professor Ringel leads an internationally-renowned research program that spans from electronic materials synthesis and properties to device applications for electronic, energy, and photonic technologies.

Professor Demetrios D. Raftopoulos earned his B.S. degree with honors (1959) in Civil Engineering from Widener University, Chester, PA; and accepted a position as Sr. Highway Engineering in the Delaware Highway Department, Dover, DE. In 1961, he became Instructor of Engineering at Widener University, receiving National Science Foundation awards to study at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ (1961), and at the University of New Mexico (1962). In 1963, he earned his M.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Delaware. A Ford Foundation Scholarship and “Forgettable Loan” (1964) enabled him to earn his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics after two years at Penn State in December 1966.

Dr. Harvey S. Piper Jr. was born in Duncansville, PA, in 1934 and graduated from Altoona High School in 1952. After serving three years in the U.S. Army as a radio repairman, he entered The Pennsylvania State University in September 1956 and was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Science, with distinction, in Engineering Science, 1960. He became a Member of the Technical Staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories and performed systems engineering on the T1 carrier system, the first Time Division Multiplex system. While at Bell Labs, he received the degree of Master of Electrical Engineering from New York University in June 1962.

Dr. Walter D. Pilkey, a native of Richland, Washington, received his B.A. (Humanities), M.S. (Engineering Sciences), and Ph.D. (Engineering Science and Mechanics) from Washington State University, Purdue University, and Penn State University, respectively. While in college, he worked as a smokejumper in Missoula, Montana. During his tenure as a research scientist at the IIT Research Institute in Chicago, he spent almost two years of service in Afghanistan as a visiting faculty member at Kabul University. Since 1969, he has been associated with the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia, where he was the Chairman of the Applied Mechanics Division. He is the recipient of two Fulbright Awards, a Japanese Society of Sciences Award, a NAVSEA Chair, and a von Humboldt Award.

Dr. Robert P. Parker received his M.S. in General Engineering and Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Penn State University in 1968 and 1973, respectively. After graduation, he worked for Uniroyal Research, Harley Davidson, and Wyle Laboratories, where they used ANSYS for seismic qualification of equipment for nuclear power plants. The Three Mile Island disaster put an end to construction of new nuclear facilities.

Rodney J. Miller graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree in Engineering Mechanics in 1975, and joined U.S. Steel Corporation in Pittsburgh where he worked as a Maintenance Foreman, Design Engineer, and Project Engineer until 1982. He earned an M.B.A. at the University of Pittsburgh in 1979.

Dr. Pravin K Mehta holds a B.Sc. (Hon) degree in Mathematics from the University of Bombay (1957), a graduate diploma D.M.I.T. in Aeronautical Engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology (1960), and M.S. (1962) and Ph.D. (1966) degrees in Engineering Mechanics from the Pennsylvania State University. Following his Ph.D., he spent one year at Penn State as an Assistant Professor in Engineering Mechanics before joining the Perkin-Elmer Corporation in June 1967. When Perkin-Elmer divested its Electro-Optical business in 1989, he continued with tenure at the successor companies GM Hughes Electronics (1989-1998) and Raytheon Systems Company (1999-2000). Dr. Mehta retired on December 29, 2000, from Raytheon as a Senior Fellow of the Company.