Class Notes

Beth Shelton, PE, has been promoted to project manager in the transportation department at RPS Klotz Associates in Houston, Texas. Shelton has 10 years of experience in traffic engineering, including modeling, traffic impact analysis, wayfinding signing plans, access management studies, and signal warrant analysis.

A Utah State associate professor with expertise in textiles and apparel design has been named associate director of Oregon State University Extension Service. Lindsey Shirley will begin work at OSU on June 1. She’ll also serve as associate provost. Shirley’s work at Utah State has branched out from textiles and apparel design to include the social dynamics represented by clothing, according to an OSU news release. Among other work, she developed ways to teach design as a STEM subject, bringing science, technology, engineering and math principles into the study. Shirley has a bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. from Iowa State University and a master’s in education from the University of Minnesota. In her OSU position, she succeeds Deborah Maddy, who retired.

Hugo Cota-Snchez has been named a Master Teacher by the University of Saskatchewan. Since joining the Department of Biology in 2000, Cota-Snchez has earned a reputation as one of the University of Saskatchewan's most esteemed teacher-scholars. Although many of the concepts he teaches are highly technical, Cota-Snchez employs interactive and engaging teaching methods to make the subject matter less intimidating. For example, one of his undergraduate classes is taken annually on a “supermarket safari,” where students travel to a grocery store and learn how various foods and cosmetic products are inextricably connected to plants. Cota-Snchez has also designed a suit made entirely of burlap that he will often wear during class to demonstrate the versatility of plants. As curator of the W.P. Fraser Herbarium on campus, Cota-Snchez also leads many outreach initiatives that introduce a wide range of students to the world of botany. For example, he regularly conducts tours of the herbarium for elementary and secondary school students, and also frequently acts as a guide for Saskatchewan Polytechnic students who are visiting campus during field trips. While Cota-Snchez’s classes can be large, he makes a point to know each student by name. He is engaging and genuine in a way that many teachers strive to be, yet few can truly achieve. This ability to connect with students, and his belief that teachers must consistently assess and adjust their teaching methods, is annually reflected in his student evaluation scores, which are consistently excellent. As one student noted in a 2010 evaluation form, “Hugo is by far the best professor I’ve ever had. … He loves his subject so much and that is a big influence on how he teaches. … Hugo sets a high standard for any prof to live up to. His attitude and positive energy keep the class interesting and fun.” For his exceptional work in the classroom, Cota-Snchez has won numerous teaching honours in addition to the Master Teacher Award. Namely, he twice received the College of Arts and Science’s Teaching Excellence Award (2006, 2014), a Provost’s Award for Outstanding Teaching (2015), and a USSU Teaching Excellence Award (2003). He also won a Teaching Excellence Award from his previous employer, Iowa State University, in 1997.

Joseph R. Marconi, a 1972 graduate of Iowa State and a 1976 graduate of John Marshall Law School, has been named a 2016 recipient of The John Marshall Law School Spirit Award. The Spirit Award is presented by The John Marshall Law School’s Board of Trustees to men and women in the John Marshall community who “display the true spirit of The John Marshall Law School in his or her work in the community, as well as a concern for the welfare and continued success of our law school.” Joe Marconi is the chair of Johnson & Bell's Business Litigation group and Professional Liability group. He handles and supervises complex civil litigation, including real estate and commercial disputes, professional liability and employment law. Mr. Marconi successfully tries cases to verdict for various professionals including attorneys, accountants, appraisers and brokers. He prosecutes and defends cases involving trade secrets, unfair competition, trademark and patent infringement. In addition, he has extensive experience with a wide range of real estate litigation, both in court and in arbitration, including disputes over purchase agreements, partnership agreements, management agreements, construction and lease disputes.

On Jan. 14, 2016, William Farr became president of Chapter 400, Mended Hearts of Fayetteville in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Mended Hearts is a national and community-based non-profit organization of heart patients (over 20,000 members) whose mission is dedicated to "Inspiring hope and improving the quality of life for heart patients and their families through ongoing peer-to-peer support." As an Accredited Visitor, Farr is permitted to visit with heart patients in their hospital rooms and with families in the waiting room to answer their heart-related questions and to inspire that hope. We 4 Accredited Visitors saw over 1100 patients and 189 families in 2015. As a heart patient with six heart surgeries, including open heart surgery with 5 bypasses, 4 heart attacks, multiple angioplasties and 9 stents, Farr says he is "somewhat qualified to relate my experiences and to help ease the patients' and families' minds about life after surgery. Our unofficial motto is: 'As you are, I was. As I am, you will be.'"

MacGarret Becker has joined the Steier Group as a campaign manager. The Steier Group conducts campaign planning studies and manages capital campaigns for Catholic parishes, schools, dioceses, and community nonprofits all over the country. Becker comes to the Steier Group from a career in higher education, where he worked in student affairs at Creighton University, Northern Arizona University, Syracuse University and Semester at Sea. The Northern Arizona and Iowa State University (M.Ed.) graduate is currently leading a capital campaign in Louisiana.

There is always an interesting result with sports teams when you hold open tryouts. That is true for the Cedar Valley CourtKings, the new minor league basketball team in Waterloo/Cedar Falls, Iowa, which will play its inaugural season in the new Midwest Basketball League. Matt Craft, a 37-year-old lawyer in Waterloo, showed up for the first open tryout in January. He played well enough that the team invited him back for a second look at tryout number two. After the 3rd and final open tryout, the CourtKings extended a player agreement contract to Craft. Matt played his high school basketball at Union High School in LaPorte City and then went to Iowa State and went through the walk on tryouts. “The players all have different goals and reasons for wanting to play for a team like this and Matt is no different. He just wants to be part of this new team and help us in anyway he can whether it is at practice, at home games or filling in on a road trip if needed.” said owner/GM Gary Rima. “He is like a player/coach for us, and I am excited to have Matt be part of this organization.” The Cedar Valley CourtKings open up the season Saturday, April 23 in Chicago against the Chicago Clovers. The Clovers have replaced Sioux City in the MBL for the inaugural season. The CourtKings will play their home opener on Sunday, May 15, hosting the Minnesota Broncos from St. Paul.

Susana Muoz (Rundquist) (BS 95; PhD, 08) recently completed her first book "Identity, Social Activism, and the Pursuit of Higher Education: The Journey Stories of Undocumented and Unafraid Community Activists" (Peter Lang Publishing), which highlights the lives of 13 activist who grapple with their legality as a salient identity as they navigate higher education and social activism. The purpose of this book is for educators and allies to understand how undocumented students make meaning of their legal status, institutional barriers to college access, and the complexities of “coming out of the shadows” to advocate for changes to immigration policy and access to higher education.

Jonathan Kramer was recently recognized by the firm for 15 years of service to Whitfield & Eddy. He is a Member attorney and co-chair of the Estate Planning, Probate and Tax Law Practice Group.

Gary A. Norton was recently recognized by the firm for 30 years of service to Whitfield & Eddy. Gary is a Member attorney and chair of the Environmental Law Practice Group and past chair of the firm’s Business and Banking Practice Group.

Lindsay Tigue has published her first book, a poetry collection, SYSTEM OF GHOSTS (University of Iowa Press, 2016), which won the 2015 Iowa Poetry Prize. It is being published on April 1, 2016. In System of Ghosts, Lindsay details the way landscape speaks to isolation and personhood, how virtual and lived networks alter experience. She questions how built environments structure lives, how we seek out information within these spaces, and, most fundamentally, how we love. Rooted in the personal, the speaker of this collection moves through society and history, with the aim of firmly placing herself within her own life and loss. Facts become an essential bridge between spatial and historical boundaries. She connects us to the disappearance of species, abandoned structures, and heartbreak—abandoned spaces that tap into the searing grief woven into society’s public places. There is solace in research, one system this collection uses to examine the isolation of contemporary life alongside personal, historical, and ecological loss. While her poems are intimate and personal, Lindsay never turns away from the larger contexts within which we all live. Lindsay is currently a PhD student in Creative Writing at the University of Georgia; the book began as her master's thesis at Iowa State.

Todd Snyder, an ISU alum and Ames native, was nominated for Menswear Designer of the Year in this year's Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) awards. He's previously been nominated for best new menswear designer.

Heather James was recently named her school district's elementary nominee for Kansas Teacher of the Year. James is a first-grade teacher at Valley Park Elementary in Kansas. She has worked in the Blue Valley school district for nine years.

The Schemmer Associates Inc.(Schemmer), a Des Moines-based full-service architecture, engineering and planning firm, is pleased to announce John Bloom, AIA, LEED AP, has joined the firm as an architect based in the Des Moines office. Bloom has more than 15 years of diverse experience in new construction and renovation projects from design through construction administration. Bloom’s experience includes multifamily residential, commercial office, industrial, entertainment, historic preservation, senior living and educational facilities. At Schemmer, Bloom will be responsible for business development and project management. He has a Bachelor of Architecture from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. He has been active in the design of the community by serving on boards and committees for Central Iowa Architects, Hoyt Sherman Place and Clive Festival. Bloom is also a member of the Technical Advisory Network for the State Historical Society of Iowa.

Dr. Sadanand D. Joshi will receive the Society of Petroleum Engineering IOR (Improved Oil Recovery) Pioneer Award at the 2016 SPE IOR Symposium in Tulsa, OK, on April 11, 2016. The IOR Pioneer Award is given to selected individuals who have made outstanding contributions over the years in the development and application of technology to improve oil recovery. Dr. Joshi is well known for his expertise in horizontal well drilling. His Horizontal Well Technology textbook (PennWell Publishing) is a standard in the field. Adding to his status as a pioneer is his development of the “Joshi Equation” formula, used worldwide for predicting production rates from horizontal wells, as well as methodologies for calculating decline curves and well-testing equations for horizontal wells. Dr. Joshi is President of Joshi Technologies International, Inc. (JTI), a Tulsa-based petroleum engineering and production firm, which he founded in 1988. JTI has oil and gas production operations in the US, India, Colombia and Ecuador.

Michelle Eastman, a former West Des Moines elementary school teacher and Iowa Public Television producer, recently published two picture books for children: The Legends of the Dust Bunnies, a Fairy's Tale and Dust Fairy Tales: Absolutely Aggie. The books take a lighthearted approach to the compelling desire kids have to fit in. The stories validate the need we feel for acceptance, while imparting a subtle message about the joy that can come from embracing one's individuality. "I am passionate about literacy and issues affecting our children," Michelle says. "In 2014, I launched a successful literacy initiative to raise awareness and collect books for children of incarcerated parents (Picture Book Pass it On/MARCHing Books to Kids). The initiative was adopted as the special project for the current legislative session by the LegisLative League, Iowa General Assembly. Learn more at www.michelleeastmanbooks.com.

Raths, Raths & Johnson, Inc. (RRJ), a national engineering, architecture, and forensics consulting firm, located in Willowbrook, Illinois, is pleased to announce that George R. Mulholland, S.E., P.E. has been promoted to Senior Consulting Engineer. An accomplished structural engineer with 28 years of professional experience, George is an expert forensic engineer specializing in the evaluation, investigation, and repair of distressed facades, buildings, and structures. As a Senior Consulting Engineer, he is responsible for project management and client development across RRJ's range of expert consulting services. Throughout his 28-year career at RRJ, his experience has concentrated in concrete and building facade investigation, assessment of structures and structural components, repair design, and construction quality assurance. His portfolio has encompassed cast-in-place, precast, and post-tensioned concrete, masonry, steel, and timber structures with a specialization in parking garages. George has served as Project Manager on numerous investigation projects utilizing the latest techniques and testing approaches, ranging from exterior facade and masonry wall evaluations to concrete deterioration, steel corrosion, and other structural performance-related problems and collapses. His experience extends to structural analysis and structural design peer review, and litigation support and expert witness testimony on related structural performance and facade failures. From his vast portfolio of repair design projects, George has extensive knowledge of remedial design solutions for rehabilitation, durability, and strengthening of structural framing components and connections; development and implementation of methods to prevent, manage, and control air, water, and vapor migration of building envelopes; and historic facade restoration.

Beth Takemoto, a supervisor with John Deere Harvester Works in East Moline, Ill., is a 2016 recipient of the Manufacturing Institute's STEP Emerging Leaders Award. Beth began her career with John Deere in 2005 as a summer intern working in Manufacturing Engineering. During her career, she has gained a broad business perspective and has honed both technical and communication skills from assignments in Operations, Material Flow, Project Management and Manufacturing Engineering. Beth is currently leading a team responsible for bringing a new part-fastening system into John Deere’s assembly operations. To develop a world class process, she has focused the team’s efforts on evaluating capability on all of the new tools and fixtures proposed for this assembly. Mentoring comes naturally to Beth. She has mentored dozens of people over her career. Currently, she mentors a group of summer interns in Manufacturing Engineering as well as several employees in the Engineering Development Program. She has served formally as a mentor through the John Deere Enterprise mentoring program, as well as informally as a mentor to the Module Leaders who have gone through the company’s internal training program. Her assignments at multiple John Deere factories and experience working with employees and leaders from around the world allow her to provide a broad, valuable perspective on the company and the career opportunities available. Beth is an active volunteer in a range of efforts, perhaps most importantly serving on the Board of Directors for GiGi's Playhouse in the Quad Cities. GiGi's Playhouse, an organization near to her heart, provides educational and therapeutic programs for individuals with Down Syndrome at no charge to the families.

The Ankeny Area Chamber of Commerce has named Ankeny City Councilwoman Kerry Walter-Ashby, an active community volunteer, as Outstanding Citizen of the Year.

Jeffrey Fletcher and his wife, Jessica, welcomed a son, William, on April 3, 2015.

Center for Diagnostic Imaging (CDI) announces the promotion of Ryan Raschke to chief financial officer. Raschke, who had been serving as interim chief financial officer since November, will provide leadership and oversight for the accounting, financial planning and analysis, internal audit and treasury/cash management departments. “Ryan has played a key role in managing and maintaining CDI’s strong balance sheet and capital structure,” said Rick Long, chief executive officer at CDI. “He’s developed strong relationships with our financial partners and has been key to supporting CDI’s continued growth and maintaining our solid financial position.” “Ryan brings a deep knowledge and stability to our organization at a time of growth and expansion,” said Jim Stanley, the previous CDI chief financial officer who was promoted to chief operating officer in November. “For more than 15 years, he’s been involved in every level of the organization’s financial management, and that experience and expertise serves us very well moving forward.” Raschke was promoted to Senior Vice President, Finance and Treasurer in 2015 and has supported CDI’s finance, treasury, and business development functions. He joined CDI in 1998, and has held various roles within CDI including vice president-treasurer, assistant treasurer, manager of treasury and financial analysis, and financial analyst. Raschke's responsibilities have included corporate financial management, equipment financing, and managing corporate banking relationships, treasury operations, and cash management.

Keysight Technologies won the Electronic Products' Product of the Year Award for 2015 in the Test and Measurement category for the PA2203A IntegraVision Power Analyzer. A number of former Cyclones worked on the project including Bryan Boswell (BS EE '83), Ken Christensen (BS EE '85, MS CS '88), Steve Hird (BS EE '87), Kari Fauber (BS EE '89) and Blake Vermeer (BS EE '13, MS CptrE '15).

IntegriChain, founded by Kevin Leininger, sold to Accel-KKR

Donald McKale was honored with the Outstanding Alumni Advising Award by Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity. McKale was initiated in the Fraternity in 1966. The award was presented at the Delta Tau Delta Southern Division Conference on Feb. 13, 2016, in Charleston, S.C. As chapter advisor for the Theta Mu Chapter at Clemson University, McKale provides tremendous insight and experience related to the Fraternity and the University and is dedicated to the growth and development of chapter members. Delta Tau Delta has 140 chapters and colonies across the United States with a membership of more than 9,500 undergraduates and 119,000 alumni members. The Fraternity posts a GPA of 3.09, making it one of the highest achieving men’s fraternities in academics. Delta Tau Delta is a values-driven fraternity founded in 1858. Its mission, “Committed to Lives of Excellence,” is what the Fraternity seeks to represent at its host institutions. Delta Tau Delta strives to develop its members’ leadership skills, seeks superior academic achievement, promotes community service efforts, and helps its members launch successful careers.

Mindy Aust, AIA, of Substance Architecture is a 2016 recipient of the American Institute of Architects' Young Architects Award. She will be presented with the award at the 2016 AIA National Convention and Design Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, along with other recipients from around the country. The Young Architects Award is given to individuals who have shown exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the profession in an early stage of their architectural career. Aust is an Associate of Substance Architecture. She has worked on many prominent Des Moines projects such as the John and Mary Pappajohn Higher Education Center, multiple projects for Wells Fargo Financial, and four branches within the Des Moines Public Library System including the award-winning Central Library. Aust serves on a number of professional committees and currently serves on the AIA Iowa Board of Directors as President. The AIA notes “In her short time as a professional, Mindy has tapped in to her expertise to help advance the profession on multiple fronts. Through rigorous and recognized design and dedication with an emphasis on mentorship and community involvement, she brings both strategic vision and a willingness to roll up her sleeves and get to work on any project.”