The Grainger College of Engineering
Aerospace Engineering

Aerospace Engineering Alumni Board and Recent Alumni Advisory Group

The mission of the University of Illinois Aerospace Engineering Alumni Board is to advance the standing, reputation, effectiveness, accomplishments, and leadership of the department and, secondarily, The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois. 

Roles of the AE Alumni Board members:

  • To offer and maintain communication between the Department of Aerospace Engineering and its alumni.
  • Assist the department in reaching out to high school students to foster their interest in the aerospace engineering department.
  • Participate in mentorship opportunities for current students.
  • Provide assistance to aerospace student organizations (assist in projects, student visits/tours, and webinars).
  • Support student groups and courses in the curriculum by presenting “state of industry” or technical lectures.

Members:

  • President: Craig Barton, BS '88. chair (Masters & Certificates Alumni Advisory Group), - American Airlines - Retired
  • Howard Berry, BS '83 - Asia Pacific
  • Tom Penn,  BS '85 - Cardiac Science - Retired
  • Suzy Hyun, 'BS '97 - Northrop Grumman
  • Chris Raymond, BS '86 - The Boeing Company
  • Jon Riley,  BS '87, MS '89 - National Center for Manufacturing Sciences
  • Art Ibers, BS '84 - Leidos
  • Cindy Gruensfelder,  BS '87 - Leidos
  • Mike Hopkins, BS '91 - Stratolaunch
  • Dan Jensen, BS '88 chair (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access Alumni Advisory Group), - Rolls-Royce
  • Jon Kelly, BS '90, chair (Sustainability Alumni Advisory Group)  - Accenture
  • Bill Norby, BS '85, MS '89 - The Boeing Company
  • David Rowatt, BS '91 - WireCo
  • Derek Smith, BS '91 - PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • Jay Thomas, BS ' -LDRA Limited

  • Paul Niewald, MS ’90 - The Boeing Company
    Carlos Almeida, ’13 - United Airlines
    Samantha McCue, ’13 - 5-D Systems, Inc. a KRATOS company

Recent Alumni Advisory Group

Chair: Courtney Leverenz, BS '21 - Virgin Galactic
Emily Tokarski, BS '20, MEng '21 - United Airlines
Nick Zuiker, BS '18, MS '20 - The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory
Katie Carroll, BS '19 - SpaceX
Steven Macenski, BS ’17 - Samsung Research
Samantha Paige, BS ’19 - Boeing
Ashley Stahulak, BS ’19 - Boeing
Moiz Vahora, BS ’17, MS ’19 - Boeing