South Dakota Mines honored 11 alumni at the first
annual Hardrocker
Heritage Gala held on M Day (Sept. 23, 2022). The university recognized the 2022
Distinguished Alumni, Outstanding Recent Graduates, and the annual March Medal
recipient.
March Medal
This year, the March Medal, the highest award given
to alumni for their service to the university, was awarded to Tim
Doyle, who graduated in 1994 with a degree in chemical engineering and who now
serves as a lieutenant in the Rapid City Police Department.
The March Medal is awarded annually to a graduate
who exemplifies the spirit of electrical engineering alumnus Dr. Guy March
through positive interaction with students, the institution, and South Dakota
Mines alumni. Dr. March was named the second head of the Department of
Mathematics in 1941. His leadership was an integral part of propelling the
Alumni Association (which is now part of the Center of Alumni Relations &
Advancement) into the active organization it is today. March Medalists embody
the caring spirit of Dr. March, which has been a hallmark of the university
that has been handed down over decades.
Doyle started his career with Polarfab, a private
semiconductor manufacturer based in the Twin Cities. In 2007, he and his family
moved to Rapid City where he started his career with the Rapid City Police
Department, which has spanned 3 years in patrol, 6 months on the initial street
crimes unit, 7 years as a school liaison officer, 18 months as a patrol
sergeant, 18 months as a juvenile operations sergeant, and a short stint as a
patrol lieutenant. Currently, he serves as the community engagement unit
lieutenant. He is a member of the peer support team, physical fitness team, and
mobile response team. He is also currently vice president of the South Dakota
Fraternal Order of Police.
Distinguished Alumni
South Dakota Mines alumni are known for pursuing
excellence in their careers. The Distinguished Alumni program was started in
1998 to recognize the outstanding contributions of South Dakota Mines graduates
not only to the fields of engineering and science, but also to their
communities and the university. Their accomplishments serve as an inspiration
for future generations and highlight the great impact South Dakota Mines alumni
can make in this world.
Douglas Beck
graduated from Mines in
1980 with a degree in electrical engineering. In 1996, after 16 years of
serving at various companies and acquiring experience in engineering,
marketing, and sales, Douglas Beck joined the family business, Harold Beck
& Sons, Inc. in Newtown, PA – an electric actuator manufacturing company
founded by his grandfather Harold. He has served as president and CEO since
2007, presiding over the introduction of new products, developing new markets,
making substantial capital investments, and increasing international business.
The company was named the 2022 Member Company of the Year by the World Trade
Center of Philadelphia.
Navin
Govind finished a
master’s degree in electrical engineering in 1993 at Mines. Govind is a serial entrepreneur, investor,
and executive with several years of proven success at Intel Corporation,
Tarari, and Aventyn, Inc. He currently serves as founder and CEO of innovative
digital therapeutic company 8chili, founder and executive chair of the b-eCare
Connected Health Initiative, a venture partner at Evidence Ventures, an angel
investor, an author of several original papers in peer-reviewed journals, and
holds multiple issued patents. He is also a frequent speaker and industry
faculty for health technology innovation, startup advisory, and health policy
for digital health standards initiatives.
Lee
Solid received a degree
in mechanical engineering from Mines in 1959. Solid is the retired senior executive of Rockwell’s Space Operations in
Florida, after serving more than 39 years in the company’s aerospace business.
He oversaw the space shuttle orbiter launch processing engineering, payloads,
and flight systems integration, which included manufacturing, repairing, and
testing of space shuttle hardware at Rockwell’s Shuttle Logistics Depot in Cape
Canaveral. He was a member of the Atlas-Mercury and Saturn-Apollo launch teams,
which put the first American (John Glenn) into Earth’s orbit in 1962 and the
first man (Neil Armstrong) on the moon in 1969, as well as launching the first
space shuttle in 1982.
Brian
Tucholke completed a
degree in geology from Mines in 1968. He spent more than 50 years conducting geological and geophysical research
in the world’s ocean basins, including 29 years at the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, and served on national and international scientific committees.
His investigations have produced fundamental insights into structure and
rifting mechanisms of continental margins, the morphology and tectonics of the
global mid-ocean ridge system, and ocean basin stratigraphy and
paleo-oceanographic evolution. As project co-leader for the Geological Society
of America’s Geologic Map of North America he mapped, for the first time in the
history of the geological sciences, the geology of the seafloor surrounding
North America.
Audra
Walsh finished her
degree in mining engineering in 1995. She has nearly 30 years of experience at board, executive, and operational
roles across the mining spectrum. Her impact on the field was recognized by
Women in Mining UK who named her among the 100 Global Inspirational Women in
Mining in 2020. Since 2016, she has served as CEO for Minas Aguas Teñidas,
S.A.U. in Huelva, Spain, where she has led improvements in safety, finalized
the expansion project in the processing plant, optimized the overall value of
the operations, and directed the sale of MATSA to Sandfire in a $1.865 billion
deal that closed in February 2022.
Outstanding Recent Graduates
The
Outstanding Recent Graduate Award was established at South Dakota Mines in 1984
to honor graduates who have achieved exemplary career progress and recognition
within 10 years of their graduation. Criteria for selection includes
entrepreneurial effort, professional advancement, innovative research
endeavors, technical or entrepreneurial accomplishments, community service, and
industry or community recognition. Awardees serve as excellent role models who
showcase the importance of continued personal growth in a rapidly changing
society.
Everett
Brill received his
bachelor’s degree in geology from Mines in 2012 and his master’s degree in
engineering management in 2017. Brill
is an underground mine geologist with America’s Gold and Silver. His career
started with Freeport McMoRan in New Mexico, where he learned the basics of
mining geology including ore control with logging and interpreting blasthole
samples, collecting ABA samples, bench face and ground mapping, data entry,
planning and executing brown fields exploration drill programs, managing the geology
core shed, and mentoring interns and new geologists.
Joshua
Green completed his
degree in mechanical engineering in 2011.
He has worked for Caterpillar for 11 years across three different
states, 11 job roles, and four facilities. He is currently the operations group
manager over all large diesel and natural gas engine production at the Griffin,
GA, facility. Josh has been the recipient of multiple awards and recognitions,
including the Large Engine General Manager Award for Quality.
Lara
(Heiberger) Jasien finished
her degree in math in 2011. Jasien
is head of research with CPM Educational Program. Her work is grounded in
collaborative relationships with educational designers both outside and inside
of schools. Outside of school, she collaborates with learning environment
designers to study families’ mathematical play. Inside of school, she
collaborates with designers to study ways to promote teachers’ and students’
joint intellectual thriving during mathematical inquiry.
Andrew
Olson finished his
bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at Mines in 2012. He works for Thermo Fisher Scientific as the
senior production scientist for their organic synthesis in Rockford, IL. Some
of his work includes creating and working efficiently with multi-step organic
synthesis in various scales to fulfill production goals for customers; engaging
in process development for new products; and improving old processes and
products that enable customers to make the world healthier, cleaner, and safer.
He also oversees the training of other workers in the lab and production.
Andy
Smith completed his
degree in electrical engineering at Mines in 2011. His career began at Bechtel Marine Propulsion
Corporation at the Naval Reactors Facility outside of Idaho Falls, ID, where he
was responsible for troubleshooting process equipment and writing work
procedures directing Naval nuclear work. He later moved to Denver, CO, where he
spent eight years with URS/AECOM working in various power industries including
generation, transmission, and distribution. In March 2021, he moved to
Copenhagen, Denmark, and accepted a job with Semco Maritime, a global leader in
offshore substation design and construction.