Category: Uncategorized

March and April service anniversaries
2020
Home Department	Name	Work Department	Service Date	Job Title
March
35 Years
Mechanical Engineering	Green,Itzhak	Mechanical Engineering	1985/03/01	Professor
25 Years
Materials Science & Engr	Wang,Zhong Lin	Materials Science & Engr	1995/03/01	Regents Professor
Materials Science & Engr	Jacob,Karl I	Materials Science & Engr	1995/03/06	Professor
20 Years
Mechanical Engineering	Degertekin,F Levent	Mechanical Engineering	2000/03/27	Professor
15 Years
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Lu,Hang	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	2005/03/07	Professor
Electrical & Computer Engr	Connelly,Christopher S	Electrical & Computer Engr	2005/03/07	IT Support Prof II
5 Years
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Kamath,Manjeshwar G	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	2015/03/02	Research Engineer II
1 Year
Aerospace Engineering	Yuan,Zhangxian	Aerospace Engineering	2019/03/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Hatit,Marine	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2019/03/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Xu,Nan	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2019/03/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Industrial & Systems Engr	Mitridati,Lesia Marie-Jeanne Mariane	Industrial & Systems Engr	2019/03/01	Research Scientist I
Materials Science & Engr	Nam,Gyutae	Materials Science & Engr	2019/03/11	Visit Research Engineer I-NE
Mechanical Engineering	Kwon,Young Tae	Mechanical Engineering	2019/03/11	Postdoctoral Fellow
Mechanical Engineering	Andrews,Ashley Clay	Mechanical Engineering	2019/03/14	Mechanical Specialist
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Dong,Hai	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2019/03/15	Postdoctoral Fellow
Electrical & Computer Engr	Hur,Jae	Electrical & Computer Engr	2019/03/15	Postdoctoral Fellow
Aerospace Engineering	Griendling,Kelly	Aerospace Engineering	2019/03/21	Lecturer
Mechanical Engineering	Fernandez Yague,Marc	Mechanical Engineering	2019/03/25	Postdoctoral Fellow
Mechanical Engineering	Lee,Hyun-Jung	Mechanical Engineering	2019/03/26	Research Engineer I
Mechanical Engineering	Painter,Reid	Mechanical Engineering	2019/03/28	Facilities Assistant
APRIL
30 Years
Aerospace Engineering	Smith,Marilyn J	Aerospace Engineering	1990/04/02	Professor
25 Years
Materials Science & Engr	Godard,James A	Materials Science & Engr	1995/04/27	Asst Dir-Admin Ops
10 Years
Mechanical Engineering	Pickett,Cynthia Evelyn	Mechanical Engineering	2010/04/09	Asst Dir-Admin Ops
5 Years
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Waiblinger,Christian	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2015/04/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Hillman,Adrienne Rice	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	2015/04/01	Academic Advisor I
Mechanical Engineering	Hammond III,Frank L	Mechanical Engineering	2015/04/01	Assistant Professor
Industrial & Systems Engr	Smith,Julie Nicole	Industrial & Systems Engr	2015/04/16	Admin Professional Sr
Aerospace Engineering	Brian,Vickie L	Aerospace Engineering	2015/04/27	Asst Dir-Admin Ops
1 Year
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Chua,Mallory	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2019/04/01	Research Scientist I
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Hollingsworth,Keamonnee	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2019/04/01	Financial Admin III
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Olivenca,Daniel Vigario	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2019/04/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Raad,Maryam Nabil	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2019/04/01	Research Technician I
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Moon,Dong-Kyu	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	2019/04/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Nezam,Iman	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	2019/04/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Civil & Environmental Engr	Liu,Xiaoguang	Civil & Environmental Engr	2019/04/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Electrical & Computer Engr	Hosseinnia,Amir Hossein	Electrical & Computer Engr	2019/04/01	Research Engineer II
Mechanical Engineering	Shetty,Pralav Praveen	Mechanical Engineering	2019/04/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Mechanical Engineering	Ritchie,Ashley	Mechanical Engineering	2019/04/08	Communications Officer I
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Jarvis,Diana Victoria	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2019/04/15	ASL English Interpreter
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	McGill,Rachel	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2019/04/15	ASL English Interpreter
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Ni,Huanzhen	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2019/04/15	Postdoctoral Fellow
Civil & Environmental Engr	Davis,Shamekia M	Civil & Environmental Engr	2019/04/15	Financial Admin III
Civil & Environmental Engr	Stephens,Jeremy D	Civil & Environmental Engr	2019/04/15	Lab & Facilities Coord
Mechanical Engineering	Shankles,Peter Golden	Mechanical Engineering	2019/04/15	Postdoctoral Fellow
Electrical & Computer Engr	Swain,Brandi Elizabeth	Electrical & Computer Engr	2019/04/19	Test Technician I
Electrical & Computer Engr	Chen,You-Wei	Electrical & Computer Engr	2019/04/29	Research Engineer II

Mitsuko Ito, ECE Admin Professional III, gives insight into how mindfulness can relieve stress and create a greater sense of self, especially during the current COVID-19 global pandemic.

Q1 – Can you define what mindfulness is to you and why it is important?

According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., a molecular biologist and meditation teacher who brought Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to the world, “mindfulness” is an “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, nonjudgmentally.”

For me personally, simply put, it is a quiet exploration and observation of what is going on in my mind, body and beyond.  Initially what led me to this was the desire to overcome depression, anxiety and chronic pain.  Thankfully, with learning and practice, I have been able to change the trajectory of my life, and I am now in a much more empowered state.

Q2 – What advice do you have for people to stay mindful?

There are many benefits to being mindful.

• More peaceful heart
• Reduced stress and pain
• Better relationships
• Clearer thinking
• Increased productivity
• Better immune system
• Even increasing lung capacity (says David Able, COVID-19 survivor)
• And so much more!

Getting clear on the goals of the “why” you would want to practice mindfulness can be helpful.
Having an accountability partner, or a group program to support each other, can also be very supportive.

Q3 – How do you manage stress at work and home?

At Home:  Having moved many times over the years, being an ethnic minority immigrant in many places we have lived, having four children, three of which are now teens, and other factors have forced me to seek effective stress management tools.  As of now, my main go-to is something called EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) Tapping.  “Tapping” is one of the newer mind-body tools that has developed in the 90s that has worked very well for me. What research is revealing is that Tapping quickly affects the amygdala (fear response), while also having the effects of vegas nerve stimulation which supports the parasympathetic (calming) response.

At Work:  The WorkDay transition last summer was admittedly very stressful, but then this has led me to share Tapping with my colleagues! (And now with COVID-19, I get to share Tapping again!) Otherwise, my workplace has been a good and safe space for me.  If I did get stressed at work, mostly all I needed to do was to close my eyes and do some slow deep breathing (along with occasional Tapping and yes, some chocolate….).

Q4 – How do you think mindfulness relates to the current pandemic we are in?

Mindfulness is surely going to be beneficial as we navigate this new territory.  COVID-19 has caused quite a bit of shock, and we are still facing so much uncertainty.  It is not difficult to feel fearful at one point or another, or even on an ongoing basis.  I suspect that many of us, if not all, have been running higher on cortisol and adrenaline than pre-COVID-19 times.  This is a normal survival response for the short term, but not helpful in the long term. Accessing, processing, and resolving chaotic emotions continues to be important, however, since we are hindered from going to gyms or getting massages, not even be able to get together with our regular support network, we are forced to take this process upon ourselves.  Mindfulness, meditation and other inner exploration tools are just the perfect tools at this time. (Tapping adds a kinetic component to it.). These exercises will help us move from the smaller/darker circle towards the larger/lighter circle, in the diagram below.  The sooner we can start attending to this, the better for each of us, and for our community.

For those new to mindfulness, perhaps consider this as an opportunity?? … now we get to learn the new skills of going inwards! (…?) If sitting and contemplating quietly is not your cup of tea, Yoga, Taiichi, Qigong, Breathing exercises, EFT Tapping are considered mindfulness/meditation with movements, therefore will still be extremely beneficial (with even more benefits, from my point of view.). All these give us a way in learning to self-engineer our own health and well-being.  Once you get a hang of it, it is really quite empowering.

Q5 – Do you believe mindfulness extends beyond reducing stress?

I absolutely do.  Reduced stress is the primary benefit, which then goes on to have a cascade of positive side effects.  Hormone and neurotransmitter productions will be changed (i.e. lowered cortisol and adrenaline), the way our physiology operates will also be altered (i.e. improved sleep, better digestion).  The ways we think and operate will also change (i.e. more compassion, better decision making and so on).   In short, it could be life changing.  You will often hear this from those who have hit rock bottom in their lives and have decided to pick up this new habit and life style.

Q6 – In high-stress environments such as Georgia Tech, how do you propose students/faculty practice being mindful at a larger scale?

First of all, I know GT has been making many good efforts but we could be promoting Mindfulness, self-awareness, mind-body connections, more.  The Resilience program that Sonia Alvarez-Robinson leads is fabulous program and deserves recognition. Often, meditation and mindfulness is utilized by high performers such as athletes and successful businessmen, but may not be as widely talked about. Interviewing faculty/students who have successfully been practicing mindfulness would serve as a great inspiration.  More students, staff, and faculty would hopefully take advantage the campus offerings.

Secondly, I would love for GT to become a more “trauma informed” institution.  We are a public university, and now with COVID-19, even more so, it is possible that we see higher anxiety rates in the coming years.  We at GT take pride in our research and academics, and service to the world. Our people have to be well, in order to function.  Understanding how adverse experiences affects our learning and performance and ways to overcome it would be valuable.

Thirdly, along that line, it is my belief that traditional therapy, although great and valuable, is no longer sufficient in this day and age, especially when we know there are additional effective interventions. Therefore, I would like for our leadership to get serious about seeking additional ways to support the wellbeing of our campus.  Personally, I believe that EFT Tapping to be just the right tool at this time.  It is quite simple to learn and to start practicing.  Research is showing that cortisol levels reduces at an astonishing 40 percent.  It is my hope that Self-Help Tapping can be offered campus wide to be shared with all students and staff, so they can start taking care of themselves better.  Also potentially have Tapping offered/required to our advising/counseling staff.  (This could help shorten durations and costs of counseling sessions.)

In the end, it goes without saying that I am so honored and proud to be a part of our GT community.  Each of the leaders that I have had the opportunity to interact in one way or another has been heart-centered and solution oriented. This is a unique place where wise, progressive and open-mind thinkers are abundant.  Mindfulness is truly necessary and needs to be further promoted and practiced.  Taking it one more step forward, I would love for the leadership to consider looking into EFT Tapping as one cutting edge mindfulness tool.  The message it can send out to the world will be a powerful one.  We have the opportunity to be truly the leader in the whole person education, and I am excited about this possibility.

<Resources on Mindfulness>

• Jon Kabat-Zinn. An American professor emeritus of medicine and the creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
• UCLA: Minful Awareness Research Center
• MIT: Stress Reduction, Mindfulness & Relaxation at MIT
• Harvard Univeristy: Center for Wellness and Health Promotion
• GT: Resilience Employee Resource Group
• GT: Health Initiatives – Mindfulness

 <Resources on Mind-Body Connection & Trauma Awareness>

• “Trauma Informed Teaching Strategies” from Education Leadership
• Bassel van der Kolk “The Body Keeps the Score”
• Gabor Mate “When the Body Says No”

<Resources on EFT Tapping>

• “What is EFT Tapping” -> https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326434
• Peta Stapleton, Ph.D. Awarded the “Australian Psychologist of the Year 2019 Award” due to her contribution for EFT research, scientifically proving how EFT changes brain scans and hormone levels. ”Clinical EFT Improves Multiple Physiological Markers of Health”
  Ted Talk “Is Therapy Facing a Revolution?”
• Article: “Duchess of Cornwall reduces Fear of Flying with a form of EFT“
• Jack Canfield “How to use EFT Tapping to Accelerate Healing”

<Resources on Tapping for COVID-19>

• Craig Weiner, DC: How to Use EFT Tapping During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Gene Monterestelli : Free Tapping Resources From Around The Web Responding To COVID-19
• EFT International: EFT Tapping Support Resources for COVID-19
• David Able: “Early Symtoms of Corona Virus & Dealing with the Disease” Around 20 min point, David shares how his determination and EFT Tapping helped put him on the path to recovery. He was one of the earliest COVID-19 survivor, who was trapped in the cruise ship Diamond Princess stationed near Japan in February.
• “How Mindfulness Can Help You Navigate the COVID Panic”

https://www.mindful.org/how-mindfulness-can-help-you-navigate-the-coronavirus-panic/

This month, we sat down with Diego Remolina, IT Director – System Administrator for the School of Aerospace Engineering

Interview conducted by Tanya Roy

Q. How long have you been working in IT at Georgia Tech? What about before coming to Tech?

A. I’ve been working in IT at Georgia Tech since 2000, first as a student worker in the math department, and then in December 2001, I joined the Georgia Tech staff. I finished my masters at Georgia Tech in Aerospace Engineering in December 2000.

Q. What’s it like working in IT in aerospace engineering?

A. It is challenging because there are always a lot of things to do, and we have limited personnel and more new demands every day. In terms of how it is day-to-day, it can be very different. Every day, we are trying to make progress and keep up with our projects. There is a wide range of things we do from more simple tasks like resetting passwords to trying to do more complex things like setting up GPU servers for our faculty to run simulations.

Q. What technological changes have you seen over the years you have been at Tech? These can be IT specific or just general technology?

A. There have been so many changes over time; for example, email has progressed so much, departments used to run their own mail servers because the OIT provided offering had so little storage (100MB), now we do not even run mail servers on campus anymore. Computing resources used to be very restricted and expensive in the past, now in your phone you have a faster computer than a desktop from the early 2000s. Throughout the years, things have become much more centrally managed, which is good because it allows us to focus more on the needs of our users. More recently, in the past two to five years, I think we have worked towards more collaboration and sharing, not only within the College but within the whole campus. It has sped up the process of automating the installation and maintenance of computers other important tasks.

Q. Is there an area where you would like to see more innovation?

A. In terms of Georgia Tech specifically, some of the places where I think we are a little behind are the conference and presentation rooms; things don’t always work well there, and we could fix that. One more thing is more effective communication and collaboration to understand Georgia Tech policies. We need to work better as a team to understand and implement these policies, in a way that it still allows our users to do what they need to do, being within the guidelines. This is a responsibility that falls on all of us. One of the reasons these policies are in place is to protect us and the Institute. This reflection is a little bit less about the technology and more about the culture.

Q. As we look to the new decade, do you have any predictions for what’s to come in the technology sphere for IT or otherwise?

A. In terms of computers, we are all expectant of what quantum computing is going to do. It has a great potential because of how much faster things can be done instead of the regular computers we have nowadays. Hopefully, within the next ten years, Google, IBM or any of the other startups working on this will be able to make progress on making these machines much simpler and available to us, which will be interesting. Maybe we will have the return of the “PC” from the 1980s in the form of the “QPC” in the 2030s. Another computer related technology which is interesting to see is cars and personal air vehicles. The prospect of having drone-type vehicles and fully autonomous vehicles is amazing. Ten years may be a little too short for that, but imagine in the future, cars being able to coordinate with one another at intersections or one day having flying transportation that can cut down on our driving commutes each way daily. It will revolutionize the way we do things.

 

January 2020
Home Department	Name	Work Department	Service Date	Job Title
40 Years
Electrical & Computer Engr	Verriest,Erik I	Electrical & Computer Engr	1980/01/01	Professor
30 Years
Aerospace Systems Design Lab	Mavris,Dimitri	Aerospace Systems Design Lab	1990/01/01	Director Academic
Mechanical Engineering	Liang,Steven Y	Mechanical Engineering	1990/01/04	Professor
25 Years
Mechanical Engineering	Melkote,Shreyes N	Mechanical Engineering	1995/01/03	Professor
Mechanical Engineering	Neu,Richard W	Mechanical Engineering	1995/01/03	Professor
Mechanical Engineering	Yoda,Minami	Mechanical Engineering	1995/01/03	Professor
Mechanical Engineering	Sitaraman,Suresh K	Mechanical Engineering	1995/01/03	Regents Professor
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Jones,Phyllis	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	1995/01/27	Financial Admin III
20 Years
Mechanical Engineering	Fedorov,Andrei G	Mechanical Engineering	2000/01/01	Assoc Chair-Academic
Mechanical Engineering	Hesketh,Peter J	Mechanical Engineering	2000/01/01	Professor
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Dixon,Bradley Edward	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	2000/01/10	Communications Mgr
Engineering, College of	Sefton,Rod J	Engineering, College of	2000/01/13	Facilities Mgr II
Civil & Environmental Engr	Huang,Ching-Hua	Civil & Environmental Engr	2000/01/14	Professor
Mechanical Engineering	Pucha,Raghuram V	Mechanical Engineering	2000/01/19	Senior Lecturer
15 Years
Aerospace Engineering	Walker II,Mitchell L.R.	Aerospace Engineering	2005/01/01	Assoc Chair-Academic
Electrical & Computer Engr	Shen,Shyh-Chiang	Electrical & Computer Engr	2005/01/01	Professor
Electrical & Computer Engr	Robinson Jr,Robert Allen	Electrical & Computer Engr	2005/01/01	Senior Academic Professional
Civil & Environmental Engr	Yavari,Arash	Civil & Environmental Engr	2005/01/06	Professor
Electrical & Computer Engr	Scott,Tammy D	Electrical & Computer Engr	2005/01/26	Faculty Support Coord
10 Years
Industrial & Systems Engr	Caimano,Jeffrey F	Industrial & Systems Engr	2010/01/04	Financial Mgr II
Electrical & Computer Engr	Holcomb,Anna Newsome	Electrical & Computer Engr	2010/01/04	Lecturer
5 Years
Industrial & Systems Engr	Williams,Damon P	Industrial & Systems Engr	2015/01/01	Lecturer
International Education	McColl,Chance Carue	Aerospace Engineering	2015/01/01	Lecturer
Aerospace Engineering	Lightsey,Edgar Glenn	Aerospace Engineering	2015/01/01	Professor
Civil & Environmental Engr	Paulino,Glaucio H	Civil & Environmental Engr	2015/01/01	Professor
Industrial & Systems Engr	Boland,Natashia Lesley	Industrial & Systems Engr	2015/01/01	Professor
Industrial & Systems Engr	Montreuil,Benoit	Industrial & Systems Engr	2015/01/01	Professor
Industrial & Systems Engr	Romeijn,Hilbrand Edwin	Industrial & Systems Engr	2015/01/01	School Chair-Academic
Industrial & Systems Engr	Strickland,Dawn M	Industrial & Systems Engr	2015/01/01	Senior Academic Professional
Industrial & Systems Engr	McLemore,Candice Ashmore	Industrial & Systems Engr	2015/01/05	Corporate Relations Mgr
Mechanical Engineering	Mauldin,Nathaniel Ray	Mechanical Engineering	2015/01/05	Mechanical Specialist
Mechanical Engineering	Yang,Bo	Mechanical Engineering	2015/01/05	Research Scientist II
Civil & Environmental Engr	Newman,Jeffrey Paul	Civil & Environmental Engr	2015/01/23	Research Engineer II-NE
Materials Science & Engr	Tavakoli,David A	Materials Science & Engr	2015/01/26	Research Scientist II
1 Year
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Blazeck,John J	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	2019/01/01	Assistant Professor
Civil & Environmental Engr	Grubert,Emily A	Civil & Environmental Engr	2019/01/01	Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr	Correa-Baena,Juan-Pablo	Materials Science & Engr	2019/01/01	Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering	Mazumdar,Yi Chen	Mechanical Engineering	2019/01/01	Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering	Zhao,Ye	Mechanical Engineering	2019/01/01	Assistant Professor
Civil & Environmental Engr	Bishop,Cliff Douglas	Civil & Environmental Engr	2019/01/01	Lecturer
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Quiroga Campano,Ana Luz	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2019/01/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Aerospace Systems Design Lab	Puranik,Tejas Girish	Aerospace Systems Design Lab	2019/01/02	Research Engineer II
Electrical & Computer Engr	Molzahn,Daniel	Electrical & Computer Engr	2019/01/04	Assistant Professor
Materials Science & Engr	Kim,Minkyu	Materials Science & Engr	2019/01/14	Postdoctoral Fellow-NE
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Pham,Thang Toan	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	2019/01/17	Postdoctoral Fellow
Electrical & Computer Engr	Buchanan,Thairun-Nisaa	Electrical & Computer Engr	2019/01/25	Admin Professional III
Mechanical Engineering	Burns,Craig	Mechanical Engineering	2019/01/28	Mail Clerk I
Aerospace Engineering	Richards,Kamaria H	Aerospace Engineering	2019/01/31	Academic Assistant II
FEBRUARY
20 Years
Civil & Environmental Engr	Bennett-Boyd,Shauna	Civil & Environmental Engr	2000/02/10	Admin Mgr II
Materials Science & Engr	Washington,Renita L	Materials Science & Engr	2000/02/28	Academic Advising Mgr
15 Years
Engineering, College of	Clarkson,Todd Michael	Engineering, College of	2005/02/02	Facilities Mgr II
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Thio,Yonathan S	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	2005/02/07	Senior Lecturer
Electrical & Computer Engr	Fuentes Hernandez,Canek	Electrical & Computer Engr	2005/02/10	Principal Research Scientist
Civil & Environmental Engr	Gallego,Anthony	Civil & Environmental Engr	2005/02/16	Academic Advising Mgr
10 Years
Electrical & Computer Engr	Plaskett,Raquel	Electrical & Computer Engr	2010/02/15	Faculty Support Coord
5 Years
Mechanical Engineering	Rashidi,Hassan	Mechanical Engineering	2015/02/11	Lecturer
Industrial & Systems Engr	Silver,Lauren E	Industrial & Systems Engr	2015/02/16	Academic Advisor II
1 Year
Electrical & Computer Engr	Hamelin,Benoit Raymond Jacques	Electrical & Computer Engr	2019/02/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Mechanical Engineering	Khosravani,Ali	Mechanical Engineering	2019/02/01	Research Engineer I
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Elliott,Drew David	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2019/02/04	Research Technician II
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Irani,Maryam	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	2019/02/06	Postdoctoral Fellow
Mechanical Engineering	Boziuk,Thomas R	Mechanical Engineering	2019/02/07	Postdoctoral Fellow
Mechanical Engineering	Deshpande,Yogesh N	Mechanical Engineering	2019/02/11	Research Engineer I
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Zhang,Jinghui	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2019/02/12	Research Technician I
Electrical & Computer Engr	Saxena,Rahul	Electrical & Computer Engr	2019/02/13	Research Associate II
Materials Science & Engr	Kuenneth,Christopher	Materials Science & Engr	2019/02/18	Postdoctoral Fellow
Electrical & Computer Engr	Nafea,Mohamed Saeed Khalifa	Electrical & Computer Engr	2019/02/19	Postdoctoral Fellow
Electrical & Computer Engr	Abraham,Silja	Electrical & Computer Engr	2019/02/23	Postdoctoral Fellow

College of Engineering
Service Anniversaries
Nov/Dec 2019
November 2019
Home Department	Name	Work Department	Service Date	Job Title
30 Years
Electrical & Computer Engr	Barnes,Christopher F	Electrical & Computer Engr	1989/11/27	Associate Professor
25 Years
Electrical & Computer Engr	Balkcom,Debra A	Electrical & Computer Engr	1994/11/28	Financial Admin III
20 Years
Electrical & Computer Engr	Kenney,James Stevenson	Electrical & Computer Engr	1999/11/01	Professor
Materials Science & Engr	Moon,Kyoung-Sik Jack	Materials Science & Engr	1999/11/19	Research Engineer II
Electrical & Computer Engr	Ponder,Rachel Melton	Electrical & Computer Engr	1999/11/29	Web Developer Mgr
15 Years
Engineering, College of	Lee,Terri Talley	Engineering, College of	2004/11/01	Senior Academic Professional
Civil & Environmental Engr	Rhodes,Ella Denise	Civil & Environmental Engr	2004/11/08	Financial Admin III
Materials Science & Engr	Moss,Frank Linder	Materials Science & Engr	2004/11/15	Facilities Mgr Sr
Industrial & Systems Engr	Ford,Amanda Shae	Industrial & Systems Engr	2004/11/29	Graduate Progs Mgr
10 Years
Mechanical Engineering	Turano,Stephan Parker	Mechanical Engineering	2009/11/01	Senior Research Engineer
Electrical & Computer Engr	Dagon,David S	Electrical & Computer Engr	2009/11/18	Senior Research Scientist
5 Years
Mechanical Engineering	Fu,Katherine Kai-Se	Mechanical Engineering	2014/11/03	Assistant Professor
Electrical & Computer Engr	Buford,Blake Clifford	Electrical & Computer Engr	2014/11/24	Marketing & Event Coord I
1 Year
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Lomsadze,Alexandre	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2018/11/01	Sr Research Scientist
Electrical & Computer Engr	Alagapan,Sankaraleengam	Electrical & Computer Engr	2018/11/01	Research Engineer II
Electrical & Computer Engr	Yoon,Jonghyeok	Electrical & Computer Engr	2018/11/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Electrical & Computer Engr	Zia,Muneeb	Electrical & Computer Engr	2018/11/01	Research Engineer II
Industrial & Systems Engr	Fioretto,Ferdinando	Industrial & Systems Engr	2018/11/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Materials Science & Engr	Kim,Seongmin	Materials Science & Engr	2018/11/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Aerospace Engineering	Tavares,Shari	Aerospace Engineering	2018/11/12	Admin Professional III
Electrical & Computer Engr	Sangodoyin,Oluwaseun	Electrical & Computer Engr	2018/11/12	Postdoctoral Fellow
Mechanical Engineering	Leslie,Kadian Natalia	Mechanical Engineering	2018/11/12	Grants Administrator
Aerospace Systems Design Lab	Cinar,Gokcin	Aerospace Systems Design Lab	2018/11/15	Research Engineer II
Mechanical Engineering	Erisman,Lucinda	Mechanical Engineering	2018/11/15	Program & Ops Mgr
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Zhao,Kun	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2018/11/26	Postdoctoral Fellow
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	He,Yubin	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	2018/11/26	Postdoctoral Fellow
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Innocenti,Giada	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	2018/11/29	Research Scientist I
Mechanical Engineering	Shi,Jingjing	Mechanical Engineering	2018/11/29	Postdoctoral Fellow
December 2019
55 Years
Materials Science & Engr	Cagle,James R	Materials Science & Engr	1964/12/14	Research Scientist II
35 Years
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Whatley-Nwanze,Janice	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	1984/12/17	Academic Advisor II
20 Years
Electrical & Computer Engr	Ayazi,Farrokh	Electrical & Computer Engr	1999/12/01	Professor
Electrical & Computer Engr	Crowder,Marion	Electrical & Computer Engr	1999/12/02	Instr’l Media Producer
15 Years
Civil & Environmental Engr	Burns,Susan Elizabeth	Civil & Environmental Engr	2004/12/01	Assoc Chair-Academic
Electrical & Computer Engr	Huynh,Peter L	Electrical & Computer Engr	2004/12/13	IT Support Prof Mgr
10 Years
Industrial & Systems Engr	Buser,Frances Dillon	Industrial & Systems Engr	2009/12/01	Academic Advisor II
5 Years
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Dorsey,Julian Lamar	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2014/12/01	Building Coord I
Electrical & Computer Engr	Beck,Brian Michael	Electrical & Computer Engr	2014/12/15	Academic Professional
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Andino,Rafael Victor	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2014/12/17	Lecturer
1 Year
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Loughrey,David A	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2018/12/01	Postdoctoral Fellow
Civil & Environmental Engr	Neumeister,Amelia B	Civil & Environmental Engr	2018/12/01	Communications Officer I
Materials Science & Engr	Tran,Huan Doan	Materials Science & Engr	2018/12/01	Research Scientist II
Electrical & Computer Engr	Ito,Mitsuko	Electrical & Computer Engr	2018/12/05	Admin Professional III
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Caldeira Botelho,Raquel	Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	2018/12/10	Research Scientist I
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Liu,Zhongyun	Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	2018/12/10	Postdoctoral Fellow
Mechanical Engineering	Shipp,Patricia H	Mechanical Engineering	2018/12/13	Admin Professional Sr
Aerospace Engineering	Harrison,Evan David	Aerospace Systems Design Lab	2018/12/17	Research Engineer II
Mechanical Engineering	MCCOY,Richard Anthony	Mechanical Engineering	2018/12/17	IT Support Prof I
Mechanical Engineering	Thomas,Nicole	Mechanical Engineering	2018/12/17	Admin Professional Sr

Motorola Foundation Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering | Executive Director for Online Masters and Cybersecurity Program | Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research

Do you feel the College of Engineering is an inclusive place for faculty and staff? Why or why not.

I think it is a good place…it has made a lot of progress. We’ve had diverse leadership of the College at the dean and associate dean levels, and we’ve done a decent job with diversity inside of the Schools. With that being said, I think we still have a long way to go. We need to make sure we are a place where everybody feels comfortable and welcome. I love the analogy about diversity and inclusion that goes: “It’s like being invited to the party AND being asked to dance.” For me, I have always felt very welcome and included and part of that comes from me going to school [at Georgia Tech]. But I don’t think my experience necessarily reflects every experience of a minority individual. However, overall, there are really good intentions and corresponding actions by the COE’s leadership, and we’ve made a lot of progress.

How are you involved in inclusivity efforts around campus with students and/or faculty?

I do lot of formal and informal mentoring and activities. I think the most impactful part is the weekly piece. I probably meet with under-represented students and faculty members weekly from all over. I also ran the SURE program, Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering/Sciences, for about seven years, which brought on average 35 to 40 under-represented students to campus per year. I have also, along with two of my colleagues, Baratunde Cola and Samuel Graham, founded an organization for doctoral-level researchers called the Academic and Research Leadership Network (ARLN). It has grown to about 400 individuals across the country, and we have used that to improve diversity and inclusivity across the country and campus.

Where do you think there are opportunities to be more inclusive across our eight schools?

I think we need to make sure that our actions follow our intentions and make sure that our budget follows our ideas. I would love to see a Georgia Tech ‘We Can Do That’ campaign about diversity and inclusion.

Why do you feel diversity and inclusion are important in higher education and beyond?

Data shows the more diverse the group, the better the decision that is made. At a place like Tech, that is very analytical and data-driven, we want to make sure that we are practicing what we preach from the fundamental research areas and also in areas like diversity/inclusion. I was watching a documentary about Warren Buffett, where he said, “We’ve done so well with half of our people: just imagine what we could do when we bring everyone to the table.” In this example, he was talking about the contributions of women finally being recognized. If we could give everybody an equal opportunity to contribute, we could do so much more. Diversity makes Georgia Tech much stronger, the College of Engineering much stronger, and the country much stronger. It makes sure that everyone is at the table contributing and feeling comfortable because when individuals do not feel comfortable, they waste brainpower and energy on fitting in, when that brainpower could go towards curing cancer or cybersecurity.

What do you believe makes Georgia Tech unique in terms of inclusion efforts?

Seventy years ago, we didn’t admit women, and now our freshman class last year was approximately 40% female. Over this seventy-year period, our rankings steadily increased, and we now have some of the best rankings in history. We have made tremendous progress. However, even though the numbers are increasing, we should always aspire to do better in all areas of diversity and to achieve excellence.

Do you have final thoughts on this topic?              

I was overwhelmed by the statues that were just built on campus of the first African American students to be enrolled and the first to graduate. That meant a tremendous amount to me and made me even more proud to be an alum. It’s a huge deal and stands for what we want to be, so I am optimistic and excited. I think this is a really good time for Georgia Tech, and I think we are going to do even better than we have done in the past.

 

Associate Professor, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE)

Do you feel the College is an inclusive place for faculty and staff? Why or why not? 

What I’ve seen so far is that the College is an inclusive place. There’s definitely a lot of effort being put into faculty searches in order to include a diverse pool of candidates, especially women and people from underrepresented minorities. The LGBTQIA Center was created about five years ago and has been very proactive about reaching out to faculty, staff and students in order to educate and celebrate. Some trainings have been newly offered such as the QPR training to raise awareness about mental health and to better equip the faculty and students to give them tools to aid those in distress. I think these initiatives promote diversity and inclusion.

How are you involved in inclusivity efforts around campus with students and/or faculty?

My biggest involvement is through the LGBTQIA Center; I am currently serving as the liaison between that center and CEE. Whenever there are questions concerning LGBTQIA issues, I am here to be a spokesperson. I am also working to organize focus groups with the center to engage more faculty and increase the visibility of these communities within the College of Engineering. I have been a part of multiple panels where STEM students had questions regarding the working environment and how to prepare for interviews. I mentor two graduate students who identify as LGBTQIA, and we talk about research and LGBTQIA issues. I am also part of the College of Engineering committee for diversity and inclusion, and I am trying to create a specific committee of diversity and inclusion within the school [of CEE] together with Robert Simon, one of my colleagues, to develop more pragmatic ideas to implement the more general ideas at the College level.

Where do you think there are opportunities to be more inclusive across our eight schools?

One thing that I see missing is the link between the testing center for students with learning disabilities and our instructors. There is a disconnect between the incoming students in a class and how classrooms are attributed and how students with disabilities are dispatched between classes. One year, one of my students was in a wheelchair, and he could only attend the class from the very back because there were stairs throughout the classroom. This year, out of the 116 students I am teaching, six of them have learning disabilities, which are all very different. It is a lot to handle for one instructor, especially because the Office of Disability Services did not know the needs of the students. This leads to a lot of fatigue and miscommunication for both the faculty and students. I think there is more training and extra support needed. Right now, it’s just not available.

Why do you feel diversity and inclusion are important in higher education and beyond?

There is a lot of literature around how diversity is beneficial to innovation. Working with a diverse set of scholars can lead to more innovative ideas. It is not necessarily always the easiest path because sometimes you face communication barriers, but the simple exercise of overcoming those issues is often very beneficial. Valuing that and trying to better understand how different people from different backgrounds think and operate in a research environment can bring new ideas and lead to growth for both professors and students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what have you liked about working here so far?

I love supporting employees in general. It’s been interesting to see the different types of employees. You have faculty employees, staff employees, research employees, student employees. All of them have different needs at different times, so it’s been interesting to serve in that capacity.

On the professional development side of things, what kind of activities have you done since you’ve been here?

I’ve taken a variety of classes. Most recently, I was invited to join the Professional Circles program, which is out of the Workplace Learning and Professional Development Department. It was a great networking opportunity to meet other people who were looking to get into management. We’ve continued to meet and support each other even after that program has ended. I met some great people.

I recently got accepted to the ASPIRE Program. It’s a new program as well. The program, again, is building leaders. It’s for people that don’t currently manage other people but are looking to begin to manage other people, and what does it look like to become a leader at Tech. That program is going to for the next three or four months.

Can you tell us more about the ASPIRE Program?

There were 140 applicants, and 68 of us were chosen. We had the kickoff a couple of weeks ago, and just this past Monday we had our first official in-person meeting. It’s a combination of in-person meetings, online modules of homework, reading and networking in between. It’s a 4-module program that teaches us how to collaborate, be creative, control and compete as leaders. It helps develop your leadership style as well as other leadership styles that may be weaker to you to help you become a whole leader going forward.

The goal is to reinforce that leadership mindset to prepare you to become a leader title-wise. It’s an interesting program, and I was drawn to it specifically because I’ve always considered myself a leader – title or no title. Even as a young child I’ve always been kind of a stand-out-front, get things done, think outside of the box type of person. I’ve served in several leadership positions in my life, and even in my HR career I’ve always been spearheading things. This program was right up my alley, to kind of put the education, experience and knowledge of how to become a better leader under my belt before taking on a title.

Is your goal to be more of a leader at Tech?

I do want to take on a leadership role. I think it’s time. I’ve kind of shied away from it, but I think it’s time to move in that direction.

Is there anything in particular you hope to learn from this ASPIRE program?

I want it to be a firming up of my qualities. I think I possess the qualities to become a great leader, but I want to really reinforce those things in some areas where I am weak. I want to enhance and improve upon areas that might be weaknesses of mine. We’re all human, and we all can grow.

Are there any reasons you think other people should get involved in professional development?

I think that everybody can benefit from professional development. It’s called professional development, but it often bleeds into your personal life. That’s why I encourage everyone to get involved in some form or fashion. You’re bound to learn something about yourself or someone else. That just makes for a better workplace all around.

It’s good to get out and network and learn. We don’t know everybody at Tech, and I just like to meet people, especially being in HR you meet a lot of people and serve a lot of people. I think everybody could use some professional development at some point in time.

In terms of it bleeding into your personal life, do you have any examples of that for you?

Oh my gosh, yes. My personal and my professional life are separate, but not really, because I think of myself as a whole individual. The way I am outside of work I bring here to work, and vice versa. I think that anybody is able to blend the two. With ASPIRE, we talked about a leadership mindset. I’m a mom, so I have to be a leader for my daughter. I’m a business owner, so I have to be a leader in that respect. I’m well-versed in community relations, non-profits and community service, so I’m a leader there. Some of the mindset and qualities a leader has, you exhibit those outside of just your 9 to 5. It’s kind of full circle. They definitely cross over. Even in real life, you’re still dealing with people.

Can you tell us a little about what you do outside of work? You’re a business owner?

I am. I own a small soap company that makes natural soaps and natural body products. I am a mom. My daughter is almost 2, so she is running our lives right now.

I was thinking through ways that I am a leader outside the class and outside of Georgia Tech. I also founded a nonprofit for community service goals. I am a sign language interpreter, so I serve in that way. I’ve got a lot going on outside of Tech! But my most important job is being a mom.

College of Engineering
July/August 2019 service anniversaries
JULY
Home Department	Name	Service Date
20 Years
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Arnold,Rachel D	1999/07/15
15 Years
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Fuller,Thomas F	2004/07/01
Physics	Elliott,Scott L	2004/07/01
Mechanical Engineering	Mehaffey,Kristi Landis	2004/07/07
Materials Science & Engr	Milam,Valeria Tohver	2004/07/19
Mechanical Engineering	Kottke,Peter Arthur	2004/07/31
10 Years
Electrical & Computer Engr	Bloch,Matthieu Ratoslav	2009/07/01
Electrical & Computer Engr	Grijalva,Santiago Carlos	2009/07/01
Electrical & Computer Engr	del Valle,Yamille Ellend	2009/07/01
Industrial & Systems Engr	Dey,Santanu Subhas	2009/07/01
Civil & Environmental Engr	Simon,Robert Benjamin	2009/07/13
Electrical & Computer Engr	Goldenburg,Joseph	2009/07/20
Aerospace Engineering	Lundy,William Christopher	2009/07/27
5 years
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Toy,Randall N	2014/07/01
Mechanical Engineering	Ranjan,Devesh	2014/07/01
Civil & Environmental Engr	Tien,Iris	2014/07/15
Aerospace Engineering	Pritchett,Benjamin Ray	2014/07/28
Industrial & Systems Engr	Savelsbergh,Mathieu W	2014/07/31
1 Year
Aerospace Engineering	Bershadsky,Dmitry	2018/07/01
Industrial & Systems Engr	Gupta,Swati	2018/07/01
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Fernandez,Todd M	2018/07/01
Aerospace Engineering	Walters,Robert A	2018/07/01
Mechanical Engineering	Barber,Graham Forrest	2018/07/01
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Otsuki,Alan Jake	2018/07/05
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	van Montfrans,Veronica	2018/07/30
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Bell-Huff,Cristi	2018/07/30
AUGUST
30 Years
Aerospace Engineering	Simpson,Howard L	1989/08/21
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Kohl,Paul A	1989/08/21
20 Years
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Babensee,Julia Elizabeth	1999/08/01
Electrical & Computer Engr	Yezzi,Anthony Joseph	1999/08/01
Mechanical Engineering	Lowe,Joyce A	1999/08/02
Mechanical Engineering	Nowell,Darren T	1999/08/12
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Le Doux,Joseph M	1999/08/17
Civil & Environmental Engr	Amekudzi-Kennedy,Adjo Akpene	1999/08/17
Electrical & Computer Engr	Anderson,David V	1999/08/17
Electrical & Computer Engr	Blough,Douglas M	1999/08/17
Electrical & Computer Engr	Davis,Jeffrey A	1999/08/17
Electrical & Computer Engr	Frazier,Albert B	1999/08/17
Industrial & Systems Engr	Deng,Shijie	1999/08/17
Industrial & Systems Engr	Keskinocak,Pinar	1999/08/17
Industrial & Systems Engr	Lu,Jye-Chyi	1999/08/17
Industrial & Systems Engr	Sokol,Joel S	1999/08/17
Materials Science & Engr	Srinivasarao,Mohan	1999/08/17
15 Years
Electrical & Computer Engr	Upadhyaya,Vijaykumar D	2004/08/09
Electrical & Computer Engr	Divan,Deepakraj M	2004/08/16
Electrical & Computer Engr	Moore II,Elliot	2004/08/16
Electrical & Computer Engr	Sonnenberg-Klein,Julia M	2004/08/16
Industrial & Systems Engr	Hutchison,Garry Allen	2004/08/16
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Chen,Ruizhen Rachel	2004/08/17
Civil & Environmental Engr	Garrow,Laurie Anne	2004/08/17
Materials Science & Engr	Yao,Donggang	2004/08/17
10 Years
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Champion,Julie Anne	2009/08/01
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Walton,Krista S	2009/08/01
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Jimenez,Jorge Hernan	2009/08/04
Electrical & Computer Engr	OK,Young Woo	2009/08/04
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Styczynski,Mark Philip-Walter	2009/08/15
Mechanical Engineering	Dixon,James Brandon	2009/08/17
Mechanical Engineering	Sonenblum,Sharon Eve	2009/08/17
Mechanical Engineering	Wang,Yan	2009/08/17
Materials Science & Engr	Green,Kevin	2009/08/27
Industrial & Systems Engr	Speights,Stacie Lynn	2009/08/31
5 years
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Kwong,Gabriel A	2014/08/01
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	McNerney,Monica P	2014/08/01
Materials Science & Engr	Losego,Mark D	2014/08/01
Mechanical Engineering	Barnes,Jason Louis	2014/08/11
Mechanical Engineering	Saldana,Christopher J	2014/08/11
Aerospace Engineering	Gupta,Mohit	2014/08/18
1 Year
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Jia,Shu	2018/08/01
Civil & Environmental Engr	Kaiser,Jennifer	2018/08/01
Mechanical Engineering	Shi,Chengzhi	2018/08/01
Electrical & Computer Engr	Kiyavash,Negar	2018/08/01
Electrical & Computer Engr	Yu,Shimeng	2018/08/01
Electrical & Computer Engr	Moss,Rosaland	2018/08/01
Biomedical Engr, GT/Emory	Mantalaris,Athanasios	2018/08/01
Civil & Environmental Engr	Peeta,Srinivas	2018/08/01
Electrical & Computer Engr	Keromytis,Angelos	2018/08/01
Industrial & Systems Engr	Van Hentenryck,Pascal	2018/08/01
Chemical and Biomolecular Engr	Sun,Jifeng	2018/08/01
Electrical & Computer Engr	Ribeiro Pinto,Pedro Henrique	2018/08/02
Electrical & Computer Engr	Wang,Christine Sun	2018/08/13
Industrial & Systems Engr	Ayer,Tugba	2018/08/15
Aerospace Engineering	Vamvoudakis,Kyriakos	2018/08/15
Civil & Environmental Engr	Macedo Escudero,Jorge Luis	2018/08/15
Industrial & Systems Engr	Lee,I-Hsiang	2018/08/15
Mechanical Engineering	Hu,Yuhang	2018/08/16
Mechanical Engineering	Henry,Kimberley	2018/08/20
Mechanical Engineering	Binz,Kristen	2018/08/20
Materials Science & Engr	Foye,Loretta Patrice	2018/08/21
Electrical & Computer Engr	Ai,Ha H	2018/08/23
Aerospace Engineering	Patel,Srujal Anantkumar	2018/08/24

CoE communicator Walter Rich works in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. In addition to writing about all things biomedical, he spends a lot of his free time fostering cats in need with his wife – at one point in time they’ve had 13! Read about his path to Tech and passion for cats in this month’s staff spotlight.

Where did you grow up, and where did you go to college? 

My father was in the Air Force and we lived in England, California, Philippines, Florida and Georgia.
I have a computer information systems (CIS) undergraduate degree and an MBA degree—both from Georgia State University (GSU). My first professional job offer was working as a programmer, but I took a software QA and technical support job instead because of better pay and benefits.

What did you do before you worked at Tech and what brought you here? 

I worked at Georgia State University doing communications and marketing for the CIS Department at the Robinson College of Business for nearly seven years. So, I ended up returning to GSU as a staff member after working for 20 years in industry. A communication manager’s position was posted in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University, and I thought that it would be an interesting opportunity which kept me in the University System of Georgia and shortened my commute to work.

What do you enjoy about working in the College of Engineering? What have some of the highlights been? 

Frankly, I’ve found Tech to harbor a very cordial and professional culture with smart, thoughtful leadership. The faculty at Tech and the research work they do, particularly in biomedical engineering, is significant, interesting and impactful. I seem to run into President Bud Peterson and Buzz (the mascot) at a few events each year, and I always enjoy our brief and warm greetings. It may sound silly, but president Peterson and CoE Dean Steve McLaughlin always say hello to me—I really appreciate that.

Do you have any causes that you are passionate about, on or off campus? If so, what are they? 

My wife has enlisted me in cat rescue. We’ve had up to 13 cats in the house being fostered until they can be adopted and/or nursed back to good health. My cat knowledge has skyrocketed over the past year. We work with Half The Way Home cat rescue, and they do terrific work for such a small, local non-profit organization. They find homes for more than 70 cats and kittens a month, which is much more than some of the larger, national organizations helping cats in Atlanta.

Tell us about your experience with cat fostering. Why is this a cause close to your heart? 

We’ve had six cats and all of them were very sweet and loving animals that would follow you around the house. Another perk: bugs were eradicated pretty quickly in our home. I’ve learned that treating a cat with love and care creates a trusting furry companion, but that it can take a year for that to happen with some cats. I enjoy helping cats and helping people to live properly with cats as part of their family.

What are some of your favorite restaurants and/or coffee shops close to campus? 

4 Rivers BBQ, Fellini’s, Jersey Mike’s, and Taqueria Del Sol. You can get to OK Café very fast using interstate 75. I miss Piccadilly cafeteria.