Class Notes

Winter 2023-2024 Highlights

A Message From Meghan Lenihan Moulder '10

In Memoriam

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Two alumns pose under giant polar bear ice sculpture

The 1950s and ’60s featured a Winter Weekend hosted by the junior class, which included all sorts of winter fun.

2006

Rian Bahran, Ph.D., currently serves as assistant director for nuclear technology and strategy in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), leading policy development and providing advice to the president and the executive office of the president on issues related to nuclear energy, security, and emerging technology. OSTP is led by a Senate-confirmed director, who also serves as assistant to the president for science and technology, a member of the President’s Cabinet. Dr. Bahran recently served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as a senior science and policy adviser. For his exemplary performance during his time at the Pentagon, he received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service. He began his career at Los Alamos as a postdoc in the X Computational Physics Division, and went on to become a program manager and R&D Scientist in the Nuclear Engineering Division, where he was a recipient of the prestigious “Most Promising Asian Engineer of the Year” for leading the development of transformative nuclear technology solutions. Posted 2024-01-17
Gregory Moyer was promoted to senior technical director, distinguished engineer for software engineering at Nationwide, a provider of property and casualty insurance and financial services. Posted 2023-03-24
Krista Manna, founder and owner of KR Architecture & Interiors, an Abington, Massachusetts-
based architectural firm, has been selected as a 2021 “40 Under 40” award winner by Cape & Plymouth Business. The awards spotlight the region’s top young business leaders who excel in their industry and show dynamic leadership. Posted 2023-03-24
Xufeng Sun, Ph.D., has been promoted to vice president of formulation and technology transfer at Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing. He is responsible for managing a team of process engineers, and overseeing and developing filling and formulation protocols, batch records, and studies at the company. Posted 2023-03-24
Rian Bahran
Rian Bahran ’06, Ph.D. ’13, a Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist on assignment in Washington, D.C, received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service for his exemplary performance. Rian was recognized for his service and contributions as a senior science and policy adviser for nuclear deterrence policy from January 2019 to May 2020 and a special assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from May 2020 to June 2021. “Dr. Bahran performed with distinction during a period in which the Department of Defense implemented outcomes of the Nuclear Posture Review,” the citation reads. Among his duties, he oversaw the implementation of the Nuclear Posture Review, which establishes nuclear policy, strategy, capabilities, and force posture. “It has been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and my time has left me with a distinct understanding of the serious challenges we face. I am truly appreciative of the opportunities that the laboratory provided that allow me to have a substantive impact on protecting the security of our nation/globe and defending our democratic values,” Rian says. Posted 2021-09-30
Matthew Fickett, AIA, CPHC, LEED veteran architect, has been named director of SGA’s fast-growing science and technology group. SGA is a Boston and New York City-based national award-winning architecture, interior design, planning, branded environments, and virtual design and construction practice. Matthew has worked in laboratory design since 2006, and is coming to SGA from his position at EYP as senior lab planner and senior associate. He has designed laboratories for high-profile institutions such as Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Vanderbilt University, University of New Mexico, Fermilab, Columbia University, MIT Lincoln Lab, and Skolkovo University. Posted 2021-09-30
Brad Cone
Brad Cone was promoted to regional controller for UHY Advisors. Based in the firm’s Albany, New York, office, Brad manages UHY’s regional finance and treasury function for all offices across UHY’s Northeast region. In the U.S., he represents the region in UHY’s national finance and treasury platform. Posted 2021-09-30
Bernard Malouin
JETCOOL Technologies, founded by Bernard Malouin ’06, Ph.D.’10, unveiled a new approach to cooling computer processors and other high-power electronics at the 2019 IEEE International Microwave Symposium last June, and took home honors as the Next Top Startup. The technology, known as micro-convective cooling, uses small fluid jets that can be built within the electronic device, and could result in a tenfold increase in cooling efficiency compared to today’s state of the art, says Malouin. “Many of our favorite services run on processors that could do even more, but they get too hot,” he says. “With better cooling, we hope to break that logjam and help technology companies create a new wave of devices that will power tomorrow’s extraordinary innovations.” Industries that would benefit from JETCOOL’s technology include aerospace, electric vehicles, and artificial intelligence data centers. In addition to winning top honors among startups at the symposium, JETCOOL, a recent spinoff from MIT Lincoln Laboratory, won the audience choice award for the best new technology startup. “With our technology, we can build the heat sink into the silicon substrate itself,” says Malouin, second from left, below. “Think about that, the world’s best cooling built into the computer chip so you can’t even tell it’s there.” Posted 2020-06-08
Engineering Joe DeBellis was promoted to director of sales, Houston, at Service Wire Co. He has more than 10 years of industry experience, starting in plant engineering, moving to applications engineer, and then into various sales roles focusing on the utility market. Posted 2020-05-21
Pete Curley and Garret Heaton '07, who founded HipChat in 2010, have a new venture. They recently announced the launch of Swoot, a podcast app that stands out from other podcast apps with its social networking elements and recommendation feature, which allows users to suggest podcasts to friends. The company, founded in 2016, has raised more than $4 million in seed funding. Posted 2019-10-01
Himani Kamineni received an Alumni Key Award from the Rensselaer Alumni Association. The Alumni Key was created in 1965 to recognize long-term and increasing levels of service in support of the advancement of Rensselaer (such as chapters, classes, fundraising, and special events), by either alumni or friends. Posted 2019-03-10
Business Lina Dureza, who earned an M.S. in management at Rensselaer, became the administrator at Hughes Health & Rehabilitation in West Hartford, Conn. She was previously Hughes’ director of nursing. Posted 2018-10-10
Steven Burgess joined Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill., as assistant professor of philosophy. Steven, who was previously a teaching fellow at St. Norbert College, earned his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of South Florida. Posted 2018-03-15