Rose-Hulman Success = Real-World Success

Rose-Hulman alumni can be found leading organizations, working with the latest technology and engineering solutions to problems all around the world. Here are a few stories from our successful alumni.

Tim Cindric, Race Car Engineer
1990 Mechanical Engineering Graduate
President of Penske Performance, Inc.

A four-year basketball letterman while at Rose-Hulman, alumnus Tim Cindric (1990) now oversees Penske's varied business divisions as president of Penske Performance, Inc. While playing basketball for Rose-Hulman, Cindric scored 1,081 points, helping the Engineers earn their trip to the 1989 NCAA Tournament. Before graduating with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1990, Cindric had also earned honorable mention as an Academic All-American.

Cindric has been in many a winner's circle since leaving Rose-Hulman, especially at the Indianapolis 500 where he helmed the Penske racing operations to become one of the top teams in the Indy Racing League. Reportedly, Cindric "has helped the organization dominate the Indianapolis 500, with four wins since 2001 and a record-tying three wins in a row from 2001-2003." Cindric's contributions include supervising both the Indycar and NASCAR team operations and having a hand in the American Le Mans Series as well.

In 2001, Cindric was inducted into the Rose-Hulman Athletic Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions to the college basketball team.

Nicholee Nietch, NASA Engineer

2001 Mechanical Engineering Graduate
Systems Engineer, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Nicholee Nietch, a 2001 Rose-Hulman mechanical engineering graduate, works as a systems engineer on the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado. Inspired to work for the space program since elementary school, after meeting astronaut Steve Nagel at a school assembly, Nietch now designs programs that direct the orbiter's data gathering devices as they collect information from Mars. Nietch's work is as detailed as writing software that can help the orbiter make trajectory corrections and as broad-based as coordinating the diverse software programs or overseeing orbiter teams in propulsion, communications and data, instruments, and guidance and navigation.

"Nietch's programs control critical mission activities such as launch and the insertion into orbit around Mars," says spokesperson Gary Napier of Lockheed Martin Space Systems.

Napier reported that Nietch is the "systems engineer responsible for writing the programs that serve as the 'pilot' to the spacecraft." As Neitch's programs talk directly to the on-board flight computer, they're directing things like the firing of the engines and the maintenance of correct heat and power settings. 

Robert Wilkins, Federal Judge Nominee

1986 Chemical Engineering Graduate
Litigation Partner, Venable, Baetjer, Howard & Civiletti

Robert Wilkins was recently nominated to a federal judgeship for the District of Columbia by president Obama, who counted Wilkins among those with "an unwavering commitment to justice." Wilkins graduated Rose-Hulman cum laude in 1986 with a bachelor of science in chemical engineering, and by 1989, Wilkins had his J.D. from Harvard Law School. 

After joining the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, Wilkins went on to become a founding member of the D.C. Access to Justice Commission. Wilkins also served on the D.C. Advisory Commission on Sentencing, the D.C. Truth-In-Sentencing Commission and the D.C. Juvenile Justice Advisory Group. 

Joining Venable in 2002, Wilkins represented clients in bribery cases, grand jury subpoena investigations and patent infringement suits. Venable's website points out that Wilkins was the lead plaintiff in Wilkins, et al. v. State of Maryland, winning a landmark settlement in a "racial profiling" case that stemmed from a traffic stop in 1992 in Cumberland, Md. The case inspired data collection requirements in a governmental executive order and legislative proposals in Congress and states throughout the country.

Robert Wilkins played a key role in establishing the National Museum of African American History and Culture Plan for Action Presidential Commission, as well as chairing the Site and Building Committee.

Kelly Kozdras, South Pole Project Engineer
1999 Electrical Engineering Graduate
Project Engineer, Raytheon Polar Services Corp.

Kelly Kozdras, a 1999 Electrical Engineering graduate, is a project engineer for Raytheon Polar Services Corporation.

She recently concluded a one-year assignment at the South Pole Station greenhouse in Antarctica, where the six-months winter darkness coincides with nine months of living at the polar station without a supply run.  For the South Pole's small winter-over population of international researchers, Kozdras' work, operating greenhouse control systems, has meant the difference between eating canned rations and eating fresh garden vegetables over those often -120-degree months.

By overseeing the plant life and maintaining the warm humidity of the greenhouse environment, Kelley also provided skin-parched winter-over researchers respite from the outdoor environment, where the air is dry and there are no signs of life. The scientists' opportunity to go back and forth between these extremely varied South Pole environments, which cause serious effects on mood, have also been the subject of new psychological research.

Jason Zielke, Robotics Developer/Entrepreneur

President and COO of Precise Path Robotics, Mechanical Engineering (2000), M.S. Engineering Management (2002) 

Jason Zielke, a 2000 Rose-Hulman graduate in Mechanical Engineering returned to Rose-Hulman for his M.S. in Engineering Management in 2002. Both inventive and entrepreneurial,  Zielke has gone on to become President and Chief Operating Officer of Precise Path, a burgeoning producer of  robotic lawnmowers. "Mowing is the first in a long list of applications we have envisioned -- from spraying to snow removal to carving advertising logos in lawns," Zielke says. It began for Zielke as an Innovation Fellow at Rose-Hulman Ventures, and Zielke has since gone on to serve as a member of the Rose-Hulman Alumni Advisory Board.

Meanwhile, Precise Path has attracted golf course owners from some of the largest chains as the RG3, Precise Path's robotic mower, makes its unique impression, mowing in very straight lines, cornering safely and overlapping minimally. Over the course of these entrepreneurial successes, Zielke has remained deeply involved with encouraging young people to achieve in robotics. He is a long-time mentor for participants in the FIRST robotics competition.