Alumni

Merle Potter '58 was awarded the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2008 James Harry Potter (no relation) Gold Medal. Potter received the award "for making a renowned impact on thermodynamics through forty-two years of outstanding teaching and through published textbooks on thermal sciences and applied mathematics, and for research on energy consumption in dwellings and industrial plants." Potter earned a BS . . .

Margaret Cobb recently retired from Microsoft Corporation and established The Cobb Foundation, Northwest, a self-funded foundation dedicated to helping low-income students. As president of the Foundation, her mission is to provide students with access to educational opportunities not provided by public schools through funding music lessons, book clubs, athletic lessons and robotic workshops. The Cobb Foundation is dedicated . . .

Kristin Kolodge (Schwalbach) graduated from Michigan Tech in 1995 with her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. After attending Women in Engineering during Summer Youth Programs, she was hooked. Michigan Tech was the only school she applied to. Kolodge’s career started as a contract employee for Chrysler and was hired on directly several months later. She spent 19 years at Chrysler, working to create . . .

Kimberly Foster has been the Dean of Science amp; Engineering at Tulane University in New Orleans since 2018. Prior to 2018, she was Chair and Professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California in Santa Barbara. She was co-vice-chair of the ME department from 2006—2008, and the undergraduate program director from 2005—2006. She joined the ME department at UC-Santa Barbara . . .