AlumniConnection

Norman Augustine

James Carnes

James Carnes *67 *70 was named an inaugural member of the New Jersey Technology Hall of Fame by the American Electronics Association and the Biotechnology Council of New Jersey. "It¹s a sign that the American Electronics Association is taking notice of the kind of work we're doing here and is appreciative of it," said Dr. Carnes. He received his bachelor's degree in engineering science from Penn State University, and his master's degree and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Princeton. He is president and chief executive officer of Sarnoff Corp. Dr. Carnes was also named president of the Penn State Alumni Council.

Mark L. Psiaki '78 *87, an associate professor in Cornell University¹s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, recently received the best paper award for the 1998 AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, which took place in Boston in August 1998. The award-winning paper, one of 75 presented at the conference, was titled "Autonomous Orbit Determination for Two Spacecraft from Relative Position Measurements." It analyzes a novel system concept for estimating the absolute orbits and positions of two spacecraft using only a time series of measurements of the relative position vector from one spacecraft to the other. Professor Psiaki earned his Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton under the supervision of Robert F. Stengel *65*66*68.

Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos '86, founder, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Amazon.com, was named Person of the Year by Time magazine. Time said Mr. Bezos is the "king of cybercommerce" and has "helped build the foundation of our future." The magazine praised him for being one of the first to see the business potential of cyberspace. Mr. Bezos also received the Technology Solutions Company 21st Century Pioneer Award for Loyalty from the Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program. The awards program, now in its 12th year, is a partnership between the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution, Computerworld, and chairmen of the information technology industry. The annual awards honor leaders whose "creativity and innovation are at the epicenter of the information technology revolution." The awards are reported in a special section of the November issue of Smithsonian magazine. About Mr. Bezos, who earned his bachelor¹s degree in electrical engineering and computer science, the editors wrote, "E-commerce hasn't been the same since Jeff Bezos unveiled Amazon.com in 1995." The company went public in 1997.

Jeffrey A. Wilke '89 is the new vice president-general manager of operations at Amazon.com. Mr. Wilke previously was vice president and general manager of AlliedSignal's Pharmaceutical Fine Chemicals unit. He earned his B.S.E. in chemical engineering, and a master of business administration and master of science in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Steven G. Buckley '91 is a new assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. He conducts research in combustion diagnostics, air pollution, and novel sensors devoted to industrial process control. Current sponsors include private industry, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Winner of the MAE Department¹s Dike Award for Best Undergraduate Independent Work in 1991, Dr. Buckley earned his doctorate from U.C. at Berkeley in 1995 and then spent thee and a half years at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, Calif. before joining the faculty at the University of Maryland.