Class Notes

Name: Samantha Whalen

Class Year(s): 2012

Note: RIT Alumni and college sweethearts Samantha Whalen BS ’12 (CHST) and Alex Bouthillette BS ’14 (CAST) married in Simsbury, CT on September 16, 2022.

Submitted on: October 27, 2022

Bill and Nate after their engagement, 2021.

Name: William Hallett (formerly Gerken)

Class Year(s): 2015

Note: William J. Gerken ’15 (CLA) and Nathaniel C. Hallett were married September 10, 2022 at the Reikart House in Amherst, New York.

Submitted on: October 18, 2022

Dmitriy is monitoring image processing telemetry from the DRACO camera with less than an hour to-go before impact. Photo Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman

Name: Dmitriy Bekker

Class Year(s): 2007

Note: Dmitriy Bekker ’07, MS ’07 (KGCOE) is an engineering lead on NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. On September 26, 2022 - DART impacted the asteroid Dimorphos and changed its orbit around the larger binary asteroid Didymos - thus completing the world’s first planetary defense technology demonstration. Dmitriy led the development of the onboard image processing and image data handling for the DRACO camera on DART, which was used to autonomously guide the spacecraft to Dimorphos and stream real-time imagery to Earth. Dmitriy participated in Mission Operations on the day of impact and monitored DRACO performance during the crucial terminal approach sequence. Dmitriy is a senior engineer in the Space Exploration Sector at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, where the DART spacecraft was designed, built, and operated for NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office.

Submitted on: October 16, 2022

Name: Jon Santer

Class Year(s): 1985

Note: Franklyn Athias ’85 (CAST) recently received the Diversity in Technology Award at the 2022 National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) Conference, held Oct. 11-12 in New York City. As Senior Vice President for Emerging Technology and Services at Comcast Cable, Franklyn leads the convergence of Comcast’s mobile product with its broadband connectivity services. Last year, Franklyn earned the 2021-2022 Distinguished Alumni Award from RIT’s Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences. “I’m honored and grateful to be nominated by my peers and to be selected by NAMIC for this inaugural award,” Athias said. “Diversity in technology and a mission for change have always been a passion of mine and I’m inspired by the progress that is being made to strengthen inclusive opportunities in our industry.” NAMIC is the premier organization that educates, advocates, and empowers for multi-ethnic diversity in the communications industry. To read more about the award, go to https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/meet-namic-s-leaders-and-luminaries-for-2022/ar-AA12zTor.

Submitted on: October 14, 2022

Name: Susan Wilson (Cook)

Class Year(s): 2009

Note: Susan (Cook) Wilson ’09 (CIAS) recently became the Social Media Communications Specialist for Inductive Automation, a software company out of Folsom, CA.

Submitted on: October 7, 2022

Name: Brian Moon

Class Year(s): 2000

Note: Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) recently announced the appointment of Brian Moon ’00 (CLA) as CEO of the organization following a global search process.

Submitted on: October 4, 2022

Name: Matthew Poliniak

Class Year(s): 2003

Note: Matthew Poliniak ’03, MS ’08 (CIAS) was recently promoted to Senior Manager, Product Marketing at Canon USA

Submitted on: October 3, 2022

Name: Alysa Wolfe

Class Year(s): 2014

Note: Alysa Wolfe ’14 (CIAS) recently published her first novel, Evolve. Evolve is a futuristic fantasy and coming of age story of a young princess and is now available in Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

Submitted on: October 3, 2022

Name: Jon Santer

Class Year(s): 2007

Note: Sylvia David-West ’07 (CAST), Project Engineering, L3Harris Technologies, has recently been recognized for her achievements within Engineering and her leadership in advancing diversity within STEM. Recipient: National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) – Professional Leader, 2022 Evening of Excellence Award Nominee: Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 Colors of Success DEI Award The NSBE Professional Leader Award recognizes a professional who has made significant discoveries, advanced in their chosen STEM career path, and is acknowledged as a leader of large STEM initiatives. The Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 Colors of Success DEI Award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated exemplary leadership in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the greater Rochester community with clear positive impacts as a result of these efforts. David-West is highly involved in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at L3Harris and volunteers to support several diverse clubs/organizations at RIT.

Submitted on: September 26, 2022

Name: Rashid Tangirbergen

Class Year(s): 2010

Note: In October of 2021, Alibek Katpabayev ’10 (SCB) got married to Aigerim Katpabayev in Astana, Kazakhstan and was joined by nine other RIT alumni, including (from left to right) Dastan Kazhigulov ’08 MS ’09 (CAST), Daniyar Amanchin ’10 (GCCIS), Assylbek Zhumadyrov MS ’09 (GCCIS), Bauyrzhan Aitileu MS ’10 (GCCIS), Alexandr Karzhavin ’13 (CAST), Almas Kabsamatov MS ’09 (CAST), Raimbek Alimbayev ’12 (CAST), Rashid Tangirbergen MS ’10 (GCCIS), Daniyar Kassenov ’14 (CAST).

Submitted on: September 12, 2022