Executive Leadership Team
Kirkland Porter
President and Chair
Kirk Porter is a Chemical Engineering Major with a Minor in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He joined the Engineering Student Council at Pitt in February of 2020, and most recently served as the organization’s President for the spring semester of 2021. He also served as the North Atlantic Regional Ambassador for NAESC for the 2020-2021 term. Last summer Kirk interned with the Danieli Corporation, and he is currently working for Daedalus, Inc. in Pittsburgh. In his single year of experience with NAESC, he has seen incredible professional and operational progress, and is excited to see how this year’s leadership builds on it! In his free time, Kirk enjoys both playing and watching basketball, spending time outside with family and friends, and reading about cutting-edge technology and the research behind it.
Claire Crowley
Executive Vice President
Claire Crowley is a junior majoring in Bioengineering at the University of Louisville. This is her second year being involved with NAESC; she has previously served as the Southeast Recruitment Coordinator and a conference coordinator for the 2020 North Atlantic/Southeast Regional Conference. Claire is also very active in her own council, serving as the Services Vice President. Additionally, she is involved with research that deals with applying engineering principles to cancer progression and treatment. She plans to co-op at Ethicon in the fall. Claire looks forward to working with everyone in NAESC and exchanging ideas to better each individual engineering council. Outside of engineering, she enjoys dancing, hiking, traveling, and playing with her cats.
Alex Verada
Vice President of Finance
Alex Varada is a third-year biomedical engineering student with a concentration in pre-medicine and minors in chemistry and accounting at the University of Toledo. She is very involved on campus as the current Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Liason for the Student Advisory Board as well as the treasurer for Young Entrepreneurs Society. Alex is currently working on Sports Medicine research of ACL injury/reconstruction with Dr. Grant Edward Norte at MAINLab (Motion Analysis & Integrative Neurophysiology Lab). Her goal for the 2021-2022 term is to increase the number of current corporate partnerships and start building a financial relationship with organizations with similar values as NAESC. She is very excited to develop new relationships, not only with companies, but with other NAESC members as well. In her free time she enjoys spending time with friends and trying new places to eat.
Cecilia Mainzer
Vice President of Recruitment
Cecilia Mainzer is a junior at The University of Akron majoring in Chemical Engineering and minoring in Polymer Science . For her council, she is serving her second term as Vice President. She is also very active on campus, researching food waste to grow algae for biofuels and advocating for students as Executive Justice for the Undergraduate Student Government, in addition to being a dedicated member of the Panhellenic Council representing the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority. Currently, she is interning with the Analytical Science team at Goodyear in Akron, Ohio. Cecilia is very excited to foster stronger relationships with member schools and highlight opportunities within NAESC to new councils. In her free time, she loves to line dance, hike, and spend time with her family.
Alex Kasemeier
Vice President of Conferences
Alex is a fourth-year student in Industrial Engineering with a minor in Business at Iowa State University. Alex is heavily involved on campus, acting as a Community Advisor [same as an RA] in the dorms, a Co-President for the ISU Engineering Student Council, a member of the Student Conduct Board, as well as a member on the Student Government Lectures Committee. She is currently on co-op with Collins Aerospace in Cedar Rapids, IA, where she spends most of her day working on new plant layouts and designing tools and 5S techniques. Outside of work, Alex enjoys spending time outside, painting, running, reading, and hanging out with her cat, Paisley. This coming year, Alex’s primary goal for the year is to guide councils to ensure that each regional conference (and ELS) has quality content and strong networking opportunities that allow attendees to gain valuable leadership information and skills. She is excited to work with each host school and meet all of the new faces that join NAESC this year.
Ethan Yungdahl
Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Ethan Yungdahl is a Mechanical Engineering Major with a Minor in Business at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln(UNL). He is very passionate about his local student council, the Engineering Student Advisory Board (eSAB). He was a conference coordinator for the Midwest Regional conference last fall. He is also involved in UNL’s Aerospace Teams and a local mentorship program for high school students. Last summer Ethan Interned with Kiewit Construction in Dallas, Texas and he is currently interning with Valmont Industries in Omaha, Nebraska. He is super excited to work with the new ELT, the Board of Directors, and all of you! In his free time, he loves hanging out with friends, doing graphic design, kayaking, longboarding, or doing anything outside.
Jose Carlos Garcia
Vice President of Technology
Jose Carlos Garcia is a junior double majoring in Computer Engineering and Cybersecurity Engineering at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. An avid computer enthusiast, Carlos has his own computer shop, is highly involved in his own campus at Iowa State having served as the VP of Events during the 2020-2021 school year, and is now Co-President of ISU’s Engineering Student Council - along many other on campus organizations such as the Student Advisory Committee. He has noted that his biggest priority for this term is to establish a pathway to the future for the organization’s website and GEAR platform. Jose Carlos looks forward to meeting and working with the nation’s future leaders. In his freetime, Carlos likes to watch a lot of sports (mostly his 49ers), build computers, and research deeper into new and developing technologies.
Regional Ambassadors
Oscar Martinez
Southeast Ambassador
Oscar Martinez is a senior majoring in Industrial Engineering at the University of Louisville. This is his second year involved with NAESC, he has served as the Southeast Public Relations Coordinator and a conference coordinator for the 2020 North Atlantic/Southeast Regional Conference. For his council (SSSC) he serves as the Executive Vice President and also serves as the VP Recruitment for the Louisville Triangle Fraternity Chapter. Currently he is seeing out his second co-op rotation at Lantech as their Industrial Engineering Co-op. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with friends and family, fishing, listening to music and watching movies. He is looking forward to assisting the Southeast RLT in their time with NAESC as well as meeting the councils in his region and helping wherever he can.
Tyler Johnson
Midwest Ambassador
Tyler Johnson is a rising junior in Electrical Engineering at Iowa State University. He has been president of Freshman Leaders in Engineering at Iowa State which serves as their freshman council and now is very excited to be regional ambassador of the mid west region for 2022-2022. Tyler is looking forward to working with future leaders of the world as well as learning about NAESC and all that it does. Currently Tyler is interning for Dexter Magnetic Technologies as a Assembly Technician in Elk Grove IL. In his free time he likes to be outdoors and play ultimate frisbee. One of his top priorities for this term is to improve professional methods of relations with companies and sponsors and NAESC in gener. He looks forward to getting to know everyone involved with NAESC and developing relationships with fellow engineers.
Board of Directors
Student Directors
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President
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Executive Vice President
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Vice President of Finance
Serve as the student representatives to the Board of Directors.
Kate Wegman
Director | Co-Chair
Kate Wegman graduated from the University of Akron with a degree in Electrical Engineering in May 2020. During college, she served as the president of her Engineering Student Council for two years, and was also involved with Tau Beta Pi. She was also involved in NAESC, attending 10 conferences, CFES Congress, and serving as the Midwest Relations Coordinator (2017-2018), Vice President of Marketing & Communications (2018-2019), and Executive Vice President (2019-2020). In her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and cooking. Currently, she is working as a Factory Quality Engineer with Northrop Grumman in Baltimore, Maryland.
Seth Cattanach
Director | Co-Chair
Seth is a computer engineering graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a technology consultant for Deloitte in Chicago, where he enables cloud and data engineering capabilities for state and federal government clients. Seth joined NAESC’s Board of Directors in May 2020; he previously served as NAESC’s Vice President of Technology and led the development of its GEAR member platform. Aside from professional and academic interests, Seth enjoys running, cross-country skiing, and backpacking – he is an avid supporter of Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Wilderness and continually explores new places.
Colleen Roosa
Director
Colleen is a 3rd year PhD candidate studying Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her research interests include biomaterials for regenerative medicine and drug delivery. She graduated from North Carolina State University in 2019 with a B.S in Biomedical Engineering. While at NC State, she served on the Engineers' Council for 4 years and hosted the 2018 NAESC North Atlantic Regional Conference. Outside of the lab, she enjoys playing guitar, hiking the Blue Ridge mountains, and practicing yoga.
Scott Schenkelberg
Director
Scott Schenkelberg is a Board of Directors member who served manypositions with NAESC from 2013-2017 including Midwest RegionalDirector, VP Relations, and President and Chairman. He is from Omaha,Nebraska, and received his Bachelor of Science in MechanicalEngineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After graduation,Scott joined the Engineers in Leadership Program at Emerson where heworked in Atlanta, Georgia, and Shanghai, China. He currently is basedin St. Louis, Missouri, and works at Emerson as an OperationsStrategic Planning Analyst in addition to serving as the Global Chairfor the LGBTQ + Allies Employee Resource Group. Scott is currentlypursuing his MBA at the University of Michigan Ross School ofBusiness. He is also an avid foodie, loves to get outdoors, and is anaccomplished traveler with 60 countries and all 7 continents under hisbelt.
Denislav Nikolov
Director
Denislav graduated from Cal Poly Pomona (CPP) in May 2020 with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Mathematics. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan studying Mechanical Engineering in the subfield of biomedical and materials engineering. As a former VP of Recruitment and Recruitment Coordinator, he is looking forward to continuing involvement with NAESC. His prior accomplishments include performing vertebrae research at Cal Poly Pomona, bone composition mechanics at the University of Michigan, and bioelectronics at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Denislav also had prior internship experience with NASA JPL and Safran. He has served on many groups during his undergraduate career, including Tau Beta Pi, the Louis Stokes' Alliance for Minority Participation, the Northrop Grumman Collaboration Project, and the CPP Engineering Student Council. During his free time, he enjoys running, playing piano, and gaming.
Emi Ogawa
Director
Emi Ogawa (she/her) is a recent graduate of Cal Poly Pomona (CPP) with a degree in Mechanical Engineering where she served as an Engineering Student Ambassador, worked in the college's Outreach office, and danced on the Broncettes Dance Team. Emi has held various positions within CPP's Engineering Student Council and NAESC such as events coordinator, ESC president, West Regional Conference Coordinator, and West Communications Coordinator. Currently, she works at Maxar Technologies in Silicon Valley as a mechanical design and manufacturing engineer for deployable mechanisms on satellites. Emi enjoys watching movies, reading, volunteering at the local animal shelter, and dancing in her free time.
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Benjamin Hallstrom
Director
Before receiving his education, Ben Hallstrom served in the United States Marine Corps deploying three times before being honorably discharged. Ben attended Florida State University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science in 2014 and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2018. Currently, Ben is pursuing a Master's in Public Policy at Jacksonville University. Ben works as a mechanical engineer for the Navy's Fleet Readiness Center Southeast providing engineering assistance in the rework of aircraft components. Ben enjoys advocating for veterans and STEM education and initiatives. These passions have inspired Ben to volunteer for multiple veteran service organizations and hosting the NAESC Southeast Regional Conference in 2017. Ben is also launching STEM Veterans USA; a nonprofit focused on providing opportunities and outreach for veterans in STEM.
Mike McMeekin
Director
Mike is a member of the 2020 – 2021 NAESC Board of Directors. He is one of the founders of Engineering Change Lab-USA and currently serves as chair of the Board of Directors. He took on the role of ECL-USA’s first Executive Director in August 2019. McMeekin is also Senior Advisor to Lamp, Rynearson, an engineering, landscape architecture, and surveying firm headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.
Tanmay Agarwal
Director
Tanmay Agarwal is a Board of Directors member who studies Computer Science at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, where he previously served as the Vice President for the Science and Engineering Student Board, a proud NAESC member council. Tanmay also serves as the Managing Partner of Atland Ventures and leads Matr, a non-profit organization that aims to use satellite data to investigate climate change. He hopes to pursue a PhD in Computer Science after graduation and build a career in research. In his free time, Tanmay enjoys watching stand up, watching Marvel movies, and cooking.