Daryl Weinert

Senior Director, Corporate and Goverment Relations

Daryl Weinert is Senior Director of Corporate and Government Relations at the University of Michigan's College of Engineering. He joined Michigan as Director of Corporate Relations in 1999 after serving as the Director of Procurement Strategy for Aon Corporation at their worldwide headquarters in Chicago. Prior to his work at Aon he had been Vice President of Commercial Banking with Bank One, also in Chicago.

In 1992 Weinert volunteered for a year of service abroad with the National Service League coordinating the Joint Energy Efficiency Project. This project brought together resources from the United States Department of Energy; The City of Pécs, Hungary; and The Pollack Mihály Müszaki Föiskola (Mihály Pollack Technical College) to promote energy efficiency within Hungary and East Central Europe.

Weinert also served as a United States Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal from 1987 to 1989 working on the Appropriate Technology program of the Agricultural Development Bank after graduating from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in Industrial and Operations Engineering and a B.A. in Economics in 1986.

Michael Drake

Director, Corporate Relations

Michael Drake is the Director of Corporate Relations for the University of Michigan's College of Engineering. He joined the College in December of 2002, after working with Aon Corporation, where, in the course of four years, he held various positions including: analytical, web development and procurement management roles.

Prior to Aon, Drake served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Kyrgyzstan, one of the former Soviet Central Asian Republics. As a Small Enterprise Development volunteer, he worked to enhance local tourism development, along with establishing a revolving credit program for farmers. He has a B.S. from Cornell University in Business Management and Marketing.

Jon Kinsey

Director, Research Relations

Jon Kinsey is the Director of Research Relations for the University of Michigan's College of Engineering. He joined the College in March of 2007, after serving at Borders Group Inc., where he was Senior Manager of Corporate Strategy and International Business Development.
Prior to Borders, Kinsey was a Consulting Manager in a start-up management consulting firm. He also worked for eight years in automotive engineering and program management at Lear Corporation. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1993 and his M.B.A from the Ross School of Business in 2000.

Amy Klinke

Assistant Director

Amy Klinke is the Assistant Director of Corporate Relations. Focusing on small business intitatives, she splits her time between the Corporate Relations Office and the Center for Entrepreneurship.

Amy joined the College in October of 2008 after serving as the Director of Community Development for the City of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County. In addition to this role, Amy also worked directly for the Washtenaw County Administrator and Board of Commissioners, the Washtenaw Community Health Organization and the Mayor of Ann Arbor. In all of these roles she worked with elected officials and community leaders to improve the lives of the residents of Washtenaw County, particularly those in underserved communities.

Prior to moving to Ann Arbor in 2000, Amy conducted post graduate research in economic development in Zimbabwe. She received a B.A. in Political Economy from Hillsdale College and a Master in Social Work from Washington University in 1998.

Jessica Boria Brakora

Student Project Coordinator

Jessica Brakora is the Student Project Coordinator at the University of Michigan's College of Engineering. She joined the college in September of 2004 after working for the French company ALSTOM Transport as an Industrial Engineer. During her time at ALSTOM she worked on many projects including the Washington D.C. metro, New Jersey metro, the New York City metro, as well as being on the company's six sigma green belt team.

Jessica graduated from the University of Michigan in 2002 with a B.S.E. from the College of Engineering's Industrial and Operations department. As a student of the University, she belonged to many societies and student groups such as the engineering sorority Phi Sigma Rho, S.W.E., W.I.S.E., and the Martha Cook House Board. She is currently part of the University of Michigan's Alumni Association, Institute of Industrial Engineers, the Phi Sigma Rho Alumni, and the S.W.E. Alumni Program.

Kristen Aardal Stout

Corporate Relations Coordinator

Kristen Stout joined the Corporate Relations staff at the College of Engineering in July 2007. She previously worked in marketing for the Executive Education Center at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, where she was responsible for marketing a portfolio of management and leadership courses to corporate executives.

Prior to working for the University of Michigan, Kristen worked for 10 years in marketing communications and PR within the automotive industry, first at Nissan R&D, where she was a speechwriter and technical planning analyst in the technical planning and product and market strategy office, and later at GE Plastics, where she was a PR specialist at GE's automotive regional office in Southfield, MI. She also worked as a project director at a Cincinnati market research firm that specialized in automotive customer satisfaction research. Kristen has a B.A. in English with a French minor from the University of Michigan.

Christine Vladu

Senior Administrative Assistant

Christine Vladu joined the Corporate and Government Relations Department in January of 2006. She previously worked at the University of Michigan in Dearborn as a secretary in the Research and Sponsored Programs Department. She also served as the Institutional Review Board Administrator for the protection of Human Subjects in Research.

Prior to joining the University, Vladu worked for a nonprofit organization coordinating fundraising events and working with sponsors. In addition to her University work, Vladu volunteers for various nonprofit organizations throughout the year and serves as a volunteer child mentor.

Cara Owen

Senior Secretary

Cara Owen joined the Corporate and Government Relations staff in November of 2008. She previously worked for a non-profit organization in Washington DC committed to creating the political will to end hunger and poverty. Cara earned her B.S. from the University of Utah in 2007 with a double major in Political Science and International Studies with a minor in History and a Certificate of International Relations.