Alumni Award, Honorees

2020 Alumni Medal: Robin White

She spent 30 years ensuring the safety of Navy ships and now Robin White is being honored with Michigan Engineering’s  2020 Alumni Medal for extraordinary achievements in her field. The Alumni Medal is the highest honor bestowed upon alumni by Michigan Engineering and its alumni board.

White was the director for surface ship design and systems engineering in the Naval Sea System Command before retiring in 2019. In this position, she provided the technical leadership to ensure current and future U.S. Navy surface ships can safely and effectively perform mission requirements.

“I am deeply honored to have been selected for this recognition,” said White. “The University of Michigan and the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering provided the solid foundation that I benefited from and have been proud of throughout my career, so this is very meaningful to me.”

White joined the Naval Sea Systems Command as a naval architect in 1989. She was a key technical advisor to COMNAVSEA for numerous ship incidents and has led efforts to assess novel hull forms and provide heavy weather operator guidance for a range of ship classes.

White earned a bachelor of science degree in naval architecture and marine engineering from the University of Michigan in 1982. In addition to her accomplishments in industry, she is one of NAME’s longest-serving advisory board members.

“This recognition is a testament to her lifetime achievement in engineering. Robin has been a steadfast supporter of the department,” said Jing Sun, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Chair and Michael G Parsons Collegiate Professor of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. “Her service to the NAME community and profession has been exemplary. She has been an inspiring role model for us, particularly for young female students who strive to excel in our traditionally male-dominated field.”

In addition to the 2020 Alumni Medal, White has also received the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award, Superior and Meritorious Civilian Service Awards, and Alumni Merit Award for Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the University of Michigan.  News article.

View the list of former Alumni Medal Award recipients.

2020 Distinguished Alumni Service Award: Corey Brooker

For long-standing dedication as a mentor and coach to aerospace students at Michigan Engineering, longtime Lockheed Martin engineer Corey Brooker has been awarded the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Service Award.

Brooker earned a BS & MS Aerospace Engineering in 1995. After completing his degrees at Michigan Engineering, Brooker went on to work at Lockheed Martin where he currently has 24 years of experience working in systems analysis on NASA’s Orion spacecraft as well as the Atlas V and Delta IV rockets.

Every fall for the last two decades, Brooker has been a speaker in the Aero departmental UG seminar series. In addition to working as a lecturer and recruiter, he also advises student project teams as a reviewer, advisor, and mentor. Brooker was also an early advocate for moving computing tools into the undergraduate curriculum, leading to the development of AERO 205, now a required course.  News article. 

View the list of former Distinguished Alumni Service Award recipients.

2020 Outstanding Recent Alumni Award: Aisha Bowe

For her work as an industry leader working to grow STEM diversity, Aisha Bowe has received Michigan Engineering’s 2020 Outstanding Recent Alumni Award.

After earning a BS in aerospace engineering in 2008 and an MS in space systems engineering in 2009—both from Michigan Engineering—Bowe joined NASA, working at the Ames Research Center in Flight and Fluid Mechanics.

In 2013, Bowe co-founded STEMBoard, a technology company that helps historically underrepresented youth play a role in designing tomorrow’s technologies. STEMBoard is collaborating with historically black colleges and universities to host STEM camps across the United States. The company has also created HackIT, a week-long camp that combines technology with entrepreneurship to provide students in the Caribbean with a mini-incubator for launching new ideas.

As an advocate for positive mentorship and equal access to STEM education, Bowe’s work aims to bring more young people to the table.

In 2019, Bowe joined the University of Michigan Aerospace Department Industry Advisory Board. News article. 

View previous Outstanding Recent Alumni Award recipients.