2023 Engineer of the Year
Dr. Mark Ewing
Northrop Grumman
In addition to all of the career accomplishments listed, it is worth noting that 2022 was an exceptional year for Mark. As a Director and Senior Technical Leader, he and his group have delivered about 90% of their work on time and to commitments. He developed and implemented a career planning process for the 100+ people who work for him and spends extensive and effective energy as a mentor and coach. He personally identified customer analysis errors that would have resulted in missing commitments for a next-generation system, coordinated their correction and kept Northrop Grumman on track to deliver for our government needs. He published two journal papers in 2022. Finally, he created and leads a Northrop Grumman Corporation-wide Uncertainty Quantification Community of Practice.
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Utah State University
- M.S. and Ph.D. of Mechanical Engineering, Ohio State University
- Registered Professional Engineer in both Utah and Ohio
- Director of multi-disciplinary analysis teams that develop large solid rocket motors in commercial and defense applications as well as the NASA SLS Booster
- 30 years of experience at the Northrop Grumman solid rocket motor facility in Promontory
- Hundreds of papers, publications and presentations in the field of thermal ablation and chemistry, insulation, solid rocket motor nozzles, risk and uncertainty quantification methods for analysis results
- Has taught and advised undergraduate and graduate engineering students at Weber State University, University of Utah and Utah State University, among other universities across the country
2023 Engineering Educator of the Year
Dr. Kody Powell
University of Utah
Dr. Kody Powell, from the University of Utah, was nominated by the ASHRAE Utah Chapter. Dr. Powell is an Associate professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Utah. He has been rated as a top 15% instructor in the College of Engineering for six out of the seven years in which he has been teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses. He is a champion for the improvement of students and has personally mentored hundreds of engineering students throughout their education.
- Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Utah
- Recognized by the University of Utah Career and Professional Development Center twice as a “Faculty Champion”
- Published over 100 peer-reviewed academic research papers, the majority of which are led by students, on a wide range of energy topics
- Mentored 14 Ph.D. students and one M.S. student
- Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin
- B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry Minor, from the University of Utah
2023 MESA Teacher of the Year
Delia Bayna
Davis School District
Nobody embodies the importance of creating our future more than our educators. Educators regularly put their students first and work to create an environment in which students can reach their full potential. Delia Bayna is no exception.
Delia is a highly skilled educator with 15 years of teaching experience. She specializes in 7th and 8th Grade Science at Davis Connect 7-12 Online School in the Davis School District. She is also a MESA Advisor and the SeaPerch Robotics Coach. She has been awarded the Best of Davis Award and has represented the U.S. in Sydney, Australia, at the 2020 Microsoft Global Educator Exchange. She has presented her knowledge of Microsoft Tools at notable conferences such as NSTA, TCEA, and annually at the Davis Technology Conference.
2023 Fresh Face in Engineering
Amy Vanderhout
Northrop Grumman
Amy Vanderhout was nominated by the AIAA Utah Section. Amy is a rising aerospace engineer and an active member of the AIAA Young Professionals Group and the Space Logistics and Structures Technical Committee. She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is an active member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Young Professionals Group and the Space Logistics and Structures Technical Committee.
Amy works as a Principal Investigator for the research and development of high-temperature materials at Northrop Grumman Space Systems. Her current project is developing a Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) nose cone solution for a sophisticated national defense product, specifically guiding the design team toward a new material system and manufacturing technology that has more environmental capability than existing systems. In addition to the CMC nose cone project, Amy is also taking the lead on performing the dynamic and structural analysis for an internal cryogenic hydrogen storage tank. Prior to this role, Amy worked as a Systems Engineer for a satellite servicing project as an electrical engineer on the thrust vector control on the Space Launch System Solid Rocket Boosters and as a composite structural engineer.
This award recognizes new engineers’ accomplishments in their profession and their community; everything that Amy exemplifies.
