Alumni

Kenneth Cates
Kenneth Cates earned a bachelor’s in construction in 1996. He is currently the executive vice-president of Northstar Management Company, a firm he co-founded. Ken is a Certified Healthcare Constructor who has developed educational programs for healthcare owners, architects and contractors; chaired design and construction planning meetings for national conferences; and given countless hours to enhance the process of planning, design and construction of healthcare facilities. Ken has worked on more than 1,000 projects with a lifetime value of more than $3 billion. In 2009, he was awarded the Crystal Eagle Award from the ASHE of the American Hospital Association, recognizing him for his excellent leadership qualities, innovation and overall contribution to ASHE. On October 12, 2012, the School of Engineering inducted Ken into the Hall of Fame. career opportunities. Kay graduated from SIUE in 1988 with a B.S. in industrial engineering and from Washington University with a Masters of engineering management in 1993.

Kurt Smith
Dr. Kurt Smith is an engineer and entrepreneur who started his first company while a student at SIUE. Since then, he has founded 15 different ventures and is currently the global vice-president of New Growth Platforms at Covidien, a $10 billion medical technology company that provides surgical and therapeutic products. Smith, who earned a bachelor’s in electrical engineering in 1985 and a master’s in electrical engineering in 1986, earned a Doctor of Science in electrical and biomedical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis. His work has revolutionized the operating room, enabling surgeons to actually see where they were in real time on MRI and CT images displayed in the operating room. On October 12, 2012, the School of Engineering inducted Kurt into the Hall of Fame.

"Because of SIUE I've had the opportunity to stand between engineering and operations."
Kay Guse, BS '88

Kay Guse is the Director of Policies, Procedures and Processes for Engineering, Operations and Technology (EO&T) at Boeing. She leads the development and deployment of a common process strategy for all EO&T functions and operating groups across the corporation. Kay is the Boeing Executive Focal for SIUE and serves on the School of Engineering Advisory Board. She is active in mentoring engineering and other employees at Boeing and frequently visits area K-12 schools to speak on engineering and science education and related career opportunities. Kay graduated from SIUE in 1988 with a B.S. in industrial engineering and from Washington University with a Masters of engineering management in 1993.

"My crowning achieving in the School of Engineering is my son Nick, who also graduated from SIUE."
Jim Heinz (BS 1983)

James (Jim) Heinz began his career managing construction projects for K&S Associates, Inc. and St. Louis based general contractor Kozeny-Wagner, Inc. In 1993, he founded Heinz Corporation with a vision to provide construction and engineering services to the growing wireless industry. Heinz Corporation was recognized as St. Louis‟12th fastest growing privately held company by the St. Louis Business Journal, and received the 2001 St. Louis Regional Technology Fast 50 Award. After 9-11, Jim led the company to specialize in consulting and engineering for public safety communications for several high profile New York City Projects. In 2004 Heinz Corporation was acquired by WPCS International, Inc. where Jim now serves as Executive Vice President overseeing four U.S. operation centers. James graduated from SIUE in 1983 with a BS in Construction.

Tyria Riley is designing C-17 training devices as an electrical hardware engineer at The Boeing Company. In this position she is responsible for all drawings, schedules, and customer coordination relating to the electrical components. She is active in the National Society of Black Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and Society of Women Engineers and currently serves on the SIUE School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Advisory Board. She also speaks to high school and college students about the importance of pursuing higher education in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Tyria graduated from SIUE August 2002 with a BS electrical engineering. She earned a master’s in systems engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology and her doctorate in engineering management at Missouri S&T.