Alumni Awardee Bios - 2020

Patrick Treacy ’87 ME

As CEO of Onkos Surgical based in Parsippany, NJ, Patrick Treacy is passionate about building a team dedicated to supporting advancements in the field of orthopaedic oncology as well as being an advocate for sarcoma awareness. Prior to founding Onkos, he was executive vice president of PDI and president of PDI Healthcare where he was responsible for the financial performance of the Healthcare Division. Before PDI, Patrick was vice president and general manager of Stryker Corporation’s Global Knee Replacement Business.   

After graduating magna cum laude from Villanova with his bachelor’s degree, Patrick earned a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University.

Active in his alma mater, Patrick sits on Villanova University’s Engineering Entrepreneurship Advisory Board and guest lectures in the program. He holds design patents in orthopaedic surgery and was most recently recognized as a 2019 EY, New Jersey Entrepreneur of the Year and national finalist.

Patrick resides with his family in New Jersey.

Christine Baudier Wood ’05 CE

As manager of the Global Facilities Group in Burns & McDonnell's Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, offices, Christine Wood leads over 50 professionals and is responsible for managing multimillion-dollar design-build, aerospace and mission-critical projects. In 2019, she was promoted to the Principal Group, a senior level of leadership that marks distinguished performance over an extended period with the firm. Out of the 7,000 employees at Burn & McDonnell, only 2% are principals. In 2016, she was named one of Engineering News-Record Texas & Louisiana's Top 20 Under 40.

In addition to her Villanova bachelor’s degree, Christine received her master's degree in civil engineering from Columbia University. She is a registered professional engineer in California, Texas, Washington and Oregon.

Christine and her husband, Greg, have a son and daughter. She gives back to the community through her involvement in Junior League, Kids in the Kitchen, Habitat for Humanity and Nights Lights. She also is passionate about empowering women to advance their professional careers.

Thomas Cassin ’83 ME, ’86 MSME

Tom Cassin has worked for over 35 years in the composite materials industry. As the recent past president and CEO of Materials Sciences Corporation, he was responsible for the company’s management, direction and growth of new technologies in the materials space. Tom forged MSC’s place in the composites community through the formation of strategic alliances with the development of programs that addressed existing technology gaps in high performance systems for defense and space exploration. At MSC, he was the inventor of the thermal management material k-core, which is used in avionics, satellite systems and the Mars Rover.

Tom is also the founder and owner of Countervail Products, LLC which designs, manufactures and sells vibration cancelling materials under the trademark Countervail® to aerospace, automotive, marine and the sporting goods industry. Countervail® has been in the winning tennis racquets at Wimbledon and the Australian and French Open while also being first across cycling finish lines, most notably at the Tour de France. 

Andrew Lee ’19 ME

Andrew Lee graduated in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and minors in Mathematics and Physics. He began his research career during his freshman year studying thermal enhancement of phase change materials via conductive nano-scale networks.

In addition to serving as a research assistant in the College’s Mechanical Engineering Department, Andrew was a coordinator in the University’s Math Learning Resource Center. Internationally, he surveyed jungle terrain for clean water systems in Nicaragua and developed a system to passively collect water as part of the GIANT Internship Program in France. As a PATHWAYS intern in the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, he advanced understanding of corrosion prevention.

Today, Andrew is one of only 68 students selected from more than 4,400 international applicants as part of the 2019 cohort of Knight-Hennessy Scholars at Stanford University where he is a PhD student in materials science and engineering. Andrew aspires to meet the challenges of climate change and the energy crisis by developing novel materials that fuel the next generation of global energy processes.

Sheena White ’06 ME

Sheena White is a senior vice president of Global Business Development at Citigroup (Citi) where she leads a team to develop new vectors of growth through partnerships that drive meaningful consumer value and scale. She recently co-led the Google and Citi digital partnership, Project Cache. Previously, Sheena was a director at American Express, where she managed a team focused on co-brand business development, managed a $10B merchant portfolio, and was a strategist in the firm’s internal strategic consulting group. Prior to Citi and American Express, Sheena interned at Walmart and worked at Goldman Sachs.

Striving to unlock opportunities to empower personal and leadership growth, Sheena sits on Villanova University’s College of Engineering Advisory Board and the Girl Scouts of Greater New York Leadership Advisory Board. In addition to her Villanova bachelor’s degree, she holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Sheena resides in Brooklyn with her husband, two sons and dog. 

Michael Gillin ’99 ME

Michael Gillin has spent his career at Exelon Nuclear, advancing through positions from systems manager and reactor engineer to operations director and plant manager. Today he serves as vice president, Central Design Engineering in which he is responsible for ensuring the delivery of high-quality technical products, on schedule, at the lowest possible cost. He also implemented the company’s strategic plan in its transition to a new centralized engineering model.

Mike continues to demonstrate his commitment to the College through his participation on the Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board and the Engineering Alumni Society Board. In 2004, the EAS presented him with a meritorious service award.

In addition to his bachelor’s degree, Mike holds an MBA from the Villanova School of Business.

Christopher McCartin ’91 CE

Chris McCartin is a managing director at Tishman Speyer, a global commercial and residential real estate developer. With oversight of design and construction activity in Tishman Speyer’s New York region, Chris is currently managing 14 projects representing 7.9mm square feet and $4.2B of construction costs. During his tenure with the company, he has also served as project executive overseeing the development of a London headquarters for a financial services institution, project manager for the redevelopment of Rockefeller Center, project executive for the development of 222 East 42nd Street, and project executive for the interiors of 200 West Street in New York.

Prior to joining Tishman Speyer in 1996, Chris worked at Turner Construction. After graduating from Villanova in 1991, he volunteered in a Franciscan mission in Panama for 18 months working on rural water distribution projects.

Chris sits on the board of directors for The Municipal Art Society of New York, New York Building Congress and the ACE Mentor Program. 

Elizabeth Porter ’93 EE

Elizabeth (Liz) Porter currently serves as senior vice president, Federal Energy, Environment, & Commerce for Leidos Civil, where she oversees an organization that provides world class energy infrastructure support, environmental science, information technology and engineering solutions/ services to federal, state and local clients including the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the General Services Administration and the Internal Revenue Service. She started her career with Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems Company as a solar array design and electrical power subsystem engineer.

In addition to her Villanova bachelor’s degree, Liz holds an MBA from the University of Colorado. In 2012, she was selected by the Department of Energy and MIT as the first-ever recipient of the U.S. Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) Initiative Award (Corporate Implementation).

James Rolston ’10 ChE, ’15 MBA

As a life science consultant, James Rolston has been working in life sciences and pharmaceuticals for more than 10 years, addressing quality issues and protecting patients. He started his career at an engineering and design services firm addressing environmental compliance for utility and pharmaceutical companies and later served as a senior engineer at Merck where he worked in vaccines and biologics resolving global technology and operations problems. Today, James works for KPMG as a senior advisor for their Supply Chain & Operations group, where he addresses regulatory and operational challenges of the pharmaceutical and medical device industry.

James attained his MBA in Healthcare & Strategic Management from Villanova in 2015. He remains a committed and active alumnus, serving on the advisory board for the Chemical Engineering department, and is also a member of the Union League of Philadelphia Foundation board educating youth on civics and the US Constitution.

He and his wife Kaitlyn May Rolston ’10 BSN, ’14 MSN live in Philadelphia.

Robert Creighton ’01 CpE

Robert Creighton is a program manager for L3Harris Technologies in Clifton, NJ.  Since starting at L3Harris in 2007, Bob has held program management and project engineering positions leading multiple electronic warfare and communication programs. He also supports L3Harris-sponsored student engagement and recruiting activities with Villanova University. He is currently serving as a representative to the Villanova Electrical and Computer Engineering Industry Advisory Board.

Before joining L3Harris, Bob was an electronics engineer for the Communications-Electronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center (CERDEC) Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate (I2WD). He held a lead role in NATO working groups chartered to evaluate and develop combat identification solutions. In May 2006, he was awarded an Achievement Medal for Civilian Service for his role in the successful completion of a multinational combat identification test and evaluation exercise.

In addition to his Villanova bachelor’s degree, Bob holds a Master of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Monmouth University.

David Diehl ’00 CE

David Diehl credits his mom, dad and brother with directing him toward Villanova University where he earned a bachelor’s in Civil Engineering in 2000. While at the University, his roommate and longtime friend pointed him to the Campus Ministry program and Noreen Cameron. There, he met good friends who introduced him to the Center for Peace and Justice and Dr. Suzanne Toton. With the help of those friends and teachers, David was introduced to Inner-City Teaching Corps, a teaching program in Chicago. The good people in that program led him to Chicago Jesuit Academy—a full-scholarship lower and middle school for young men from modest economic backgrounds—where he has been teaching for the last 15 years. The most important person David met along the way is his wife Nina, a fellow Villanovan and Inner-City Teaching Corps graduate. Together they have three daughters.

Ashley Ferguson ’09 ME

After graduation, Ashley Ferguson started working for the US Navy and quickly became the lead engineer overseeing multi-million-dollar contracts on surface ships to recycle hundreds of components and send them around the world, creating a cost avoidance of over $200 million. She later became the Machinery Team's deputy systems engineering manager for the next generation hovercraft program, and today serves as production team leader on a test facility for the Navy's newest ship class.

Committed to her alma mater, Ashley is the former president of the Engineering Alumni Society, through which she helped expand the board nationally and initiated its participation at homecoming, on Pi Day and during Engineers Week. She also established staff and faculty awards and mentoring events. Ashley currently serves as chair of the Mechanical Engineering Advisory Board and is a Career Compass mentor and frequent speaker at Villanova professional development seminars. She also regularly participates in the College’s STEM outreach events.

Thomas Portland ’69 ChE

Tom Portland spent most of his career with Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. in Allentown, PA, a $10B international supplier of industrial gases, chemicals and related equipment, with operations in 50 countries and 17K employees. There, he held various positions, including vice president and general manager of its $1.5B Bulk Gases division, its $1B General Industries and Metals division, its $500M European Onsites, Equipment and Energy division in London, and its $500M Gulf Coast Gases group in Houston. He also served as the company’s director of investor relations. Today, Tom works in private equity as an operating partner for Graham Partners, located in Newtown Square, PA.

Tom is also active in several humanitarian aid organizations, including Catholic Relief Services, Engineers without Borders, and Unbound (Kansas City, KS), and travels extensively with these charities in Africa, Asia and Latin America.