New Class of ECLIPSE Interns Begins Service

Six early career engineers will begin their ECLIPSE (Early Career Leadership Intern Program to Serve Engineering) internships in June at the 2009 ASME Annual Meeting in Palm Desert, Calif.

The goal of the ECLIPSE program, which was established in 2006, is to engage, identify and begin to develop potential leaders for ASME by placing early career engineers in highly visible and productive roles within the ASME organization. The program is administered by ASME’s Center for Leadership and Diversity.

The ECLIPSE initiative offers young engineers yearlong leadership internships at the highest levels of ASME. In addition to honing their leadership skills, the experience also provides the interns with a chance to network for that next opportunity in both their professional and ASME careers.

In addition to attending the Summer Annual Meeting, ECLIPSE interns are invited to attend the 2009 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition and the 2010 Leadership Training Conference.

Julie Bachmann, a technical specialist at the energy services provider WorleyParsons, will serve as the intern to the Board of Governors. She has been actively involved in ASME since becoming a member in 2002. She was the fundraising chair of the Penn State student section and, most recently, she was senior director of the ASME Philadelphia Section. Bachmann received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Penn State University.

The Knowledge and Community Sector will be served by Abiola Ajetunmobi. Ajetunmobi, is currently employed as a mechanical engineer at Bechtel Corp. He earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Federal University of Technology Minna in Nigeria. He has authored and presented technical papers at the ASME Design Engineering Technical Conferences/Computers in Engineering Conference, and has participated in the Society’s e-mentoring program. He has been a member of ASME since 2001.

Mandy Brogdon, an ASME member since 2001, will also serve her internship with the Knowledge and Community Sector. Brogdon, who is a teaching assistant and graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, previously served as student section chair, vice chair, social chair and treasurer at the University of Dayton, where she received her master’s degree in materials engineering and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering.

Victoria Blocker, former vice chair and secretary of the ASME South Texas Section, has been selected as the ECLIPSE intern for the Strategic Management Sector. Blocker, who works as a mechanical engineer for Commonwealth Engineering and Construction in Houston, received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from University of Houston. She was chair of her University of Houston student section, and has been an ASME member since 2004.

The Institutes Sector has selected Siva P. Pilli as its ELIPSE intern for 2009–2010. Pilli, a scientist and researcher at Battelle/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., received a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He is a peer reviewer for ASME Journals, has been an ASME member since 2007.

The sixth 2009–2010 ECLIPSE intern, Charlene Tung, will serve with the Leadership & Diversity Sector. Tung, a Six Sigma Black Belt quality engineer at General Electric, has a long and active history with ASME. She served as chair, vice chair, and secretary of the Ontario Section, as well as chair, vice chair, and newsletter editor of the University of Toronto student section. She is currently a member of the Leadership Training Conference workshop planning team and has previously served as a Student Liaison Program participant and member of the Young Engineers Forum organizing committee. Tung, an ASME member since 1999, has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from University of Toronto, where she also is pursuing a master’s in theological studies.

For more information about the ECLIPSE program, contact Marina Stenos, (212) 591-8614, or visit www.asme.org/Governance/Volunteer/
Early_Career_Leadership.cfm.

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