2014 Outstanding CS Alumni

Good Things Come in Threes: CS Recognizes Outstanding Alumni
10-10-2014
Writer(s): Jesica E. Hollinger

Good things come in threes, and on Friday, October 10, the Department of Computer Science held a ceremony in the Richard and Patricia Lawson Computer Science Building to recognize the Outstanding Alumni of 2014. A reception hosted by the College of Science will be held later in the day, honoring the 14 recipients from the seven areas of the College.

Faculty, staff, and students were on hand to celebrate this year’s recipients: Kathleen Mapes Campbell (M.S. ’75), Michael Petersen (B.S. ’72, M.S. ‘74) and Eric Simone (B.S. ’88) in an awards presentation and reception where the three were honored for their respective achievements in business and community.

Kathleen Mapes Campbell (M.S. ’75)

Kathleen (Mapes) Campbell graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Education from Indiana State University and later earned her masters in Computer Science from Purdue in 1975.  Kathleen then joined TRW, now part of Northrop Grumman.  During Kathleen’s 24-year career at TRW she held many management positions.  Her early responsibilities included design of simulators to support training exercises for both the Army and Air Force. Later she managed several large software development efforts including the design and development of onboard payload software for the MILSTAR communication satellite constellation that provides secure communications capability for all branches of the military.  Kathleen also served for several years as manager of a department of 50+ engineers and software developers.  For 10 years Kathleen led a TRW team of Purdue alumni returning to Purdue for one week each semester to recruit graduating students.  Since her retirement from TRW in 1999, Kathleen has been active in various nonprofit community activities.  She resides with her husband in Manhattan Beach, California. 

Michael Petersen (B.S. '72, M.S. ‘74)

Michael Petersen earned his bachelor’s degree in both mathematics and computer science in 1972 with a minor in physics. Two years later, Michael also earned his master’s degree from Purdue, and then went on to receive his MBA from Marist College. Michael enjoyed a career as an IBM computer scientist for 33 years. During his IBM career, Michael worked with computer engineering design software, a software library system, and advanced technology in data transmission, messaging, and text processing in a computer network. Michael was the first to send and retrieve load modules throughout the IBM computer network. In the middle of his career at IBM, Michael served as a software developer and project manager for a new automated materials handling facility. This involved an IBM World Trade assignment in Italy. Michael’s project management work included a facility system test and two major system migrations. Michael also participated in the IBM Faculty Loan Program on the West Lafayette campus for the Colleges of Science and Engineering. He helped establish the College of Science’s Minority Summer Science Program (MSSP) and for the next 15 years, returned to campus as a volunteer. Near the end of his IBM career, Michael worked as a software developer and technical consultant for software development and web site analysis products. His technical consultant assignments involved 79 clients in North America, Europe, and Asia. Michael is an advocate for adult literacy and volunteers with the Literacy Council of Wake County and Wake Technical Community College.

Eric Simone (B.S. ’88)

In 1988, Eric earned his bachelor’s degree from Purdue in computer science and has enjoyed great success as a businessman and entrepreneur. Eric is the founder and CEO of ClearBlade, an enterprise software company headquartered in Austin Texas. ClearBlade's primary product is the ClearBlade Platform, a secure, scalable server that connects enterprise systems to mobile, web and the Internet of Things. He also holds the position of Venture Partner at Corsa Ventures, an early stage information technology venture firm. Previously, Eric was the founder and Chief Technology Officer of Complete Incorporated, which sold to Perficient Inc. (PRFT) in May of 2000. With more than eleven years of experience in the computer industry as an application developer, test coordinator, project leader, client/server architect, and software marketing specialist, Eric also led a team of ten product specialists in marketing for IBM’s application development products, across the nine-state Midwestern areas. He was recognized nationally as one of the company’s top marketing representatives through several awards, including the 1993 IBM Golden Circle and the 1993 Area Leadership Award. Eric also serves on the Board of Trustees for St. Gabriel Catholic School and resides with his wife Toni, and two boys, Xander and Dexter, in Austin Texas.

Read more about the College of Science alumni recognized from other departments: http://www.science.purdue.edu/news_and_publications/articles/OA-2014.html