Alumni News

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Alumni Updates

1950s

Juan Ignacio Gabilondo (B.S. 1950) passed away in Havana, Cuba, on April 24, 2003. He is survived by two sons and a daughter who live in the United States.

1960s

Archie Norman Duplantis, Jr. (B.S. 1969) retired from Chevron/Texaco on March 1, 2002. He now does some part time consulting when he is not fishing, hunting, or working for his wife.

Robert Eakin (B.S. 1961) retired from PPG Industries on August 1, 2001 after more than 39 years with the company; he was serving as the works manager of PPG's Chemical Manufacturing complex in Lake Charles, Louisiana, at the time of his retirement. He and his wife, Carolyn (Hill--Education 1961), currently reside in Lake Charles.

George Potter (B.S. 1965, M.S. 1970, Ph.D. 1974) retired from Hunt Oil Company last year.

Jim D. Pottorff (B.S. 1963) is currently in negotiations for a mid America refinery, and he is the developer of two major pet-coke gasification projects.

Emilio Rebull Rivera (B.S. 1961) is an international civil servant in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

1970s

William P. Cagnolatti (B.S. 1964, M.S. 1971) is retired from Exxon Mobil. He and his wife, Gwen (B.A. 1968, M.A. 1993), enjoy traveling, spoiling their grandchildren, and tasting the wine that Bill makes. They have two sons (both are LSU engineers), a daughter who is a nurse, two granddaughters, and a grandson.

David Hurder (B.S. 1978) is currently the vice president of McGean-Rohco, Inc. based in Cleveland, Ohio. In January 2003, he appeared on the CBS Saturday Evening News to discuss the impact of higher natural gas prices on the USA manufacturing economy.

Stephen William Krajicek (B.S. 1976) is president and owner of Comsentech, Inc., manufacturer of the original terry cloth mop "Sh-Mop." He is married to Lisa Ann Krajicek and they have four children: Tiffany, Ryan, William, and Blake. His interests include flying, boating, and riding his Road King.

1980s

Kenneth Hutchinson (B.S. 1978, M.S. 1981) is currently a senior systems engineer with Hewlett-Packard (HP) in the San Francisco Bay area. He is responsible for sales of large computer servers in scientific and business applications. He is enjoying the city life and many outdoor activities in northern California. He has been located in San Francisco for the past two and a half years, and was previously in Atlanta, Georgia, with HP for five years.

Chris Kjeldsen (B.S. 1986) works for Crompton Corporation in Geismar, Louisiana as a senior energy engineer. He lives in Prairieville with his wife, Monica, and their two kids, Hannah (8) and Christian (2).

Jorge Lavastida (B.S. 1985) has been employed with DuPont Chemical Company since 1989. Since 2001, he has been at the Delisle, Mississippi, Titanium Technologies facility, where he has served as area manager of the Finishing Plant and the Supply Chain Group. In August of this year, he will begin a Six Sigma Black Belt assignment. He is married to the former Maureen Mayeaux (B.S. R.N. LSU 1991) of Metairie, Louisiana. They have four children: Emily Anne (11), Thomas (9), Claire (5), and Sara (2).

1990s

Naren Borgharkar (Ph.D. 1998) works as an engineer at Thin Films in R&D-a company that makes ophthalmic lenses. He works on making new coatings, processes, and equipment. The company is called Essilor of America and is based in sunny Florida (known for its miles of sand, blue green waters, and hurricanes.) When he is not enjoying the beaches or traveling to Paris (on business), he works.

Michael Dean (B.S. 1999) currently works at Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical as a process engineer. He enjoys jogging, working as an assistant coach for T-ball, and working with the Cub Scouts.

Bronson Guilbeau (B.S. 1998) currently works as a process engineer for Ventura Foods, LLC in Opelousas, Louisiana.

Vaughan Hart (M.S. 1998) is currently working as an engineer for Lockheed Martin in Boulder, Colorado.

Vennetta Thomas Hayes (B.S. 1998) is currently an environmental chemical specialist with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. She is the mother of Christopher, born in 1996; Tyler, born in 1998; Camryn, born in 1999; and "?" to be born in December of 2003.

Pearl Kuan (B.S. 1998) is currently employed with Petreco International, Inc. in Houston as an applications engineer. She is pursuing an M.B.A. at the University of Houston.

Todd Marcello (B.S. 1993) and his wife, Dana, are currently expecting a baby girl (Megan) in June. And their son, Taylor, will be two in June. They're both still huge Tiger fans. In fact, Todd has missed only two games since 1987.

Deepak Saha (M.S. 1998) is employed with Schlumberger in Denver, Colorado, as a business process/systems integration consultant. His work involves systems integration, business consulting, design, development, and implementation of enterprise-wide manufacturing and financial applications. His interests include white-water rafting, snow skiing, and snow boarding.

Mark and Shannon Seymour (B.S. 1995 and 1996) would like to announce the arrival of their daughter, Claire. Mark currently works at the Dow Polypropylene Plant in Norco, Louisiana and Shannon is a stay-at-home mom. They live in Destrehan with Claire and their three-year old sons, Andrew and Matthew.

Anthony R. and Janel McDonald Zareck (B.S. 1997) are both employed by ConocoPhillips in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Anthony works as a process engineer in the Regional Engineering Department and Janel works as an engineer in the Process Safety Management Department. They have three beautiful children-ages 4 years, 2 years, and 3 months.

2000s

Mamta Shah Aidt (B.S. 2002) got married in February of 2003 and is currently working as a tech support engineer for the Ethylene Oxide and Ethylene Glycol units at Shell Chemical Company Geismar Plant.

Fred Harry (M.S. 2001) is currently working as a process support engineer for Honeywell International in Hopewell, Virginia. He works at a 800 Mlbs/yr caprolactam facility in the Ammonium Sulfate Crystallization area. And, he just got married in December of 2002.

Scott Steady (B.S. 2000) is currently working for Air Quality Services, an indoor air quality firm located in Atlanta, Georgia. His primary responsibilities include technical sales and operational support of the GREENGUARD Certification Program for Low Emitting Materials. In his spare time he plays soccer and has started an independent record label called Rat Race Records.

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