Exemplifying the spirit of service at the heart of the engineering profession, 2009 civil engineering alumna Elizabeth (Beller) Staryak has a deep sense of compassion and a desire to create a better world.

Her commitment is showcased through 14 years of community service with the New York Junior League (NYJI), earning her the organization’s Outstanding Volunteer Award for 2024.  

As a director at large of the Junior League’s Board of Directors, Staryak plays a pivotal role in identifying and implementing initiatives, like domestic violence advocacy or adult financial literacy, that create positive change within her hometown. She has been an advocate for survivors of domestic violence and has helped first-generation Americans open credit accounts. Additionally, she has completed two New York City Marathons since 2021 for the NYJL team. 

However, Staryak’s passion for service extends to her work with Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a nonprofit organization that provides guide dogs to individuals with vision loss, which is even more inspiring.

Guiding Eyes for the Blind’s mission is to connect exceptional dogs with individuals in need, empowering them with greater independence and mobility. Staryak has taken this mission to heart, dedicating herself to raising her eighth puppy for the program. Her training period with each dog lasts 18 to 24 months. This commitment reflects her profound understanding of the transformative impact these highly trained dogs can have on the lives of those they serve. It’s also how she met her husband, Adam, a fellow guide puppy raiser. 

“I spend thousands of hours working to get these dogs ready to make a difference in other’s lives. These aren’t my dogs. They come into my world for a reason—to go out and change their future partner’s life,” she says. “It’s a small way of making the world a better place, which is my goal in my work as an engineer.”

She is also an active supporter of the Wildlife Conservation Society, demonstrating her commitment to preserving the natural world and protecting vulnerable species.

Professionally, Staryak’s engineering expertise shines as a rail and transit senior project manager with STV Inc. Her leadership as the deputy construction manager on the East River Tunnel Rehabilitation project, a $1 billion endeavor, showcases her ability to tackle complex challenges and deliver impactful solutions. This project, which aims to rehabilitate a vital transportation infrastructure hub within New York City, exemplifies Staryak’s dedication to improving countless lives through her engineering prowess.

Through her diverse personal and professional involvements, Staryak epitomizes the engineering code of service, using the knowledge and skills she gained at Rose-Hulman to create positive change in her community. She serves as a reminder of the profound impact that engineers can have when they embrace their calling to improve the lives of others.  

CONRAD TUCKER Returns to African Roots to Transform Technological Horizons

With a personal and professional passport filled with stamps from across the world, it’s not surprising that 2004 mechanical engineering alumnus Conrad Tucker, PhD, has become a strong advocate for engineers, scientists, and mathematicians to make a global impact.

That mission has taken him to become director of Carnegie Mellon University-Africa’s campus in Rwanda and associate dean for international programs in Africa for CMU’s College of Engineering. At the same time, he is continuing to lead students from throughout the world in making scholarly achievements in machine learning, neuroscience-inspired artificial intelligence, robotics, and biomedical engineering–technical domains that can help enhance human capabilities.

Started in 2011 under a partnership with the Rwandan government, CMU-Africa offers graduate degrees, as part of CMU’s College of Engineering, in information technology, electrical and computer engineering, and engineering artificial intelligence. Its student body of more than 300 graduate students from 19 nationalities are addressing a critical shortage of creative and technically strong engineering talent for the African workforce–one of the fast-growing workforces in the world. 

Tucker says, “I have always loved challenges and the idea of giving back
on a global scale. I see my work at CMU-Africa as a service to the continent. This provides a new dimension of impact. Over the past decade, I have been focused on impact from a research perspective (writing scholarly publications and mentoring master’s and PhD students). This has been very rewarding. However, now I can have an impact on a continental scale by educating the next generation of African leaders and innovators to make a transformative impact in their communities and the world.”

That’s what Tucker has done throughout his own educational journey as the son of a college professor/researcher (father) and elementary school principal (mother). The family escaped internal strife within Sierra Leone along Africa’s western coastline to find refuge in nearby Guinea before eventually moving to America. As a high-achieving high school student in Maryland, Tucker became interested in Rose-Hulman and engineering after enjoying a summer at the college’s Operation Catapult program.

His interest in engineering grew as a Rose student, learning about elements of mechanical systems and robotics, along with earning a minor in economics. Tucker also became involved in a variety of student activities, enjoyed playing ultimate Frisbee games with classmates on the campus’ front lawn, and
gave back to Terre Haute through community service projects. 

“Rose taught me to strive for academic and professional excellence by pushing your limits while providing the important building blocks for the future. There was a sense of community support and encouragement that every student needed, and has helped us succeed as graduates,” he states.

Tucker reconnected with his former Rose academic adviser Rick Stamper (ME, 1985), PhD, (now the institute’s provost and vice president for academic affairs) during a visit to CMU-Africa last fall as the two institutions explore possible future educational partnerships. 

Employing artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques in engineering system design, health care, and education has been the focus of Tucker’s role as a researcher while earning a master’s degree and PhD in industrial engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, along with teaching for eight years at Penn State University, and four in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon.

Along with his director role at CMU-Africa, Tucker teaches and conducts research on machine learning and directs the Artificial Intelligence in Products Engineered for X Laboratory (AiPEX Lab) at Carnegie Mellon’s Pittsburgh campus. Rose-Hulman alumni Jiatong Zhang (ME, 2021) and Songwei Fan (ME, 2022) have been enrolled in Tucker’s Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Engineers course. His research and education goals are tightly integrated and focus on advancing personalization, both from a design and learning perspective.

“We’re experiencing a monumental paradigm shift in technology, not only in the innovations of these technologies but the speed of which they are progressing,” he says. “Where we’re going is up to us as researchers and decision-makers — to decide how these technologies are going to be used or integrated to impact people’s lives ... The path of a researcher and educator is not just to give back knowledge to students, but to engage in research that you’re hoping will transform the world and have a global impact.” 

Eric Sheets Counting Blessings After Lung Transplant

Eric Sheets took several deep breaths while recounting the details of an inspirational five-year journey that was filled with gratitude, perseverance, love, and personal reflection — for himself and several others that benefitted from someone else’s selfless gift. 

After all, there was a time when the 1983 mechanical engineering graduate was a fixture of good health as a former Fightin’ Engineer basketball player and recreational cyclist.

Then, every breath became a struggle.

The effects of pulmonary fibrosis deteriorated Eric’s lung capacity to such a state that he couldn’t perform a simple breathing test, his listless body could hardly move around his home in Greenwood, Indiana, and he needed to take a leave of absence as an experimental test engineer with Rolls-Royce Corporation — his career for 38 years. He had developed a wicked cough, lost his appetite (dropping 30 pounds within nine months), and his fingertips had taken on a bluish hue from oxygen deprivation within his blood stream. 

“I used to love taking long hikes with Stephanie (his wife) at state and national parks, admiring the beautiful scenery and wonders of nature. I’d take bike rides with my three sons and really liked coaching a homeschool basketball team. Then, over the course of three years and without any rhyme or reason, I went to being constantly out of breath, gasping for air, and became a shell of my old, happy self,” Eric recalls.

Then, the conversation took on a serious tone as the 62-year-old states, “I was a dead man walking.” 

A double-lung transplant through the Indiana Donor Network and doctors at Indianapolis’ Methodist Hospital was the only solution. He was considered a “perfect” recipient, with no past health problems. 

“All that I had was a bad set of lungs,” Eric says. 

Now all he needed was the “perfect” donor.

That happened on November 30, 2018, after the death of Chase Crompvoets, an athletic California 18-year-old who had been attending Chicago’s DePaul University, following a seizure. 

At the same time, lying in the hospital bed was Eric with Stephanie, a former Rose-Hulman cheerleader, nearby as a constant, loving companion. The couple and other family members had been through the emotional rollercoaster of possibly finding a prospective donor just three weeks earlier. 

And they knew that there might not be another chance.

Chase’s lungs arrived and surgery started in the early morning hours of December 1 with a team of doctors and staff working feverishly to make the successful transplant. Every second mattered. 

A day and a half later, Eric was wide awake and breathing on his own. He soon had enough energy to start taking daily walks around the hospital, building up his stamina each day.

“Within minutes (after the surgery), I immediately noticed more of a natural color coming back to his fingers and lips. He was returning to me,” said Stephanie. 

Eric left the hospital on December 18 and began physical therapy and a constant watch on whether his body would accept Chase’s gift of life.

Soon after arriving home from the ordeal, Eric wrote a Thank You letter to the Indiana Donor Network in hopes that it would get to anyone associated with the donor. “The Network passes along any letters, but there are no guarantees that anything will come from them. I understood that, but I just needed to express my sincere gratitude and report that their loss, however tragic, had helped give life to another. We were so grateful.” 

Two other letters followed before a response finally came from Chase’s mother, Kelly Crompvoets, nearly four years after the transplant (December of 2022). The correspondence started with the heart-felt sentiment: “I have been trying to write this letter for four years …”

Then in February of 2023, Eric and Stephanie traveled to California to meet Chase’s family. The special reunion took place in the family’s home, surrounded by photos and memories of a teenager who had registered as an organ donor (unbeknownst to his family).

“Everything about our time together was surreal,” Eric recalls. “We wanted to know everything about Chase, and they were happy to oblige. We found out what a special young man he was. And they were so happy to see that I was doing so well.”

This is a special feel-good human interest story — one that’s been featured in the Indianapolis Star and other newspapers throughout the country. Eric and Stephanie now tell their inspirational story at church, college, and community events throughout the state in support of the Indiana Donor Network. They hope that more lives are saved by others on donor registries throughout the country. (Chase’s heart was given to a young mother of two boys in her final stages of congenital heart disease; his liver went to another patient, and his kidneys were donated to two different people. All those recipients are still alive today.)

“I believe there’s a reason why I’m still here and able to enjoy my wonderful life. It’s divine intervention along with the support of family, friends, doctors, nurses, and physical therapists. And there was a lot of medical technology, created by engineers and scientists, that contributed to my well-being. I’m a very fortunate man who has a new zest for life.” 

CARING HANDS

Gary Ulrich’s Medical Skills Make a Difference in Remote Sudan Area

Gary Ulrich volunteered his orthopedic medicine skills during a two-month medical journey to help patients at Mother of Mercy Hospital in the remote Nuba Mountains region of Sudan in Africa.

Living the principles of the medical profession’s Hippocratic Oath, Gary Ulrich, MD used his medical and engineering skills to help forgotten people residing within the depths of the war-torn Nuba Mountains region of Africa’s Sudan countryside. Ulrich, a 2017 biology alumnus, spent two months on a volunteer medical journey that changed his outlook on medicine and humanity..

It can take up to two days to make the 20-mile trek on pothole-covered dirt roads from Sudan’s capital city to the mountainous village of Gidel. The area is so remote that COVID-19—the virus that seemed to be everywhere—did not make it to this part of the world. 

A bright spot within the region is Mother of Mercy Hospital, led by its lone doctor, Tom Catena, MD, whose life’s mission has been to serve the needs of
the region’s 1.3 million people. 

Ulrich was inspired to join Catena and his work after hearing about the Mother of Mercy Hospital during a presentation in Rose-Hulman’s Hatfield Hall Theater in 2019. Catena was recognized for his life’s work by Terre Haute’s Union Health system, where he completed a family medicine residency in 1999.

“Hearing his selfless life work inspired me,” says Ulrich. “And I think it’s important to challenge yourself and put yourself in uncomfortable situations to grow and become more well-rounded.”

Ulrich’s two months in Sudan were filled with hands-on physician work and learning how special it is to be a doctor and master a craft (orthopedics) that can impact people’s lives. 

In one case, he helped save the leg of a Sudanese People’s Liberation Army soldier who had sustained a severe gunshot wound while fighting for his Nuba homeland.

“In the United States, with an open gunshot wound, the protocol is that antibiotics and a tetanus shot are given within three hours,” Ulrich recalls. “Dr. Catena’s breadth of what he can do is below the knee amputation, which is what this soldier was facing. But I had some experience with orthopedic rotations, and I offered to do a primitive orthopedic surgery to save the leg.” 

Ulrich’s external fixation procedure called for metal pins to be inserted into the bone above and below the injury location. These pins were then attached to a metal bar outside the body, and the external fixator frame kept the injured bone stable and aligned throughout the healing process. Additionally, Bill Rhodes, MD, a visiting plastic surgeon from Kenya, performed a cross-leg flap, which involved covering the open gunshot wound with healthy tissue from
the patient’s uninjured leg.

This was the first external fixation procedure completed at Mother of Mercy Hospital. The soldier has since healed and has regained full use of his leg.

The lack of CT scans and MRI machines at the Mother of Mercy Hospital (common equipment at United States’ hospitals) meant that Catena and Ulrich had to rely heavily on hands-on patient examinations. This further improved Ulrich’s diagnostic skills, and he was able to practice orthopedic procedures in a new way.

“The orthopedic breadth of what we can do over there is very limited,” remarks Ulrich. “The sterilization techniques are not up to par; so, if someone needs orthopedic work, we can use plates and screws for fractures. But replacement surgery is not something that’s been tackled. The most common viable option is amputation.”

Ulrich always knew he wanted to be a physician. As the son of a retired orthopedist, he grew up seeing the impact a physician can have within a community. Ulrich chose Rose and its biology program because the college’s rigorous education would be ideal preparation for medical school. He also feels Rose-Hulman ingrained in him qualities of perseverance and integrity along with a strong work ethic that have prepared him for a medical career and life. 

After graduation, he earned a medical degree from Indiana University’s School of Medicine and has started a one-year surgical internship this year at the University of Toledo’s Medical Center. 

During medical school, Ulrich spent a summer in Leeds, England, learning about the development of modern total hip replacement techniques and was part of a surgical team that replaced a woman’s hip. She was up and walking pain free within a day after the surgery. 

“That experience is when it clicked for me that our craft can change lives,” states Ulrich. “Seeing that impact on my own really convinced me to be an orthopedic surgeon.”

Eventually, Ulrich would like to continue incorporating global outreach and service into his orthopedic practice. 

“Sometimes people view service work primarily from the perspective that you are doing a good deed for the people you are helping. … But for me, it’s the opposite,” says Ulrich. “Being in the presence of the Nuba people has taught me so much. I have undoubtedly become more grateful and humble with what I have been given in my life … to witness the perseverance of the Nuba people and the selfless life work of Dr. Catena has been an honor.”