Skip To Main Content

The Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University honored eight alumni during the 2015 Outstanding Alumni Awards Banquet.

Receiving the Outstanding Alumni Honor Award were David O. Craig ’86, director of Engineering and Supply Chain, Intelligent Production Systems for Baker Hughes; Janeen Judah ’81, general manager of Chevron’s Southern Africa business unit; Edelmiro Munñiz ’67, executive chairman of the board of MEI Technologies; Ryan Sitton ’97, Texas Railroad commissioner and founder of PinnacleAIS; William D. Von Gonten, Jr. ’87, president, owner and founder of W.D. Von Gonten & Company and W.D. Von Gonten Laboratories, LLC; and Anthony Wood ’87, chief executive officer of Roku, Inc.

Receiving the Outstanding Early Professional Achievement Alumni Honor Award were Zachary C. Reeder ’05, project engineer at Scaled Composites; and Steve Brauer, Jr. ’02, president of Hunter Engineering Service Center.

 

Craig _headshotDavid O. Craig ’86

Director, Engineering and Supply Chain,

Intelligent Production Systems

Baker Hughes

Craig is currently Director, Engineering and Supply Chain, Intelligent Production Systems for Baker Hughes in Houston, Texas. Craig started with Baker Oil Tools in the manufacturing and supply chain organization in 2008. Prior to joining Baker Hughes, Craig was the Vice President and General Manager of RTI Energy Systems, where he was responsible for the design, development, manufacture and sales of deep-water drilling production and catenary riser systems, primarily for the Gulf of Mexico. Craig also spent over a decade in the high-tech industry, having been an automation and real-time controls engineer for Compaq’s advanced engineering group and on IBM’s robotics and system integration team where he received the Society of Manufacturing Engineering Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer of the Year award.

Craig has a master’s degree from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, and holds two bachelor’s degrees from Texas A&M University’s Dwight Look College of Engineering in engineering technology and industrial distribution and computer science.

Craig has co-authored three U.S. patents and was an elected participant in the Frontiers of Engineering “Engineer of 2020” sub-committee. Craig is currently a member of the Look College’s Engineering Advisory Council.

Craig and his wife, Cynthia ’87, live in Spring, Texas with their three children, Julie ’15, Benjamin ’18 and John.


Judah _headshotJaneen Judah ’81

General Manager — Southern Africa Business Unit

Houston & Gas Assets

Chevron 

Judah is the General Manager of Chevron’s Southern Africa business unit in Houston, Texas with several hundred Houston-based employees and billions of dollars committed to offshore development projects. Judah was responsible for environmental cleanup, remediation, and decommissioning for global operations as President of the Chevron Environmental Management Company. Before that, she was General Manager of Reservoir and Production Engineering for Chevron Energy Technology Co., responsible for global reservoir and production engineering research and services. Judah worked for Texaco and ARCO in various engineering positions before joining Chevron.

Judah has held many leadership positions in the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), starting as a student section officer at Texas A&M University, chairing both the Gulf Coast and Permian Basin sections, and on the international Board of Directors as Gulf Coast North America Region director, current Vice President of Finance and will be the 2017 SPE President. Judah is a member of the Dwight Look College of Engineering Advisory Council and, since 1996, the Petroleum Engineering Industry Board.

She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M as well as an MBA from The University of Texas of the Permian Basin and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center.

 

MunizEdelmiro Munñiz ’67

Executive Chairman of the Board

MEI Technologies

Muñiz was born in Harlingen, Texas. Along with his six brothers, he often supplemented the family income as an agricultural field hand. His family migrated annually to California to work in the fields picking peaches, grapes, tomatoes, and other fruits. His first exposure to the business world was through his father’s tortilla factory, operated between trips to California.

He received a bachelor’s degree in 1967 and a master’s degree in 1969, both in aerospace engineering, from Texas A&M University. In 1969 he joined the United States Air Force and was assigned as a Space Systems Launch Controller at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. His Air Force career spanned over 20 years in numerous assignments, all related to space research and development, and management of space operations. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1989 to launch a new career in private industry.

In January 1992, he founded Muñiz Engineering, Inc., to provide engineering and related technical services to the U.S. Government and the private sector in the Houston area. Through his leadership and guidance, Muñiz Engineering, Inc., has developed into a successful, fast-growing, high-tech firm and in October 2005, the company changed its name to MEI Technologies, Inc. (MEIT). 

Muñiz resides in Seabrook, Texas with his wife Alicia. He is a proud Aggie and grandfather of six.

 

Sitton _ Headshot - CroppedRyan Sitton ’97

Commissioner, Texas Railroad Commission

Founder, PinnacleAIS

Sitton is a native Texan who grew up in the Irving area. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University. Following college, Sitton went to work as an engineer in the energy industry.

In 2006 Sitton and his wife, Jennifer, founded PinnacleAIS, an engineering and technology company focused on reliability and integrity programs for the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries. Since 2006, PinnacleAIS has grown substantially and today employs more than 350 people. In 2012 and 2013, Inc. Magazine recognized PinnacleAIS as one of the top 1,500 fastest growing, privately held companies in the world. For four consecutive years, PinnacleAIS was an Aggie 100 recipient. With more than 15 years of experience in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industry, Sitton is considered a leading expert in his field. He’s been an active member of several industry groups including The Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Petroleum Institute.

Active in higher education, Sitton is a member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Industrial Advisory Council, and regularly works with leaders in Texas higher education to support the principles that will keep our state’s institutions among the best in America. Sitton was elected to the Railroad Commission in November 2014. 

Sitton and his wife have three children.

 

Von Gonten _headshotWilliam D. Von Gonten, Jr. ’87

President, Owner, and Founder

W.D. Von Gonten & Company

W.D. Von Gonten Laboratories, LLC

Von Gonten, Jr., is President, Owner and Founder of W.D. Von Gonten & Company and W.D. Von Gonten Laboratories, LLC. The Houston, Texas based company opened for business in 1995, and currently employs a combination of highly talented and skilled reservoir engineers, geologists and petrophysicists. Von Gonten’s appetite for attempting to solve what others see as unsolvable, has repeatedly earned him the respect of industry peers and thought-leaders alike. Recently Von Gonten brought a vision to reality for a “Rock Lab.” Located in Research Park on the Texas A&M University campus, W.D. Von Gonten Laboratories, LLC is a state-of-art laboratory focusing on well core analysis and interpretation, ultimately providing client recommendations regarding fracture landing point optimization. The lab is currently evaluating well cores provided by clients from around the world.

Von Gonten’s father, the late Dr. W.D. “Doug” Von Gonten, Sr., was an influential professor and department head whose 25 years of service resulted in the remarkable growth of petroleum engineering at Texas A&M.

The younger Von Gonten earned a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M in 1987. Von Gonten’s deep-rooted beliefs in family and tradition, his appreciation and respect for individuals who exhibit a “take initiative” attitude, and his successful petroleum engineering career have all been driving forces behind his selfless time and financial support to Texas A&M.

Von Gonten and his wife, Kelly ’87, have two children, Rachel Ann and William D., III.

 

Anthony WoodAnthony Wood ’87

Chief Executive Officer

Roku, Inc. 

A pioneer and innovator in television and digital media, Wood is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Roku, a name that means “six” in Japanese, to represent his sixth company. In the early days of Roku, Wood also served as the Vice President of Internet TV at Netflix, where he developed what is known today as the Roku streaming player, originally designed as the first video player to stream Netflix. Today, Roku players offer the most extensive collection of streaming entertainment to TV with more than 2,000 channels featuring movies, TV shows, live sports, news, music, casual games and more.

Prior to Roku, Wood invented the digital video recorder (DVR) and founded ReplayTV, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer before the company’s acquisition and subsequent sale to DirecTV. Before ReplayTV, he was Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of iband, Inc., an Internet software company that was sold to Macromedia. The code base developed by Wood at iBand became a central part of the original core code of Macromedia now known as Adobe Dreamweaver. After selling iBand, Wood became the Vice President of Internet Authoring at Macromedia. Earlier in his career, Wood was Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SunRize Industries, a supplier of hardware and software tools for non-linear audio recording and editing. 

Wood holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University.

 

Reeder _headshotZachary C. Reeder ’05

Project Engineer

Scaled Composites

Reeder graduated from Texas A&M University in 2005 and is now an engineer, project manager and test pilot at Scaled Composites in Mojave, California. He has had a significant role in developing and testing at least six new types of airplanes.

He is a commercial, instrument, and multiengine rated pilot and learned to fly from his dad (Texas A&M aerospace class of ’80). Reeder’s first solo flight was in a hang glider he designed and built for a hundred dollars while at Texas A&M, and he has now flown all over the United States in an RV-8 kitplane he built while living in a 60-year old bus.

Shortly after receiving a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, Reeder moved to Mojave to work with aerospace visionary Burt Rutan. Inspiration from some of Rutan’s work, specifically the nine day Voyager flight, led Reeder to several endurance adventures including running a marathon on the sea ice at the North Pole and flying 16 hours non-stop to set a 5,000 kilometer world speed record in Rutan’s Catbird aircraft. He now leads a team at Scaled Composites, designing and building the wing for Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch aircraft, which will be the world’s largest airplane when finished.

 

Steve Brauer, Jr. ’02

President

Hunter Engineering Service Center 

Brauer, Jr. serves as President of Hunter Engineering Service Center, a division of Hunter Engineering Company. Hunter designs and manufacturers computerized wheel alignment and balancing technology for the automotive industry. Hunter employs the largest team of scientists and engineers in the undercar industry and holds more than 200 patents. Brauer started with the company as a field representative and was promoted to regional manager in 2011. After bringing his region to number one in the country for the second year in a row he was promoted to his current role where he oversees parts and technical field support for North America. He also leads Hunter’s 120 member field organization covering the central and gulf states.

Brauer received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 2003 and his MBA from The University of Texas at Austin in 2007. While at Texas A&M he served as president of the Texas A&M student chapter of ASM International. He currently serves on the Texas A&M University Mechanical Engineering Department Industrial Council.

He also sponsors the Texas A&M Formula SAE Student Design Team. Brauer serves on the boards of the James Green Wildlife & Conservation Initiative and the Fort Worth Stock Show Syndicate, both of which support Texas youth through education.