2025 Outstanding Engineering Awards honor Aggie engineers

A proud U.S. Army veteran, Bob Lanham graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in civil engineering and served as a combat engineer officer from 1981 to 1985. He began his post-military career at Williams Brothers as a project engineer, ultimately ascending to the role of president in 2013. Bob’s career is marked by recognition as a distinguished graduate of the Texas A&M Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and induction into the National Academy of Construction. He is one of only three individuals to serve consecutive terms as president of the Associated General Contractors of America. Bob continues to serve his community through various advisory councils and industry leadership roles.

Bridget Lauderdale earned her Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Texas A&M. She built an extraordinary 38-year career at Lockheed Martin, retiring as vice president and general manager of the F-35 Lightning II program. She led all facets of the F-35 and was instrumental in delivering advanced software upgrades to more than 1,000 aircraft. Prior to this, she managed the Integrated Fighter Group, overseeing the development and sustainment of the F-16 and F-22. Bridget has been recognized with the National Management Association Executive of the Year Award and Lockheed Martin’s Aero Star and Nova Awards. She serves on multiple advisory boards and volunteers with organizations including the American Heart Association and Meals on Wheels.

Lauren Gibbens, a graduate of the industrial engineering department at Texas A&M, is the operations engineering senior manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. She holds a Master of Science in engineering management from Southern Methodist University and a Lean Manufacturing Certificate from the University of Michigan. With 15 years of experience, including a high-profile expat assignment in Greece, Lauren excels at leading teams through performance management, Lean Six Sigma initiatives, and cross-functional collaboration. She is passionate about mentoring future engineers and actively participates in STEM outreach and the Texas A&M Department of Industrial Engineering Advisory Council. Lauren is recognized for her innovative, data-driven leadership and unwavering commitment to operational excellence.

Dr. Christopher “Jasson” Casey earned his Ph.D. in computer and electrical engineering from Texas A&M University in 2019, where he conducted pioneering research in formal methods and systems security supported by the National Science Foundation and Air Force Research Laboratory. He is currently the co-founder and CEO of Beyond Identity, driving innovation in secure-by-design identity and access management solutions. Jasson previously served as CTO at SecurityScorecard and vice president of engineering at IronNet Cybersecurity. Known for his technical contributions—including patents in attestation technologies, advances in software-defined networking, and leadership in Internet security standards—Jasson maintains strong connections to Silicon Valley and is dedicated to mentoring future innovators. 

Angela is a mechanical engineering honors student and Brown Scholar, with a computer science minor and a 4.0 GPA. In 2024, she served as the construction team lead for TAMU BUILD, a student-run nonprofit. She is currently marketing lead for TAMU RoboMasters and director of Salsa Fusion’s show team. She has interned at Textron Aviation as a manufacturing engineer and at Procter & Gamble in process development. After graduation, she plans to join Textron’s Leadership Development Program.

Ava Blackburn is a petroleum engineering student pursuing the Petroleum Ventures Certificate. She has served as speaker of the Student Senate, director of member conduct for Pi Beta Phi, and a delegate for the MSC Abbott Family Leadership Conference while serving on several university committees. Ava is currently a Texas A&M Foundation Maroon Coat and has interned with Chevron as a reservoir engineer and with Hilcorp as a field intern.

Caitlin has served as chair of MSC Freshman Leadership International, vice president of programs for the MSC Council, and marketing co-chair for the Student Engineers’ Council. She explores technical interests through research on collaborative robotics for search and rescue applications as part of the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. She also completed an internship with National Instruments, where she plans to return as an analog hardware engineer after graduation.

Cathryn is vice president of Sling Health TAMU, a medtech incubator on campus. She has worked on a mock circulatory loop for LVAD studies and neuroregeneration research focused on TBI and Alzheimer's disease. In addition, she earned second place in Aggies Invent for a device to assist para cyclists. She serves on the leadership team of St. Mary's Choir, tutors with The Education Project, and mentors in the Brown Foundation. This year, she is also a National Scholar ambassador and an E2EnMed ambassador.

Megan is an interdisciplinary engineering major with minors in biomedical and electrical engineering, focusing on sensing and monitoring medical devices. She is president of Sling Health TAMU and a member of the Texas A&M Century Singers. She has researched drug delivery in neurosurgery applications and integrated biosensing and imaging. Megan has also served as a Muster Host, volunteered with St. Joseph Health, and mentored as an E2EnMed ambassador.

Melody serves as the co-chair of the Engineering Honors Executive Committee and the director of the Engineering Honors Ambassadors program. She is a co-director of outreach for the Texas A&M chapter of SPIE and is both a biomedical engineering and an E2EnMed ambassador. Additionally, she taught English in a summer volunteer program abroad and tutors students through The Education Project. Melody’s research focuses on developing low-cost computational luminescence lifetime imaging systems.

Adam Zheng is a senior aerospace engineering major with a passion for space. He currently serves as the president of the AIAA Student Chapter at Texas A&M, project coordinator for Texas A&M SEDS, and founder and project manager of SEDS Solar Sail. He has worked as a systems engineering intern at Axiom Space and NASA Marshall and served as project manager for an award-winning NASA Lunabotics team. In addition, he has conducted research with the LASR and MAESTRO labs, volunteered as fundraising chair for the Global Engineering Brigades chapter at Texas A&M, and has been a NASA Pale Blue Dot Challenge winner and two-time Dean's Excellence Award winner.