2011-2012 Executive Board
Wahab Alshahin Director
Wahab is currently in his final year at the University of Illinois studying Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Political Science. This is his second year serving on the ISS executive board. Previous experiences with on campus organizations include being the Executive Partner for the Office for technical Consulting Resources (OTCR), the Director of the Dean's Student Advisory Committee (DSAC), Facilities Manager for Campus Recreation, and senior consultant for Illinois Business Consulting (IBC). For the past two years he has been splitting time between UIUC being a student and doing a co-op at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston. His division tours included: Mission Operations, Engineering Robotics, and Aeroscience and Flight Mechanics. In the future he plans to pursue a career working on manned space missions designing vehicle guidance, navigation, and control systems for NASA. Contact: walsha2@illinois.edu
Tucker Gritton Assistant Director
Tucker is a sophomore in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. Last year he worked as the AEUAB representative for ISS, and is thrilled to bring his experiences to the position of assistant director. On campus he is also an I-STAR admissions representative, works as an usher at Memorial Stadium, and is active on the Fighting Illini Triathlon team. In the future he hopes to work in manned spaceflight systems, and has decided not to retire until he has been to Space. Contact: gritton2@illinois.edu
David Slaby Treasurer
David is a senior currently working towards his Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Physics. He spent this past summer interning for The Boeing Company in Everett, WA, where he studied the optimization of people and parts arriving and leaving a factory site. He is the treasurer of Illinois Space Society, and is also an active member of AIAA-UIUC. David aspires to work on orbital and inter-planetary rockets, as well as to one day make a trip up to orbit. Contact: slaby1@illinois.edu
Dan Regan Tech Director
Dan is a third-year undergraduate in Aerospace Engineering and a minor in Mathematics. A newer member of ISS, Dan joined in his second year and managed the payload for Chambana Banana. This year Dan will lead the tech team in the construction of two rockets for the SEDS High Powered Rocketry competition and NASA's University Student Launch Initiative. Dan also writes music, plays the piano and guitar, DJ's, and plays ultimate frisbee. After graduating, he hopes to get a job in navigation and guidance for spacecraft. Contact: regan10@illinois.edu
Eric Anden Educational Outreach
Eric is a fourth-year student majoring in Aerospace Engineering. This is the first year that he is serving on the ISS executive board. Eric has held many leadership roles throughout his student career at the University of Illinois, including Director of the Dean's Student Advisory Committee (DSAC), Department Tutor for Aerospace Engineering, Engineering Learning Assistant for first-year students in ENG 100, Tutor Coordinator and Treasurer of YMCA Vis-a-Vis tutoring, and Vice President of Communications for Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. Outside of campus, he worked a co-op sessions with Rockwell Collins working with with government cargo and tanker avionics upgrades. Also, he spent the last summer interning with Northrop Grumman working with small satellite proposals and inital designs. After graduation, he hopes to continue working with artifical satellites that will enable further growth in communication capabilities in space. Contact: anden1@illinois.edu
Phillip Michel Secretary
Phil is a third-year undergraduate studying Aerospace Engineering. Along with being secretary of Illinois Space Society, Phil is involved with the ISS Technical Project, AIAA, and is a member of the IlliniSat-2 program. Prior to serving on the ISS Executive Board Phil was a member of the SpaceVision 2010 advertising committee and has worked for the past two summers in industry with roles relating to sustainable space exploration and aviation computing. Phil considers himself lucky to be surrounded by people passionate and driven, working to create opportunities for themselves and others in the space industry. Contact: michel5@illinois.edu
Jerome Orzech Corporate Director
Jerry is a junior pursuing a Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering along with a minor in Technology and Management. He is the Director of Corporate Relations for the Illinois Space Society and he is involved in other aerospace clubs such as AIAA. He also serves as the chairman of the Aerospace Engineering Undergraduate Advisory Board. He hopes to be a leader in engineering and work for a major aerospace company and is especially interested in fighter jets and space exploration. Contact: orzech3@illinois.edu
Silver DeGuzman Social Director
Silver is a junior majoring in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Computer Science and an International Minor in Engineering-Japanese Studies. Besides being involved in ISS, she is also part of AIAA where she serves as secretary. She has also served as AEUAB and EC representative for AIAA. Last year, she was on the ISS Tech Team as part of the payload team for the NASA USLI competition. Outside of the AE department, she is an active member of IEEE, SWE, and the Alpha Omega Epsilon sorority. Over the summer, she was a camp counselor to the Aerospace Engineering freshmen that attended WIE camp. This past fall Silver interned at NASA Ames Research Center in California, doing research and testing on the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters as well as constructing a model of the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor. Silver plans to pursue a career working towards space colonization. Contact: deguzma1@illinois.edu
Dayne Rogers Webmaster
Dayne is a second-year undergraduate in aerospace engineering, pursuing a minor in computer science. He is involved on campus with AIAA, Illinois Robotics in Space, and the Illinois Academic Buzzer Team, and he was the Volunteer Coordinator for the SEDS SpaceVision 2010 conference. Last year, he started working with the ISS website through the technical project, and he also worked on Illinois Space Day. Dayne hopes to pursue a career in the aerospace industry and to be a part of the future of human space exploration. Contact: rogers54@illinois.edu
Akash Shah Publicity Director
Akash is a second-year undergraduate student double majoring in Aerospace Engineering and Computer Science. He joined the ISS in his Freshmen year on campus. Last year, he organized Engineering Open House exhibits as Co-director. Also, he was a member of the team that launched their rocket in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of NASA's USLI competition. This year, he will be managing publicity matters for ISS and will be actively involved in the Tech project. He has worked on the assembly of Airbus A320 engines in Toulouse, France. On campus, he is the Director of Technology and Innovation on the Engineering Open House 2012 Central Committee. After graduation, he aspires to work on privatization of the lower Earth orbit. Contact: aashah4@illinois.edu
Sarah Barrett Engineering Open House Exhibit Co-Director
Sarah is a third-year undergraduate pursing her Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace engineering with a minor in Political Science. She has been very active in the aerospace community, joining the ISS her freshman year, becoming the secretary her second year, helping with the publicity for SpaceVision and remaining active in the AIAA-UIUC student group. She completed her first co-op rotation with Rolls-Royce this fall semester. In the spring, she will be back to run the EOH exhibit for ISS. After graduating, Sarah plans to pursue a career in advancing space exploration. Contact: barret11@illinois.edu
Nathan Dostart Engineering Open House Exhibit Co-Director
Nathan is a sophomore majoring in Mechanical Engineering and pursuing an International Minor in Engineering - Chinese as well as a minor in Computer Science. He spent last year working on the IlliniSAT-2, co-directing Engineering Open House, and working as a tech team member, all of which he will continue this year. This past summer he worked on database design for Allied Wireless Communications Corporation. Nathan hopes to attend graduate school abroad and do research in robotics. Nathan is studying in Singapore for the Spring 2012 semester, and has transferrred management of ISS's EOH exhibits to Sarah for the spring.
Beau Manuel AEUAB Representative
Beau Manuel is a freshman majoring in Aerospace Engineering. He currently serves as the liaison between ISS and the Aerospace Engineering Undergraduate Advisory Board. His job includes making the AEUAB aware of the concerns, wants, and needs of the ISS members. His other activities on campus include: National Society of Black Engineers, the ConvoPartner Program, Illini Pride, and Orange Krush. When he's not hard at work, Beau enjoys stargazing, reading, and cheering on his beloved St. Louis Cardinals. In the future, he hopes to work to make deep space colonization a reality for future generations. Contact: bmanuel2@illinois.edu
Erin Ahern Engineering Council Representative
Erin is a freshman majoring in Aerospace Engineering. In addition to being the Engineering Council Representative for ISS, she is also involved with the ISS tech project. Through ISS's Educational Outreach branch, she is helping with the logistics for Illinois Space Day. On campus, Erin is involved in AIAA and Society of Women Engineers. After graduation, Erin hopes to pursue a career working with rockets and deep space exploration. Contact: eahern2@illinois.edu
Erik Lopez SEDS National Representative
Erik Lopez is a freshman double majoring in Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Physics. In addition to his duties as SEDS Representative he is the Payload Manager for NASA's USLI competition and the Freshman Representative on the Aerospace Engineering Undergraduate Advisory Board. This past summer Erik was interning at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California where he designed and developed a Differential Scanning Calorimeter, which is still being used by NASA today. The DSC he engineered is used to calculate the specific heat of Carbon Fiber composites at cryogenic temperatures, information which will be used in NASA's Thermal and Cryogenic Engineering Division. For his work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Erik was awarded the best contribution to NASA's mission for the Summer of 2011. Erik hopes to one day become an Astronaut and venture into outer space. Contact: ealopez@illinois.edu
