About the Seminar
The UW ChemE Leadership Seminar Series (LSS) is a forum for industrial, academic and government leaders to share their experiences with students. For more than 25 years, this course has provided students with unique opportunities to discuss professional and leadership-related topics, including career planning, management skills, interpersonal skills, effective planning, entrepreneurship, ethics and strategic decision-making. The course is intended for undergraduate and graduate students of chemical engineering and counts as an elective credit.
2025 Speakers
Amanda Montero (BS '18) — October 1
Product Quality Chief of Staff, Intuitive
Kovas Palunas (BS '16) — October 22
Software Developer, Google
Lindsey Boles (BS '11) — October 29
Chief Product Officer, ZenoPower
Mark Friedl (BS '99) — November 12
Vice President, Wego Chemical Group
Tae Han — November 19
Co-Founder, Profound Bio
Janet Matsen (PhD alumna) — December 3
Data Scientist, Benchling
Past Speakers
Speakers from the previous five years are named below.
Lindsey Boles (BS '11) — October 2
Chief Product Officer, ZenoPower
Kovas Palunas (BS '16) — October 9
Software Developer, Google
Tae Han — October 16
Co-Founder, Profound Bio
Erin Hollinger (BS '07) — October 23
Director - DRAM/EM Photolithography Process Development Engineering, Micron.
Jade Hudson BS UW ChemE — October 30
Director of Manufacturing Engineering, Blue Origin
Brooke Raleigh (BS '06) — November 6
Senior Process Engineer, Envoy Development
Kurt Ilgenfritz (BS '81) — November 13
Retired, Exxon Mobil
Mark Levin — November 27
Shell
Gregg Ogden, BS ChemE — December 4
Professor, University of Arizona
Linda Cadwell Stancin — October 4
Vice President Air Vehicle Engineering and Technology, Lockheed Martin
Andy Penner — October 11
Mission Success Manager (ret), Lockheed Martin
Janet Matsen — October 18
Data Scientist, Benchling
Tami McTaggert — November 1
Research Scientist II, Amazon
Erin Hollinger — November 8
Director - DRAM/EM Photolithography Process Development Engineering, Intel
Kirk Nass — November 15
Technical Team Leader; Dispersants, Inhibitors, and Fuel Additives (ret), Chevron
Andy Walker — November 29
Co-founder, President & Chief Operating Officer, GentiBio
David Gasperino (B.S. ‘03)
Principal Research Scientist, Amazon
Michael Bechtol (B.S. ‘91)
Health Safety and Environmental Manager, Phillips 66
Megan McClure (B.S. ‘03)
Principal Scientist, Just-Evotec Biologics
Warren Wilder (B.S. ‘79)
Director, Petronas Chemicals
Scott Roberts (Ph.D. ‘74)
Retired, Shell
Laura Foster (B.S. ‘10)
Materials and Process Engineer, Boeing
Laura Cladas (B.S. ‘11)
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Specialist, WA Department of Ecology
Gail Cornelius — September 29
Career Center@Engineering
Steve Herzog (B.S. '79) — October 6
B.S. ChemE '79
SVP Strategic Planning, Philadelphia Energy Solutions
Kristan Soto (B.S. '96) — October 20
Environment, Health and Safety Director, DOW Great Lakes Hub
Kevin Meldrum (B.S. '83) — October 27
Vice President and General Manager, Agilent Technologies
Kjersta Larson-Smith (Ph.D. '12) — November 3
Associate Technical Fellow, Boeing
Carlton Robinson (B.S. '92) — November 10
Vice President, Finance & Administration, Instawork
Nedra Albrecht (B.S. '98) — November 17
Senior Software Engineer, Slack
Felix Nguyen (B.S. '02, Ph.D. '07) — December 1
Research Engineer Sr. Staff, Lockheed Martin
Aaron Johnson (B.S. '14) — December 8
Project Liaison, Sustainable Fiber Technologies
Linda Cadwell Stancin (B.S. '87) — September 30
Director Emerging Technologies, Collaboration and Innovation, Lockheed Marti
Melanie Drake Curtis (B.S. '11) — October 7
Senior Process Engineer, Intel
Kirk Nass (Ph.D. '89) — October 14
Technical Team Leader; Dispersants, Inhibitors, and Fuel Additives (ret.), Chevron Oronite Company LLC
Epiphany Wallner-Haas (B.S. '10) — October 21
Manager, Business Transformation Consulting, Ernst & Young
Rebeccah Stay — October 28
Global Leader of Data Science, Cargill
Enrico Saturay (B.S. '87) — November 4
Managing Director, Marsh & McLennan
Lindsey Boles (B.S. '11) — November 18
Director of Engineering, Terrapower
Denny Roja (M.S. '89) — December 2
Managing Partner, VQ Law Group
Greg Newbloom (M.S. '11, Ph.D. '14) — December 9
Founder and CEO, Membrion, Inc.
Class Details
Location
Hans Rosling Center for Population Health (HRC 155)
Recommended Preparation
The course is intended for undergraduate and graduate students of chemical engineering.
Class Assignments and Grading
The class will be graded credit/no credit. Attendance is required at all class meetings; only one absence will be permitted.
Engineering Elective Credit
This class counts as an engineering elective credit.
The University of Washington is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities, education and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation contact the Disability Services Office at least ten days in advance at: 206) 543-6450/V, (206) 543-6452/TTY, (206) 685-7264 (FAX), or dso@u.washington.edu.