Missouri S&T presented the Award of Professional Distinction to three S&T alumni during winter commencement ceremonies held Saturday, Dec. 14. The awards recognize the outstanding Missouri S&T graduates for professional achievement.

The following S&T alumni received the Award of Professional Distinction:

Dean B. Jones of Sycamore, Illinois, president and CEO of TransWare Enterprises Inc., earned bachelor of science and master of science degrees in nuclear engineering from Missouri S&T in 1975 and 1976, respectively. Jones started his career working for the nuclear utilities, where he developed nuclear methods to support the operation of nuclear power plants. He later joined a consulting company and continued his development work for the broader nuclear industry. In 1988, Jones founded TransWare Enterprises Inc. to develop more advanced methods for the power industry. He is the principal architect and co-developer of Electric Power Research Institute’s RAMA Fluence Methodology, a first-of-its-kind 3-D computational fluence method that has been approved for safety-related use by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Jones is presently finalizing TransWare’s next-generation TRANSFX Nuclear Analysis Software System, which is a fully integrated 3-D computational method and nuclear data system for performing lattice physics, radiation physics and medical physics transport calculations. With his 43 years of experience in the nuclear energy industry, Jones has positioned TransWare as a highly respected leader in particle transport methods and nuclear analysis. The company is recognized as one of the top four suppliers of radiation transport analyses for plant license renewal, supporting both domestic and international reactors. Jones is a member of the Missouri S&T Nuclear Engineering Development Board, an advisory body to the nuclear engineering program. A strong supporter of S&T, TransWare offers summer internships and hires S&T graduates majoring principally in nuclear engineering. At the present time, 80% of the company’s engineers are S&T graduates. TransWare will celebrate its 32nd anniversary under Jones’ leadership in March 2020.

Philip Ling of Houston, general manager executing acquisitions and divestments for Shell Pipeline Co.’s midstream Master Limited Partnership (MLP), earned a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Missouri S&T in 1992. He also holds an MBA with a concentration in finance from the University of Houston. After graduation, he joined Lyondell Petrochemicals as a process engineer at its Channelview, Texas, plant. In 2001, he joined Shell. Over a 27-year career in the oil and gas industry, Ling has held roles in process engineering, economics and scheduling, crude oil supply, business development, and mergers and acquisitions. During his career at Shell, Ling has worked at Shell’s Deer Park Refinery, Shell’s U.S. Gulf Coast JV Refineries, Shell’s bitumen and lubricant refineries in Europe, the Shell Chemical Norco cracker facility, Shell Trading, Shell Downstream’s acquisitions and divestments group, and Shell Pipeline Co. He has worked in London, New Orleans and Houston. Ling calls Houston home, but as a native of Malaysia, he is a proud alumnus of Missouri S&T’s international student community. As a student, Ling was a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), and in 2019, he returned to Rolla to deliver the keynote address at the AIChE regional conference. Ling is a member of the Missouri S&T Academy of Chemical Engineers and a past member of the Chemical Engineering Industrial Advisory Council. 

Terrence T. Palisch of Richardson, Texas, global engineering advisor with CARBO Ceramics, earned a bachelor of science degree in petroleum engineering from Missouri S&T in 1986. He began his petroleum engineering career with ARCO Alaska, later transferring to ARCO International as a senior engineering advisor in Algeria. In 2004, after a four-year stint teaching high school math, Palisch joined CARBO Ceramics, where he advises clients and his company on completion and fracture optimization, and assists in new product development. Palisch is active in the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), serving as past chair and board member of the SPE Dallas Section and as program chair for the 2017 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition. He has served on SPE awards committees and as an SPE journal technical editor. Currently the Completions Technical Director on the SPE International board of directors, he has received numerous SPE honors, most recently Distinguished Membership and the Distinguished Service Award. Palisch was inducted into the Missouri S&T Academy of Mines and Metallurgy in 2015.