Four electrical and computer engineers with ties to Missouri University of Science and Technology were inducted into the Missouri S&T Academy of Electrical and Computer Engineering during the academy’s induction ceremony, which was held Thursday, April 13.

Founded in 1980, the academy is a departmental advisory group composed of alumni and other electrical and computer engineers who have made outstanding contributions to their profession. The new inductees were recognized for their service and leadership in electrical and computer engineering.

New members are listed below:

James W. Fonda of Rolla, Missouri, an electrical engineer with The Boeing Co., earned bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Missouri S&T in 2001, 2004 and 2008, respectively. In 2001, Fonda held an internship with Continental AG in Hanover, Germany. He joined Boeing Research and Technology in 2008, then moved to his current position in Boeing Additive Manufacturing in 2020. Fonda holds 12 U.S. patents. He is a member of Eta Kappa Nu and serves as a coach for FIRST Robotics.

Patrick L. Chapman of Austin, Texas, vice president of electrical engineering for Redwood Materials, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Missouri S&T in 1996 and 1997, respectively. He also holds a Ph.D. from Purdue University. In 2000, Chapman joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a visiting assistant professor. He was named assistant professor in 2001 and associate professor in 2007. In 2004, Chapman co-founded SmartSpark Energy Systems, which became SolarBridge Technologies in 2010, serving as chief technology officer. In 2014, he became senior director of advanced development for SunPower Corp. then moved to Enphase Energy as senior director of inverter technology. In 2020, Chapman was named vice president of systems innovation for Enphase, and in 2022, he moved to Redwood Materials in his current role. Chapman is a limited partner in Energy Transition Ventures. A Fellow of IEEE, he earned the McMurray Award for Industry Achievements in Power Electronics and the Richard M. Bass Award for Outstanding Young Power Electronics Engineers. A registered patent agent, he holds approximately 75 U.S. patents and authored over 100 publications.

Randall A. Berry, chair and John A. Dever Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northwestern University, earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Missouri S&T in 1993. He also holds master’s and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Berry joined the technical staff of MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory in 1988. In 2000, he joined the Northwestern University electrical and computer engineering department as assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 2006 and full professor in 2011. Since 2015, Berry has served as director of Northwestern’s master of science program in information technology. In 2017, he was named Lorraine Morton Professor and joined Roberson and Associates as principal engineer and in 2018, he was named to his current position at Northwestern. Berry holds two patents and has authored two books, three book chapters, 66 archival journal pieces and 175 conference papers. He was named a fellow of IEEE in 2014, serves as area editor of the IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society, division editor for the Journal of Communications and Networks and steering committee chair for the IEEE DySPAN Conference. He has served as editor of other IEEE publications, served as a distinguished lecturer for the IEEE Communications Society, technical program committee chair for ACM Mobihoc and general chair for the IEEE Communication Theory Workshop. Berry also earned an NSF CAREER Award.

Don Ulrich of St. Louis, co-founder and former CEO of Stone Technologies, now part of Gray Solutions, earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Missouri S&T in 1977. in 1978, he joined Square D Co., now Schneider Electric as a field engineer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and St. Louis. In 1988, he moved to Sverdrup Corp. as director of advanced manufacturing and manager of systems integration. Then in 1996, he co-founded Stone Technologies. He was a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization, presented numerous papers, was a founding member and past chair of the Automation Alliance Group and a member of the board of the Control Systems Integrator Association, earning its Charlie Bergman “Remember Me” Award. He won Sverdrup’s Master Builder’s Award and while at Stone Technologies, led the company to multiple honors in its field, including being listed among the St. Louis Post-Dispatch top workplaces for five consecutive years.