Four engineering management professionals with ties to Missouri S&T were inducted into the Missouri S&T Academy of Engineering Management on Thursday, April 13.

The academy, established at Missouri S&T in 2004, is an advisory group to the university’s engineering management and systems engineering department. New members are selected based on input from department faculty and development officers and voted on by the academy membership. 

The 2023 inductees are:

Julia Hilton of St. Louis, vice president of the Made in America Task Force for Schneider Electric’s North American operations, earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering management in 2005 from Missouri S&T, where she served as student body president for two years. She also holds an MBA from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and is a certified project management professional. Hilton has worked for Schneider Electric for 17 years in a wide variety of global and regional roles, including category management, strategy, offer management, offer marketing, sales enablement, portfolio management, and site leadership and facilitation. Hilton’s leadership in collaborative problem solving and strategic transformation has helped her bring stakeholder groups together to solve complex business problems. Before joining Schneider Electric, she worked at Deere and Co. in diesel engine product management for power generation and marine propulsion.

Katie Voss of St. Louis, director of systems engineering and chief engineer for Boeing Global Services Government Training Engineering, earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering management in 2004 and a master’s degree in systems engineering in 2006, both from Missouri S&T. Prior to her current role, Voss was program manager for the U.S. Airpower Teaming System within autonomous systems and was responsible for importing the first MQ-28A Ghost Bat into the United States from Boeing Australia. Since joining The Boeing Co., Voss has supported a variety of engineering activities in F/A-18 Navy, Australia and Kuwait, E/A-18G, R-15 Qatar, Phantom Works Survivability Team, joint unmanned combat air system X-45A/C and the electrical subsystems team, International Tankers in Wichita, Kansas, and liquid robotics, in addition to numerous proprietary programs.

Bryan Niehaus of St. Louis, director of platform management and innovation at Mastercard’s Cyber and Intelligence Division, earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1995 and a master’s degree in engineering management in 1996, both from Missouri S&T. He is responsible for the end-to-end data strategy, where consumer and business interactions are collected and organized and insight is generated to continuously protect the integrity of the payment ecosystem. He previously worked as a solution architect in Mastercard’s enterprise architecture team, where he led design efforts for large-scale strategic priorities. After graduation from Missouri S&T, Niehaus began his career in technology consulting where he designed and built business systems for various Fortune 100 companies. He is a member of the St. Louis Orienteering Club board of directors.

James E. Koch of Arlington, Virginia, senior vice president and mid-Atlantic regional director for Michael Baker International, earned a Ph.D. in engineering management from Missouri S&T in 1993. He spent over 20 years in the U.S. Army performing construction projects throughout the United States as well as in Saudi Arabia, Korea, Turkey and Iraq. Projects included schools, hospitals, roads, airfields, training facilities, multiunit housing, barracks renovation, high-tech storage facilities and historic building rehabilitation. After retiring from the Army, Koch worked for Missouri S&T as director of the Lemay Center for Composites Technology and a research associate professor and consultant. He then held leadership positions at Kwame Building Group, Washington University in St. Louis, Hill International and AECOM. He holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Washington and Lee University, and a master’s degree in civil engineering and a doctor of engineering degree in construction engineering, both from Stanford University. Koch is a registered professional engineer in the District of Columbia, has authored several papers, was selected as the Hill International Project Manager of the Year in 2004 and received the Boy Scouts of America Character in Construction Good Scout Award in 2014. He is a past member of the Logos School board of directors in Olivette, Missouri, and is a past member of the Missouri S&T Engineering Management Board of Advisors.