Seven 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 on Thursday, April 9.

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:

Alan W. Bryant of Pearland, Texas, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Missouri S&T in 1989 and 1991, respectively. Bryant is a subject matter expert and internal consultant for Occidental Petroleum in instrumentation, control systems, and carbon dioxide capture and sequestration measurement. He has managed several major multidisciplinary projects, including two $30 million plant compressor installations. He led initiatives to define competencies and training needs for automation engineers and technicians, teaches classes in his field and mentors young professionals. Bryant is a voting member of the American Petroleum Institute and the International Society of Automation (ISA) standards committee, where he received multiple awards and held numerous leadership roles, including serving on the Executive Board and chairing the chemical petroleum division. A licensed professional engineer (PE) and project management professional, Bryant has taught PE preparation courses and is currently writing an ISA book.

James “Jim” Cale of Fort Collins, Colorado, earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Missouri S&T in 2001. He also holds master’s and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Purdue University. Currently a tenured associate professor at Colorado State University, Cale previously held leadership roles at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as both principal engineer and group leader. His industry experience includes serving as chief technology officer at Moser Energy Systems and a member of the technical staff at Advanced Energy. He has authored 36 journal publications and holds two U.S. patents. Cale is a member of the editorial board of Systems Open Access Journal and editor of Power and Energy Systems Technology Journal. He has served as instructor for multiple industry short courses and serves on the Industrial Advisory Board at Colorado State University.

Travis Dierks of Foristell, Missouri, earned bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Missouri S&T in 2005, 2007 and 2009, respectively. He joined DRS Technologies in 2009 and through 2018 held technical leadership roles in the subject matter expert group, control systems, unmanned systems, independent research and development, government proposals and the systems engineering organization working group. In 2018, Dierks moved to Ivani LLC as a principal machine learning engineer. An adjunct assistant professor at Missouri S&T and the Global Learning Center, he developed a course titled Autonomous Wheeled Mobile Robots and is a member of the Startup Technical Advisory Board. Dierks holds one U.S. patent with another pending and has authored 13 refereed journal articles, 22 refereed conference papers and three book chapters with over 2,500 citations. He was both a GAANN Fellow and a Chancellor’s Fellow at S&T. Dierks is a member of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and is an INCOSE-certified systems engineering professional. He is a member of the S&T ECE Industry Partnership Board and a past member of IEEE.

Larry E. Mueller of St. Charles, Missouri, earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Missouri S&T in 1975. In 1998 he completed a business management program at Bradley University. Mueller held various engineering roles with Caterpillar Tractor Co. from 1971 to 1982, when he was named engineering supervisor and manager of Caterpillar Inc. He served in that role until 1998, when he became commercial electronics systems product manager for Caterpillar Inc. He served in that role until 2010. Mueller is a past member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Society of Automotive Engineers, where he served as technical conference coordinator and paper presenter. Mueller was a Caterpillar recruiter and campus coordinator for S&T, leading efforts across engineering disciplines. He coordinated technical and financial support for S&T student design teams, including the Solar Car Design Team and the procurement and installation of a generator set in Bolivia for an Engineers Without Boarders water project. As a member of the Missouri S&T Industrial Relations Board, Mueller helped provide hydraulic test benches and establish the Caterpillar Mechatronics Lab in the S&T mechanical engineering department, and he worked with the S&T University Advancement team to secure Caterpillar Foundation grants to support research and university development initiatives.

Jacquelyn K. Nagel of Kenosha, Wisconsin, earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in manufacturing engineering, both from Missouri S&T, in 2005 and 2007, respectively. She also holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Oregon State University. She began her career in 2011 at James Madison University, where she served as a professor of engineering until 2024 when she moved to Komatsu, where she currently serves as an automation research and development engineer III. In 2012, Nagel received the New Faces of Engineering Award from the National Engineers Week Foundation and IEEE-USA, and in 2016, she received the Society of Women Engineers Distinguished New Engineer Award. She has been a senior member of IEEE since 2022. She has served as senator in the Society of Women Engineers; a cluster catalyst for NASA Virtual Interchange for Nature-Inspired Exploration; a guest editor of The Bridge’s Special Issue on Biomimicry for IEEE-HKN; and a manuscript reviewer for both the Journal of Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis, and Manufacturing, and the ASEE Conference and Expo.

Theresa Swift of St. James, Missouri, earned master’s and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Missouri S&T in 2003 and 2009, respectively. Since earning her Ph.D., Swift has served as a teaching professor in electrical and computer engineering at Missouri S&T, where she has received numerous teaching awards. Swift has led blended learning across her department and across campus, as well as in the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and she published an open course on circuits to support sophomore students and others learning circuit analysis techniques. She is active in ASEE serving as chair of the Midwest Section from 2011 to 2012. She also serves as the faculty advisor for the Missouri S&T student chapter of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Eta Kappa Nu.

Christopher A. Wolfgeher of St. James, Missouri, earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Missouri S&T in 1993. He also holds a master of engineering degree from Colorado State University. Wolfgeher joined the U.S. Navy in 1991 and served in both active duty and reserves until 2023, retiring as commander. He received two Meritorious Service Medals, two joint Service Commendation Medals, a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and two Marine Corps Achievement Medals. In 1997, he served as an instrumentation operations engineer on the McDonnell Douglas Boeing F/A-18/F Super Hornet Flight Test Program. In 2002, he moved to TRW/Northrop Grumman as a Missile Systems Sustainment Program systems engineer. From 2011-25, Wolfgeher was a research faculty associate in systems engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and in 2020 he began a three-year stint as a master instructor in electrical and computer engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy. He currently is an instructor of Freshman Engineering 1100 at Missouri S&T where he also guest lectures, is a project advisor for the electrical and computer engineering (ECE) senior design class and is an adjunct faculty member in the Kummer Institute Center for Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems. He is certified as a systems engineering professional by the International Council on Systems Engineering and is a member of the S&T ECE Industry Partnership Board, the United State Naval Institute and the American Mathematical Society.