1999 Distinguished Engineering Graduates

He entered the Air Force in 1967 as a distinguished graduate of The University of Texas' Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He earned his master's degree in systems engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in 1968.

Gen. Eickmann eventually completed 22 assignments, including a stint from 1994 to 1996 as Commander, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker Air Force Base, the largest military and industrial complex in the U.S. Department of Defense. During this time he led the federal rescue and recovery efforts following the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. His success inspired the governor of Oklahoma to declare July 11, 1995, as "General Ken Eickmann Day" in the State of Oklahoma. His last assignment on active duty was Commander, Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where he led the nation's largest center of excellence for research, development, and acquisition of aircraft, aeronautical equipment, and munitions.

From 1968 to 1981, Dr. Gidley supervised Exxon's Subsurface Engineering Group, which was responsible for applying new techniques for well stimulation, cementing and sand control. In 1969 he invented, patented and fostered the application of a sandstone acidizing process which, within the first three years of its use, increased daily oil production at Exxon by more than 25,000 barrels. The Acid Mutual Solvent Method was widely applied throughout the oil industry, and royalties earned on the patent by Exxon's research affiliate more than covered Dr. Gidley's salary and benefits during his last 17 years of employment.

Dr. Gidley managed Exxon's engineering training program from 1971 to 1981. From 1982 to 1985, he oversaw collection of detailed engineering data on more than 2,000 acidizing and 500 fracturing treatments. This formed the basis of Exxon's detailed knowledge of well stimulation processes.

Dr. Gidley also contributed to oilfield technical literature. From 1969 to 1986, he chaired the American Petroleum Institute Subcommittee on Well Completion Materials, which produced several recommended practices on the evaluation of materials used in well simulation and sand control. In 1979, he co-authored the Society of Petroleum Engineers monograph Acidizing Fundamentals, which became the industry reference. He was editor-in-chief of the Society of Petroleum Engineers monograph Recent Advances in Hydraulic Fracturing, published in 1989, which has become the authoritative work on this subject.

Upon retiring from Exxon in 1986, he organized a petroleum engineering consulting firm specializing in well stimulation and has been awarded six more patents. He was named a distinguished member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers in 1990 and received the Society's Distinguished Service Award in 1990 and its John Franklin Carll Award in 1992. In 1994, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. He is a member of the UT System's Chancellor's Council and the University's Littlefield Society and is a life member of Friends of Alec.

In 1960, Mr. Machemehl entered civil service at Bergstrom, where he was responsible for all civil engineering projects at the base. He joined the staff of the Portland Cement Association in Austin in 1964 as a field engineer and became director of marketing. During this time he also served in the Air National Guard as a civil engineer in Austin, attaining the rank of major.

In 1968 he became a research engineer at the Vulcan Materials Company in Birmingham, Ala., the largest producer of crushed stone in the world. He retired from Vulcan in 1995 as vice president for marketing and business after 27 years of service. During this time, he also served in the Alabama Air National Guard, rising in the ranks to brigadier general in 1987 before retiring in 1988 with 31 years of service.

Mr. Machemehl assumed his present position as executive director of the Georgia Crushed Stone Association in Atlanta in 1995. He promotes acceptance and use of crushed stone and disseminates information on its correct usage to the public. He has published numerous articles and made presentations nationwide on using crushed stone to its best advantage in the construction of pavement, structures and drainage facilities.

He helped organize UT's International Center for Aggregate Research and served on its board of trustees.

Mr. Machemehl has received numerous awards, including the Legion of Merit (1988), the CIT Group/lndustrial Financing "Rebuilding America" Award (1992). the National Stone Association's State Association Executive of the Year (1998), and the Metro Atlanta E-Week Engineer of the Year Industry Award (1999). He is a member of many professional societies and associations, including the National and Georgia Societies of Professional Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, the Society of American Military Engineers, and the National Crushed Stone Association. Mr. Machemehl has served on the UT Austin Engineering Foundation Advisory Council since 1989.

In 1976 he created the management and engineering consulting firm of Porter & Associates in Leesburg, Virginia, specializing in environmental issues, regional planning, and Middle Eastern business consulting.

In 1985, Dr. Porter was appointed by President Reagan as assistant administrator for solid waste and emergency response at the Environmental Protection Agency, where he managed the Superfund and other solid and hazardous waste programs, with an annual budget of $2 billion. Among his accomplishments was the establishment of a national goal for recycling 25 percent of the country's municipal solid wastes, which was reached in 1995. Statutory deadlines were also met for permitting more than 500 waste management facilities. Under his direction, a joint EPA-state mechanism was developed to remediate federal facilities such as nuclear weapon sites.

Dr. Porter became president of the Waste Policy Center in Leesburg, Virginia, in 1989. The Center, a private research and consulting organization, provides a range of services to business and governmental. Dr. Porter is also a frequent communicator on environmental issues through reports and speeches as well as op-ed articles in major newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. He has written about American and European waste management, federal facilities site remediation, and changes needed to reduce Superfund cleanup times dramatically. Since 1985, he has also testified at some 60 Congressional hearings.

Dr. Porter is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Chemical Society, and Tau Beta Pi. He has also served on the advisory committee to the Department of Chemical Engineering at UT Austin and is a Friend of Alec.

Dr. Tapley's research interests include orbit mechanics, nonlinear parameter estimation, and their uses in satellite measurements to study geodesy, geodynamics and oceanography. He has been a principal investigator for six NASA missions. He is currently in charge of a NASA project teaming up UT Austin researchers with German researchers in a satellite mission to be launched from Russia in 2001. The $125 million Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment will use highly accurate measurements between two satellites to sense variations in the Earth's gravity field. Results are expected to have many implications for weather study and a variety of environmental issues, including improved long-range climate forecasts and a new perspective on global ocean circulation.

Dr. Tapley has been very active in professional organizations, including the National Research Council, chairing the Geodesy Committee (1982-85), the Committee on Earth Sciences (1987-91), and the Geophysics Study Committee (1990-93).

His honors include the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement (1983), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautic Mechanics and Control of Flight Award (1989), the Billy and Claude R. Hocott Distinguished Centennial Engineering Research Award (1991), the NASA Public Service Medal (1994), the AAS Dirk Brouwer Space Mechanics Award (1995), and the Joe J. King Professional Engineering Achievement Award (1997).

He is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1987, he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering. He is a life member of Friends of Alec.

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