The Cockrell School's five Distinguished Engineering Graduates for 2016 are inventors, entrepreneurs, CEOs and thought leaders in their fields. We honor them for their professional leadership, dedication to advancing engineering and support of higher education. Established in 1957, the Distinguished Engineering Graduate Award represents the highest honor that the Cockrell School bestows on its alumni.
Learn more about this year's inductees:
Sanjay Chandra
B.S. EE 1987
Principal and Managing Partner, Trinity Private Equity Group
Sanjay Chandra is an entrepreneur, mentor and private equity investor. He serves as a principal and managing partner at Trinity Private Equity Group in Southlake, Texas, a middle-market private equity firm that invests in operating companies in a variety of sectors, and in real estate development in the multi-family, hotel and senior living spaces.
B.S. PE 1984, M.S. PE 1995
President, Folger Energy LLC
Lois K. Folger is an entrepreneur in the oil and gas industry and a leader in her community. She is the founder and president of Folger Energy LLC, an independent oil and gas company with non-operated properties.
B.S. ME 1980
President and CEO, PPG Industries
Michael H. McGarry is president and CEO of the world’s leading coatings and paints company. Having worked for PPG Industries for more than three decades, McGarry helped transform the company into the one it is today — a global supplier of paints, coatings, optical products, specialty materials, glass and fiber. Under his leadership, PPG Industries has grown to $15 billion in sales with operations in more than 70 countries.
B.S. ASE 1993
Founder, President and Chief Commercial Officer, Apollo Endosurgery Inc.
Dennis L. McWilliams is the founder, president and chief commercial officer of Apollo Endosurgery Inc., a growing medical device company based in Austin, Texas, that develops tools for minimally invasive, scarless gastrointestinal procedures. Apollo is a leader in less-invasive treatments for obesity, with brands such as Lap-Band® and Orbera®. It has operations on six continents and its products are sold in more than 60 countries around the world.
B.S. ChE 1996
Director of Jetting Technology, Canon Nanotechnologies Inc.
Van N. Truskett is a highly accomplished inventor and leads jetting technology development for Canon Nanotechnologies Inc. Truskett’s innovations have solved many of the fundamental and important problems for enabling nanoscale manufacturing in semiconductors, hard disk drives and flexible films for display applications.
