Established in 1957, the Distinguished Engineering Graduate Award is the highest honor that the Cockrell School bestows on its alumni. The five distinguished engineering graduates for 2018 are innovators, entrepreneurs and highly respected leaders in their industries and communities. We honor them for their dedication and generosity, and we are proud to call them Cockrell School alumni.
Learn more about this year's inductees:
B.S. CHE 1984
Professor, Cockrell School of Engineering
Joan F. Brennecke is a professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin and currently holds the Cockrell Family Chair in Engineering #16.
B.S. ME 1982
M.S. BME 1984
Ph.D. BME 1990
Founder, Chief Executive and Technology Officer, Metric Medical Devices Inc.
W. Casey Fox is the founder and current chief executive and technology officer of Metric Medical Devices Inc, a world leader in the development and commercialization of products that advance the musculoskeletal repair standard of care by speeding the healing process and minimizing non-healing.
B.S. ASE 1970
Founder, Eagle Rock Drilling Inc. and Eagle Rock Manufacturing Inc.
Thomas N. McKnight Jr. founded Eagle Rock Drilling Inc. and Eagle Rock Manufacturing Inc. in 2003, through which he designed and built a series of innovative hydraulic top drive drilling rigs. The intellectual property associated with his rig design was sold to LeTourneau Technologies Drilling Systems Inc. and is now owned by Schlumberger.
B.S. PE 1972
President, EOG Resources Inc.
Gary L. Thomas is president of EOG Resources Inc., one of the largest independent crude oil and natural gas companies in the United States with proved reserves in the United States, Trinidad, the United Kingdom and China.
B.S. EE 1969
Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, RealPage Inc.
Stephen T. Winn is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of RealPage Inc., a publicly traded technology company that has become the leading global provider of software and data analytics to the real estate industry.
