Tech Topics - Summer 2008 - (Page 31) Burdell&Friends In 2007, Morris served as chair of 3M’s Tech Forum, the company’s global technical association, at which he represented its 9,900 technical employees. He previously served as a technical leader in the 3M Traffic Safety Systems Division during its commissioning of new manufacturing operations in France and China. Samuel D. Painter, NE 87, has joined the faculty of the Medical College of Georgia, where he teaches radiation therapy physics and medical dosimetry. A former engineer in the nuclear materials industry, he received a master’s of medical science degree in radiation oncology physics from Emory University in 1997. He, his wife, Mary, and their five children live in Augusta, Ga. David Pilcher, ME 81, MS ME 87, of Fort Worth, Texas, has been promoted to senior director of quality assurance at Trinity Industries Inc. He has worked in the quality assurance department of the firm’s railcar division since 2006. He and his staff are responsible for the quality system and internal audits of five freight car facilities in the United States and Mexico and supplier audits for more than two dozen major suppliers to the 18 freight and tank car facilities of Trinity Railcar. Steve Rich, AE 89, of Newark, Del., has been promoted to executive vice president at Citi as global head for information security administration. Howard Rubin, IM 80, has accepted a position as vice president of information systems for ProCure Treatment Centers, where he will be responsible for information technology strategy and infrastructure as the company builds and manages a nationwide network of proton beam cancer treatment centers. He lives in Wakefield, R.I., with his wife, Blaise, and their children, Jason, 12, and Cara, 14. Ben Waldrep, NE 88, of Southport, N.C., was promoted to site vice president at Progress Energy’s Brunswick Nuclear Plant in January. Blount’s Survival Skills Earn Small Business Person Award GARY MEEK By John Dunn I n the business world, Shelley Blount is a survival tactician on what he says has been an economic roller-coaster ride. Blount, Text 71, co-owner and vice president of Jocassee Designs of Duncan, S.C., is the 2008 Small Business Person of the Year for the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce. Since founding the firm, named for Lake Jocassee, in 1985, Blount has guided, adapted and even re-engineered his company to survive in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. The company started with only one embroidery machine and one employee but with a plan to embroider corporate apparel and to contract with apparel and textile manufacturers. And the company grew. Today it operates 31 machines and employs more than 60 people. “When we started off, the apparel and textile industries were going strong. We had all kinds of customers sending us work,” Blount said. “That all disappeared in 1994 when NAFTA passed. It quickly went to the Far East.” The textile industry lost its major customer, the U.S. apparel industry, and began its own economic slide, he observed. “We had to adapt and find other markets. The consumer product textiles seemed to stay around longer than the fabric being manufactured for apparel. We did quite a few towels and home furnishing fabrics,” he added. Blount said his business had a dip in production and sales at the end of the 1990s and start of the millennium but has risen back. “Our total sales now are the highest that they’ve ever been. Part of that is due to survival. We used to have a lot of competitors who are no longer with us. They didn’t make it and we did,” Blount said. In some ways, Blount has come full circle. “We’ve done the same thing all along for 23 years,” said Blount, whose company offers embroidery, design digitizing capabilities and a full line of apparel. “Now the bulk of our business is done on finished garments imported from China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Cambodia — you name it.” Blount said his major customer is TaylorMade-adidas Shelley Blount returned to campus for the former trustees reunion. Golf. “We do embroidery on that apparel from the Far East. But we also do the quality inspecting, packaging and shipping to their customers.” Tech is a good proving ground for the business world, he said. “Georgia Tech just prepares you for the toughness of the business world — or any industry. It doesn’t matter what you’re in — industry, manufacturing and business are tough. I majored in textiles, but I had management courses, technical courses, math, chemistry and physics. Tech prepares you to be determined, make good decisions and persevere.” Blount served a three-year term on the Georgia Tech Alumni Association board of trustees starting in 2000. He was named Ramblin’ Wreck Volunteer of the Year in 1999 and is on the external advisory board of the School of Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering. 1990s Angie Abraira, ChE 98, of The Woodlands, Texas, announces the birth of a son, Alan Wyn Miller, on Dec. 26. Abraira is a process development engineer. David A. Bishop, CmpE 95, and his wife, Deborah, announce the birth of daughter Elizabeth Dorothy on Jan. 28. Bishop is a senior manager with AT&T. The family lives in Woodstock, Ga. Kate Schafer Blair, CE 98, and Bryan Blair, MS ME 98, announce the birth of twins Catherine Marie and Philip Augustine on March 22. They join sisters Elizabeth and Margaret and brothers John and Andrew at the family’s home in Lexington, Ky. Kate is a full-time mother and Bryan is a development engineer with Lexmark International. Jonathan Cole, ChE 99, and his wife, Judy, announce the birth of a daughter, Caroline Elise, on Dec. 4. Cole is a nephrologist with the University of Virginia Health System. The family lives in Charlottesville, Va. Phyllis Gingrey Collins, Biol 97, and her husband, Jerry, announce the birth of a daughter, Ruby Neill, on Feb. 27. Ruby joins sister Marian, 1, and brother Grey, 3, at the family’s home in Marietta, Ga., where Gingrey Collins has her own criminal law practice. Ruby is the eighth grandchild of U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, Chem 65. Susan Tatalovich Coyle, CE 96, and her husband, James, announce the birth of a son, Leo Robert, on March 5. Leo joins brother Henry, 3, at the family’s home in Whitefish Bay, Wis. Coyle is a full-time mother. Eugenia Duncan, ME 94, MS ME 99, a former DeKalb County, Ga., schoolteacher, has created an educational card game, Declare Math, to make learning math fun for young students. A deck may be purchased at declaremath.com. Wendy Cullens Dyson, Mgt 99, M CP 05, and Micah B. Dyson, IntA 99, MS BC 04, announce the birth of a son, Cooper Cullen, on Dec. 15. Cooper joins brother Walker, 2, at the family’s home in Atlanta. Wendy is a senior environmental planner with PBS&J. Micah is an international payroll analyst for the Coca-Cola Company. Jennifer Holcombe Gilliland, HTS 94, and her husband, Eric, announce the birth of daughter Piper Leigh on Feb. 27. Gilliland is director of risk management services for the private client group of American International Group. 31 TECHTOPICS | SUMMER 2008 http://declaremath.com http://declaremath.com
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