Outstanding Engineering Alumni Recognized

Outstanding Engineering Alumni Recognized

BY PHILIP MONTGOMERY
Rice News Staff
Nov. 12, 1998

The Rice Engineering Alumni (REA) will honor two outstanding alumni: one for lifetime achievements in engineering and community and the second for major contributions to engineering by a young person.

The REA annually recognizes outstanding engineering alumni in two categories. This year’s recipients are Patsy Chappelear ’53, who will be recognized for her outstanding professional achievements and community service, and Alan Hirshberg ’82, who will be recognized for his accomplishments as a young engineer.

The two engineers will be honored during Homecoming at the REA’s annual meeting at 4 p.m. Nov. 13 in McMurtry Auditorium of Anne and Charles Duncan Hall.

“Patsy Chappelear has served Rice University very well,” said Sidney Burrus, dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering. “In addition to an outstanding professional career, she has been a volunteer for Rice, a role model for young women majoring in engineering, and for many years she was a senior staff member of Riki Kobayashi’s research laboratory. We are very pleased that the REA selected Patsy for this honor.”

Regarding Hirshberg, Burrus said, “Since receiving his B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering in 1982 and 1983, Alan Hirshberg has achieved outstanding success in engineering research, production operations, and financial management with Exxon Company U.S.A. Alan’s career is notable for the variety of his engineering positions and his rapid rise to upper management. At the same time, he has found time to devote himself to a variety of community activities, including many volunteer projects that benefit Rice directly. Alan is truly an outstanding young engineer worthy of the REA’s recognition.”

The criteria for selection include technical experience and accomplishments, management experience, involvement in Rice activities and involvement in community.

The REA provides support to the George R. Brown School of Engineering through student scholarships, recognition of outstanding alumni and a variety of other programs. REA members include alumni of eight departments of the George R. Brown School of Engineering.

Chappelear has had a long and distinguished career. Even after retirement, she continues to practice engineering as a consultant. Recent projects include serving as an expert witness, evaluation of computer thermodynamics programs and economic viability studies. She remains active in numerous professional organizations.

“I was tickled pink,” she said upon learning about the award. “You should have seen me dancing around my daughter’s house. I felt very honored and excited.”

Her close connection with Rice did not end with graduation. After a one-year stint with Shell Oil Co. at the Deer Park refinery, she was hired as a research assistant for Riki Kobayashi, now professor emeritus of chemical engineering, and T.W. Leland Jr. Her research contributed to knowledge of hydrocarbon systems in terms of physical properties and phase behavior.

After working at Rice from 1955 to 1976, she began applying the results of her research to engineering design at Hudson Engineering Corp., where she stayed until retirement in 1986. At Hudson, she eventually became a senior project engineer and senior process engineer.

Hirshberg broke engineering ground in the oil and gas business by showing that computer simulations could replace lab testing in some cases. Fresh out of Rice, Exxon gave Hirshberg access to a Cray super computer so that he could simulate extreme conditions upon threaded connections like those used to link the 30-foot and 40-foot pieces of pipe lining well bores. Some of those well bores go as deep as six miles.

Hirshberg proved that computer simulations were accurate and could replace expensive lab testing. Hirshberg and the team of five researchers he supervised received a patent in 1990 for their method to analyze threaded connections. His research set the standard for the oil and gas industry and is used today.

Today he is the senior department head and manager of upstream planning, analysis and financial reporting for Exxon Company U.S.A. He has served in numerous research and managerial posts for Exxon.

He credits Rice with giving him the basic engineering skills to break into engineering at Exxon. Beyond that, Rice professors taught him to think critically. He was taught that the answers to hard questions cannot be found in books alone.

“I find business works the same way,” Hirshberg said. “No problems ever land on my desk that I can look up in a book. You’ve always got to go back to your experience and what you know and figure out how to solve a problem for yourself.”