Welcome ECLIPSE Interns 2016-17!

The 2016-17 Early Career Leadership Intern Program to Serve Engineering (ECLIPSE) is underway – we would like to congratulate and welcome this year's interns.

The ECLIPSE program promotes and recognizes the value of long-term leadership development and diversity among its members. ECLIPSE is a commitment to investing in the careers of high-potential early career members. Interns learn their way around ASME with a dedicated advisor where each intern is matched with a senior volunteer coach within their area of interest at ASME. Interns travel to meetings and participate in workshops and training sessions to build leadership and management skills, which will serve them in their professional and personal lives. There is a wide range of opportunities for interns to network among themselves and with senior Society officers to see how they can incorporate the ASME experience into their career development.

We are delighted to welcome the following interns who will serve the various ASME business units:

Leila Aboharb will be the ECLIPSE intern working in the Member Engagement area. Leila graduated from Drexel University with a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering in June of 2014. She was introduced to ASME during her first year of college and has remained heavily involved since. Leila has done work for her collegiate chapter at Drexel University, the Philadelphia Section, and the Student District Operating Board, eventually earning her the 2013 Charles T. Main Award. Currently, she acts as the Chair-Elect for Community Development Team under the Student and Early Career Sector. Upon graduation Leila concentrated her career as a Vehicles Engineer working with rolling stock. Her interest in this field also led her to become involved in ASME's Rail Transportation Division, where she sits as a committee member. In addition to her interest in the engineering field, Leila enjoys volunteering in her community and traveling whenever she gets the opportunity. Leila is also both an outdoors and motorcyclist enthusiast!

Hasan Akhter will be the ECLIPSE intern for the Board of Governors. Hasan is a mechanical engineering graduate currently working in welding automation industry. He has been involved with ASME for a number of years starting with ASME Ryerson student section where he served as chair and won Dennis Mock Leadership Award. He is currently Past Chair at ASME Ontario section where he mentors and supports incoming volunteers to become future leaders. He also serves on the board of Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) – Mississauga Chapter as well as donates his time to support organizations such as FIRST Lego League. These work and volunteer experiences evolved him to the person he is today, geared toward philanthropy. In his free time Hasan enjoys nature, camping and listening to somewhat boring music to amuse himself.

Carlos Beatty, Jr. will be the ECLIPSE intern for the Volunteer Orientation and Leadership Training (VOLT) Academy. Carlos is currently Process Engineer, Corporate Planning at DENSO Manufacturing Michigan (DMMI), Battle Creek, Michigan. He is responsible for system development and indirect labor efficiency, resulting in more robust processes and systems in areas such as investment planning, profit planning, capacity planning, and production optimization. Previously, he worked as an Operations Associate Engineer at Peabody Energy in Wyoming, doing design, project management, and capital justification projects. Carlos volunteered in ASME on the Student Sections Committee (SSC) for 2 years, and volunteered as a trainer and organizer for several leadership training sessions within ASME. During his final year of undergraduate studies and into his first professional year, he was appointed and volunteered as a planning commissioner for the City of Rapid City in South Dakota. Carlos holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering & Engineering Management from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and will complete a Masters of Business Administration from the University of South Dakota in May 2016.

Katie Correll will be the ECLIPSE intern for Engineering for Global Development. Katie is an alumna of Carnegie Mellon (2014) and The Cooper Union (2012), where she got her start in ASME as the student section chair in 2010. Since then Katie has held various positions within the organization including Early Career Correspondent, Early Career Lead on the Volunteer Training and Development Committee, and currently the News and Social Media Lead on the Community Development Team. Her work can be seen on television, Broadway and touring with various musicians including Taylor Swift, Madonna and Cirque du Soleil. Katie is passionate about entertainment and robotics and has built puppets and robots with The Henson Company, Disney, Tait Towers and Showman Fabricators. She is currently developing animatronics for new attractions as an Associate Engineer with Universal Creative.

Camille Cruz Alfonzo will be the ECLIPSE intern for the Technical Events and Content Sector. She was born and raised in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. At age 18, she moved to Atlanta, GA to become a ‘Helluva Engineer’ at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Throughout her academic career, Camilla found a passion for mechanical engineering and her Alma Mater, Georgia Tech. She participated in different societies and volunteered as well as enjoyed her ME courses. During her junior year, Camille studied abroad in Metz, France in the Georgia Tech Lorraine campus as well as in Australia and New Zealand in the Georgia Tech Pacific Program; these two opportunities opened her eyes to international possibilities. In 2013, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in ME and in 2014 with a Master of Science in ME. Camille started working for Shell Oil Company right after graduation and became a Production Engineer for Deepwater assets in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ritesh Lakhkar will be the ECLIPSE intern for the Committee on Government Relations. Ritesh is an interdisciplinary engineer currently working as a Senior Development Engineer in Smartphone and LCD glass cutting and finishing business. He has a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Govt. College of Engineering, Pune, India and a Masters from Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA. He has Professional Engineer license from APEGA, Alberta, Canada. He has extensive experience in technology development in the areas of laser materials processing, welding, metal machining, plate cutting, deburring, automation, glass cutting and finishing. Ritesh has volunteered for ASME for the past several years and has served as a Member of the Early Career Programming Committee, Team Lead for the Design Materials and Manufacturing Market Segment Team, Member at Large for the Committee on Early Career Development, Member at Large for the Board on Career Development, Chair for the ME Today Committee, Member of the Manufacturing Processes Technical Committee, Secretary for District C and Secretary and Technical Activities Lead for the Central Illinois Section. Ritesh led the 2015 IMECE FutureME MiniTalks event planning and has chaired technical sessions and tracks at IMECE and MSEC conferences. He enjoys traveling and learning foreign languages - two activities that have helped in his professional and volunteer career development.

Paul Witherell, Ph.D., will be the ECLIPSE intern for the Standards and Certification Sector. Paul is a Mechanical Engineer in the Systems Integration Division of the Engineering Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Paul received his Ph.D. from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2009. At NIST, Paul manages a project on Systems Integration for Additive Manufacturing and serves as the Associate Program Manager of the Measurement Science for Additive Manufacturing program in the Engineering Laboratory. Paul is an active contributor to the ASTM F42 Additive Manufacturing standards efforts and serves as Vice Chair on ASME’s Y14.46 subcommittee on Product Definition Practices for Additive Manufacturing. Paul received the ASME CIE Young Engineer award in 2014.