6/25/2012 By Linda H. Conway
Written by By Linda H. Conway
John J. Nowicki was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 21, 1930. He graduated from Lane Technical High School in 1948, and then he received a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1956. He served on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps from January 1951 to May 1952.
In 1953 he married Gladys, his wife of 57 years; they have two children: Bob and Linda and 5 grandchildren. He was employed by Advance Heating And Air Conditioning Corp., [now Advance Mechanical Systems Inc.] Chicago, Illinois as an engineering draftsman in September 1956. He is currently Chairman of the Board. His career was spent in the design and construction of many of Chicago area prominent buildings. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Illinois and a life member of ASHRAE.
Alan R. Parkinson is a professor of mechanical engineering and currently serves as dean of the Ira. A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology at Brigham Young University. The college is home to 3300 students in 11 programs. Previous to his appointment as dean he was an associate dean from 2003 to 2005 and chair of Mechanical Engineering from 1995 to 2001. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from the University of Illinois, Urbana, and B.S. and M.B.A. degrees from Brigham Young University.
Dr. Parkinson’s areas of research interest include design automation, optimization methods, robust design, and engineering education. He is currently conducting research on cross-cultural virtual engineering design teams. He is a co-author of a commercial optimization software package, called OptdesX, which has been used at companies and universities in the United States and Europe. In 2003, he received the Design Automation Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for his work in robust design and design optimization. Dr. Parkinson was elected to Fellow status in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2004.