College Honors Distinguished Alumni
By Isabella Bachman
The College of Engineering and Dean ad interim Elise Morgan conferred the Distinguished Alumni Award on three alumni — recognizing their impact on their professions and communities, and outstanding service to the BU Engineering community – at an event on Sept. 22.
Each recipient exemplifies the core values of the societal engineer and has demonstrated an enduring commitment to the College of Engineering and the university at large.
Tye Brady (ENG ’90)
Brady received a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering in 1990, and went on to receive a master’s in aeronautics and astronautics engineering from MIT. He was instrumental in
the creation of the College’s Master of Science in Robotics & Autonomous Systems degree program.
As chief technologist at Amazon Robotics, he heads advanced technology and research efforts. Prior to Amazon Robotics, he spent 15 years with Draper, advancing robotics and spacecraft engineering. In 2009, he was honored by NASA with the Exceptional Public Service Medal.
During his time at Amazon, Brady helped shape the inaugural Robotics Day One Fellowship, which supports uniquely talented students from multicultural backgrounds who are pursuing master’s degrees in technology-related fields at several universities, including BU.
Manuel Mendez (ENG ’91)
Mendez earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering in 1991 and received his MBA from Northwestern University. He is chief executive officer of Quotient, the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services.
In 2020, he spearheaded a COVID-19 testing partnership between BU and Quest, which was integral to keeping BU operational during a critical time.
Dedicated to equity, Mendez was involved in the creation of Quest for Health Equity, partnering with Choose for Healthy Life in addressing the health disparities within communities of color in major cities around the US.
Louvere Walker-Hannon (ENG ’00)
Walker-Hannon received her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering in 2000, and a master’s degree in geographic information technology from Northeastern University. She has a long history of serving as a STEM advocate and mentor, especially to underrepresented groups. She is a member of Black Girls CODE, the Society of Women Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and Women in Data Science.
As an application engineering senior lead at MathWorks, she provides technical guidance and strategic direction on the implementation of AI and data science workflows for various applications. Throughout her 20-plus-year career while at MathWorks, Louvere has worked in three different engineering roles.