2020 HENAAC Award Winners
Jesse A. Ortega
Engineer of the Year
Architectural
Chief Engineer
General Motors
Alfonso Fernandez Davila, Ph.D.
Scientist of the Year
Research Scientist,
Exobiology Branch
NASA Ames Research Center
CAPT Mercedes Benitez McCrary,
Dr HS, MS- CCC-SLP
Albert V. Baez Award
Captain, United States Public Health Service,
Commissioned Corps 13th Chief Professional Officer
( 2016- MAR 2020) Therapy Rehabilitation
U.S. Public Health Service
Fred Whipple
Chairman’s Award
Vice President, Employee
Relations/Diversity and
Inclusion of Human Resources
Shell Oil Company
Eliezer Maldonado
Executive Excellence – Industry
Senior Global Business
Director, Functional Polymers
Packaging and Specialty Plastics
Dow, Inc.
John D. Moreno
Executive Excellence – Military
Regional Business Director
South Pacific Division
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Armando L.
Castorena, SPHR, CCP
Santiago Rodriguez Diversity and Inclusion Award
Vice President of
Human Resources
Lockheed Martin Space
Lockheed Martin Corporation
Hector J. Santos-Villalobos, Ph.D.
Outstanding Technical Achievement – National Laboratory
Group Leader, Biometrics and Identity Research Group Cyber and Applied Data Analytics Division of the National Security Sciences Directorate
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Luis A. Verde Chifflet, Ph.D.
Outstanding Technical Achievement – Industry
Research Director, Latin American R&D Commercial Zone Lead
Corteva Agriscience
Marco Gardner
Professional Achievement II- Industry
Analog Signal Chain Linear
Amplifiers Precision Amplifiers
Product Line Manage
Texas Instruments
Miguel Rivera
Professional Achievement II – Military
Director, Integrated Air and Missile Defense Technical Authority
Missile Defense Agency
Melanie L. Weber
Professional Achievement I – Industry
Structural and Mechanical
Design Engineer, CST-100
Starliner–Subsystem Lead
for Crew and Cargo Accommodations,
Boeing Defense
Systems–Space & Launch
The Boeing Company
Alicia I. Ruvinsky, Ph.D.
Professional Achievement I – Military
Research Computer Science,
U.S. Army Engineer Research and
Development Center
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Susana F. Lizcano
Gonzalez, Ph.D., P.E
Pioneer Award
Director, Shipment Quality Field Operations
Union Pacific
Evaristo Bonano, Ph.D.
Lifetime Achievement – National Laboratory
Senior Manager,
Nuclear Engineering
Fuel Cycle, Org 8840
Sandia National Laboratories
Priscila Vansetti
Lifetime Achievement – Industry
Director, Global Strategy and
Business Development
Corteva Agriscience
Jorge A. Lopez, Ph.D.
Education Distinction
Schumaker Professor of Physics Department of Physics
The University of Texas at El Paso
Gilberto Morales, Ph.D.
Community Service
Staff Engineer
Bell Textron, Inc.
Stephanie N. Murphy
Entreprenuer
Principal Owner & Executive Chairman
MEI Technologies, Inc.
Margaret Z. Dominguez, Ph.D.
Most Promising Engineer, Ph.D. – Government
Optical Engineer
NASA – Goddard Space Center
Maribel Jaquez, Ph.D.
Most Promising Engineer, Ph.D. – Industry
Principal Engineer,
Microelectronics Semiconductor
Northrop Grumman
Carlos M. Torres, Jr., Ph.D.
Most Promising Engineer, Ph.D. – Military
Researcher/Electronics Engineer,
Enterprise Communications and
Networks Division Naval
Information Warfare Center Pacific
U.S. Navy
Eduardo Rojas Nastrucci, Ph.D.
Lifetime Achievement – National Laboratory
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, ECSSE Department
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Andrea Hidalgo
Most Promising Engineer,
Master’s Degree – Industry
Calibration Specialist
General Motors
1Lt Flavio F. Marroquin
Most Promising Engineer, Master’s Degree – Military
Wing Training
67th Operations
Support Squadron (ACC)
U.S. Air Force
Carmen M. Mercado
Most Promising Engineer, Undergraduate
Mechanical Engineer II,
Antenna Systems Department
Raytheon Missiles & Defense
Raytheon Technologies
Juan D. Quintero
Most Promising Engineer,
Undergraduate
Project Manager
El Segundo Refinery
Chevron Products Company
Chevron