The 2022 College of Engineering Alumni Awards were held on Saturday, April 23, in Atlanta. The inductees were originally scheduled to be honored in the spring of 2020.

Each year, the College’s eight schools nominate graduates in three categories: Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni, Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni, and the Engineering Hall of Fame.

This year, four ECE graduates were honored: Garrett Langley B.E.E. ’09 was honored by the Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni, Carmel Ortiz B.E.E. ’89 was honored by the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni, and James G. Pope B.E.E. ’65 and Ronald L. Yancey B.E.E. ’65 were both inducted by in to the Engineering Hall of Fame.

Additionally, Sebastián Negrón, a first-year Dean’s Scholarship recipient in electrical engineering, was the student speaker for the Alumni Awards.

Read more about ECE honorees below. You can also read more about the 2022 Alumni Awards and view pictures form the event.

Engineering Hall of Fame
The Engineering Hall of Fame celebrates alumni for their lifelong achievements.

James G. Pope
B.E.E. ’65
President and CEO (retired) Hazlehurst and Associates, Inc.

Jim earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering (co-op program) in 1965. He began his professional career as an electrical engineer with 

E.I. DuPont in Seaford, Delaware, then changed career paths and joined Electronic Date Systems (EDS) in systems engineering. He would eventually become an assistant to the president and later was responsible for accounting, human resources, taxation, and corporate security. In 1975, he joined Hazlehurst & Associates, Inc. (H&A), a regional actuarial consulting firm, as COO and became its president in 1978. After H&A was acquired by Northern Trust, Jim oversaw the integration and developed a successor management team before retiring in 1998. In the early 90’s, Jim became Chair of the Georgia Coalition for Science, Technology and Math Education and worked with the Georgia Department of Education to re-write the Georgia math curriculum. After retirement, he became an advisor to the State Department of Education to develop and implement Georgia’s Choice, an initiative to improve student performance in low performing schools. His specific responsibility was to recruit recently retired business executives and integrate them into the process of implementing a whole school reform model in 161 elementary and middle schools across the state. He has been a Director of Blackburn and Company, Vice Chair of the Board of the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation of Georgia, member of The Young President’s Organization, Trustee of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, and is currently a member of the CREATE-X Advisory Council. Jim has been married to Dee for 57 years and has a son, daughter, and five grandchildren.

Ronald Yancey
B.E.E. ’65
Senior Principal Engineer (retired) Engineering Solutions, Inc.

Ronald is a native of Atlanta who attended the public school system and entered Georgia Tech as a transfer student from Morehouse College in September of 1962. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1965 and would later earn a master’s degree in the field from George Washington University. His distinguished, 48-year career included positions at the Department of Defense (National Security Agency) and its defense contractors (GTE, BDM, Lockheed Martin and ESi). His first assignments and system developments supported the Vietnam effort and resulted in several draft deferments. Using many cutting-edge technologies, Ronald designed, developed, and deployed systems as a project engineer, program engineer, lead systems engineer, principal systems engineer, and program manager. His duties included program planning and budgeting. As he increasingly progressed in assuming management responsibilities, he received many awards for successful developments/deployments. Throughout his career, he worked in many technical fields, including communications, remote sensing, satellites, orbital mechanics, signal analysis, strategic weapons analysis, and reverse engineering. Ronald has served on the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association (2010–2013). He has been a regular supporter of Georgia Tech’s Roll Call, with 58 consecutive years of support. Ronald and his wife of 48 years, Sheila, reside in Columbia, Maryland. They have four sons.

Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni
Members of the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni are still active in their careers and have already made significant contributions to the profession, field, Institute, or society at large.

Carmel Ortiz
B.E.E. ’89
Vice President and  Chief Systems Engineer OneWeb

Carmel received her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1989 as a co-op student with the Georgia Tech Research Institute. She is currently Vice President and Chief Systems Engineer for OneWeb, a satellite telecommunications company. OneWeb is launching the first global constellation of 650 low earth orbit (LEO) satellites to connect the unconnected and help bridge the digital divide. Carmel is responsible for the design, development, integration, and test of OneWeb’s global, low-latency network. Her efforts ensure the service meets current and future requirements for customers in the aviation, maritime, enterprise, government, and consumer broadband sectors. Her work spans multiple technology areas, including LEO constellation deployment, satellite link design, and 4G/5G/LTE networks. Prior to joining OneWeb, Carmel spent more than 20 years as Co-Founder/Vice President of Engineering for Skjei Telecom, a satellite systems engineering services firm, where she was responsible for the execution of complex engineering projects on behalf of clients like SiriusXM Satellite Radio, NOAA’s National Weather Service, and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). Carmel is a strong advocate for all things Georgia Tech and is a mentor for engineering professionals in the space and satellite industry. She currently spearheads professional and personal development programs for women and younger engineers at OneWeb.

Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni
The Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni includes rising stars who have distinguished themselves in the early stages of the career.

Garret Langley
B.E.E. ’09
Founder and CEO Flock Safety

Garrett is a technology entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience in early-stage companies across banking, automotive, live events, and public safety. He is the CEO of Flock (flocksafety.com), an Atlanta-based startup focused on making communities safer. Flock provides service to more than 1,500 cities and helps police solve more than 3% of crimes nationally. Garrett has raised more than $220 million in venture capital from YCombinator, A16Z, Matrix Partners, and Founders Fund since founding the company in late 2017. Prior to Flock, Garrett launched Clutch, a monthly car subscription service that provides the perfect car for every day. He also launched Experience (acquired by Cox Enterprises), a mobile technology company focused on helping fans have fun at live events. Garrett serves on the Georgia Tech Alumni Association Board of Trustees and the Athletic Association's Board of Trustees. He lives in Atlanta with his wife, Megan; son, Sumner; daughter, Maren; and dog, Olive.