Thursday, October 10, 2024
6:00 p.m.
Hilton Americas Hotel
1600 Lamar Street
Houston, TX 77010
The inaugural “Cullen Gala” Red Carpet Extravaganza! celebrates how far engineering and technology have come in the Houston region and UH Cullen College’s impact on the next generation of industry leaders.
Cullen Gala Chair
Zafar "Zaf" Tahir (’84, MBA ’99, JD)
Member Cullen Board & Commissioner Houston Planning
Honorary Cullen Gala Chair
The Honorable John Whitmire
Mayor, City of Houston
Honorary Committee
(as of June 6, 2024)
The Honorable Dennis Paul (’86, MSCE ’91), Texas House of Representatives District 129
The Honorable Jon Rosenthal, Texas House of Representatives District 135
The Honorable Joe R. Zimmerman (’83), Mayor, Sugar Land
The Honorable Martha Castex-Tatum, Mayor Pro Tem/District K, City of Houston
The Honorable Amy Peck (MBA ’07), Vice Mayor Pro Tem/District A, City of Houston
The Honorable Sallie Alcorn (MBA ’91), Councilmember At Large, City of Houston
The Honorable Fred Flickinger, Councilmember District E, City of Houston
The Honorable Chris Hollins, City Controller, City of Houston
The Honorable Adrian Garcia, Commissioner, Harris County Precinct 2
The Honorable Tom Ramsey, P.E., Commissioner, Harris County Precinct 3
The Honorable Jon Keeney, Mayor, City of Taylor Lake Village
UH Engineering Alumni Association
LaShonda Anderson-Williams, Salesforce Industries
Jamie Bragg, (’93, MBA ’99), EVP & Chief Supply Chain Officer, Tailored Brands
Chad Burke, President & CEO, Economic Alliance Houston Port Region
Comcast
Marcia Faschingbauer, President and CEO, Excargo
Kayoor Gajarawala, CDIO, LyondellBasell (’90)
Uzma Zaki Kamal (BSEE ’90, MBA ’15)
Saiyid Zafar Kamal, Ph.D. (BSME ’84, MSME ’87, PhD ’90)
Margaret A. Kidd (’85, MA ’08), Program Director Supply Chain/Logistics, UH
Col. Vipin Kumar, Executive Director, India House
Michel Maksoud, Sr. Director of Texas Operations, Gannett Fleming
The Honorable Brian Middleton, District Attorney, Fort Bend County
John Moseley, Chief Commercial Officer, Port Houston
Flávio Niemeyer Guimarães, Founder, Radix Engineering & Software USA
Eliza Paul (’88), Texas Department of Transportation
Marco Poisler, COO-Global Energy & Capital Projects, UTC Overseas
Al Powell, Director of Logistics, Triple-S Steel Supply Co.
Mackrena Ramos (’99), VP & Program Manager, LAN
Michael Ramos (’00), President, APEX Financial Management Services
The Honorable James Rodriguez (’98), VP Sales, Marketing & Communications, RRP Consulting Engineers, LLC
Art Schroeder (MBA ’99), CEO & Founder, Safe Marine Transfer LLC
Tim Sensenig, CEO, TMSfirst
Lisa Sikora (’90, MBA ’91) & David Sikora (’86, MBA), Board Chairman, TDECU
Ravi Singhania (’73), Commissioner, Port Freeport
Richard Smith, Interim Director, Public Works, City of Houston
Jim Szczesniak, Director, Houston Airport Systems
Jorge L. Trevino, P.E., JL Trevino & Associates
UH Construction Management Industry Advisory Board
Cyril Joseph Varghese, Global Logistics Director, FLUOR
Michael Viator (’83), President, Rapid Turn Laser & Machine
Meera Victor, Vice President, Carollo Engineers
Tammi Warfield, Global Vice President, NetApp
Giti Zarinkelk, P.E., President, Zarinkelk Engineering Services, Inc. & Michael J. Bagstad, P.E., Vice President, Zarinkelk Engineering Services, Inc.
Thank You To Our Sponsors
Event Sponsors
Cougar Red Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
Raffle Sponsor
Program Sponsor
2024 Cullen Gala Honorees
Lifetime Achievement Award
Frank C. Adamek, P.E. (BSME ’72, MSME ’75)
President of Adamek Engineering & Engineering Technology Solutions, LLC
Tommy Cooper, P.E. (BSEE ’74, MSEE ’81)
Founder of Cooper Consulting Service (CCS)
Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award
Eliza Paul, P.E., (MS ’88)
Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)
Prof. Abdeldjelil Belarbi, Ph.D., P.E. (MSCE ’86, Ph.D. ’91)
Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor
University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering
Excellence in Leadership Award
Urmi Prasad Richardson (MSBE ’95)
President EMEA at Thermo Fisher Scientific
Distinguished Young Engineering Alumni Award
William Q. Walker, Ph.D. (Ph.D. ’16)
Chief Technology Officer, KULR Technology Group
Photos
Gala Sponsorships
Event Sponsor — $10,000
VIP Event reception, two tables of ten with premier seating and tableside wine service, event sponsor recognition and branding, company name included in all press materials, logo with a click through to your website on the awards gala site, and recognition from the podium. (FMV = $6,000)
Cougar Red! Sponsor — $5,000
VIP Event reception, one table of ten with premier seating and tableside wine service, prominent recognition of sponsorship in event materials, company name included in all press materials, logo with a click through to your website on the awards gala site, and recognition from the podium. (FMV = $3,000)
Silver Sponsor — $3,500
One table of ten with priority seating, prominent recognition of sponsorship in event materials, logo with a click through to your website on the awards gala site. (FMV = $2,350)
Bronze Sponsor — $2,500
One table of ten, recognition of sponsorship in event materials. (FMV = $2,350)
Patron — $1,000
Two tickets for you plus two sponsored tickets provided to students. (FMV $470)
Individual — $250
(FMV = $235)
Underwriting Opportunities
Entertainment — $3,000
Recognition on event materials. (FMV = $0)
Decorations — $2,500
Recognition on event materials. (FMV = $0)
Raffle — $1,500
Recognition on event materials. (FMV = $0)
Program — $1,000
Recognition on event materials. (FMV = $0)
PROGRAM
6:00 p.m. — Reception
7:20 p.m. — Red Carpet Welcome
7:30 p.m. — Dinner
8:00 p.m. — Celebrating Cullen
8:30 p.m. — Red Heart Campaign
8:45 p.m. — Raffle Drawing
9:00 p.m. — Closing Toast
Cocktail Attire
Valet Parking available
For sponsorship and event information, please contact:
Cathy Brown, cmbrow31 [at] central.uh.edu (cmbrow31[at]central[dot]uh[dot]edu)
Director of Relations, Cullen College of Engineering
713-743-2804