Matthew (Matt) J. Aguiar ’79 retired as senior vice president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company in March 2019 after 38 ½ years of service.

Mr. Aguiar received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master’s degree from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University.  He joined Exxon Chemical Company in 1980 at the Baytown Chemical Plant in Texas.

He advanced through business, operations and technical roles in various chemical affiliates in the United States and Singapore prior to the merger between Exxon and Mobil in 1999.

In 2000, Mr. Aguiar became vice president of the basic chemicals business in Asia Pacific based in Singapore. In 2002, he was named site manager of the Baton Rouge Chemical Plant.  Mr. Aguiar became vice president of global aromatics in 2004 and, in 2006, was named vice president of the global basic chemicals business.

Beginning in 2009, and based in Singapore, Mr. Aguiar became Asia Pacific refining director for ExxonMobil Refining and Supply and concurrently served as director and chairman of Tonen General Sekiyu K.K. (Japan). He then served as chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. and as the Asia Pacific manufacturing director for ExxonMobil Chemical.

In 2014, Mr. Aguiar returned to Houston as senior vice president of the company’s global basic chemicals, intermediates, synthetics, catalysts & licensing businesses and global marketing. In addition, he served as the chairman of Infineum, a joint venture between ExxonMobil and Shell.

In 2017, Mr. Aguiar became senior vice president of global operations, located in Houston Texas for ExxonMobil Chemical Company.  He was responsible for its global, integrated manufacturing operations, global supply chain, and the Manufacturing Support and Safety & Security/Health/Environmental organizations. He also served on the board of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers.

Mary Anne Brelinsky ’91 currently serves as President of EDF Trading and EDF Energy Services, the North American trading and customer facing business within the EDF Group. EDF is the world’s largest utility and producer of electricity. Mrs. Brelinsky joined EDF Trading as a Vice President responsible for the Texas power business. In that role, she grew EDF’s customer base to include energy management and optimization services for load and generation customers ranging from natural gas, wind, battery storage, and solid fuel power stations. EDF promoted Mrs. Brelinsky to President in 2014. In her current role, she responsible for EDF’s Power and Natural Gas Retail business, the Generation Services business, as well as Natural Gas and Power Trading in the United States and Canada.

Mrs. Brelinsky serves on the Board of Directors for Atlas Scholars, DK Energy, the Gulf Coast Power Association, and the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce. She also serves on the Advisory Council for the Women’s Energy Network and the University of Houston Energy Advisory Board. Mrs. Brelinsky holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Magna Cum Laude, and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Houston.

Don Burgio ’89 graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree and a Master of Science degree in security engineering, both from Southern Methodist University, and a Ph.D. in information assurance from Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Burgio has over 30 years of experience in technology leadership roles. He began his career in software and telecommunication systems engineering at MCI, ultimately becoming Vice President for Network Systems; following Verizon’s acquisition of MCI, he served in various roles, including Executive Director of product engineering for fraud, identity, and cybersecurity solutions for global enterprise customers. After retiring from Verizon, Dr. Burgio is now engaged in the research and development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) solutions for a cybersecurity startup company. He also serves on the advisory board of another startup focused on Web3 technologies and serves on two non-profit boards as VP & Treasurer for the Rensselaer Alumni Association (RAA) and Alumni Relations Director for Sigma Phi Epsilon’s RPI chapter. Dr. Burgio has previously served on industry advisory boards for two universities and as a volunteer teaching electronics, robotics, and programming to at-risk youths. He has been recognized with the RAA’s Director’s & Alumni Key Awards and Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Michelle Denny ’01 graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. She currently serves as Director of Research & Development at NI Test & Measurement at Emerson. NI develops automated test and automated measurement systems that help engineers solve the world’s toughest challenges. During her time at RPI, she served on the student council, was secretary of the HKN honor society, and was President of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority.

Mrs. Denny has spent over 20 years at NI, where she has released over 30 products in different capacities as a Developer, Lead Engineer, Core Team Lead, and Director. She excels at developing and delivering products in new application areas and with new sensor technologies. Recently she’s been focused on growing NI’s product portfolio to meet the test & measurement needs of automotive companies in the growing areas of autonomous and electric vehicles.

Mrs. Denny was the first female Chief Engineer at NI, and growing more women technical leaders has always been important to her. She volunteers her time at local schools, clubs & organizations to encourage young women to get involved in STEM. She also served as Austin Alumni President from 2002–2008.

Caryn Fuller ’99, ’00G graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering degrees in civil engineering. She is a certified professional with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and is a LEED-accredited professional in building design and construction. Ms. Fuller has completed the American Bar Association Construction Law Trial Academy Program. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi throughout her time at RPI.

Ms. Fuller is a civil engineer with over 23 years of experience. She has been appointed as an expert and assisted as the named expert on numerous occasions. Ms. Fuller has been cross-examined in arbitration, including giving concurrent evidence (hot-tubbing), and has assisted on disputes for projects with values of up to $20 billion. Her expert work covers delay, quantum and technical disciplines for sectors ranging from buildings and infrastructure to industrial, power and utilities, mining and minerals, and oil and gas. Ms. Fuller’s professional experience includes mechanical and process engineering, construction, project management, project controls management, and construction claims analysis. She is a project and program leader with a proven track record in leading high-profile, large-scale global construction initiatives, focusing on cost control, scheduling, and reporting. Ms. Fuller’s expertise includes standard of care, scheduling issues, productivity issues, procurement delays, forensic document investigations, and cost analysis and damages. She has supported clients in arbitration (both international and domestic) and mediation, delivering expert analysis, reports, and rebuttals.

Ms. Fuller is the partner in charge of HKA’s Houston Practice.  She currently serves as a board member for the Rice Global Engineering and Construction Forum and for the Energy Industries Council.

Kirk Schell ’88 is president of Arrow’s global components business, which provides sales, marketing, engineering and supply chain services to semiconductor and passive electromechanical component suppliers and their customers.

Prior to joining Arrow, Mr. Schell spent nearly 25 years at Dell Technologies, where he was most recently responsible for global online B2B sales. Previously, he led sales for Dell’s client solutions portfolio in the Asia-Pacific region and was the general manager of Dell’s displays group.

Mr. Schell holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer and a Master of Business Administration from The University of Michigan.

Mr. Reid Wiseman ’97 has served over 20 years as a naval officer. Since 2009, he has been assigned to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Houston, Texas as an astronaut.

Mr. Wiseman’s career has primarily been focused on complex team operations in high-stress situations. The pinnacle of this occurred in 2014 when Mr. Wiseman spent 165 days in low earth orbit conducting research in microgravity and maintaining the International Space Station. From 1997 until 2009, Mr. Wiseman served as a pilot and test pilot with the US Navy. During that time, he flew over 30 types of aircraft and spent 2.5 years at sea on various ships.

Mr. Wiseman received a Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Master of Science degree in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University.