Love is in the air in the College of Engineering

02/05/2020

1. Dylan and Maggie

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“We were both undergrads. Dylan was in computer engineering and I was electrical. We were friendly but we took our friendship to the next level when I got him a Heart concert shirt and he got me a sourdough bread lobster from San Francisco. Shortly after those perfect gifts, we started dating our senior year. Last year we got married and debuted an arcade game that we designed at our wedding called ‘Til Death Do Us Part.” – Maggie Calder

Dylan Fashbaugh (B.S. Computer Engineering ’14) founded Smooth Technology and creates custom electronics displays for live music and entertainment, such as the wireless LED costumes for Taylor Swift’s 1989 World Tour. Maggie Calder (B.S. Electrical Engineering ’14) works as a Support Engineer for Centrica Business Solutions.

2. Therese and Mike

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“When I was a senior I met Mike in Basic Electrical Engineering. Then later that semester he joined concrete canoe and we became friends, especially with the long hours working on the design and pour. Over the next several years, when I was doing my master’s and he was in undergrad, a group of us on the concrete canoe team and Dr. Hari would get together to run. Sometimes Mike and I would be the only ones to show up for a run and got to know each other. We have been together 12 years and still hang out with our former classmates.” – Therese Hurtuk

Therese (B.S. Civil Engineering '06, M.S. Civil Engineering '11) is a structural engineer for BWX Technologies. Mike Denallo (B.S. Civil Engineering '08) is an engineer at Neff & Associates. They live in Cleveland. 

3. Johanna and Mike

“I knew I wanted to meet Johanna after I saw her walk into our Heat Transfer class in January 2008.  After some not-so-subtle intervention from classmates (involving Barley House), Johanna agreed to go out with me on a first date—on Valentine’s Day. I took her to the Chapel Hill Outback and talked about my dreams of working in renewable energy and love for NPR and she was sold. We were a team after that, and helped each other get through Johanna’s law school, and my graduate program. We got married in 2015 and still talk about NPR and renewable energy at Outback on Valentine’s Day every year.” – Mike Jochum   

Mike is an energy engineer at Siemens and Johanna is a lawyer at the American Wind Energy Association. They live in Washington, D.C. Both graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2008. 

4. Jeffery and Shelley 

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“Jeffery and I met in Fall 2001 as next-door neighbors in Gallucci Hall, then the honors dorm. Our romance wasn’t so much ‘love at first sight’ but more like, ‘Can you help me with calculus?’ We started dating in September 2002, and some of our early dates were simply heading downstairs to the Breakpoint. While there is seemingly nothing romantic about studying together in ASEC, our love grew through (or despite?) a few shared electives and many late-night discussions of thermodynamics and differential equations.” – Shelley Hawkins

Shelley (B.S. Mechanical Polymer Engineering ’05) and Jeff Hawkins (B.S. Chemical Engineering ’05) have been married for 10 years and now live in Houston, Texas, with their two sons.

5. Terry and Jim

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“My first class on the first day at college was in the Ayer lecture hall, Physics 101. Since I was the only female student, I was probably not hard to spot, especially since I came in the wrong door and looked up at over 100 guys. Late winter quarter, Jim had twisted his knee in gym class and was on crutches, so I carried his books for him. By the first week of spring quarter, we were dating and had switched all our classes together which was the  equivalent of ‘a commitment’ in our generation. We were married by our third year and spring of our fifth year had our son John, delaying my graduation a few semesters.  A couple of times Irene (ME secretary) watched the baby while I went to class.” – Terry Milk

Jim and Terry Milk graduated with their B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1977. They own a craft distillery in the Catskills.

6. Joe and Susan 

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“I met Joe when he joined my flag football team at UA. The first thing I noticed about him was he was not a football player. He was my height and as far as first impressions go, he was not my first draft pick. The engineers hold a big blow out for Halloween ever year and the leaders of each engineering society is in charge of making it happen. Joe showed up and we danced the night away. As my ride was leaving he asked me to stay and arranged for a ride. He walked me to the door and kissed me lightly on the cheek goodnight. I was smitten. We went on a date shortly after that and then he gave me the cold shoulder for three months. He was taking a lot at school and was swamped. I was a distraction for him.

Fast forward to the end of our senior year when he was going to graduate and had more time. He hunted me down on a regular basis. One time I was giving high school juniors tours of the engineering labs and he came in. He was trying to mess up my presentation and make me laugh. He was charming. Another time he called the engineering office because he heard we had a meeting that afternoon. The secretary was perplexed as she called me out for the phone call. When I get to the phone he casually asked, ‘What are you doing?’ By the time spring break came, he wanted to go out.  

With the help of his roommate Tim, I finally gave him another chance. By the time classes ended we were dating. At graduation, the guys who were sitting between us moved down and Joe and I sat holding hands through the ceremony. The rest is history.”

Susan Veverka and her husband Joe (both M.S. Mechanical Engineering '87) were happily married for 24 years. Joe passed away from cancer in 2013. Susan teaches math at Archbishop Hoban High School, and Joe was a manufacturing engineer at Swagelok. They have two sons - Andrew and William. Andy is a UA graduate in biomedical engineering.