Senior Software Engineer, Athenahealth

Rosario works as a Senior Software Engineer at Athenahealth in Burlington, VT, developing optimized hospital software solutions that help deliver accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare. Prior to joining Athenahealth in 2019, Rosario worked in software engineering roles for both IDX and GE Healthcare’s hospital software solutions.

As a UVM alum, Rosario has been involved with UVM in several volunteer roles. In 2012, she joined UVM President Sullivan’s Advisory Council, on which she served for 3 years. That same year, she also joined the UVM Alumni Association Board of Directors as the Chair of the Admissions Committee for 6 years, helping to drive better connections between UVM alumni, UVM, and UVM families. Through the years, she has also volunteered for multiple events with the UVM Career Hub and Mosaic Center for Students of Color. In 2021, Rosario joined the UVM CEMS Advisory Board.

Rosario earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from UVM in 1987. Originally from Honduras, she currently lives in Williston, VT with her husband (UVM ’90). Her two adult children are also part of the UVM family. Her oldest son graduated in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience, and in 2022 with a Master of Science in Counseling. Her youngest son graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Sciences and is currently a UVM Computer Science graduate student working to receive his Master of Science degree in 2023.

Sr. Vice President, Bimbo Bakeries

Bob Chernoff is a Senior Vice President at Bimbo Bakeries USA (BBU),  known for its leading bakery brands including Arnold, Thomas, Entenmann’s, Sara Lee and Freihofer.  Bob currently leads Corporate Strategy, Transformation and the Acelerada business unit. In his 36 plus year career with BBU and its predecessors Bob has held leadership roles over Information Technology, Supply Chain Logistics, Corporate Strategy, Corporate Development, Transformation, Corporate Venture Capital and Growth Opportunities.

Bob graduated from the University of Vermont in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science

President, EIV Technical Services

Jacqueline Dagesse began her career as a program manager in the tech industry. She worked with international teams to develop software products which aided the utility industry in federal regulation compliance. As the firm grew, she met with angel investors and investment partners to ‘pitch’ the business. This experience in mergers & acquisition gave Jacquie the confidence to acquire a firm of her own, EIV Technical Services, in 2011. Along with her husband, Nathan, they have grown the firm to earn State and Federal retainer contracts in the transportation and energy industries. EIV provides construction management, environmental and project outreach consulting services. Their headquarters office is located in Winooski, Vt.

From 2012-2015 she led an EIV team to pioneer the State of Vermont accreditation process for materials testing laboratories. After starting and growing this side of the business, she sold it through an acquisition by SW Cole Engineering.

In 2016 she became a partner in a small real estate development company focused on urban infill redevelopment projects in Chittenden County, Vt., in addition to her role at EIV. She is currently working on expanding and growing a complimentary property management division of the business.

Jacquie has both a civil engineering management degree and a master’s in business administration from the University of Vermont. While at UVM, Jacquie started the first student chapter of Engineers Without Borders and lead UVM student civil engineering projects in Honduras and Nicaragua. She is passionate about service led engineering projects, both locally and abroad. She also services on the Vermont Technical College Advisory Board.

Jacquie met her husband, Nathan, in Votey Hall on the first day of CE OO1. They live in Williston, Vt., with their four children.

President and Chief Executive Officer, BrandSafway

Karl Fessenden is the president and chief executive officer at BrandSafway. He joined the company in October 2020.

Fessenden has extensive leadership experience in complex service-based businesses, as well as a strong track record of driving commercial and operational excellence in both public and private companies. Prior to joining BrandSafway, he served as president and chief operating officer of MB Aerospace. Fessenden has also served as CEO of CHC Helicopter and spent 20 years at General Electric (GE) in various roles for GE Aviation and GE Energy, including leading GE’s $8 billion Power Generation Services unit.

He graduated from the University of Vermont with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and earned his master’s degree in business administration and management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at the Hartford Graduate Center.

Victoria Hildebrand is the former Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the United States Department of Transportation. During her time in Washington, she spearheaded a digital transformation program that resulted in tens of millions of savings, a more resilient cyber security infrastructure, and the implementation of modern data management techniques across all the Department’s agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration.

For more than 30 years, Hildebrand lead the organizations in hardware and software development, systems engineering, architecture, operations, and global services at Hewlett-Packard Inc. In her current role as CIO and SVP of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA), Hildebrand implements future technology and data management capabilities to better serve consumers, clients, and employees. Prior to her role in MA, Hildebrand served as the CIO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont.  This proud former member of UVM’s College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Board of Advisors now serves on UVM’s Center for Biomedical Innovation Advisory Board. She is also a U.S. Figure Skating Gold Medalist and former coach and is a national competition figure skating judge in her free time.

CEO of HighRes Biosolutions

Ira serves as the CEO of HighRes Biosolutions in Beverly, MA, leading a team of over 300 professionals dedicated to designing, developing, and implementing innovative automation solutions for the life sciences. HighRes offers comprehensive automation options ranging from laboratory automation to SaaS software and system integrations, spanning a variety of processes including High Throughput/Content Screening, Compound/Sample Management, Genomics, and Cell-Based Workflows.

Before joining HighRes Biosolutions, Ira was instrumental in transforming wheelchairs into autonomous robots capable of self-storing in the trunk of a vehicle, at an assistive technology firm known as Freedom Sciences. He commenced his career at Merck, spending six years there and initially delving into Lab Automation and High Throughput Screening within Drug Discovery.

Ira obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from UVM in 1999. Throughout his undergraduate years, he engaged as a TA, experimental assistant, and electronics technician in both the Physics and Mathematics departments. He later achieved a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Villanova University. Ira resides in Stoneham, MA, with his wife and two daughters.

Senior Vice President, Bechtel Corporation

Walker Kimball is a Senior Vice President of Bechtel Corporation and currently serves as a Senior Project Manager in Bechtel’s Liquified Natural Gas business unit. In his 30 plus year career in the international construction industry and 20 years with Bechtel, he has held senior corporate roles and directly managed large infrastructure, oil & gas, and P3 projects.  His experience includes working with a variety of international governments, private clients and partners with a proven skill-set in all areas of project implementation, from engineering to procurement to construction and delivery.

More recently Mr. Kimball was responsible for all activities involving the delivery of the $10B Riyadh Metro P1 project including overseeing design, construction, project management, and start-up. He takes responsibility for seeing that the company’s industry-leading standards for safety, quality, and sustainability are upheld. Before that he held the role of Senior Project manager for the Corpus Christi LNG project.

From 2010 to 2015, Mr. Kimball led Bechtel’s Infrastructure business line within the Civil Global Business Unit. As Managing Director, he held responsibility for all profit and loss aspects concerning the wide-ranging remits of infrastructure.

Prior to this, as President of Bechtel Construction Operations Incorporated from 2008 to 2010, he oversaw functional and personnel administration, as well as having oversight of operations for Bechtel’s global construction activities, including direct hire and construction management.

He led the overall management for the USD 627 million design-build, fixed-price contract for the design and construction of the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge, as well as having oversight of engineering, project, and construction management services for $15B Hamad International Airport in Qatar.

Other previous senior leadership roles include positions as General Manager of Infrastructure for Bechtel’s Civil global business unit from 2007 to 2008 and, from 2004 to 2007, Manager of Construction for rail, aviation, infrastructure, and building projects. This included such projects as High Speed 1 in the UK.

Prior to joining Bechtel in 1998, Mr. Kimball worked for the North American companies Atkinson, PCL, Pizzagalli, and Morrison-Knudsen. Mr. Kimball earned his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Vermont. He was Vice President of the ASCE Construction Institute in 2003 and is a member of the European Construction Institute.

Chief Technology Officer, Amphenol High-Speed Products Group

Brian Kirk is the Chief Technology Officer for the Amphenol High-Speed Products Group. He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire. Over Brian's twenty-five plus year career, he has been granted more than 25 patents on interconnect design and architectures. His responsibilities included leading engineering divisions across North America, Europe, and Asia for both high-speed copper and optical interconnects.

Vice Chair, Eliza Corporation

Mark Manning is the chief revenue officer for Eliza Corporation, a member and provider health engagement company, focused on improving communications and the quality of care for members and providers that are working with the largest health insurers and drug benefit management companies.

Mark has over 25 years of senior management experience in health insurance and healthcare technologies designed to improve the quality of clinical care, create efficiencies in administrative activities and resolve gaps in care.

Mark was CEO of Healthx, a portal for health plans and TPAs to interact with their members, providers, and brokers around supporting information processing and management. He was also vice president and managing director of Pegasystems Healthcare Unit. Mark’s unit built applications to support all core functions for health plans and pharmacy companies. This business unit ran applications for all 50 of the largest insurance companies, ten largest pharmacy management companies and Medicare/Medicaid. Mark was involved with the startup and growth of HMO Blue in Massachusetts, as senior program director, growing this HMO to over 1.6m lives under management. He also worked for Solucient HCIA, a healthcare informatics company, as senior vice president and managing director of the health plan and self-insured employer businesses. Mark was also senior vice president at the Codman Research Group.

Mark has presented at several healthcare industry events on many topics including Provider Contracting, Claims Management, Risk Adjustment, Provider Profiling, Healthcare Small Area Analysis, and Disease Management.

Mark received his bachelor of science degree in applied mathematics from the University of Vermont in 1985, and a master of healthcare administration from the University of Massachusetts in 1989. He currently serves as a board member for Virtusa Corporation, a public company involved with product development and software project delivery.

President and CEO at Benchmark Space Systems

Ryan McDevitt is the president and chief executive officer at Benchmark Space Systems, a Burlington-based company he co-founded in 2017 to commercialize technology first developed at UVM.

Under Ryan’s guidance, Benchmark Space has completed contracts for NASA, USAF, and DARPA, expanded to offices in California and the UK, and launched their first hardware to space in 2020. As a native Vermonter and UVM alum, he focuses on generating opportunities in Vermont for students and recent grads to engage in STEM enrichment and employment.

Ryan earned his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from WPI in 2003, and his M.S. (2011) and Ph.D. (2014) in mechanical engineering from UVM.

Over a 37-year career with Pacific Gas and Electric Company Janet held a wide variety of positions.  Her career started as a customer account representative with a focus on improving energy efficiency for agricultural customers in California’s central and southern San Joaquin Valley.  She later moved into energy efficiency program management, with responsibility for both local implementation and national energy efficiency policy advocacy.  After stints in Communications, including as the CEO’s executive speechwriter and leading the formation of the Company’s first Compliance and Ethics program, she led a variety of different programs and projects.  In the information technology area, this included leading the implementation of an enterprise Human Resources and Payroll system, and an enterprise-wide team of 170 people responsible for system requirements and testing.  She became an expert in California utility regulation related to Human Resources and was responsible for rate recovery of approximately $1 billion per year.  She developed procedures to support the regulatory process across the company.  Her final assignment was to oversee PG&E’s retirement plans, with a specific focus on plan administration and process improvement.

Janet earned a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering from Oregon State University, an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Vermont, and a Masters in Human Resources and Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco.

She currently resides in Oregon on her multi-generational family farm. Janet was recently appointed to be a member of the Yamhill County Fair Board and is an active volunteer with the local 4-H program.

Director of Technical Program Management, Google

Jennifer Schonher is the Director of Technical Program Management at Google.  A passionate customer experience professional, she’s built a career helping organizations deal with complex, ever-changing business issues.  Before Google she served as a Digital Products Engineer for Tesla, Director and Chief Salesforce Architect at Symantec, and a Solution Architect at Salesforce.  She has her B.S. in Electrical Engineering with a focus on Biomedical Engineering from the University of Vermont.

President and Chief Executive Officer, VRH Construction

Vic Wortmann, Jr. serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of VRH Construction, located in Englewood, NJ. As a graduate of the University of Vermont, Vic. received a B.S. in Engineering Management. Upon graduation in 1986, he joined VRH and began his career in the aviation construction industry as a Project Manager and became Vice President of the company nine years later. After a 22-year tenure at VRH, Vic became President & Chief Executive Officer in 2002, the position he currently holds today.

Under his leadership, he repositioned the firm as an Aviation Construction Specialist to focus on the Aviation Construction sector which has been its core business for 61 years. He expanded the operations territory beyond the NY/NJ Metro area to include Philadelphia and the Northeast Regional Airport Markets. He identified, initiated, and implemented two new divisions: Jetworks and RetailBuild, and responding to industry direction, introduced a new service at the firm, DesignBuild. He is responsible for developing the strategic vision for the company and implementing those initiatives and focuses intently on maintain an influential culture of employee engagement at the company and a unique experience for its’ clients from project inception through close out.

During his tenure as President and CEO, the company has been recognized by the American Subcontractors Association of NJ as General Contractor of the Year as well as numerous other organizations and publications including Building, Design+Construction magazine acknowledging VRH as one of the Top Airport Sector Construction Leaders, and the 2019 Build Awards Leading Best Aviation Construction firm in the N.E. Region and Leading Experts in Aviation Construction. Over the course of his 33-year career, he has been involved with aviation projects in excess of $2.5 billion at John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.

Vic resides in Bedford, N.Y. and is involved with numerous local Boards and charitable organizations throughout his community.