2024 EAA Awards Honoree Bios


Young Alumni Award

Photo of Joseph Muth.

Joseph Muth

MSE '12

Joseph Muth earned his B.S. in Materials Engineering (‘12) from Purdue where he graduated first in his class. During his time at Purdue, he received several awards including the Bruce Helfert Award (Most Outstanding Junior Engineer) and the G.A. Ross Award (Most Outstanding Senior Man). Following his studies at Purdue, he pursued his Ph.D. in Materials Science at Harvard University where he studied under Prof. Jennifer Lewis and focused his research at the intersection of digital manufacturing and soft matter physics. As a result of his work, Muth received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, was named a John and Fannie Hertz Foundation Fellowship Finalist, and was recognized by the American Ceramics Society with the Graduate Excellence in Materials Science Award. His research produced four patents, six peer reviewed papers, and 2800 citations.

After completing his Ph.D., Muth joined the Nike eXplore Team where he led the development of underfoot cushioning platforms. While at Nike, Muth invented and led the ReactX foam program. ReactX is a performance footwear foam with half the carbon impact and >10% better performance than incumbent technologies. This product commercially launched in July of 2023 and is now present in Nike’s highest volume performance running footwear. ReactX was responsible for an estimated >$100M revenue during its first year on the market. During his tenure at Nike, Muth was recognized with the Creative Thought Leadership Award for outstanding innovation; his ReactX team won the corporate Maxim Award for “Do The Right Thing”, and his work generated nine granted patents. Currently, Muth serves as the Chief Technical Officer at 3D Fortify, a venture-backed series B start-up focused on the productization of high performance lenses for radio frequency communications. Muth’s team is responsible for all aspects of product development, research, and production. To date his team has launched Fortify’s first two commercial products, doubled machine placements in the field, and secured ~$15M of strategic and venture capital. He is most proud of creating an environment where people love their jobs and are doing the best work of their careers.

Outside of work, Muth is happily married to his grade school sweetheart, has two amazing two-legged children (Jordan: 3, Olivia: < 2 months), and one adorable four-legged child (7 year old pitbull - Loomis). When he is not chasing his children around, you can find him adventuring in the mountains, pursuing all things fly fishing, studying philosophy and theology, or teaching at his local parish.


Loyalty Award

Photo of James Rowings.

James Rowings

BSCE '75, MSCE '79, PhD CE '82

Throughout his career, Jim has held leadership positions in academia and industry. Jim holds B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from Purdue University. He has taught every fundamental construction engineering course and many graduate level courses related to construction engineering and management at leading universities including University of Kansas, Iowa State University, and Purdue University. Jim began his career working his way through school as a boilermaker for CBI and then upon graduation worked for ARAMCO in Saudi Arabia as a construction engineer and project Engineer on projects ranging in scope from $60 million to $2.3 billion in the 1970’s.

He led the top Construction Engineering program in the US for 15 years. As a teacher and academic researcher, Jim has developed new approaches to student learning and employee training. Jim led several research projects for CII, the Construction Industry Institute including two on development of solutions to the workforce shortage in the 1990’s.. Jim helped found and establish a major corporate university for Kiewit over a decade ago and currently oversees the education and training programs for the employees across 5 colleges, 8 core schools, 17 technical schools, and several specialty and craft schools.

He has had numerous leadership positions including President of AACE International Cost Engineers, Chairman of ASCE’s Engineering Management Group, Chairman of DBIA Education & Research Foundation, Editor of Construction Engineering & Management Journal, Trustee of NCCER. He was elected Fellow at ASCE and AACE and was elected to the National Academy of Construction. He has authored or co-authored more than 25 published research papers, several books, and has served on several University advisory councils. Jim is an active member of the US Chamber of Commerce Workforce Development committee.

Dr. Rowings was named the recipient of the ASCE OPAL(Outstanding Projects and Leadership) award for Construction for 2023.


Innovation Award

Photo of Umesh Patel.

Umesh Patel

BSE '86, MSEE '88, PhD IE '95

Umesh Patel's foundation for innovation started at Purdue University. He earned a PhD in industrial engineering, an MS in electrical engineering and a BS in interdisciplinary engineering. While at Purdue, he conducted research at Purdue’s Hillenbrand Biomedical Engineering Center led by Dr. Leslie Geddes. Specific areas of focus were cardiac monitoring, hyperthermia, telemedicine, and regenerative biomaterials. His research contributed to many publications as well as patents.

Umesh co-founded Cook Biotech, a regenerative medicine company, and had initial responsibilities for operations and the development of manufacturing processes to produce extracellular matrix (ECM) medical devices. As the company grew, he served many roles including vice president of operations, vice president of product development and president. He holds more than 50 U.S. patents. As president of Cook Biotech, Umesh provided executive leadership and strategic direction to the organization that had global talent spanning the areas of research, development, marketing, regulatory and manufacturing.

He currently serves on several boards: IU Health West Central Region, Community Foundation of Greater Lafayette, Purdue Foundry Investment Fund, and Purdue Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. He served as past board chair for Greater Lafayette Commerce. He was also a mentor for the MatchBOX Coworking Studio Spark program for minority-owned businesses.

Umesh is married and has three children, all of which have earned their degrees from Purdue University.