Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering held its annual Alumni Awards Induction Ceremony on April 29. The College of Engineering Alumni Awards were created in 1994 to recognize outstanding engineering alumni from the College.
Currently, the College of Engineering recognizes select alumni who have contributed to the profession, advanced in their careers, and enhanced the lives of others both personally and professionally. These outstanding alumni are reviewed by each of the eight schools within the College and formally submitted for selection.
"Our honorees are the epitome of Georgia Tech, and I’m humbled to stand among them as members of our alumni community," said College of Engineering Dean Raheem A. Beyah. "They are inspiring and remarkable. They serve as ambassadors for our students, who are preparing to follow in their lofty footsteps. And most of all, they are each a Helluva Engineer."
This year's inductees from Georgia Tech's School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering are:
Decie Burnett Autin Coleman (Engineering Hall of Fame)
BS ChE 1980
Vice President of Project Management, Global Projects Company (retired), ExxonMobil
Decie recently retired from ExxonMobil after more than 40 years developing and executing technology, operating upstream production, and major capital projects. In her role as vice president of project management for the Global Projects Company, Decie was responsible for supporting $20 billion of project activities (75% overseas). Prior to that, she was responsible for leading project development and execution for Mozambique Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), Papua New Guinea LNG, and several deepwater floating production systems offshore in Nigeria and the U.S. Gulf Coast.
In addition, Decie has been responsible for supporting global upstream production operations and U.S. domestic natural gas sales. Decie currently serves on the Georgia Tech Advisory Board and previously served on the Strategic Energy Institute Advisory Board and the Alumni Council. She is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni and currently serves as the women’s initiative co-chair for Greater Houston United Way.
Decie is married with two children, three stepchildren, and a granddaughter. She and her husband, Dan, are avid birdwatchers and travel the world to see new species. Decie has six lifelong girlfriends affectionately known as the “GT girls” who get together regularly to support each other, just like they did on campus.
Decie Burnett Autin Coleman (pictured center with College of Engineering Dean Raheem A. Beyah and co-host Sandra (Sandy) Magnus)
Michelle Mason (Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni)
Michelle Mason (Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni)
BS ChE 1986
Senior Market Developer, ExxonMobil
Michelle has been at ExxonMobil for the last six years and was previously a market developer in Catalyst and Licensing. Prior to Exxon, she served as global director of marketing for Avient Corporation, Kraton Chemical Corporation, and International Paper. Throughout her career, Michelle has built and elevated brands, identified new markets for growth, and driven new product innovation to support the needs of the market.
Michelle serves on the Georgia Tech Advisory Board and Regional Advisory Board for the Smithsonian Institution. Mentorship is her passion, and she encourages, counsels, and advises students on their engineering trajectory.
Michelle also earned a degree in chemistry from Spelman College and an MBA with a concentration in marketing from the University of Memphis.
Amit Chandrasekhar (Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni)
BS ChBE 2011, MS ChBE 2012
Associate Director of Pharmaceutical Development, Cassava Sciences Inc.
After graduating from Georgia Tech, Amit worked at Eli Lilly and Company for nearly nine years in a variety of engineering and operations roles within manufacturing. Initially, he supported Lilly’s tablet and capsule manufacturing facility. It included the company’s first Good Manufacturing Practices continuous drug product manufacturing line, which won ISPE awards in 2017 for Facility of the Future and Process Innovation.
He later supported a Lilly insulin fermentation facility, including qualification and validation of a new $90 million facility. During his time at Lilly, Amit led undergraduate engineering recruiting efforts at Georgia Tech and was responsible for hiring many Tech students for internships and full-time positions.
In 2020, Amit moved to Cassava Sciences, providing oversight and technical leadership for development and manufacturing of an Alzheimer’s drug currently in phase 3 clinical trials.
Amit Chandrasekhar (Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni)
Vedant Pradeep (Dean's Impact Award, pictured center with co-winner Ziyi Gao at right)
Vedant Pradeep (Dean's Impact Award)
BS ChBE 2019, BS CmpE 2019
CEO, Glucobit Inc.
Vedant and Ziyi Gao (BS IE 2017) met on campus in 2015 in their introductory ChBE 2100 class. They became partners and co-founded what would become Glucobit in 2018 while participating in the Georgia Tech CREATE-X program. Their initial goal was helping people detect nocturnal hypoglycemia, but the duo pivoted in 2019 toward helping people reduce alcohol use.
Their app, Reframe, is a neuroscience-based platform that helps people reduce alcohol consumption and discover the best versions of themselves. Reframe has become the leading direct-to-consumer alcohol reduction and habit change platform. It has helped more than 2 million people across 80 countries reduce alcohol use and often is among the most downloaded health and fitness apps worldwide.
They have raised more than $27 million in venture capital funding from top investors such as Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, Harvard University, Atlanta Ventures, HOF Capital, and CREATE-X. Vedant and Ziyi’s work has been featured in TechCrunch, Fortune, Forbes, Yahoo Life, Independent, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and more