4:25 p.m., May 19, 2009----The University of Delaware Engineering Alumni Association recognized three former students with Outstanding Alumni Awards on Honors Day, May 8: Steven H. McKnight, who earned his Ph.D. in materials science in 1995; E. Alan Uebler, who earned master's and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering in 1964 and 1966, respectively; and Sean X. Wang who earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1992.

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McKnight is chief of the Army Research Laboratory's Materials Division, where he has worked since 1996, initially, as a researcher and later as chief of the Polymers Research Branch and the Multifunctional Materials Branch.

In his current position, he is responsible for planning and executing the Army's basic and applied research in advanced materials technologies and then transitioning materials research products to Army stakeholders.

McKnight has published extensively in the composite materials and adhesion science literature. He has received two prestigious Army R&D Achievement Awards as well as the Paul Siple Memorial Medal presented at the Army Science Conference in recognition of outstanding research.

Uebler, who earned a law degree from the University of Maryland in 1974, served as in-house patent counsel for both the DuPont Company and W. L. Gore & Associates before entering private practice in Wilmington. He has prosecuted hundreds of patents to issue worldwide and litigated nationwide in all areas of intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights.

In addition, since 1978, he has been an adjunct faculty member in UD's Department of Chemical Engineering, teaching a course each of the past 31 years to aspiring engineers and scientists covering intellectual property matters, with a focus on the legal protection of creative concepts. More than 50 of his former students have gone on to become practicing patent lawyers.

Uebler is a member of the bars of the Delaware Supreme Court, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Wang is an accomplished entrepreneur who has founded, incubated, and financed more than a dozen high-tech companies over the past 10 years. Currently, he is the chief executive officer of B&W TEK, a local photonic instrument company. He is also founder and chairman of Litecure, a rapidly growing medical device company, and BWT Lighting, a start-up solid-state navigational lighting company. In addition, he serves on the boards of several other privately held companies.

Wang has authored more than 50 scientific publications and one book chapter, and he holds 14 U.S. patents, with more than 30 patent applications pending in the areas of optical instruments, lasers, spectroscopic sensors, and medical devices.

Wang serves on the boards of the Independence School of Delaware and the Chinese Entrepreneur Association, which is a national organization of Chinese American CEOs, executives and professionals. He is also a member of the external advisory council for UD's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Article by Diane Kukich