5 ASMS Alumni Participate in 2022 Panel for Students
5 ASMS graduates from varying class years recently served on a panel for ASMS assembly. The SGA prepared questions for the alumni to answer for the student body related to college, career, general life experiences, and more. Thank you to our 2022 alumni panelists! Read more about our panelists, their bios, and their academic & professional experiences below.
Kenneth Davis - Class of 2016
Professional Areas: biochemistry, mathematics, Japanese language and culture, medicine, business, medical school, business school
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ke...
Kenneth Davis is a Class of 2016 graduate from the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science. After graduating from ASMS, he attended UAB where he completed 2 bachelor's degrees in biochemistry and mathematics as well as a master's degree in mathematics. During his undergraduate education, Kenneth also served as a teaching assistant and supplemental instructor for multiple courses at the university. Since the year 2017, Kenneth has volunteered with Language without Barriers, an organization at UAB focused on exposing young children to different languages and cultures to create a more diverse and inclusive community. In addition, for three months during his sophomore year of college, Kenneth studied abroad focusing on Japanese language and literature through Nihon University. In 2018, Kenneth was published in conjunction with other authors for a work entitled: Application of Tyrosine-Tryptophan Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer in Monitoring Protein Size Changes. In June of 2020, Kenneth was named as a Germany Fulbright Scholar through UAB. Today, Kenneth is a student in the UAB School of Medicine where he is studying to become a physician. He will graduate in 2024 with both an MD and MBA.
Mallory Mitchell - Class of 2010
Professional Areas: fundraising, non-profit, racial equity, business, public policy, public affairs, philanthropy
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ma...
Mallory Mitchell is the resource mobilization director at Black Visions, where she leads the community organization's fundraising efforts. Previously, she worked in fundraising positions at GiveMN, Metropolitan State University, and the Urban League Twin Cities. Originally from Millry, Alabama, Mallory earned her bachelor's degree in business from the University of Montevallo and her master's degree in public policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Over the course of her career, she has developed a special interest in addressing issues of racial equity in philanthropy. When she's not working, you can find Mallory practicing yoga, scrolling through Twitter, and buying more candles than one person could ever need.
Dr. Risa Kawai - Class of 2004
Professional Areas: physics, biophysics, neuroscience, data science, tech
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ri...
Dr. Risa Kawai is a research data scientist at Meta, formerly known as Facebook, on the Infrastructure Data Science team. She received her college degree in physics at MIT and her Ph.D. in biophysics at Harvard University. Her graduate research was in neuroscience, but she decided to switch careers after graduating and has been working in the tech industry as a data scientist.
Elise Ottenfeld - Class of 2007
Professional Areas: chemistry, radiological chemistry, nuclear power, carbon free energy, system monitoring, sample collection
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/el...
Elise Ottenfeld works as Radiological Chemist for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant. Previous to working at Sequoyah, Elise worked at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, the first new nuclear plant to come online in the 21st century, also part of TVA. As a radiological chemist, her daily job duties consistent of monitoring plant water and air systems to ensure cleanliess as well as collecting food, water, and soil samples from the surrounding region to validate Federal Regulations for radioactivity are met. TVA is the nation’s largest public power provider and a corporation of the US government.
J. Brandon Sanders - Class of 1996
Professional Areas: electrical engineering, operations, production, upstream capability, asset development, process automation
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-brandon-sanders-101885b/
J. Brandon Sanders is the Production Superintendent at the Angola LNG plant in Soyo, Angola. Brandon is responsible for delivering the day to day work direction and guidance for production operations shift team leads and crews. ALNG produces approximately 140,000-150,000 BOE/D of LNG and LPG.
Previously Brandon served as Operations Advisor in Upstream Capability. His responsibility was serving as a center point of contact and influencer for all Upstream Business Unit Operations teams on many issues and programs ranging from fatality prevention to strategic staffing.
Prior to his role in Upstream Capability, Brandon served as an Asset Development Team Lead on the Bay Marchand Asset Team in Covington, LA; Operations Supervisor for the South Pass Production Group in the Gulf of Mexico; and Process Automation/Subsea Hardware engineer at Chevron Technology Center in Houston, Tx.
After graduating in 2001 from Auburn University, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, he was hired full time as an Instrument and Electrical Designs Engineer at the Pascagoula Refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi. While in the refinery, Brandon’s experience ranged from a plant and turnaround engineer to the design, construction and startup representative on major capital projects.
Brandon currently resides in Mobile, Al. He and his wife (Shannon Sanders) have a daughter (Anna Louise) age 10 and a son (John Henry) age 8. When home from Soyo, Brandon enjoys spending quality time with the family.