December 11, 2023
The School of Computing and Information (SCI) recently welcomed its newest Alumni Board member Vincent Penkrot (SCI ’01, '02G), a Fellow Engineer in the Fuel Engineering Technologies Department of Westinghouse Nuclear Fuels.
Penkrot received bachelor’s and master’s degrees with a focus on database systems from SCI’s Department of Computer Science. He has spent nearly 25 years as a software engineer and database engineer, starting his career at UPMC where he worked as a research software engineer. He moved to his current position at Westinghouse in 2006, where he has worked in software engineering, software quality assurance, and software product planning for nuclear engineering simulation software, used at 58 reactor sites worldwide.
Prior to his service on the Alumni Board, Penkrot served on the Department of Computer Science’s Industry Board where he served a term as Vice Chairman. Penkrot has a passion for mentoring which stems from his experience as a computer science student in the late 1990s.
“I was left to figure out much of what was needed to start career in this field on my own or with some input from other students who were able to find part-time jobs programming while completing their degrees,” Penkrot said of his own experience as an undergraduate. “Had the SCI mentoring program existed, I think I would have had an opportunity to work with someone to fill in the blanks that I had to learn on my own.”
In 2022, Penkrot joined the SCI mentoring program, where he had the opportunity to give a student the advice he wishes he received before beginning his career.
“I was connected with a SCI student whom I had a number of discussions with. When the opportunity arose to fill an intern position this summer for my department, I was able to recruit this student. He is now working to define the framework for our next generation user interfaces for our key spent fuel pool and reactor core monitoring software.”
Penkrot is a strong proponent of mentorship and is also involved in Westinghouse’s technical mentoring program. He believes that mentoring is invaluable to both the mentee and mentor, and strongly encourages anyone who thinks they might be interested to give it a shot.
Penkrot joins esteemed colleagues on SCI’s Alumni Board, whose mission is to serve as a link between alumni, students, and the dean to support SCI’s educational experience. As the SCI Alumni Board continues to support SCI’s faculty, staff, students, and overarching goals, we are excited to see how Penkrot will bring his own experience and passion for mentorship to the table.
--Benjamin Briggs