Michael Wicks (MSE, Mechanical Engineering, ’94), is one of six honorees inducted in this year’s Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame on Feb. 25 at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Spa.
Wicks’ career has been devoted to providing innovative engineering and technical services to the nation’s defense, both as a United States Army civilian and as a private contractor for the Department of Defense. As a successful business owner and entrepreneur, he founded Summit Research Corporation and i3. Later, Wicks joined Houston-based Diakonos Research in 2022 as its president and is leading the company’s development of state-of-the-art cancer immunotherapies.
“As a UAH graduate student, Mike led a team of 10 students who won first place in the AIAA Missiles System Design Competition in 1994,” says Dr. Robert Fredrick, director of the UAH Propulsion Research Center (PRC). “This work involved designing a multi-mission missile, estimating production costs and putting together an organization structure for a company to build the missile system. Mike demonstrated his leadership and technical abilities though this achievement, and he has continued to excel throughout his remarkable career. Mike has been an avid supporter of the UAH Propulsion Research Center and returned to campus recently to speak at our 30th anniversary celebration events.”
He joins another Huntsvillian, Rey Almodovar, co-founder and chief executive officer emeritus of INTUITIVE and the company honoree, Dynetics, which is located in Cummings Research Park.
UAH has a long history of alumni who are inductees, including Jeff Langhout, Dr. Lisa Watson-Morgan, Gerald Smith, Dr. Marc Bendickson and Dr. Jan Davis. Inductees Dr. Dorothy Davidson and William Craig were given honorary degrees from the university. More broadly, Huntsville and the surrounding area has connections to nearly 40 individual inductees, including Robert Lightfoot, Ronnie Chronister, Shelia Cummings, Jody Singer and Dr. Mike Griffin and more than 15 projects and companies.
“We are very proud of the rich history that Huntsville has with the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame. To see the incredible accomplishments from our UAH alumni and fellow community members is what makes our city remarkable,” said UAH President Chuck Karr. “I am extremely pleased to see Mike Wicks added to this illustrious group. As a graduate, Mike has been a stellar advocate for UAH’s engineering program. He is an outstanding leader and caring philanthropist. UAH is proud of Mike’s success and the other inductees in the field of engineering.”
The Hall of Fame is overseen by engineering colleges and schools at Auburn University, Alabama A&M University, The University of Alabama, Tuskegee University, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, The University of Alabama in Huntsville and the University of South Alabama.