Vince Bowen
ESTEC Executive Director/Dept. Chair
Work Background
Vince was born in Idaho and raised in Pocatello graduating from Highland High school. Shortly after graduating from High School, Vince started his career in the US Nuclear Navy serving as a prototype instructor and as a nuclear electrician aboard the USS Phoenix, a nuclear submarine. He left the Navy as a Chief Petty Officer qualifying as an Engineering Watch Supervisor aboard the submarine. Following his Navy experience, he has worked at the Idaho National Laboratory at numerous locations and a variety of positions with the most significant positions including Nuclear Facility Manger of the Specific Manufacturing Capability (Abrams tank armor), Hot Fuel Examination Facility (post irradiation examination of nuclear fuel), Fuel Conditioning Facility (reprocess spent nuclear fuel), and Transient Reactor Test Facility (qualify fuel for Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing). Additionally he qualified as a Senior Reactor Operator and Shift Supervisor at the Advanced Test Reactor. He has managed people since he was 15 years old starting as a construction foreman.
He is married to Elizabeth Bowen, has three sons, and seven grandchildren.
Education
Vince has a Bachelor’s Degree in University Studies with an Emphasis in Nuclear Facility Management. He has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. Both degrees were obtained from Idaho State University.
Favorite Activity Outside of Work
Vince’s hobbies include Fishing, Geocaching, and Boy Scouting.
Gregory Brooks
Instrumentation Clinical Instructor
Education
Columbus Technical College
Certificate, Industrial Technology/Technician, 1982 - 1983 Grade: 4.0/4.0
Opelika State Technical College (now Southern Union Technical College)
2 year technical degree, Industrial Electronics Technology/Technician, 1979 - 1981 Grade: 4.0/4.0 Auburn University
Pre-Engineering - No degree, 1978 - 1979 Grade: 3.0/4.0
A little about me…
I am approaching 40+ years in the Controls Engineering field with 20+ of those years being in the Pulp and Paper Industry. I consider myself fortunate to have chosen such a challenging and rewarding career that is ever changing and requires constant learning to keep up. I started out as an Industrial Electrician and have progressed all the way up to a Process Controls Engineer without having an accredited degree in Engineering, and now currently teaching at Idaho State University. This was accomplished by constant learning, self-study, and perseverance. I have ran conduit, pulled wire, built electrical panels, performed electronics board level repair, experienced a rubber batching process converted to mainframe computer control from single Boolean logic modules, programmed and maintained several major vendor's PLCs, worked with embedded microprocessor controls, learned and programmed in multiple programming languages (to include C, PASCAL, Delphi, PowerBuilder, Python, Visual Basic to name a few), worked with Relational Databases (to include ORACLE, Microsoft SQL Server, Interbase, DBase, Paradox, MySQL, and Microsoft Access), DCS Configuration for Bailey Infi 90 and Emerson DeltaV, HMI configuration for Wonderware, RsView, Panel Views, and iFix, managed vendor selection for DCS Upgrade, managed standards development for using Object Based Class Libraries in an IT role as well as Class Based control standards for Emerson DeltaV, been the primary DCS Engineer in implementing MPC Controls for supervisory control for Recovery/Recaust Area. In addition, I have 40+ years without a Lost Time Accident.
Mackenzie Gorham
Clinical Instructor, Nuclear Operations
Professional Work Experience
- B.S in Nuclear Engineering from Missouri S&T 2009, M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from Idaho State University 2012, M.S. in Environmental Science from University of Idaho
- Senior Reactor Operator
- Worked for the Department of Energy at Idaho National Lab as a Criticality Safety SME, Safety System Oversight Officer, and RAP federal team leader, for 10 years
Career Highlights
- Instant SRO
- Developed student operator training program for Missouri S&T research reactor
- Published two benchmarks for the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project
- Performed oversight of the TREAT restart at INL, and helped recreate a compliant system engineering program after decades of shutdown
One of Your Favorite Professional Experiences
It is hard to choose one favorite experience, but there is nothing quite like operating a nuclear reactor. Even though I worked at a small research reactor, it was exciting and a truly unique and enjoyable part of my career.
Personal Facts
I moved to Idaho from Missouri, and love it. In my free time, I have a hobby farm, like photography, rock climbing, riding horses, hiking, jiu jitisu, scuba diving, cooking, stand up paddle_boarding, and travel. On Friday's, I run a food pantry in Chubbuck.
Sean McBride
Industrial Cybersecurity Engineering Technology Coordinator / Clinical Sr. Instructor
Within Idaho State University’s Energy Systems Technology Education Center (ESTEC), Sean McBride runs the nation’s only 2 year, hands-on degree to specialize in defending industrial facilities from cyber attacks and incidents.
Sean joined ISU after leaving FireEye, where he developed the firm’s Industrial Control Systems (ICS) security business strategy. Sean’s professional accomplishments include pioneering work in threat and vulnerability intelligence, which evolved into the DHS ICS-CERT, and co-founding Critical Intelligence to focus on the unique intelligence needs of industrial entities.
Over the past decade, Sean has written extensively for his customers, provided expert analysis for the popular press, and briefed the results of his work at leading professional conferences such as RSA and S4.
Sean earned an MBA in the NSA Scholarship for Service Program at ISU in 2006. He earned a Masters in Global Management from Thunderbird – Arizona State University in 2010.
Benjamin R. Lampe
Clinical Instructor, ICS Cybersecurity
Office: Eames Building | Rm. 103
Ben received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wyoming. Immediately after, he was employed by the Naval Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) for the past 10 years. During his tenure at the NNL, he received a Masters of Science in Computer Science from the University of Idaho. He has experience designing and building Rockwell Automation PLC and HMI systems, BACnet Building Automation systems, and open source systems with Linux and Node Red. After he transitioned from control systems into IT as part of the IT Leadership Development Program, he has experience managing Cisco and Palo Alto Network Technologies and working with VMware Virtualization Infrastructure.
Ben’s professional achievements during his tenure with the NNL include writing, architecting, and implementing the Operational Technology (OT) Technical Strategy for the US Naval Reactor Program. This Strategy is implemented and used currently across the United States within the Naval Nuclear Laboratory.
Jeremy Perschon
Instrumentation Program Coordinator and Clinical Sr. Instructor
Office: Energy Systems & Technology Education Center 211
Professional Work Experience
Instrumentation Technician – Idaho Supreme – 1.5 years
Process Control Technician – Idahoan Foods – 1 year
Instructor/Coordinator, Instrumentation Engineering Technology – 6 years
Career Highlights
Performed various instrumentation related tasks in the field including calibration, troubleshooting, programming, wiring, etc.
Designed and supervised the installation of custom process control lab stations at ISU
One of my Favorite Professional Experiences…
One of the most rewarding professional experiences here at ISU was mentoring a pair of Instrumentation students that were assisting with a research project. The students were tasked with programming, wiring, and installation of instrumentation to perform wireless valve position monitoring of some manually operated valves in our lab.
I enjoyed working with the students as they accomplished the project. Using the knowledge they gained in the program, they were able to meet and exceed the requirements of the project with only an occasional hint or nudge in the right direction. The project was particularly satisfying to me because, while the students previously hadn’t previously worked with some of the technologies and components, they were able to apply critical thinking skills and foundational knowledge obtained in the program to excel at a difficult task with little intervention needed. To me, that is the fundamental goal of the education provided here at the College of Technology. The students both went on to apply their education and experience as controls designers for a systems integrator in Maryland.
Mike Tauscher
Clinical Instructor
Professional Work Experience
- Service Technician, GT Graphics/Ink Well - 3 years
- Line Maintenance Technician, AMI Semiconductor - 10 years
- Instruction Assistant, College of Technology Electronics Program - 2 1/2 years
- Instructor, College of Technology IET/EET Program’s - 7 years
Career Highlights
- 1994/95 VICA (Now SkillsUSA) State Competition Gold Medal Winner
- 1994/95 VICA National Competition Bronze Medal Winner
- 2008 Started working at the College of Technology in the laser lab
One of Your Favorite Professional Experiences
I don’t have just one favorite experience. My favorite experiences are getting up in the morning and getting to play with electricity and electronics! I love the challenge of repairing things that are broken or modifying something to make it better. I am one of the lucky ones that look at work as getting to play with neat things. When it comes to teaching I feel the same way. I get to teach students how to have fun with something.
I work with a group of fantastic people here at ESTEC and they make getting out of bed and coming to work a lot of fun and this spills over into the classroom where the students also have fun while learning. I would like to invite you to join us at the Energy Systems Technology & Education Center (ESTEC). We will prepare you for a great job in many different fields related to electrical, electronics, power generation, food processing manufacturing and more.
Val Williams
Program Coordinator / Clinical Instructor
Professional Work Experience
- Controls Technician and Developer – Lamb Weston - 25 years
- PLC Training Course Instructor – ISU – 5 years
- Instructor – Electrical Engineering Technology Program – 2 years
Career Highlights
- Upgrading a PLC cabinet and while making over 1000 wire terminations only two wires were landed incorrectly.
- Designing and programming the PLC system for a raw potato processing area that unloads over 4,000,000 pounds of potatoes each day.
- Relocating the main control panels for the processing facility within a two week period of time. When it was time to test the equipment everything operated as needed.
One of You Favorite Professional Experiences
Due to the various job assignments I worked over the years I have gained experience in several different fields of automation and controls. This experience included development, installation, operation and data transfer. It has been enjoyable for me to take a project from just being an idea and working it through the entire process of designing the control system, installing or overseeing the installation of the equipment, programming the controller and data historian, and putting the information on the plant managers desktop.
Me Personally
I enjoy being in the outdoors in the solitude of the hills. I like to go cycling, mountain biking, ATV riding, or even hiking. I have raised five children here in the Pocatello area and hope to spend many more years here.
