Kudos
Michael Gombos ’12 was recently promoted to senior plant engineer at Chelsea Building Products, headquartered in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. Gombos has been with Chelsea since he graduated from Behrend with a degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology in 2012.
Between 2018 and 2019, he helped the company establish a new plant in Greenville, Texas, including renovating a facility, locating equipment, and partnering with local contractors to install electrical and mechanical infrastructure and upgrade the water system. In his new role, Gombos will be the technical lead for all Chelsea locations.
Wesley Salandro, a 2009 Mechanical Engineering graduate, was named a 2023 Delcie Durham Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer at the June 2023 conference of SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers).
The Pittsburgh native launched his engineering career at BMW while still a Ph.D. student in automotive engineering at Clemson University. After completing his doctoral degree, Salandro took a position at the MINI Cooper plant in Oxford, England. Later, he held leadership positions at startups Lucid Motors and Vector Launch.
In 2019, he joined SpaceX. As director of composites production and Falcon stage integration, he leads teams assembling and testing parts on both stages of the Falcon 9 rocket and producing composite assemblies used in the Falcon and Dragon programs.
Casey Port ’16, ’19 M.B.A., center, cuts the ribbon with her family at the grand opening of
Poverty Knob Farmhouse Ales in November.
Behrend Grad Running Family’s New Brewing Business
Casey Port ’16, ’19 M.B.A., recently left the corporate world to return to her roots and serve as chief operations officer of her family’s business, Port Farms, in Waterford, Pennsylvania.
In addition to operating a pumpkin, squash, wildflower, and Christmas tree farm at 2055 Stone Quarry Road, Port Farms hosts events that draw hundreds of visitors in summer, fall, and winter. The farm’s latest venture is a 6,000-square-foot building that houses a year-round brewery and restaurant named Poverty Knob Farmhouse Ales.
“It was my dad’s idea,” said Port, who came home two years ago to help make it happen. Port has a Project and Supply Chain Management degree and a Master of Business Administration degree from Behrend and is part of the fifth generation of her family to own and run the farm. “We cannot wait to share another part of the farm with our community and invite everyone (pups included) to come check it out.”
The new dog-friendly ten-barrel brewhouse is named for a stretch of poor soil on the 200-acre farm, dubbed Poverty Knob by Port’s great-grandmother. To learn more, visit the Poverty Knob website.
Danny Pakulski ’21, right, discusses a scene with actor Paul Kandarian in Oddity Productions’ new short film, Portrait of a Universe.
New Release
Erie-based Oddity Productions, started by three high school friends, two of whom are Behrend graduates—Danny Pakulski, a 2021 Digital Media, Arts, and Technology graduate, and Liam O’Brien, a 2023 International Business and Finance graduate— recently released its second short film.
Portrait of a Universe tells the story of an interstellar impressionist painter, Rodney, who seeks out swirling galaxies and colorful clusters of stars and captures the vastness of our universe in his artwork with the aid of his AI co-pilot, Alice, as they talk about art and humanity. See the trailer on the Oddity Productions website.
Jade Winery on Donation Road in Waterford, Pennsylvania, opened in November 2022 with six varieties of wine.
Brothers Turn Hobby into Booming Business
Eight years ago, brothers and Mechanical Engineering Technology alumni Derek Brown ’13 and Jason Brown ’18 ventured into winemaking, creating coffee wine and exotic wines not generally available for purchase. After years of research and trial and error, they developed several products that family and friends encouraged them to sell commercially.
In 2022, Derek and his wife, Carlie, decided to go all-in and start Jade Winery, named for the first two letters of Jason’s and Derek’s first names. Jade Winery on Donation Road in Waterford, Pennsylvania, opened in November of that year with six varieties of wine. Today, the winery offers fifteen varieties with more to come. “We achieved every one of our 2023 goals and have even more that we look forward to accomplishing in 2024,” Derek said. Visit the Jade Winery website or follow Jade Winery on Facebook.