Alumni Award Winners

Kelle Wendling is president of the Space Systems sector within L3Harris’ Space and Airborne Systems segment. Space and Airborne Systems covers an extensive portfolio of solutions in intelligence, surveillance, small satellites, electronic warfare, avionics including carriage and release systems, wireless solutions, and C4I systems.

Prior, Wendling was president of the Mission Networks sector in the Aviation Systems segment of L3Harris Technologies. Mission Networks includes the following divisions: Managed Services and Surveillance and Automation Solutions. She assumed the position of president for Mission Networks in 2019. Reporting to the president of the Aviation Systems segment of L3Harris Technologies, she provided strategic leadership of the sector’s two operating divisions.

Previously, she served as vice president of strategy and business development for the Harris Electronics Systems segment, providing portfolio leadership and technology management for solutions including electronic warfare, avionics, wireless solutions, and C4ISR systems.

She is an Air Traffic Controllers Association member and collaborates with the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics.

Wendling has a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and an MBA from the Florida Institute of Technology. She is a graduate of the Harris Leadership Directions Program at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and completed the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management Product Design and Development program.

Monique Picou is the Senior Vice President of Flow & Fashion for Walmart, Inc. where she is responsible for driving the efficient product movement from supplier to shelf. Her primary focus is on improving customer availability while lowering supply chain costs through cross-functional collaboration and capability building. She is an enthusiastic and proactive proponent of diversity throughout Walmart and emphasizes the importance of women’s roles in Supply Chain.

Picou has over 25 years of experience in consumer packaging goods and supply chain. She spent the majority of her career with Procter & Gamble but also spent a year in Private Equity. While at P&G, she worked across multiple business units within the Product Supply organization; this included Food & Beverage, Fabric Care, Gillette, and Corporate Functions. She lived abroad in Europe for six years between Switzerland and England.  She has delivered strongly in developed and developing countries in both local and global roles.

Monique sat on the Board of Directors for United Way, US Chamber of Commerce, GS1 UK, and the Cranfield University Advisory Board.  She was a state-appointed Board Director for Workforce Development and for Families with Dependence, as well as a member of the State Economic Development Board. Picou is a former instructor of Economics & Math for the University of Phoenix.

James Wong is currently the executive director of Hon Kwok Land Investment Co. Ltd., which was founded by his great-grandfather in the 1920s to build China’s railway system. James also serves as executive director for the Chinney Group, which includes four publicly listed companies in Hong Kong focused on high-tech engineering, construction, trading, investments and real estate. The businesses’ work ranges from building an 80-story Hon Kwok Tower in Shenzhen to installing the air traffic management radar at the Hong Kong Airport. He also holds a position as a member of the executive committee of the Urban Land Institute in Hong Kong.

James currently serves on the Florida Tech board of trustees and is also an adjunct professor for Florida Tech’s online programs teaching business and healthcare law. James has held various positions as a lawyer on Toyota’s eDiscovery team and as a tax lawyer at Baker and McKenzie as well as PricewaterhouseCoopers. James has published and spoken widely on subjects including eDiscovery, social media policy in the workplace, China for newbies and, more recently, China and the Belt and Road Initiative. Wong previously served as a delegate to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference for Jiangsu Province from 2013 to 2018.

James completed his undergraduate work at the University of Washington in 1984. He went on to earn his Master of Science in Information Systems Engineering from Florida Tech in 2007 as well as a Juris Doctor from the University of California Hastings College of Law.

E. Davon Kelly ’90 is president and CEO of NOVAD Management Consulting. While earning his bachelor’s degree in finance, Mr. Kelly learned about teamwork and sportsmanship on the basketball courts at Florida Tech. As he ventured into the business world, he brought those same lessons with him and has since shared them in his book, From Courtside to the Boardroom: A Legacy in the Making. Mr. Kelly donates all the proceeds from his book sales to The 13th Man, an organization he founded to provide training, mentoring, leadership development and enrichment activities to move young men from feeling inadequate to feeling like part of the “starting lineup.”

Throughout his career, Mr. Kelly has continued to leverage his business acumen, opening My Barber’s Lounge, a chain of upscale barbershops in Maryland. The barbershops, which won the 2014 Ford Motor Co. Neighborhood Award, have become additional vehicles through which he mentors and supports the development of successful entrepreneurs.

Mr. Kelly earned his MBA from Bowie State University in 1995. He is a member of the board of directors for Boys Town of Washington, D.C., and the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship. In addition, he is a member of Bowie State University’s Entrepreneurship Academy Advisory Council.

Mr. Rick Rowe is President and CEO of Think Tek, Inc. – Think Tek Globally. Mr. Rowe started his career in the United States Air Force at Homestead AFB. He received his first U.S. patent before the age of 20. Over the next 30 years, Mr. Rowe went on to work as an engineer, manager, and executive at a number of corporations including: Watkins Johnson Company, Lockheed Missiles and Space, and International Game Technology. For over twelve years, Mr. Rowe has taught computer science at Mission College in Santa Clara, California. He started his own intellectual property consulting and development company in 2008; and co-founded a next generation city transportation corporation in Nice, France. Mr. Rowe is a named inventor on over 100 patents and is a registered patent agent. Today, Mr. Rowe provides consulting for business startups, and he also continues inventing, patenting and starting new businesses to bring innovations to market. He has degrees in Avionics Systems Technology and Computer Science and an MBA; and he has FINRA licenses: Series 7, 24 and 79. Mr. Rowe is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and the Delta Mu Delta International Honor Society in Business. He is an alumnus of Florida Tech.

Alan is a Senior Vice President of Investments with Wells Fargo Advisors in Melbourne Florida. He has been a Financial Advisor since 1989, and is a graduate of Florida Tech with a BS and MBA in Business. His professional practice is centered on financial planning and portfolio management for individuals prior to and during retirement.

He serves on the board of directors in several community organizations including Health First, the Brevard Neighborhood Development Coalition, and the Evans Center. Previous community involvement includes 18 years on the Florida Institute of Technology Alumni Association BOD, Brevard Cultural Alliance (BCA) Board of Directors, The Masters Workshop Board of Directors and the Carriage Gate neighborhood association Board of Directors.

Alan is president of the Hosts of Brevard, and is active in ministries at his church. He enjoys action movies, jazz concerts, dancing, great restaurants and traveling the US and abroad with his wife, Katie.

Teresa Ho received her MBA from Florida Institute of Technology in 1998, and currently serves as the CFO of Artemis IT in Melbourne, Florida. Teresa was born and raised in Colon, Panama and moved to the United States to attend FIT after one year abroad at the University of Nottingham in England.

Teresa started her career with Artemis as the company’s office manager, later being promoted to director of business operations, and then to her current position as CFO. During her tenure at Artemis, she has managed the company’s HR and financial initiatives as the business grew from five employees to nearly 60 full-time staff. In addition to daily fiscal management, she was responsible for the financial integration of both an acquisition of a local telecom interconnect company in 1999 and then the strategic merger with NetDirective Technologies Inc. in 2012.

She states that her drive, passion, and work ethic come from lessons learned while working in the family business in Panama. However, it is her education at Florida Tech that she credits to arming her with the tools required to achieve her professional success.

Grateful for the success they have been afforded, Teresa and her husband, Travis, are strong community advocates, support many local non-profit organizations, and encourage entrepreneurial initiatives county wide. It is, however, the arrival of their 21 month old son that is the pride and joy of their lives.

Mr. Caruso is founder and principal of Omnifirst Capital Corporation, a successful private investment firm focused on opportunities in the technology, health care and entertainment industries. Mr. Caruso is presently the managing partner in nine companies and becomes involved in every aspect of a client's business including arranging appropriate debt and equity funds, debt restructures, and other consulting and advisory strategies that create solutions. He founded Omnifirst in 1984 following a decade of hands-on financing and growth in the banking industry.

Mr. Caruso has brought all of the various operations and strategic partnerships under the umbrella of The Omnifirst Group. After a career of relationship development and coalition building, The Omnifirst Group is uniquely positioned to consider and effectively lead in business development strategies.

Mr. Caruso is the co-founder/owner of the Trenton Thunder Double-A minor league baseball affiliate of the 26 time World Champion New York Yankees and the Lakewood BlueClaws, a Single-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. Both teams have been recognized multiple times for their marketing expertise.

His expertise has been sought by various industry groups such as the New Jersey Banking Association Mortgage Committee and the New Jersey Shore Builders Association, where he served as board member, consultant, and contributing writer for the association newsletter.

Mr. Caruso is a member of the board of trustees for his alma mater, Florida Institute of Technology, and also is a member of the board of trustees for the Pi Kappa Alpha Foundation raising funds to educate and empower principled leaders.

William Roy is a former attorney for Dow Chemical Corporation. Mr, Roy began at Dow first as their international attorney, then as corporate counsel at their world headquarters. During this time, he served on the presidential commission for review of all federal government procurement laws, rules and regulations. Prior to working for Dow, he was employed at the Martin Company at their Test Division, Cape Canaveral, FL, for missiles and rocket testing, as well as similar work for the Air Force. He was then heavily involved as contract manager/director in both NASA's Gemini Project for the launch of two astronauts into space and the Apollo Moon Project at Cape Kennedy. Mr. Roy received a master's degree from the Nathan M. Bisk College of Business at Florida Institute of Technology in 1970.

David Brock was born in Knoxville, Tenn. After serving six years as a Second Class Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, he graduated with honors from the University of Tennessee with a B.S. in Business Administration. He later received a master's in business administration with high honors from Florida Institute of Technology. He also holds a Certified Credit Union Executive designation through the Credit Union National Association and a Certified Chief Executive designation from the Credit Union Executive Society. 

Mr. Brock served as the executive vice president of Space Coast Credit Union until 1992, when he became president and CEO of Community Credit Union. He serves on boards of a number of local nonprofit organizations and civic groups, as well as national credit union industry organizations. Mr. Brock, his wife and his youngest son currently reside in Indian Harbour Beach.