After completing all of his co-op assignments with Eastman Kodak, Johann G. "Hans" Demmel AAS ’80, BS '83 (industrial engineering) thought his career would be in Rochester. Dick Reeve, then-chair of the industrial engineering department, enlightened him to the merits of graduate school, and with the help of a fellowship from Tau Beta Pi, he headed west to Oklahoma State University. Upon completing an MS in industrial engineering and management, he continued west to Arizona where he helped Allied Signal build a new electronics manufacturing facility, a rare opportunity for a young industrial engineer graduate.
 
Demmel further advanced his education with the help of a Howard Hughes Doctoral Fellowship from Hughes Aircraft Co., earning a Ph.D. in systems engineering at the University of Arizona.
 
His career with Hughes (now Raytheon) afforded him the opportunity to build upon his IE background and interest in simulation, expand into software development and have the opportunity to build a department within the engineering organization whose focus is on hardware-in-the-loop simulations.
 
The importance of giving back was instilled in Demmel while at RIT and he continues to give back to his profession and his alma mater.