College of Engineering and Physical Sciences MVPs

 

By Micaela Myers

 

NASA Engineer Aaron Vigil

As a NASA engineer, Worland native Aaron Vigil is just one of many young University of Wyoming alumni making headlines right out of the gate. 

Growing up, Vigil attended the Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp hosted by the UW Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium. There, he gazed at planets through a telescope for the first time and fell in love with outer space and all that it offers.

Studying mechanical engineering at UW, Vigil took part in UW’s Western Thunder Marching Band and also conducted undergraduate research, working to 3D print aerospace grade composite structures in Assistant Professor Xiang Zhang’s lab. This gave Vigil a leg up when he applied for a NASA internship, where he used 3D modeling software to render models of early Soviet spacecrafts. 

“UW gave me a good foundation for my career and taught me the ins and outs of various fields of mechanical engineering so when I got to NASA, I could really dive deeper into the specific areas of engineering I use on a daily a basis,” Vigil says. “Having that foundation has really helped me a lot.”

Vigil was hired as a mechanical engineer at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, where he works on the Solar Array Sun Shield for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. His role includes integration and testing, logistics and day-to-day operations. It’s his dream job, he says.

“I love the idea of the spacecraft that we’re building — it’s just incredible to me and very interesting,” Vigil says. “I get to work with all sorts of great people who I learn a lot from on a daily basis. Every day we’re making progress toward the end goal: our launch date. To see the progress is really fascinating to me.”

Vigil hopes to have a long career at NASA, working on everything from large scale projects to smaller instrumentation.

While he misses Wyoming, he’s still an avid fisherman, only now it’s saltwater fishing. 

“I would just like to say a big thank you to not only the university but also the state in general,” Vigil says. “I get a lot of banter with folks around here because I’m the guy from Wyoming, but the values I grew up with always shine through — the way we were raised and the ideologies. That was ingrained in me through my communities in Wyoming and then again at the university. It’s something that’s important to me and something that I’ve carried with me. I’m very grateful to the state and community back home.”

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Basketball Stats Guru Ken Pomeroy

A love of predicting things led Ken Pomeroy from Virginia to the University of Wyoming, where he earned his master’s degree in atmospheric science. 

“I liked predicting things, and predicting the weather seemed to be the ultimate challenge because it affects everybody,” he says. “It’s the first time in my life I had really branched out and did something different, and it turned out to be really rewarding.”

After graduation in 1999, Pomeroy went to work as a meteorologist. But as the years went on, he found himself diving more and more into his hobby: basketball statistics.  

“Basketball is my favorite sport, and I like dealing with numbers, math and programming,” he says. “It became another outlet for those passions. It started out as a hobby. I didn’t think I would ever earn a living doing it, but eventually it became big enough that it turned into a full-time job.”

From his home in Salt Lake City, Pomeroy runs his website, kenpom.com, which offers college basketball statistics for every Division 1 men’s team. In addition, he writes a basketball blog and has written articles for The New York Times, ESPN.com and Sports Illustrated. He’s also worked as an NBA consultant. Pomeroy’s rankings and accuracy have earned the attention of national news channels as well as many coaches and fans. In fact, coaches have called him a genius and said that a great deal of their planning is conducted using his site. 

“Most of the financial support comes from fans, but the media and coaches are extremely important because they talk about my site on air,” Pomeroy says. 

As noted in Sports Illustrated, the kenpom.com rankings break down stats on a possession-by-possession basis and help users analyze March Madness matchups, among other things. They’re also used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee.

UW Atmospheric Science Department Head Jeffrey French says: “Pomeroy is a great example of a student who learned analysis skills during his master’s degree that he then applied to something completely different. He truly has become an MVP of advanced statistics, and he was one of the early pioneers of using advanced statistics in sports.”

Pomeroy says he plans to continue innovating: “I’ve been doing it full time for over a decade. There’s always room for more innovation in my work, and that’s another reason why I enjoy the job. Every day can be a little bit different, and I can make my own path in terms of exploring new areas of research or creating new displays for the website.”

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Merrick & Company President and CEO Tammy Johnson

When Sheridan native Tammy (Lupiezowietz) Johnson graduated with her architectural engineering degree in 1991, she wasn’t sure how to begin her job search. Browsing through the American Council of Engineering Companies handbook, the employee-owned Merrick & Company caught her eye. 

“I think it was dumb luck, really,” Johnson says, “just being at the right place at the right time.”

She was hired and began her long career, much of it based at the company’s Colorado headquarters. 

With offices in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom, Merrick provides engineering, architecture, surveying and geospatial solutions to clients around the globe. Johnson started out as a structural engineer and then used her excellent communication skills to become a project manager. Merrick encourages employees to set long-term goals, and after successfully opening and running a Texas branch of the company, Johnson dreamed of one day becoming CEO. Leadership encouraged the pursuit, and Johnson earned her MBA at the University of Denver. She served as senior vice president and business unit leader of Merrick’s high-performance facilities team before being named president in 2023 and chief executive officer in 2025.

“It’s a dream come true,” Johnson says. “What I love about my work is engineering and designing the built environment that makes people’s lives better. It’s really inspirational to me, and I get to help people do that every day.”

As CEO, she strives to do right by the employee owners and leave the company better than she found it. 

“We do that by embracing smart growth of the company — constantly monitoring the market and our clients’ needs, then making certain that we’re positioned to help them effectively, creatively and efficiently,” Johnson says. 

Creating challenging and rewarding careers for Merrick’s employees is another goal and one she invites University of Wyoming students to learn more about — the company actively participates in UW career fairs and internship programs. Johnson also serves on the UW College of Engineering and Physical Sciences National Advisory Council and was inducted into the college’s Hall of Fame.

“Hands down, the architectural engineering program prepared me for my entire career,” Johnson says. “It was an array of disciplines — from planning to designing, engineering, architectural, cost estimating and construction management. Having that full complement really gave me a lot of insight into projects, helping respond to clients and leading a team.”

Johnson is active with the Society of Women Engineers and serves on Merrick’s board of directors. In her free time, she enjoys outdoor activities such as snowboarding, golf and clay shooting with her husband and their son, who is studying mechanical engineering at UW. 

“I encourage people to stay involved and connected to UW in any way, shape or form they can,” Johnson says. “I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences and having discussions with the students. It just gives me so much energy. I am honored to be associated with so many fine professionals who love and support the university.”