UC Engineering Alumnus Receives Lifetime Achievement Award and Clopays It Forward

Thomas G. Mushaben,

University of Cincinnati College of Engineering and Applied Science

’82 mechanical engineering alumnus, received the

2016 Clopay Plastic Products Company Lifetime Achievement Innovation Award

for his numerous innovations, mentoring and business impact. Mushaben is only the second person ever to receive this recognition and as part of his award, Clopay has provided $15K to benefit a charitable organization of his choice—which is the CEAS mechanical engineering program.

Mushaben joined Clopay Plastic Products Company in 1982 after earning his baccalaureate degree in mechanical engineering from UC.

He was promoted through the ranks, from mechanical engineer to group leader of development engineering to manager of development engineering and is now serving as the director of development engineering.

Mushaben has been an influential and creative leader since joining Clopay and has played a key role in mentoring employees and growing the company’s intellectual property portfolio that includes 14 patents and several trade secrets. Some of his key breakthrough innovations include: Pinhole Prevention Device, Slit Strip Separator Module, Flagging and Bow Bars. His innovations greatly enhanced Clopay’s engineering and competitive leadership in the industry and generated significant business impact. Mushaben is well known within the company and recognized by  major customers for his ability to innovate and solve engineering problems.

Clopay Vice President of Global Technology Vivek Jain remarks, “Tom is so very creative and yet incredibly humble about his work. He has this uncanny knack for solving the problems that you’ve been scratching your head at for hours, days even. He’ll find your answer within minutes of approaching him, and he always makes it look so easy!”

“It is great news,” says CEAS Department Head of Mechanical and Materials Engineering Jay Kim, “We deeply appreciate Tom’s generosity and with his gift, we hope to start a scholarship fund for our mechanical engineering students. Through this scholarship, our students will be given even more opportunities to learn and excel, and hopefully, they will one day become great innovators like Tom!”