Tim Kowalski receives Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award
02/22/2019
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Tim Kowalski (’82 computer science) has been named a recipient of a 2019 Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award.
The award is presented by the Penn State College of Engineering to recognize alumni who have achieved high levels of professional success. It has been presented each year since 1966 to one alumnus or alumna from each department.
Since graduating from Penn State, Kowalski has forged an impressive career in the healthcare industry, not only as an engineer but also as an executive who has developed and executed strategies that generated significant growth for multiple companies. He has found working in the field of healthcare to be particularly rewarding.
“There are so many industries that help people but healthcare gets at the core of people’s lives,” said Kowalski. “The ability to improve patient care is very rewarding. There is a tremendous opportunity to improve healthcare with technology, and that’s what has drawn me over the years to healthcare. At the end of the day, you’ve made a difference in improving patient care.”
Kowalski currently serves as the president and CEO of Halfpenny Technologies, Inc., a company that provides clinical data exchange solutions to health plan, health system, pharmacy, and commercial laboratory companies. Since he assumed this role, the company has experienced rapid growth in revenue and profitability, and has been recognized as a high growth leader in the Deloitte 500, Inc. 5000 and Philly 100 and recognized as a leader in clinical data exchange by leading industry research organizations.
Prior to his current position, Kowalski was the chief operating officer for Portico Systems and prior to that, held various executive roles for ICT Group, Inc. over 13 years, such as the chief information office and SVP of systems and technology; president of ICT ConnectedTouch; president of CRM technology solutions division and senior vice president of corporate planning; executive vice president of marketing and technology solutions division; and president and COO of marketing and technology solution division. In each role, he developed and implemented strategic plans that resulted directly in significant growth for the company.
Kowalski has also worked in leadership roles at Independence Blue Cross and Computer Sciences Corporation and, early on in his career, as a software programmer for the companies such as Gould and Formation.
Despite his busy career, Kowalski still finds time to give back to his alma mater to ensure that the younger generation of Penn State students will have the same positive experiences he did that helped set him up for success.
One of the ways that he gives back is through mentoring as an advisory mentor at Penn State.
“I love it,” said Kowalski of the mentoring experience. “It’s easy to forget how young and impressionable we all were in college. If I can help in any way to advise students I’m happy to do that. I think about mentoring my children when they were younger, and [ask myself] can I offer that experience to someone else.”
Kowalski has also enjoyed working with many professors while on the computer science and engineering advisory board. From that experience, he decided to establish a perpetual scholarship, where he is able to help two students every year.
“It’s great to be able to financially help some students in some small way.”
Kowalski knows from his personal experience the strength of the computer science and engineering program at Penn State.
“I always loved Penn State, although I don’t remember knowing anybody who attended. My parents showed me that when I was about ten that I wrote a report that stated I wanted to go to Penn State and major in engineering. Somehow Penn State was imprinted on my brain as a youngster. Strong academics and student programs…it was just a great fit for me from that perspective."
Once at Penn State, his experiences met his expectations, and the engineering program demonstrated that it helps its students to be well prepared for the workforce.
“I always was very impressed by the computer science program at Penn State. I thought it was a phenomenal base for a younger person about to start a career. I remember being required to give technical presentations in class that, at the time, seemed irrelevant for a computer science student. But that background helped me write technical documents and give technical presentations as I entered the corporate world," said Kowalski. “It was a tremendous baseline for anyone going into a career. I quickly grasped the need for technology not for technology’s sake but to solve an actual problem. That well-rounded education allowed me to not only excel technically but also communicate effectively verbally and in written form. My Penn State background established a foundation I needed as I evolved in my career.”
Kowalski lives with his wife in Pennsylvania, and has two stepchildren and three children, two of whom are Penn State graduates.
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