Local entrepreneur makes $1.5 million gift to UAH engineering

The College of Engineering at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) was an important part of Mike Wicks’ education and career. Wicks, who received his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from UAH in 1993, has donated $1.5 million to the university’s new Raymond B. Jones Engineering Building. The gift will name the building’s multi-purpose room the Wicks Family Innovation Hall.

“UAH is such a treasure and an asset in this community,” Wicks says. “It has so many tentacles that reach into the community and enrich everybody’s lives. For me personally, UAH made a profound difference in my education and my career, and it just seemed like a natural thing to give back.”

UAH is a part of The University of Alabama (UA) System, and the UA System Board of Trustees voted to approve the gift at its annual meeting Sept. 11 in Tuscaloosa.

The multi-purpose room is the building’s largest room, and it will be the most utilized. It can serve as a classroom or be subdivided into two smaller rooms. It can also be transformed into spaces for meetings and events.

The building’s name is another reason Wicks wanted to contribute. It honors the memory of Ray Jones, longtime business and community leader and past chairman of the UAH Foundation – and for Wicks, a Huntsville native, an old family friend.

“Mr. Ray and (his wife) Libby Jones have been in my life since I was a toddler. I’ve enjoyed lifelong relationships with them, their children and their grandchildren.”

Wicks’ affinity for engineering appeared in childhood, too. As a kid, he disassembled his bike to figure out how it worked before putting it back together. Maybe it’s inherited: His great-great-grandfather, William Lafayette Quick, built the Quick Monoplane that’s hanging in the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Davidson Center.

“With my curiosity to solve problems, engineering was just a natural fit. Engineering provides so many basic skills to address some tough problems.”

Wicks came to UAH after receiving his bachelor’s at Auburn University and starting his career with the U.S. Army Missile Command.

“The education here at UAH is fantastic, but on top of that, you get professors who have real-world experience. Some of them are coming from their aerospace and defense jobs to teach at night. They bring real-world examples and ways to apply them into what we’re learning in the classroom. They just bring it to life.”

Along with UAH’s inspiring academics, Wicks appreciates the human connections he found.

“Most of my classmates were working at aerospace and defense industries. They became some of my lifelong friends and colleagues. The network that you build among the professors and the students here is just as valuable as the education.”

His son and daughter-in-law, Chandler Wicks and Chelsea Lavish Wicks, both graduated from UAH’s engineering program in 2013 and have their own successful careers in Huntsville.

For nearly 45 years, first as an Army civilian and then as a private contractor for the Department of Defense, Wicks combined his education, network and experience to provide innovative engineering and technical services. He founded several successful engineering and technical service firms, including Summit Research Corp. and Integration Innovation Inc. (i3), boosting Huntsville’s workforce reputation while solving military engineering challenges.

Along the way, he earned a reputation for philanthropic commitment through the i3 Cares Foundation and the Wicks Family Foundation, formed with his wife, Christine.

The Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame recognized his many accomplishments by inducting him into its 2023 class.

Outside of engineering, Wicks discovered another set of hard problems that could benefit from his technical and program management skills.

“I had cancer 15 years ago, and I remember wondering if there’s a better way treat cancer in this country. I started looking at immunotherapies, and then my son-in-law found this company that was in the early stages of preclinical research and development.”

He joined Houston-based Diakonos Oncology in 2022 as its CEO, leading the company’s development of state-of-the-art cancer immunotherapies. The researchers’ focus is about as hard as it gets: refractory melanoma, pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma brain tumor. Their progress is promising.

“I thought, I’ve got a little fire left in the belly. I wanted to get involved in something aside from aerospace and defense, but again, a hard problem.  Everybody’s been touched by cancer in some way – whether a friend or family member. Philosophically, if you can make a tangible difference in people’s lives while you’re making a living, that’s a good thing, truly a worthwhile pursuit.”

And with his gift to the UAH College of Engineering, Wicks will help ensure a strong pipeline of good engineers to keep solving tough problems.