Heather L. (Seybold) Knechtges is one of four alumni honored by Pittsburg State University with the Kenneth K. Bateman Outstanding Alumni Award. The award was presented by the PSU Alumni Association in recognition of professional and civic achievements during the Oct. 18, 2008 homecoming activities. The award is named in honor of Dr. Kenneth K. Bateman, a longtime director of the Alumni Association, who retired in 2004.

Knechtges is the fuel filter engineer for the Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, Mich. Her responsibilities include working with all fuel filtration within Ford as well as providing support to the company's plastics and materials engineers. She was designated as the subject matter expert for electrostatic dissipation for fuel systems at the vehicle level. Knechtges graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from PSU, and stayed to earn her Master ofr Science in plastics engineering in 1998.