Space Odyssey Alumni Fuel 60 Years of Space Exploration
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SPRING/SUMMER 2018 THE MAGAZINE OF THE STEVENS ALUMNI ASSOCIAASSOCIATIONTION SPACE ODYSSEY ALUMNI FUEL 60 YEARS OF SPACE EXPLORATION IN THIS ISSUE: A LASTING LEGACY | LIFE AT BUZZFEED | CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF STEP DEPARTMENTS 2 PRESIDENT’S CORNER 3 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR/SOCIAL MEDIA 4-7 GRIST FROM THE MILL 7 CALENDAR OF EVENTS 42 SPORTS UPDATE 43-72 ALUMNI NEWS 44 SAA PRESIDENT’S LETTER 68 VITALS FEATURES 8-10 A TRIBUTE TO HIS ‘STUTE’ Richard F. Harries’ ’58 reunion-year gift makes Stevens history 11 STEVENS VENTURE CENTER ‘GRADUATES’ FIRST COMPANY FinTech Studios strikes out on its own 12-31 SPACE ODYSSEY Stevens alumni fuel 60 years (and counting) of space exploration 32-33 ENCHANTED EVENING See moments from the 2018 Stevens Awards Gala 34-35 PROFILE: CAROLINE AMABA ’12 36-38 STEP’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY The Stevens Technical Enrichment Program (STEP) will mark its 50th anniversary this fall, as its alumni reflect on its impact. 39 STEVENS RECEIVES ACE/FIDELITY INVESTMENTS AWARD ‘Turnaround’ not too strong a word to describe the university’s transformation 40 QUANTUM LEAP Physics team deploys, verifies pathbreaking three-node network 41 ROBOTIC DEVICE AIDS STROKE PATIENTS Mobility-assistance system will be tested by stroke patients at Kessler Institute Cover Photo: Shutterstock Images/NASA Cover Design: Simone Larson Design Campus Photo: Bob Handelman SPRING/SUMMER 2018 1 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR REMEMBERING PAUL MILLER SPRING/SUMMER 2018 VOL. 139, NO. 2 I had a chance to read the Winter 2018 edition of e Stevens Indicator and read Editor Beth Kissinger the story of former artist-in-residence Paul [email protected] Miller. I lived next door to Paul on River Managing Editor Rebecca Markley Street. I remember he lived at 612 River St. [email protected] from the early ’70s to 1979, and I would see Contributors him crossing the street on a regular basis as Katherine Cutler Stevens Division of he walked to his studio on the ground oor Communications & Marketing of the Kidde Building. I never understood Paul Karr Stevens Division of art at that age and was fascinated with the Communications & Marketing interesting sculptures that I would see in the Michael Markowitz window of the Kidde Building. For whatever Stevens Office of Academic Communications & Marketing strange reason, I seem to recall him wearing Paul Miller, left, works with a student on the interior skeleton Jon McCue sandals (smoking a pipe?) — my memory of the sculpture Tyron, which is now housed in Sam’s Place on Stevens Assistant Sports the first floor of the S.C. Williams Library. Information Director does escape me from time to time. When I Laurie Vazquez did see him, we never really spoke, as he always seemed deep in thought and I was also very scared to Stevens Office of Academic approach him. I wish I were a bit older at that time and would have had the chance to speak to him and Communications & Marketing Young Soo Yang understand the sculptures and him a bit more. It was nice reading the article, as it brought me back to Stevens Division of the ’70s as well as helped me to learn more about his big bird-like statue that I saw in the library and his Communications & Marketing bronze sculpture that hangs on the wall in the library. I have seen these a million times and never really Art Direction/Design knew about them.❖ —Dave S. Manhas ’88 M.Eng. ’90 M.S. ’92 www.DanFlintDesign.com (Editor’s note: Manhas’ father is retired Stevens professor Maghar Manhas Hon. M.Eng. ’74.) Additional Art Direction/Design Michael Hofmann Simone Larson Design Executive Director, Stevens Alumni Association and SOCIAL MEDIA Assistant Vice President, Alumni Engagement & Annual Giving Melissa Fuest This year’s Stevens Awards Gala proved to be “An Enchanted Published three times a year by Evening” (see pages 32-33) as evidenced by the glamorous The Stevens Alumni Association, photos that filled Stevens’ social media channels on April 14. ❖ member of the Council for Advancement and Support of To see all the photos from the event, visit Education. © 2018 Stevens connect.stevens.edu/awardsgala. Alumni Association Indicator Correspondence Facebook “f” Logo CMYK / .eps Facebook “f” Logo CMYK / .eps The Stevens Indicator 1 Castle Point Terrace Hoboken, NJ 07030 Phone: (201) 216-5161 Letters to the Editor [email protected] Class Log submissions 1 A scene from the cocktail [email protected] hour at The Plaza Hotel. General SAA inquiries Contact the Alumni Office 2 Professor Vikki Hazelwood Phone: (201) 216-5163 Ph.D. ’07 accepts her Fax: (201) 216-8247 Distinguished Alumni Award [email protected] in Science and Technology. 3 Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Sara Klein poses with Jose Angeles ’18. A L U M N I A S S O C I A T I O N P E R A S P E R A A D A S T R A SPRING/SUMMER 2018 3 PRESIDENT’S CORNER PER ASPERA AD ASTRA PHOTO: AARON HOUSTON PHOTO: e Stevens motto, Per Aspera Ad Astra, printing of bones, tissue and organs. Oth- literally “through adversity to the stars,” is ers are using machine learning to analyze being realized before our very eyes. speech and writing to develop algorithms e 2017 “Best Colleges” edition of U.S. that can detect early signs of Alzheimer’s News & World Report ranked Stevens No. disease and dementia in patients. In 69, up 19 places since 2011, making Stevens collaboration with the Department of the second-fastest-rising university among Defense, one interdisciplinary team is the top 100 in the nation. Forbes magazine helping to make military operations named Stevens “e Turnaround Univer- safer and more environmentally friendly sity” in a September 2017 article. And, in through the use of treated wastewater March 2018, the American Council on to cultivate microalgae that can produce Education (ACE) recognized Stevens with fuel to power manufacturing processes. the 2018 ACE/Fidelity Investments Award Another team is training underwater ro- for Institutional Transformation for its bots to navigate and map harsh underwa- exceptional progress since 2011. ter environments, which could one day Over the last six years, Stevens has made lead to safer ships, ports and harbors. transformational advances on the national At Stevens, students, faculty, sta stage as a university on the rise. Yet, the university’s transformation and alumni peer into the unknown, seeking solutions to the most has only just begun. As Stevens vigorously pursues the goals articu- challenging problems of our time in burgeoning elds of science, lated in our ten-year Strategic Plan (2012-2022), we acknowledge technology, engineering, business and the humanities. that transformation requires a constant commitment to excellence In the next decade and beyond, ad astra will dene the uni- through 2022 and well beyond. versity’s meteoric rise as a premier, student-centric, technological is issue of e Indicator features the tremendous contribu- research university. With the active engagement of alumni, friends, tions of Stevens and its alumni in the era of space exploration. faculty, sta and students, we will be reaching for the stars. Consider the transformation of science and technology since the 1950s, when the world entered the Space Age. Stevens innovators Per aspera ad astra, and entrepreneurs have played an integral role in advancing space exploration, while others have forged new paths at the frontiers of emerging elds that will transform science and technology in the next century. Nariman Farvardin Today, in critical domains such as biomedical engineering, President, Stevens Institute of Technology machine learning, robotics, sustainability, sensor technologies and [email protected] more, teams of Stevens researchers have unleashed the future. ey 201-216-5213 are applying mechanical engineering principles to cell biology, enabling the printing of cells which could eventually lead to 3D- 2 THE STEVENS INDICATOR GRIST FROM THE MILL BOSWELL NAMED STEVENS TRUSTEES CHAIR Stephen T. Boswell C.E. ’89 Ph.D. ’91 the New York State Department of Transporta- Hon. D.Eng. ’13 was elected chair of the tion and the New York State Thruway Authority. Stevens Institute of Technology Board of He also serves as a trustee of Hackensack Trustees. His term as chair began on May Meridian Health and a director of the Hack- 22, 2018. ensack University Medical Center Foundation, Boswell will succeed Virginia Ruester- president of the board of trustees of the Buehler holz ’83 Hon. D.Eng. ’08, who stepped down Challenger and Science Center, and a co- as chair after a distinguished five-year term. founder and lead independent director of the Ruesterholz continues her service and lead- NASDAQ-listed ConnectOne Bank. ership to Stevens as a member of the board. A licensed professional engineer in 28 Previously serving as vice chair of the states and a fellow of both the American Society board and chair of the Facilities Commit- of Civil Engineers and the American Council of tee, and as the former chair of the Human Engineering Companies, Boswell received the Resources Committee and the Nominating civil engineer degree and a doctorate in envi- and Governance Committee, Boswell has ronmental engineering from Stevens. He also provided strategic direction and principled earned a master’s degree in biological sciences governance to the board and the university. from William Paterson University and a bach- Through his participation as a member of the Executive Committee elor’s degree in biology from New York University. and Investment Committee, and his loyal and generous support as “I am confident that Dr. Boswell will provide outstanding leader- an alumnus and donor, Boswell has had a significant impact on Ste- ship for Stevens’ future,” said Stevens President Nariman Farvardin.