NON PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID RENSSELAER Alumni Magazine | Fall 2018 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute POLYTECHNIC 110 8th Street INSTITUTE Troy, NY 12180-3590

curtis r. priem experimental media and performing arts center at rensselaer empac.rpi.edu

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA AND PERFORMING ARTS

SNAPSHOTS FROM EXPANDING EXPERIMENTS

with the opening of the curtis r. priem experimental media and performing arts center on october 3, 2008, rensselaer opened the doors to a THE STUDIOS DATA DIMENSIONS IN TIME new era of cross-disciplinary research and production at the confluence of art, science, and technology. ON THE COVER: Researchers at Rensselaer are perfecting network analysis, a powerful data science technique that makes it possible to identify common ground in complex datasets. www.rpi.edu/magazine Vice President for Strategic Communications and External Relations Richie Hunter

Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications Pamela Smith

Managing Editor Tracey Leibach

Alumni News Editor Meg Gallien

Contributors Ellen Johnston Mary Martialay Josh Potter

Photographers & Illustrators New research improves nature’s tools for digesting plastic. See page 22. Martin Benjamin Ray Felix Mark McCarty FEATURES Kris Qua

Design 24 Snapshots From the Studios Lauren Marchese With a broad and interdisciplinary approach to education, the School of Architecture is Wendy Wineriter Jim Beneduci preparing its students to design a better future.

32 Experiments in Time Since the ribbon cutting for the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts MOVING? Center on Oct. 3, 2008, EMPAC has helped forge a new paradigm for cross-disciplinary Update your address via email at alum. research and production on campus while positioning Rensselaer as a major player in the [email protected], or write to: Rensselaer international art world. Mag­azine, Office of Strategic Communications and External Relations, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180, or call (518) 276-2800. 38 Expanding Data Dimensions

Rensselaer (ISSN 0898-1442) is Researchers at Rensselaer are perfecting network analysis, a powerful data science published by the Office of Strategic technique that makes it possible to identify common ground in complex datasets. Communications and External Relations, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180-3590. Periodicals postage is paid at Troy, N.Y., and DEPARTMENTS additional mailing offices.

Postmaster: send address changes to Rensselaer, 110 Eighth Street, Troy, NY 4 President’s View 6 At Rensselaer 44 Class Notes 12180-3590. Rensselaer Polytechnic Signs of success. Making a Difference 8 In Memoriam 63 Institute­ is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action institution. Milestones 23 Mark McCarty 5 Mail 64 One Last Thing Opinions expressed in these pages do not 42 Staying Connected necessarily reflect the views of the editors Keeping current. Commemorating a or the policies of the Institute. ©2018 Paying it forward. landmark speech. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. SNAPSHOT

Coming Soon: Panera!

RENSSELAER DINING SERVICES CONTINUOUSLY looks for ways to expand and update its offerings. This summer, the kitchen inside the Student Union McNeil Room was completely gutted in preparation for bringing in a Panera Bread restaurant. Opening this fall, the facility will be a fully functioning Panera with the traditional Panera menu, including the full bakery lineup, with all breads and bakery items baked on-site, as well as soups and sandwiches. The location will be open seven days a week from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Panera has been one of the most successful restaurant companies in history. What started as one 400-square- foot cookie store in Boston has grown to a system with over 2,000 units, approximately $5 billion in system- wide sales, and over 100,000 associates. n Mark McCarty

2 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 3 PRESIDENT’S VIEW • SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON, PH.D. MAIL [email protected] Signs of Success Keeping Current Transformative Campaign provides opportunities for sharing Institute progress with alumni and alumnae

Since the launch of our capital campaign, Transformative: To stay on the leading edge in education as well as research, we I am so proud to receive the alumni Class Notes Connections Campaign for Global Change, I, along with leaders from across are adding to our academic offerings in emerging fields. We have magazine as a graduate of RPI. It is In my senior year in the Greene Building the Institute, have been traveling across the country and around a new Bachelor of Science in Music program that began this fall, important for us to keep current with I realized, as an architectural student, I Because the world to engage with the Rensselaer community. We have as well as a new focus on Quantitative Health Economics in our the institution’s strategic initiatives and was a complete flop. But what could I hosted events in New York City, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Economics Department. We are developing a new Bachelor of remain involved with its faculty and do? If I switched to civil engineering, the Every Day Matters Boston, Sarasota, Fort Meyers, West Palm Beach, and Miami. Science program in the Lally School in Quantitative Finance and students. list of makeup courses would be so long Internationally, we have visited with our alumni and alumnae in Analytics; and in the School of Science, a new program of study in The publication is expertly designed, my G.I. Bill time could run out. Then I We have launched a new blog Dubai and Zurich. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. and its content is always inspiring! It is might have no degree of any kind. called Every Day Matters, where We have had the great pleasure of Overall, we engage our students with the high quality I suggest to my alumni we’ll share the voices of students, talking about how we are educating a revolutionary pedagogy that includes relationships with UCONN and CCSU faculty, staff, and alumni who the next generation of technological the gamification of courses, immersive as a model. are making a difference. We will leaders, as well as changing the world experiences, and interaction with Be proud of your teamwork and present posts on world-changing through our research and pedagogy. artificially intelligent characters. achievements. research, ground-breaking The signs of success are As we do all of this, we encourage innovations, and creative solutions everywhere at Rensselaer. We had the new ways of seeing and thinking that Barbara Vallera ’82 that push boundaries every day to greatest number of applicants for our cross fields. Recently, we launched an Ellington, Connecticut make our world better. freshman class in history—20,403—a initiative that received a great deal of 5 percent increase over the record- attention around the nation—a “data We hope you will follow us and breaking number of applications we dexterity” requirement to ensure that all Forward Momentum join the movement. received last year. We have admitted undergraduates learn how to use diverse RPI is a far cry from the Institute that everydaymatters.rpi.edu the strongest (SAT: 1409) and the datasets to define and solve complex my father, Frederick W. Schwartz, Class George Johns ’49, whose class note in the Spring 2018 issue prompted most diverse class in our history. problems. In addition, an initiative of 1905 (later professor of chemistry, this response from Robert Alexander We derive this strength from we have created, titled Art_X, which 1913-1948), graduated from in 1905; or ’49, is shown with classmates Jack a strong vision for ourselves that focuses on the art in and of science, where I earned my two degrees in 1944 Buckley, Ed MacDuff, Bob Jaros, and inspires Rensselaer students, faculty, and the science in and of art, also and 1948. I am very happy to have my their dates celebrating graduation and staff alike. We operate within the encourages creativity across disciplines, grandson-in-law, Matthew Romanowicz, night at the Crooked Lake House. We’d love to hear paradigm of “The New Polytechnic,” and domains. attending with a double major in from you! in which we continue to educate To ready Rensselaer, the oldest electrical engineering and mechanical So I soldiered on through to my B. of technological research university in the engineering and doing extremely well. Arch. degree. It took over 20 years after To provide space for as many nation, for global leadership in the 21st Keep up the forward momentum. century, we have begun a billion-dollar capital leaving RPI that included domestic and letters as possible, we often “...we engage our students with a revolutionary overseas engineering experience and two must edit them for length. campaign—Transformative: Campaign for Richard Schwartz ’44 advanced degrees before I became a pedagogy that includes the gamification of courses, Global Change—which has three pillars: Peru, New York Address correspondence to: The first is increasing student financial professor in civil engineering at Rensselaer Magazine, Strategic immersive experiences, and interaction with California State University at Long aid and enhancing the remarkable student Communications and External experience at Rensselaer. The cost of the Funding the Future Beach. I want George Johns (Class of ’49 artificially intelligent characters.” Relations, Rensselaer Polytechnic education we offer—world-class, immersive, I appreciate the ideals raised in this Notes, Spring 2018) to know that I still Institute, Troy, NY 12180; — PRESIDENT SHIRLEY ANN JACKSON and experiential—means that our ability to article by the President (“Preparing for have a soft spot in my heart for offer financial aid must bridge the cost gap for Our Third Century,” Spring 2018). I architecture! email to [email protected]; or many students. agree that more funding can help bring call (518) 276-6531. our students for deep foundational knowledge in their chosen Our second pillar focuses on our faculty. in deserving students and faculty. And, Robert Alexander ’49 fields—while we also serve as a great crossroads for the exchange We will use the resources unleashed by the campaign to create new of course, AI is the future and needs Seal Beach, California of ideas across disciplines, sectors, geographies, and generations. At endowed professorships that will allow us to attract and retain the encouragement. Rensselaer, we bring together talented people from everywhere to very best academic talent from around the world. I will do my part in contributing to the address the greatest of challenges, using the most advanced tools and Our third pillar focuses on our beautiful Troy campus, which Transformative Campaign. technologies. we must grow, modernize, and equip for continued leadership in Another key factor is our world-class faculty, which includes pedagogy, research, and student life. Dr. Rakesh Saini, Class of 2020 parent members of the National Academy of Engineering, the National As we consider the world around us, the stakes are high. Arlington, Texas Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Inventors, The opportunities are clear. The urgency is real. The world truly several professors who serve on key national panels and committees, needs that particular combination of qualities that characterize hundreds of fellows of technical and professional societies, dozens of the men and women of Rensselaer—that combination of audacity, early CAREER award recipients, and numerous winners of national creativity, pragmatism, and refusal to be daunted by the scale and international awards. of a challenge. n

4 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 5 ATRENSSELAER

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION ATRENSSELAER Rensselaer Introduces First in the Nation “Data Dexterity” Requirement AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

Data is a critical building block Workshop Examines Image-Based Modeling of a fast-approaching future, and Rensselaer is ensuring that all of its and Navigation for Space students are adept architects with the adoption of a new institutewide requirement in data education. RENSSELAER HOSTED THE FIRST ANNUAL WORKSHOP More than 60 people from 25 national and international The requirement, the first of its on Image-Based Modeling and Navigation for Space organizations attended the workshop, which included kind in the nation, will propel all Applications in June. presentations from Rensselaer, NASA, the European Rensselaer students beyond the Images collected by spacecraft are one of the primary Space Agency, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics current collegiate standard of “data sources of information for understanding our solar system. Laboratory, C.S. Draper Laboratory, KinetX, Jena-Optronik, literacy” to “data dexterity”— These same images may be used to determine the University of Texas at Austin, University of Colorado proficiency in using diverse datasets spacecraft’s location. Despite decades of experience Boulder, Stanford University, and many more. to define and solve complex real- with processing space imagery, a number of challenges In addition to Rensselaer, the workshop was co-sponsored world problems. continue to limit where we explore and how much we by the New York Space Grant Consortium and the American The data requirement is part of learn while there. Astronautical Society. n an updated core curriculum—the This workshop brought together the world’s experts common academic and non- in space-based imaging, modeling, and navigation to academic elements that all students share new developments and to identify areas of common must complete to graduate—that need. According to John Christian, assistant professor in reflects the skills and capabilities aerospace engineering at Rensselaer and the workshop graduates need to be tomorrow’s organizer, the workshop “offered a unique opportunity global leaders and problem-solvers. for the entire community to learn from each other. Data dexterity is a critical piece We were pleased to host our colleagues at RPI for this of that equation. A 2017 market important forum and to share our institution’s rich analysis from the Business Higher “We educate our students to be leaders in whatever history in space exploration.” Education Forum calls for annual endeavor they seek to pursue, and dexterity in job openings to rise steadily to 2.72 million postings for data science and handling large and diverse datasets will be a analytics roles in 2020. “Our future is increasingly data- critical component in their success.” driven, and successful leaders must be able to harness the power of data ­— PRABHAT HAJELA in solving the problems they tackle,” says President Shirley Ann Jackson. “Key elements of that data dexterity are an ability to leverage data The new core curriculum ensures that Rensselaer graduates to make decisions, to understand the difference between causation are creative and critical thinkers who can marry disciplinary and correlation, an understanding of ethical use of data, and how to expertise with interdisciplinary collaboration. In addition to visualize complex data in ways that emphasize key mechanisms. All the “data-intensive” requirement, the new core includes a new Rensselaer graduates will have those skills.” requirement for co-curricular activities such as capstone projects A “data-intensive sequence” requires all students to complete within the disciplinary majors, and a Rensselaer enrichment two “data-intensive” courses; one to establish the foundations of core, including a common reading experience, an away data modeling and analysis, and a second within their academic experience, and co-curricular academic and cultural activities, discipline. Rather than increase the overall number of credit hours as well as revisions to existing “communication-intensive” students must earn, curriculum on data awareness and exposure requirements and flexible science, humanities, and social will be infused into existing courses that will be designated as “data- sciences course requirements. intensive.” Building on concepts introduced as part of a National “At Rensselaer, we believe that the ability to manage and Science Foundation (NSF)-funded pilot program, Rensselaer has exploit data is a fundamental skill that all of our graduates also developed new courses and opportunities for students who should possess,” says Prabhat Hajela, provost. “We educate our wish to explore data-driven study, such as a data-centric laboratory students to be leaders in whatever endeavor they seek to pursue, experience that connects teams of students with industry partners and dexterity in handling large and diverse datasets will be a to tackle a data-intensive problem. critical component in their success.” n

Rensselaer/Fall 2018 7 ATRENSSELAER IN THEIR OWN WORDS ATRENSSELAER

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING Making a Difference “My journey at Rensselaer began last summer with the Recognizing the Importance of the West Coast Connection Success of Blood Test for Bridge Scholars Program… This spring, President Shirley Ann members, alumni and alumnae, and leaders of cognitive computing. designed to help prepare Autism Affirmed Jackson hosted more than 150 alumni, that is annually hosted by Board of Trustees The gala also commemorated the students for the rigors of the alumnae, corporate partners, leaders, and Member Nancy Mueller. West Coast launch of Rensselaer’s capital friends at an inaugural scholarship gala “It is fitting that we gather on the campaign, Transformative: Campaign for classroom. But what I received on the West Coast designed to build West Coast,” said President Jackson. Global Change. Publicly launched in fall from the program goes beyond upon and strengthen the connections “The association between California 2017, the campaign seeks to raise $1 billion. between Rensselaer and more than 8,000 and Rensselaer has become increasingly The campaign’s pillars include improving that. I made friends for life, alumni, alumnae, and parents who call noteworthy. The devotion of our Rensselaer student access and enhancing the student and the peers and leaders of California home. West Coast community will support a experience, empowering world-class At the West Coast Scholarship Gala, transcontinental model for enhancing teaching and world-changing research, and the program have helped me guests of Rensselaer enjoyed an evening accepted and incoming student programs, building the third-century campus. Support grow immensely throughout of celebrating the importance of student engaging parents, alumni, and alumnae— of this initiative will allow Rensselaer to my first year.” scholarship. Many also participated in many of whom are key leaders in their secure the future for its third century and immersive activities that began earlier that respective industries—to network on behalf empower students to change the world for – Oliver Feagin ’21, Psychological Science day, featuring opportunities to connect of the Institute and its talented students, and generations to come. with faculty, leaders, and students through further strengthening corporate alliances “It’s an exciting time to be ambassadors presentations, research demonstrations, across the region.” for Rensselaer,” said Priem. “We are thrilled “Participating in The Arch One year after researchers published their work on a physiological test for and panel discussions. Additionally, efforts Cindi and Curtis R. Priem ’82 to be a part of the Rensselaer vision for autism, a follow-up study confirms its exceptional success in assessing whether a child to establish regional networks that will were recognized at the event for their the future. It’s important for us to have the gave me a new opportunity is on the autism spectrum. A physiological test that supports a clinician’s diagnostic support strengthening the bond among transformative campaign gift that enhances opportunity to support the enhancement of to gain real-life experience, process has the potential to lower the age at which children are diagnosed, leading to and between the growing cohort of alumni faculty and research excellence through faculty and research as one of the three key which in turn opened the earlier treatment. Results of the study, which uses an algorithm to predict if a child has and alumnae, corporate partnerships, and the establishment of an endowed Curtis R. pillars of the campaign.” autism spectrum disorder (ASD) based on metabolites in a blood sample, appeared in current and incoming students and families Priem ’82 Cognitive and Immersive Systems If you were unable to attend the West door to further and different the June edition of Bioengineering & Translational Medicine. was supported with the official launch of the Constellation. The constellation will support Coast Gala, plan to attend the East Coast opportunities. All of these “We looked at groups of children with ASD independent from our previous study Rensselaer Silicon Valley Network Executive a cohort of multidisciplinary faculty and Annual Rensselaer Scholarship Gala in and had similar success. We are able to predict with 88 percent accuracy whether Council. The weekend culminated with students forging new frontiers in research, New York City on October 24. For more experiences, both on and off children have autism,” says systems biologist Juergen Hahn, lead author, and professor a reception for incoming students, family further advancing the world’s understanding information, visit giving.rpi.edu/gala/east. n campus, have shaped me into and head of biomedical engineering. “This is extremely promising.” It is estimated that approximately 1.7 percent of all children are diagnosed with the student, scientist, and ASD, characterized as “a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain,” person that I am today. I hope according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Earlier diagnosis to use the skills, experience, is generally acknowledged to lead to better outcomes as children engage in early intervention services, and an ASD diagnosis is possible at 18 to 24 months of age. and relationships I’ve acquired However, because diagnosis depends solely on clinical observations, most children are to make a difference, and, not diagnosed with ASD until after 4 years of age. Rather than search for a sole indicator of ASD, the approach Hahn developed uses someday, change the world.” big data techniques to search for patterns in metabolites relevant to two connected cellular pathways (a series of interactions between molecules that control cell function) – Rebecca Wilen ’19, Chemical Engineering with suspected links to ASD. The new study applies Hahn’s approach to an independent dataset. To avoid the “From a school that is the lengthy process of gathering new data through clinical trials, Hahn and his team searched for existing datasets that included the metabolites he had analyzed in the oldest technological research original study. The researchers identified appropriate data from three different studies university in the United States that included a total of 154 children with autism conducted by researchers at the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute. so rooted in its academics and The team used their approach to recreate the predictive algorithm, this time using hospitable sense of community, data of the 22 metabolites from the original group of 149 children. The algorithm was then applied to the new group of 154 children for testing purposes. When the I can proudly say that I will predictive algorithm was applied to each individual, it correctly predicted autism with

Above (l-r): Oliver Feagin ’21, Rebecca Wilen ’19, and Gino Gasbarro ’19. Part of the weekend festivities included a CLASS take all the knowledge and 88 percent accuracy. Alive! Luncheon where these three current students shared their Rensselaer experiences. Feagin and Gasbarro are both skills that I have learned on my “The most meaningful result is the high degree of accuracy we are able to obtain California natives, and Wilen completed a summer internship in the Bay Area. using this approach on data collected years apart from the original dataset,” says Hahn. At left (top): Reception for new students hosted by Trustee Nancy Mueller; future endeavors.” “This is an approach that we would like to see move forward into clinical trials and (bottom, l-r): Curtis and Cindi Priem, Board of Trustees Chairman Arthur Golden ’66, and President Jackson. ultimately into a commercially available test.” n – Gino Gasbarro ’19, Mechanical Engineering

8 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 9 ATRENSSELAER CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING ATRENSSELAER Work To End Animal Experiments Honored

ENGINEERING The Heat Is On: Temperature CAROLINA MOTTER CATARINO, A graduate student in chemical and Heals Lithium Dendrites biological engineering, has been awarded £10,000 from the Lush Prize, which Clint Ballinger (holding check, center), Executive Entrepreneur in Residence at the Severino Center, is a collaboration between cosmetics Rechargeable lithium-ion, the A battery device is comprised of two presents the award to Kapila Chandramouli ’18 of Kapshur Medical Devices (formerly HARSHA). company Lush and research organization dominant battery technology for electrodes—the cathode and the anode. ENTREPRENEURSHIP Ethical Consumer. As the largest prize portable electronics, is increasingly Placed in between the electrodes is fund for the complete replacement of becoming the battery of choice for an insulating membrane that acts as It All Starts With an Idea animal experiments, it funds projects electric-vehicle and electric-grid a separator to prevent the electrodes working to end animal research in energy-storage applications. from touching each other and shorting chemical testing. In a lithium-ion battery, the cathode out the battery. The separator is An automatic door control system, an cardiac or peripheral stents annually. The competition has helped to validate Catarino’s research focuses (positive electrode) is a lithium metal saturated with a liquid electrolyte, emergency response drone, a specialized device was created by Kapila Chandramouli more than 150 new student ideas. The on enhancing the complexity of oxide while the anode (negative which allows ions (charged atoms) to drawing board, a planter system that ’18, a mechanical engineering major. competition is overseen by the Paul J. reconstructed skin models through electrode) is graphite. But researchers shuttle back and forth between the cleans the air, a product to prevent plaque The Change the World Challenge ’69 and Kathleen M. Severino Center for substitution and diversification of are looking for ways to replace graphite electrodes. regrowth on surgical stents, and a novel entrepreneurship competition is a Technological Entrepreneurship in the Lally non-animal derived scaffold materials, with lithium metal as the anode to Chemical reactions produce use of gamification for community security twice-yearly event created to support School of Management. Students involved boost the battery’s energy density. electricity when positively charged inclusion of additional cells compared are all winners of the spring 2018 Change entrepreneurship education and inspire in the competition develop ideas that have Since the packing density of lithium lithium ions from the anode are to traditional models, and generation the World Challenge student innovation Rensselaer students to develop their unique the potential to improve human life through atoms is the highest in its metallic transported to the cathode when of follicular structures, all using 3D competition. ideas into a viable business concept. The innovative and sustainable solutions. form, batteries that use metallic lithium discharging. When the battery is bioprinting. This technology allows Kapshur Medical Devices earned the winning students and student teams who “The Change the World Challenge is anodes can pack more energy per plugged into an outlet to recharge, the precise placement of the bioinks “Best of the Best” honor and a $5,000 grand develop innovative ideas and inventions each an excellent way to encourage students weight or volume than graphite-based the reverse happens: The lithium ions containing scaffold components and prize with its aims to conquer restenosis receive a prize of $1,000. Patent application to develop and grow innovative ideas for anodes. However, lithium metal anodes flow from the cathode back to cells at appropriate locations within the (subsequent plaque buildup) in patients assistance is also available for the winning businesses. The Severino Center does an are plagued by “dendrite” buildup the anode. receiving stents to treat artery disease. This student proposals when applicable. excellent job running this competition, 3D skin tissue. This project can help in that takes place over repeated cycles of In a battery with a lithium metal supplemental add-on device will reduce the Established in 2005 by Rensselaer not just with the final event but also in the development of the next generation charging and discharging. anode, repeated cycles of discharging number of repeat surgeries needed for the alumnus and entrepreneur Sean O’Sullivan working all semester with the students to of skin models for screening of chemical Dendrites are branchlike protrusions and recharging cause dendrite buildup 1 million Americans receiving traditional ’85, the Change the World Challenge prepare their entrepreneurial ideas,” says compounds as well as clinically superior that emanate out of the lithium metal on the anode’s surface. This thorny Thomas Begley, dean of the Lally School of skin grafts. surface. Often, they grow long enough buildup can eventually penetrate the Management. “Sean O’Sullivan’s generous “Carolina is an exceptionally motivated to create a short circuit between the separator and touch the cathode. When contribution makes this competition and talented young scientist,” says electrodes, leading to a fire hazard. this happens, a short circuit takes place “The Change the World Challenge is an possible. Through his own career, he stands Pankaj Karande, associate professor But now a team of researchers at that renders a battery inoperable, or as a role model for students thinking about of chemical and biological engineering Rensselaer has discovered a way to worse, causes a fire. excellent way to encourage students to becoming entrepreneurs.” and Catarino’s adviser. “She combines use internal battery heat to diffuse the “Lithium-ion batteries with carbon- “It is great to see student entrepreneurs her passion for research with diligence dendrites into a smooth layer. based anodes are the best available develop and grow innovative changing the world through entrepreneur- to find impactful solutions for human “We have found that lithium metal option, but they can no longer keep ship,” says Jason Kuruzovich, academic health. Her doctoral thesis on 3D dendrites can be healed in situ by the up with the storage-capacity demand,” director of the Severino Center. printing of human skin has the potential self-heating of the dendritic particles,” Koratkar says. “For any significant ideas for businesses.” “Entrepreneurship is the vehicle by which to develop human-relevant models says Nikhil Koratkar, the John A. Clark new improvements, we must look ­— THOMAS BEGLEY so many of our alumni have brought lasting for efficacy testing while reducing the and Edward T. Crossan Professor elsewhere. The best option would be a change to the world.” n dependence on animals in research.” n of Engineering. lithium metal system.” n

10 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 11 ATRENSSELAER ATRENSSELAER

SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE ACADEMICS Recycling Plastic Bottles for Disaster Relief Center for Global Communication and Design

Powerful hurricanes and earthquakes have wreaked havoc sustainable building construction. “During the design studio, we Announces New Name and Broader Mission in the United States and around the world in recent years, often are investigating several prototypes presenting variable solutions of leaving people stranded for months and even years without access to construction and deconstruction of small inhabitable spaces using water, food, and shelter. A unique collaborative project at Rensselaer the bottles manufactured by Friendship LLC,” says Kallipoliti. To celebrate its 40th anniversary, the Center for seeks to provide a sustainable solution, while also considering the The idea is to use the bottles as sturdy, low-cost, easily assembled Communication Practices has announced a broader vision as environment. building blocks. Each modular unit slide-locks with other units to well as a new name: the Center for Global Communication and After a disaster strikes, first responders and other aid form strong wall and building structures that can be filled with dirt, Design, known informally as Comm+D. The center, located organizations mobilize to send needed supplies such as water, food, sand, or other materials to form a sturdy structure without the use of on the first floor of Folsom Library, was established in 1978 as and medicine. Bottled water is sent by the tons, but all too often, the mortar. The Friendship bottles are able to interlock without joints The Writing Center to offer communication assistance to the empty plastic bottles end up in the trash stream. due to their embedded creases. Rensselaer community. The goal of the project is to re-use the empty bottles to construct “This project presents a unique collaboration to optimize For four decades the center has offered one-on-one and structurally test different structural components (walls, function and shape,” says Alnaggar. “The structural engineering consultation to students, faculty, and staff in preparing written, columns, and roofs) and then design and build a prototype for research focusing on studying all the mechanics of the interlocking oral, and electronic communication projects. Now the center emergency shelters for displaced populations under conditions of between the bottles and its scaling up to the full structural scale is expanding its areas of teaching, research, and service beyond distress. provides the architectural engineers with the needed properties writing and oral communication to include various types of Students and faculty in the Schools of to create not only an aesthetically appealing visual communication including illustrations, interface design, Engineering and Architecture are conducting a multifaceted structure, but also a structurally video and animation storyboards, and multisensory data research project that includes structural and architectural design, sound and safe one.” n representation. along with strength analysis, of revolutionary transitional shelter In addition, workshops and discussions with international designs built using the patented plastic interlocking bottles of scholars will highlight research in different areas of Friendship Products LLC, led by inventor Timothy Carlson. communication and inform pedagogical initiatives that prepare The collaborative team is led by Mohammed Alnaggar, students to communicate effectively in diverse global contexts. assistant professor of civil and environmental This summer, the center began operating year-round in engineering, and Lydia Kallipoliti, assistant support of The Arch program’s new academic summer semester, professor of architecture. providing mentoring, research presentations, and professional According to Kallipoliti, the design workshops. Also, the Summer Academic Program for studio, Second Lives | After International Students (SAPRIS), which welcomes international Bottles, functions as a design- students to Rensselaer and to American academic culture, has build think tank, bringing moved under the Comm+D umbrella. In June, Comm+D partnered with the Lally School of together architecture In June, Comm+D co-presented the Cognitive and Immersive Data Insights Application Management, the Rensselaer Institute for Data Exploration and and engineering students Challenge, which focused on health and business. and professors in a cross- Applications (IDEA) / Health INCITE, and the Cognitive and Immersive Systems Lab (CISL) to present the 2018 Rensselaer disciplinary platform to In addition to cash awards, winning teams were presented with work collaboratively and Cognitive and Immersive Data Insights Application Challenge. More than 40 undergraduate and graduate students competed opportunities for ongoing interdisciplinary research. create innovative strategies “Multimodal and cross-cultural communication are areas for material recycling. in this inaugural challenge to create immersive, multimodal, collaborative applications using health and business datasets. of focus at Comm+D,” says Patricia Search, center director. The aim is to foster “Interdisciplinary research and collaborations, such as this dialogue on topics year’s Cognitive and Immersive Data Insights Application relating to recycling of Challenge, create opportunities for students to explore industrial products as innovative ways to use communication design and new building materials and on “Interdisciplinary research and technologies to present information to diverse audiences in a collaborations create opportunities for global society.” Search is a professor in the Department of Communication students to explore innovative ways and Media and a designer of interactive multimedia to use communication design and new installations that explore the aesthetics of space, time, and action in multisensory design. Barbara Lewis, lecturer technologies to present information to in the Department of Communication and Media, is the diverse audiences in a global society.” communication practices lead faculty in the center with expertise in writing in disciplines. Center staff include graduate ­— PATRICIA SEARCH teaching assistants and undergraduate mentors who have significant experience in composing and responding to many

Photos by Mark McCarty types of either written or visual work. n

12 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 13 ATRENSSELAER ATRENSSELAER

CENTER FOR FUTURE ENERGY SYSTEMS NUCLEAR ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERING PHYSICS Creating Lithium-Sulfur Batteries With Paper Biomass DoE Awards $1.8 Million for Solar

A major byproduct in the papermaking industry is Power Systems Research lignosulfonate, a sulfonated carbon waste material, which is typically combusted on site, releasing CO2 into the atmosphere after sulfur LI (EMILY) LIU, ASSOCIATE high-temperature concentrating solar Liu’s research aims to fill the has been captured for reuse. professor of nuclear engineering and thermal power technologies. Projects will knowledge gaps in salt properties and Now researchers at Rensselaer have developed a method to use engineering physics, has been selected focus on developing components and gain a fundamental understanding this cheap and abundant paper biomass to build a rechargeable by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar integrated assembly designs with thermal of corrosion mechanisms, which will lithium-sulfur battery. Such a battery could be used to power big Energy Technologies Office to receive energy storage that can reach high help guide the selection of salts and data centers as well as provide a cheaper energy-storage option for a $1.8 million award to study high- operating temperatures, with a target containment materials for CSP systems. microgrids and the traditional electric grid. temperature molten-salt properties and of at least 700 degrees C, which would “The salt chemistry, as well as its “Our research demonstrates the potential of using industrial corrosion mechanisms. This award is boost the efficiency and lower the cost of corrosion, must be understood before paper-mill byproducts to design sustainable, low-cost electrode part of a $72 million funding program to the electricity. the system and component design materials for lithium-sulfur batteries,” says Trevor Simmons, a advance concentrating solar power (CSP) Molten salt is used both as a heat because the material choice may differ Rensselaer research scientist who developed the technology with his research, a power plant technology that transfer fluid and as a thermal energy with the salt properties identified,” colleagues at the Center for Future Energy Systems (CFES). He has could reduce the cost of solar energy. storage medium in a power tower CSP patented the process with former graduate student Rahul Mukherjee, says Liu. Ph.D. ’14. CSP systems supply solar power system, according to Liu. “The molten Working with project collaborators Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries currently are the dominant on-demand through the use of thermal salt mixture is both non-toxic and Robert Hull, the Henry Burlage Jr. battery technology. In recent years, however, much interest has storage. CSP technologies use mirrors inert, and it can deploy inexpensive Professor of Engineering at Rensselaer, grown around developing lithium-sulfur batteries, which can have to reflect and concentrate sunlight onto and scalable thermal storage, thereby and Professor Jinsuo Zhang from Virginia more than double the energy of their lithium-ion counterparts of the receivers that collect solar energy and enabling cost-effective 24-hour Tech, Liu will use state-of-the-art and same mass. convert it to heat. Thermal energy can electricity generation using only solar new technologies to develop in-situ A rechargeable battery has two electrodes—a positive cathode then be used to produce electricity energy,” she says. corrosion kinetics and salt property and a negative anode. Placed in between the electrodes is a liquid via a turbine or heat engine driving a However, molten salts, which contain measurements. electrolyte that serves as a medium for the chemical reactions that generator. Types of CSP technologies impurities such as oxygen and moisture, The results of this research will lead produce electric current. In a lithium-sulfur battery, the cathode is include power towers, mirrored dishes, can be very corrosive at high temperatures to new and innovative approaches in composed of a sulfur-carbon matrix, and a lithium metal oxide is and linear mirrors. (550 to 700 degrees C), and can eat the associated technologies, and insights used for the anode. The Generation 3 Concentrating Solar away the common alloys used to produce into the molten salt and containment In its elemental form, sulfur is nonconductive, but when Power Systems (Gen3 CSP) funding the heat exchangers, piping, and storage material aspect of solar energy, combined with carbon at elevated temperatures, it becomes highly program will build on prior research for vessels in CSP systems. says Liu. n conductive, allowing it to be used in novel battery technologies. The challenge, however, is that sulfur can easily dissolve into a battery’s electrolyte, causing the electrodes on either side to deteriorate after only a few cycles. “Our method provides a simple way to create an optimal sulfur- Researchers have used different forms of carbon, such as based cathode from a single raw material,” Simmons says. nanotubes and complex carbon foams, to confine the sulfur in place, To develop their method, the Rensselaer researchers partnered but with limited success. with Finch Paper in Glens Falls, which provided the lignosulfonate. This “brown liquor” (a dark syrupy substance) is dried and then heated to about 700 degrees Celsius in a quartz tube furnace. The research team has so far created a lithium-sulfur battery “In repurposing this biomass,the prototype that is the size of a watch battery, which can cycle about researchers working with CFES are 200 times. The next step is to scale up the prototype to markedly increase the discharge rate and the battery’s cycle life. making a significant contributionto “In repurposing this biomass, the researchers working with CFES are making a significant contribution to environmental environmental preservation while building preservation while building a more efficient battery that could a more efficient battery thatcould provide provide a much-needed boost for the energy storage industry,” says Martin Byrne, CFES director of business development. a much-needed boost for the energy Initial funding for the research came from the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP2I). The research team storage industry.” then secured a Bench to Prototype grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, administered ­— MARTIN BYRNE through NY-BEST (New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology), to more fully develop the technology. n

14 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 15 ATRENSSELAER ATRENSSELAER

MECHANICAL, AEROSPACE, AND NUCLEAR ENGINEERING AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING Accident Mitigation Strategies for Students Share Nuclear Power Plants First Place in AIAA Paper The U.S. Department of Energy coping time and mitigation capability in (DOE) has announced nearly $64 an accident. Competition million in awards for advanced nuclear The Rensselaer project, titled energy technology to DOE national “Coping Time and Cost Analysis of laboratories, industry, and 39 U.S. Accident Tolerant Plant Design Based on universities in 29 states. Rensselaer Dynamic PRA Methodology,” is aimed has been awarded $800,000 for at the systematic operation strategy analysis of nuclear power plants’ development based on dynamic response accident propagation and mitigation analysis in consideration of FLEX and processes. ATF upgrades of nuclear power plants. “Because nuclear energy is such a vital This framework can extend to be used at part of our nation’s energy portfolio, any additional safety enhancement in these investments are necessary to the future. ensuring that future generations of Hyun Gook Kang, associate professor TWO AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING Americans will continue to benefit from of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear students shared first place in the 2018 safe, clean, reliable, and resilient nuclear engineering at Rensselaer, is the principal American Institute of Aeronautics and energy,” says Ed McGinnis, DOE’s investigator. THE JEFFERSON PROJECT Astronautics (AIAA) Multidisciplinary Design principal deputy assistant secretary for “Both FLEX and ATF are expected Optimization student paper competition. nuclear energy. to extend the accident coping time in Graduate students Jared Crean and Alp Monitoring Harmful Algal Bloom on Skaneateles Lake The award is part of the DOE’s nuclear power plants, thanks to FLEX’s Dener tied for first place and were each Nuclear Energy University Program additional emergency response capability awarded $1,500. (NEUP), which aims to maintain U.S. and ATF’s enhanced performance The world’s most advanced vital among them, is one of the greatest the process of analyzing a limited amount The winners were announced at the 2018 leadership in nuclear research across the against oxidization under a higher environmental monitoring system— challenges we face collectively across the of data that was collected in relation to the AIAA Aviation Forum, which took place in country by providing top science and temperature steam environment,” Atlanta, Georgia, June 25-29. The competition developed through The Jefferson Project at globe,” says President Shirley Ann Jackson. 2018 HAB occurrence. engineering faculty and their students says Kang. “However, they may was administered by the Multidisciplinary Lake George—is being used to understand “The Jefferson Project is pioneering a “The Skaneateles Lake Association is opportunities to develop innovative introduce new failure mechanisms and Design Optimization (MDO) Technical and protect Skaneateles Lake, a central New new approach and new tools that pinpoint thrilled that the Jefferson Project from technologies and solutions for civil associated uncertainties which were less Committee of the AIAA and sponsored by the York drinking water source now threatened the cause of threats to freshwater and Lake George has deployed a vertical profiler nuclear capabilities. investigated. The awarded research is NASA Glenn Research Center. by toxic algae. Building on a connection empower policymakers to enact solutions buoy on Skaneateles Lake to support As a result of the Fukushima Daiichi aimed at the evaluation of the coping Finalists were judged based on their paper through the New York State Harmful backed by the insights of science. We are and enhance the important monitoring nuclear disaster in 2011, new safety time variation under uncertainties in as well as a 20-minute oral presentation given Algal Bloom (HABs) Initiative launched in pleased to offer the advanced technology already in progress as part of our effort to upgrades for existing Light Water accident mitigation in nuclear power at the conference. Judges also assessed the late 2017, the Jefferson Project installed a of the Jefferson Project to local researchers help protect Skaneateles Lake,” says Paul Reactors (LWRs) are being developed, plants. The result will contribute to originality of the work and its importance to custom-designed robotic sensing platform working to protect Skaneateles Lake.” Torrisi, president of the Skaneateles Lake which include Accident Tolerant the development of a new accident the field. on Skaneateles, and began collecting data Knowledge gained during the pilot Association. n Fuel (ATF) and diverse and flexible mitigation strategy of nuclear power Both Crean and Dener performed their just prior to an early-August HABs event project will aid Skaneateles Lake, while coping strategies (FLEX). These safety plants under extreme conditions such as research in the lab of Jason Hicken, associate this year. informing local and regional groups on Lake features are expected to extend a plant’s natural disasters.” n professor of mechanical, aerospace, and The Jefferson Project at Lake George George and other Adirondack lakes seeking nuclear engineering. Hicken is director of the is a partnership between IBM Research, to prevent or react to harmful algal blooms. “The Jefferson Optimal Design Lab, which seeks to improve Rensselaer, and The FUND for Lake The Jefferson Project will collaborate with the design process of complex engineering George that combines advanced technology Skaneateles-area academic and government Project is pioneering systems. The lab’s research focus is partial- with science and advocacy to understand researchers, supported by the unparalleled a new approach and differential-equation (PDE)-governed design human impacts on freshwater and address data collection and modeling capabilities the optimization: the synthesis of high-fidelity the world’s looming freshwater supply Jefferson Project has developed. new tools that pinpoint numerical simulations, computational challenges. The sensing platform, called Since late July, the vertical profiler geometry, and optimization algorithms. a “vertical profiler,” is part of a four- has been collecting environmental data, the cause of threats Dener earned his doctorate at Rensselaer in month pilot project the Jefferson Project including measurements of weather, to freshwater.” December 2017 and is pursuing postdoctoral has undertaken in cooperation with the circulation, and water quality, and includes research at the Argonne National Laboratory. Skaneateles Lake Association and the sensors capable of detecting phycocyanin, ­— PRESIDENT SHIRLEY Crean continues his studies at Rensselaer. Upstate Freshwater Institute. a pigment present in harmful algae. In ANN JACKSON “This year’s competition was very tough, with “The ability to protect the natural collaboration with Skaneateles Lake regional many excellent papers, so I am obviously very resources of our planet, with freshwater experts, Jefferson Project researchers are in proud of both Alp and Jared,” says Hicken. n

16 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 17 ATRENSSELAER ATRENSSELAER

LALLY SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT ATHLETICS HUMANITIES, ARTS, AND SOCIAL SCIENCES INSTITUTE Blueprint for Grant O’Connor Named Men’s Game Design Program Among Moody’s Affirms Sustainable Track National Athlete of the Year Top 10 Nationwide Positive Credit Innovation Rating Student-athlete Grant O’Connor first individual national title. He ran a has been named the NCAA Division 14:26.03, which included a 59.94 second GINA COLARELLI O’CONNOR, professor MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE HAS III National Men’s Track Athlete of the final lap, to narrowly clip McDermott, of marketing and innovation management at affirmed Rensselaer’s creditworthiness as A3, who took a brief lead at the final turn. A the Lally School of Management, Year, earning the highest honor awarded citing its large scale of operations, healthy has co-authored Beyond the by the United States Track & Field and final push over the last 50 meters and a student demand for its technology-oriented Champion: Institutionalizing Cross Country Coaches Association lean at the finish line gave O’Connor the programs, growing net tuition revenue, strong Innovation Through People. (USTFCCCA). The junior is the first victory by just 0.03 seconds. fundraising, and President Shirley Ann Jackson’s It addresses the perennial from Rensselaer to ever be selected. In the 10,000, O’Connor finished transformative leadership. challenges that large mature O’Connor culminated the 2018 in 30:17:88, which was 30 seconds The rating measures an institution’s ability to companies such as DuPont, campaign by collecting the most points behind champion Dhruvil Patel from repay borrowed capital; the higher the rating, Kodak, and GE have faced by an individual (18) at the NCAA North Central College and 14 seconds the less it costs to borrow. Moody’s ratings range in defending against Division III Outdoor Championship, ahead of McDermott. He finished with from Aaa to C, with numbers added within each disruptive technologies including a National Championship in negative splits over his final six laps, grade for further differentiation. closing out the race with a 1:09.44 and charting new pathways the 5000 meters. He was second in the Video games represent one of the The GSAS program was established The Moody’s report on Rensselaer’s credit final 400 meters. He opened with a for organic growth. 10,000-meter run, helping Rensselaer to largest and fastest-growing entertainment at Rensselaer in 2007. Students in the rating is a strong endorsement of Rensselaer’s 1:15.70—his slowest lap out of the 25 As large companies invent far more a school-record fifth-place team finish. industries in the world. Beyond games, program gain an understanding of games market-relevant transformation and “strongly and then did not stray outside of 71-75 than they commercialize, the result is “I have had the honor of working today’s interactive technology also helps from the broadest possible range of positive” operating performance. The report seconds the rest of the way. underleveraged research and development with some of the top student athletes in shape how young people learn, drives perspectives, studying fields as diverse cites as credit strengths the large scale of O’Connor’s outdoor season also investments and threats from investors to the world while serving as an athletics national defense strategies via computer as electronic arts, artificial intelligence operations with over $400 million in revenue, included victories in the 5000 meters disassemble these iconic enterprises that hold administrator,” says Lee McElroy, simulations, and assists training efforts and cognitive science, digital graphics, which provides economies of scale; consistently at the Liberty League Championship treasure troves of opportunity. That need not associate vice president and director in biomedicine, physical fitness, anti- software development, psychology, strong fundraising under the leadership of a be the case, according to O’Connor et al., if (15:01.46) and in the 10,000 meters long-standing president; and improved operating of athletics. “Grant O’Connor stands terrorism, and much more. human-computer interaction, and these companies can develop a capability for at Bucknell University, where he performance with strongly positive cash flows among the best, not only for his The highly regarded Games and computer graphics in communication strategic innovation. established an NCAA Division III expected to continue. athletics prowess but his academic and Simulation Arts and Sciences (GSAS) and the arts. “Beyond the Champion argues that The stable outlook reflects expectations leadership excellence. His feats made best time of 29:19.53. He was second program is a leader in games studies, and “Rensselaer is a uniquely rich innovation is a talent all its own that requires history at Rensselaer and established a in the 1500 at Tufts University (4:01.59) that Rensselaer will maintain its solid rankings released recently by Animation environment for games studies, and distinct skills and expertise, just like finance standard that will permeate our entire and third in the same event at the student demand, strongly positive operating Career Review attest to that: The our GSAS degree program provides or marketing,” says O’Connor. “Viewing performance, and debt service coverage. athletics program.” league meet (3:59.14). O’Connor, a program was ranked No. 9 nationally on an undergraduate experience like innovation as a discipline in its own right, it is “RPI will continue to achieve sound operating O’Connor backed up his runner- captain, also ran in the 5000 meters the list of top game design programs in few others available anywhere in the easy to see that breakthrough wins require an up in the 10,000 by edging out Will at The Penn Relays, finishing in performance given its dedicated fiscal oversight organizational design with clearly delineated the United States and No. 7 nationally country,” says Mary Simoni, dean of the and revenue growth,” Moody’s wrote. McDermott of Widener University 14:10.60 to qualify for the NCAA among schools offering a bachelor of School of Humanities, Arts, and Social roles, responsibilities, and career tracks for at the wire in the 5000 to earn his Championship. n According to the Moody’s report, “RPI’s those who shoulder the responsibility for new science degree in game design. Sciences, which houses GSAS. “Our strategic positioning is very good given its student platforms of growth.” Among East Coast colleges and program draws on RPI’s Computer market, consistent investment in facilities, and Drawing on the results of a four-year study universities, Rensselaer is ranked at No. Science, Cognitive Science, Arts, steady improvement in market reputation and and two decades of related research, this book 4; on the list for private schools and Communication and Media, and Science profile. Its diversified programmatic offerings outlines three fundamental organizational colleges, Rensselaer is ranked No. 7; and and Technology Studies departments—a provide broad stability in the event of a downturn competencies necessary for innovation: among programs offered in New York combination of resources few other in any single area. The Institute’s market profile discovery, incubation, and acceleration. state, No. 3. games programs can even claim, let continues to strengthen under the leadership Mapping these organizational competencies Two recent GSAS graduates, Ben alone match. of a transformative president, as evidenced onto roles and opportunities for advancement, Caulkins and Sam Suite, founded a “GSAS emphasizes a deep theoretical by expanded geographic diversification of the the authors deliver a pioneering blueprint for video game company that was named a foundation along with collaborative, student body, improving academic caliber of sustainable innovation. finalist in the college game competition interdisciplinary teamwork, which is entering students, application increases, while The new book is published by Stanford at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, how games are actually created,” she maintaining a very high student retention rate.” Business Books with co-authors Andrew or E3, in Los Angeles. The company, says. “This equal emphasis on theory The report also cited the strong leadership Corbett, professor and entrepreneurship called Dang!, has developed several and practice means that students team, which is making investments to improve division chair at Babson College, and the late video games, including IO Interloper, a graduate fully prepared to work in the long-term strategic positioning. “RPI benefits Lois S. Peters, former associate professor “corporate espionage hacking game” that games industry, and the program from a strong senior leadership team and stable and director of the M.S. in Technology, was recognized in March when it was enjoys a considerable success rate in board composition, with a forward-looking Commercialization and Entrepreneurship also an awards finalist at the Independent post-graduate employment.” n focus on growing and adapting its business and program at Lally. n Games Festival in San Francisco. continually improving the Institute’s brand.” n

18 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 19 ATRENSSELAER ATRENSSELAER

Stirring Conversation The 2018 President’s Commencement Colloquy was a lively, thoughtful discussion among innovative leaders

The day before Commencement 2018, students, families, President Jackson began the conversation by asking, “How did guests, and the campus community had the opportunity to listen to you all come to recognize your true callings and how did your initial a fascinating, wide-ranging conversation with the Commencement training enable you to transform an unrelated field?” honorary degree recipients, led by President Shirley Ann Jackson. “I got to the end of grad school and realized I love mathematics, The two-hour discussion covered topics ranging from music to but couldn’t see doing it for my life,” said Dr. Lander. “I wanted to motorcycles, to terrorism and trust, to science and social media. do something more worldly. Four innovative leaders from the worlds of music, advanced global “I fell in love with genetics,” he continued. “I had no plan, I just manufacturing, international security, and genomic science joined fell into it. It was a brilliant move to bring mathematics into this President Jackson at the President’s Commencement Colloquy on human genome project. I found wonderful people to work with, and May 18 in the concert hall of the Curtis R. Priem Experimental interesting places.” Media and Performing Arts Center. The Colloquy was titled Hancock’s professional career in jazz began when he was still a “Breaking Paradigms and Transcending Borders: Transformative student at Grinnell College, where he double-majored in music and Leadership in the 21st Century.” electrical engineering. “I have had this curious mind as long as I can Herbie Hancock, the legendary jazz pianist and composer, remember,” he said. “I knew if I got a degree in engineering, I would has brought forth innovations in jazz and combined a passion for get a job. If I majored in music, I might not get a job.” engineering and science with music. Rensselaer alumna Alicia “I knew growing up, I liked to tinker,” said Boler Davis. Boler Davis ’98, executive vice president of General Motors Global “A teacher said, ‘you are good at math and science. You should be Manufacturing, is one of the most powerful women in global an engineer.’ I knew for me to stay out of trouble, I needed advanced manufacturing. The Honorable Mary Jo White, former something challenging.” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and chair Mary Jo White served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and, of New York, the only woman to hold that position in the 200-year- currently, senior chair at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton, plus history of that office. oversaw major prosecutions of international terrorists and white- “I come from a family of lawyers,” White said. “The men, not the collar crime. Dr. Eric Lander, president of the Broad Institute of women. My father said what a great lawyer I’d be. I wanted to be a MIT and Harvard, is a leading authority on genomic science, which scientist.” She went to school for psychology, earning undergraduate has opened the door for groundbreaking innovations in disease and graduate degrees before turning to law school. diagnosis and treatment. He was a principal leader of the Human When President Jackson asked how has psychology helped her Genome Project. in the law, White responded: “Before I went to Washington to chair “At Commencement tomorrow, we will offer honorary the SEC, my answer would have been ‘not at all.’ Once I got to degrees to four leaders who have something important in Washington, it was all about psychology!” common: a bold and original willingness to cross barriers The conversation touched upon social media amplification and and borders that other people would not cross, to explore consequences; the need for transparency; public trust in science, in the unknown, to open doors, and to shape the future,” said government, and in industry; the difference between “good science” President Jackson. “They all are pioneers.” and “good people”; the evolution of jazz; and much more. n

“I knew growing up, I liked to tinker. A teacher said, ‘you are good at math and science. You should be an engineer.’”

— ALICIA BOLER DAVIS ’98 Kris Qua

20 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 21 ATRENSSELAER MILESTONES

INDUSTRIAL AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING BIOCATALYSIS AND METABOLIC ENGINEERING JENNIFER PAZOUR, assistant JIAN SUN, professor of FARHAN GANDHI, the professor of industrial electrical, computer, and Rosalind and John J. Strengthening U.S. Improving Nature’s Tools for and systems engineering, systems engineering and Redfern Jr. ’33 Professor of has won a Faculty Early director of the New York Engineering, has received a Manufacturing Career Development Award State Center for Future 2018 Educator Award from Digesting Plastics (CAREER) from the National Energy Systems, received the the American Institute of Science Foundation (NSF). 2017 R. David Middlebrook Aeronautics and Astronautics RENSSELAER HAS BEEN AWARDED She will use the five-year, $500,000 award Outstanding Achievement Award from the (AIAA). Gandhi, an innovative researcher in the $1.4 million in project funding by Advanced to study “Distribution Resource Elasticity: A IEEE Power Electronics Society. He was field of rotary-wing aircraft who is recognized Robotics for Manunufacturing (ARM) as part New Hierarchical Approach for On-Demand recognized for “contributions to modeling internationally as a leader in morphing and of its first round of funding to strengthen U.S. Distribution Platforms.” The CAREER Award is and control of power electronic converters active rotors, and adaptive cellular structures, manufacturing. ARM selected projects that given to faculty members near the beginning and systems.” An international authority in was awarded the AIAA Faculty Advisor Award. will generate timely impact on the national of their academic careers and is one of the modeling and control of power electronics, manufacturing landscape and serve as most competitive awards given by the NSF to Sun has performed pioneering work in MICHAEL O’ROURKE, examples of ARM’s mission. junior faculty. Pazour has also been named an the theory and application of sequence professor of civil and inaugural recipient of the Johnson & Johnson impedance methods for three-phase power environmental engineering, Women in STEM²D Scholars Award. electronics. received the 2017 NCSEA James M. Delahay Award from Nanomaterials expert For the second year in a row, the Board of Directors of the GANPATI RAMANATH, earthquake engineering National Council of Structural the John Tod Horton ’52 experts RICARDO DOBRY, Engineers Association. The award recognizes Professor of Materials Institute Professor and outstanding individual contributions toward the Science and Engineering, has director of the Center for development of building codes and standards. been named a fellow of the Earthquake Engineering During most of his 43 years on the faculty, Materials Research Society Simulation, and structural engineering expert O’Rourke has Enzymes found in nature can break a wide range of polymers and materials. This “for developing creative approaches to realize TAREK ABDOUN, the Thomas been involved in funded snow-load research. down certain plastics, but not well enough is an encouraging step toward that goal.” new nanomaterials via chemically directed Iovino Chaired Professor in to support industrial recycling and stem With existing technologies, a plastic nanostructure synthesis and assembly and for Civil and Environmental LI (EMILY) LIU, associate the scourge of plastic waste. Building on bottle isn’t so much recycled as down- tailoring interfaces in electronics and energy Engineering, have been professor of nuclear what nature has provided, researchers at cycled. After a single use, a high percentage applications using molecular nanolayers.” selected by the Geo-Institute engineering and engineering physics, has been named Rensselaer have improved the efficiency of PET bottles go directly to landfills or of the American Society of a fellow of the Executive of a leaf and branch compost cutinase that are reused as other plastics such as PET MENG WANG, assistant Civil Engineers to receive the Thomas A. Leadership in Academic breaks down polyethylene terephthalate fibers and fleece for clothes, carpets, bags, professor of electrical, Middlebrooks Award. Their winning paper, computer, and systems Technology and Engineering (PET), the plastic used in clear and colored furniture, and packing materials. Eventually, “Two Case Histories Demonstrating the Effect engineering, has won a Young of Past Earthquakes on Liquefaction program—ELATE at Drexel—a professional plastic water bottles and many other down-cycled PET makes its way to landfills Investigator Program award Resistance of Silty Sand,” was published in development program for women in science, products. Researchers believe the enzyme or other undesirable environments such as from the Army Research Office. the June 2017 issue of the Journal of technology, engineering, and mathematics can be further refined, offering a promising oceans and lakes, a fate many consumers are Wang will use the three-year, Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental (STEM) fields. A physicist and nuclear candidate to fuel limitless recycling of unaware of as they toss their water bottles in The project focuses on advanced robotics $360,000 grant to develop methods to extract Engineering. Lead author was their former engineer, Liu focuses her research on solving PET and possibly other plastics such as a recycling bin. manufacturing and will develop an operator- useful information from complex data that doctoral student Waleed El-Sekelly, Ph.D. ’14. high-impact problems associated with energy cellulose acetate. Breaking PET down into its building guided, semi-automatic assembly process could lead to improved image classification and the environment through fundamental In work published in the journal blocks would enable the limitless reuse more using industrial robots integrated with and object identification in modern surveillance HARRY ROY, professor of investigation into the structure-function Biochemistry, the researchers used yeast cells to commonly associated with other recyclable multiple sensors. The goal of the project systems. The Young Investigator Program biological sciences, died on relationship of materials. express the leaf and branch compost cutinase materials such as glass and metal. Some is to improve manufacturing productivity award is one of the most prestigious honors July 12, 2018. A longtime by enhancing the operator’s capabilities (LCC) modified by the addition of sugar naturally occurring enzymes can break down bestowed by the Army on scientists beginning member of the faculty, he JIAN SHI, assistant professor made significant contributions of materials science and through advanced robotics, and appropriately molecules—or glycans—in two locations. PET, but not within the constraints of time their independent careers. to Rensselaer through the engineering, has won a Young applying the technologies that capitalize on The “glycosylated” modified enzyme retained and temperature required by an industrial years. In his research, he Investigator Research Program the strengths of the robotics (e.g., precise at least half of its activity after 48 hours at 75 recycling process. Many enzymes lose Tribology expert JOHN TICHY, professor of mechanical, was a leader in elucidating award from the Air Force Office manipulation) and the operator (e.g., degrees Celsius, versus a previously reported their activity at higher temperatures, and aerospace, and nuclear the assembly and functioning of the key of Scientific Research. Shi decision-making). half-life of 40 minutes for the unmodified eventually denature. An enzyme suitable for photosynthetic enzyme, ribulose bisphosphate engineering, has received the will use the three-year, The principal investigator for the grant is enzyme at 70 degrees Celsius. industrial recycling must be able to operate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco). His work Donald Wilcock Distinguished $450,000 grant to pursue fundamental John Wen, professor and head of industrial “We need plastics and other materials at optimal temperature for breaking down was supported by federal agencies and Service Award from the research on nanoscale complex materials and systems engineering. According to Wen, that retain good performance and, after use, PET, which is about 75 degree Celsius, and published in the top journals of the field. He can then be broken down by safe and mild it must retain its activity long enough to do Tribology Division of the also developed a writing intensive course, that could lead to the development of next- “This ARM project allows us to bring a large American Society of Mechanical Engineers. generation resilient and high-performance team together to advance robotics technology processes to their original building blocks its job cost-effectively at that temperature. converted his lectures to multimedia formats, Tichy is the seventh recipient of the award, and incorporated integrated problem sessions, energy conversion and sensing technologies. and workforce training in manufacturing for reuse,” says Richard Gross, Constellation “This cutinase is an excellent candidate which was established in 1989 to honor computer simulations, and discussions into his This is one of the most competitive awards for Professor of Biocatalysis and Metabolic for commercialization, but this work will and industrial automation. Our students are “distinguished service to the Tribology Division courses. Recently, he was instrumental in the young assistant professors and researchers in also help us redesign other cutinases to gaining valuable experience from working Engineering and lead author of the research. and the tribology community throughout the design of Introduction to Biology as a course the United States. with industrial professionals and the exposure “The goal should be zero waste and to do break down other polymers, and that’s a recipient’s career.” for every student, major and non-major. to real-world needs and requirements.” n that, we have to build reuse into the design of much larger end game,” says Gross. n

22 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 23 SNAPSHOTS FROM THE STUDIOS With a broad and interdisciplinary approach to education, the School of Architecture is preparing its students to design a better future. We are making » BY JANE GOTTLIEB every effort to build coalitions, break boundaries, and create a dynamic and vibrant Students provided concepts for a waterfront development project in nearby Cohoes. environment Second Year Studio Instructor: Rhett Russo that propels our Student: Felix Reyes students forward as mong the shelves of art, architecture, and technology in the future need to be far more intelligent and behave like plants educators in 2015 and 2016. He is credited with broadening the publications in his first-floor office in the Greene Building and animals as they respond to the environment in real time and program and raising its profile nationally and internationally. are the design books School of Architecture Dean Evan harness energy from the sun, wind, and water in the most spectacular Rigorous and intensive—some might say all-encompassing— the future leaders A Douglis has produced celebrating the internationally and innovative ways. Only through a radical reassessment of our Rensselaer architecture is also highly personalized given the array renowned architecture program at Rensselaer. Developed in educational system and the creation of a broader interdisciplinary of options. Sprinkled among the 10 undergraduate, graduate, collaboration with faculty and students, his broad collection of books conversation are we going to fully realize the paradigm shift so and doctoral degrees are specializations in architectural acoustics, of tomorrow.” is comprised of projects and prototypes from international study urgently needed throughout academia today.” lighting, geofutures, and built ecologies (offered as part of the Center abroad trips, community outreach initiatives with significant regional He goes on to say, “There’s a lot at stake at this moment in for Architecture Science and Ecology, or CASE, program now museums and historic sites, and cutting-edge graduate research in history for the next generation of architects. Beyond the profound situated in Industry City in Brooklyn). ­— EVAN DOUGLIS architectural acoustics, lighting, and built ecologies. environmental challenges that need to be overcome, our young people Given the growing number of study abroad opportunities These custom books reflect the exciting face of the School of also need to be reminded that architecture is a deeply creative and available at the school, architecture students can participate in Architecture, which pushes across academic disciplines, into the humanist activity requiring a poetic imagination to truly envision on full-semester cultural immersion experiences in China, Italy, India, community, and around the world, striving to challenge the profession the most profound level the new cities of the 21st and 22nd centuries Argentina, and Chile. The interdisciplinary Bedford Chair initiative to move forward in novel and innovative ways. as culturally and environmentally inspiring, vibrant, and resilient brings together engineering and architecture students in a seminar When asked where the school is going, Douglis says, “Architecture centers of public life.” and summer international traveling workshop taught by a world- is a beautiful constellation of disciplinary interests. We’re at this Among the smallest of the five schools at Rensselaer, architecture renowned structural engineer. Students participate in community unique opportunity in history that in order to fully respond to the is also among the most highly regarded. DesignIntelligence placed outreach experiences through the school’s Capital Region initiative complexity of our changing world, it’s critical that we embrace the Rensselaer 13th on its influential ranking of American architecture by presenting building and campus design proposals to the leadership idea of conjoined ideation. Art, science, and engineering can no longer programs for 2017-18. at institutions such as the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, the Shaker reside in independent silos as they have in the past, but must be part DesignIntelligence also named the Cooper Union and Harvard- Museum in New Lebanon, and the Museum of Innovation and of a larger holistic view in the education of the architect. Buildings educated Dean Douglis among the 30 most admired architecture Science in Schenectady. «

24 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 25 1 2 International study is nearly as much a part of the Rensselaer architecture Born in Saudi Arabia, educated in the United States, Ghana, and Southeast experience as the long nights in the Greene Building. Approximately Asia, with stops on several other continents, Assistant Professor Mae-Ling 70 percent of third- and fourth-year B.Arch majors visit a growing list of Lokko, M.S.’12, Ph.D.’16, found what she was looking for at Rensselaer: a countries, immersing themselves for a few intensive weeks or a chance to devise affordable, sustainable building material technologies to full semester. help people in her home country. Study abroad is optional, but architecture students need little Lokko’s journey to a Rensselaer Ph.D. in architecture included research at encouragement to visit the great buildings and commonplace ones in Italy, CASE in New York City, an internship in Ghana, and rich collaborations in India, Chile, China, or Ghana. Their tour guides? Professors who are also upstate New York and Ghana. Today, she runs two companies, AMBIS, in practicing artists, architects, and designers, and who often contribute an Troy, and Willow, in Accra, which develop building panels and clean-water international perspective. technology from bioadhesives and agricultural waste. Among them is Associate Professor Gustavo Crembil, an Argentine-born Lokko’s next stop: the Rensselaer architecture faculty. Here, she talks about architect and artist who has brought students to China, Argentina, Chile, studying architecture, teaching it, and having a foot in two worlds. Uruguay, and Brazil (including the Amazon). Here, Crembil discusses the importance of seeing buildings in their settings. ON THE IMPACT OF ONE PROFESSOR I was in Australia studying biomimicry (applying ecological thinking ON SEEING THE SPACES to sustainable technology) and it wasn’t what I was expecting. By pure Travel is a big part of the architectural education. There is only so coincidence I saw a BBC segment on Rensselaer Professor of Science much you can do by studying from books or learning the art and craft and Technology Studies Ron Eglash’s research around African fractal of architectural design. At a certain point you need to see the buildings architecture—a distinct system of organizational logics repeated and the spaces that you reference, to have that personal experience. at multiple scales. I reached out. He told me if I was really serious It is difficult to acknowledge the complexity of the space of a South about design innovation that saw cultural and social criteria equally as American city or the staggering urban growth in China until you have important as the technical, I should come to RPI. that personal physical experience. While I was interested in working with Ron, he’s not in the Most students have never been abroad. We become like a small architecture department. He told me he would stay on as my Ph.D. tribe for a semester that explores and shares new experiences together. co-adviser, but CASE in New York would be my home. In China, you might spend two or three days in a bus deep inland to visit some remote unique building compound. We’re seeing not just ON THE BACKSTORY the big cities but the small communities. Students are often timid at the beginning, but by the second month they are eager and have no At Tufts, I studied architecture, history, and theory. I wasn’t sure which fear. They talk together and argue and take walks and connect. They direction to go in. Architecture is a liberating field but finding your adjust really, really fast. niche takes time. I knew I wanted to go back to Ghana, and upcycling We were in Shanghai three months before the 2010 Expo and agricultural waste was something I could see an immediate use for. At there was an absolutely insane amount of construction, with truck after Rensselaer I realized more and more the pull of biomaterials research. truck and workers working all night. We went away for two weeks and when we came back we couldn’t recognize the area where ON STUDYING AT CASE we were living. There was brand-new pavement and sidewalk, The first two years you learn the fundamentals of building physics and benches; they’d planted new rows of trees and everything was ecology, but you’re still exposed to different interdisciplinary research painted to look majestic. areas. I was initially involved in dynamic solar façade systems. It was a lot to absorb and develop your own understanding of, but this comes ON LOOKING AT ARCHITECTURE WITH over time. A DIFFERENT EYE ON STUDYING IN TROY You could be in Brazil—we’re in the center of Brasilia and you start mixing with the crowds of people who are going to work. Or in By the end I knew exactly where I needed to be: upstate, primarily Argentina, visiting an artisanal brick factory in a remote area. Once because of biomaterials companies like Ecovative Design in Troy and you meet people from other places, understand their contexts, you e2e Materials Inc. in Ithaca. They became instrumental in my work look at their architecture with a different eye. on building panels. Initially, I was planning to start my company in In Latin America, students see buildings with a heavy social and Ghana, but I saw that in New York people are also hungry for good, political agenda. They are able to look at the people, the way they use cheaper, high-performance building designs. It’s ironic. the city and the buildings, and see a picture that is very different from I launched AMBIS with Nina Wilson, my Ph.D. colleague, and A boathouse and housing whatever their romanticized impression is. started Willow in Ghana, which focuses more broadly on water proposal, aerial view, for The next semester, when they are back in the studios, they treatment and air-quality applications using agrowaste. We are the Cohoes waterfront project. respond with a more critical perspective. Being away in a different developing agrowaste flocculants for a fair-trade facility for Global world dramatically affects the way they think, before they become Mamas, a wonderful distributed network of women home-based Second Year Studio enterprises, and doing tests in the national water company laboratory. Instructor: Bryan Kim practicing architects. « Student: Catriona Cribb

26 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 27 ON JOINING THE BUILDING SCIENCES FACULTY “ARCHITECTURE” MINUS DOORS AND WINDOWS structures that are the most energy-efficient and made from non-polluting conditions. This differentiates it from the architecture degree. They I’m teaching courses around energy and environmental systems, as well In a conventional architecture class you visit spaces, say, in Boston or and resilient materials. need to understand climate and design, something that keeps people as on material life-cycle innovation. I see this as a great opportunity to New York. Our site became the mind of Marcel Duchamp. Here, Assistant Professor of Architecture Nancy Diniz, building sciences alive in sub-zero temperatures or in a very hot climate. It can be continue my research and get students involved in my work in Ghana Most students didn’t know him. They learned about his place in program director, discusses the four-year program—the only one of its kind assembled anywhere in the world, in urban areas or in flood zones. and, more recently, in Europe. history, his influence, and the work itself well enough to intelligently in the country—and the many ways students can move their aspirations In the second semester they develop computational skills, like design a museum exhibition. We had to get to one final design that the about sustainability into reality. software that determines how natural light gets into a room or a ON WHAT SETS RENSSELAER APART Tang crew would build. It was the hardest decision for Tang Director building. Last year they retrofitted a brownstone façade in Brooklyn. The interdisciplinary collaboration and access to researchers in Ian Berry, and me, to make. ON THE NEW BUILDING SCIENCES ON SPECIALIZING other departments! Half my Ph.D. committee was in architecture, Reactivating building sciences is a good idea because things have engineering, and science and technology studies. RPI instilled a deep ON SMALL CLASSES, BIG RESULTS We allow students to select an area of expertise early in their second changed so much; buildings have changed, construction has grown in appreciation for working together. We aren’t trapped in a bubble. « We have extraordinary students and a culture where they year and there are many: acoustics, lighting, sustainability business, complexity and resilience, low energy usage matters, environmental learn quickly. and any kind of engineering can become a concentration. A popular health is a hot topic. We care about pollution, acoustics, and, of We have one teacher to 12 students. And architecture is a team one is product design and innovation. You can have entrepreneurship course, protecting against climate change and natural disasters. There sport. We’re asking them to be critical, to revise without getting as a concentration. It’s the idea of knowing how to set up a business, 3 are contemporary challenges the program targets. I really believe this freaked out, to take a level of criticism they have not experienced— targets a void in design education. Associate Professor of Architecture Michael Oatman teaches a course within a major research institution. It’s a degree for people interested in efficiency and performance examining the architecture of Alfred Hitchcock’s cinema. His students At Rensselaer, you go 500 feet in any direction and run into have created installations around modern dance and experimental music. design, not necessarily in the craft of making or aesthetics of design. people in materials science, biology, and astrophysics and find your They have moved audiences into ceilings and through tunnels and once It’s dealing with data and facts. It’s “this façade design has to have future collaborators. There is more and more evidence of biology, imagined a building as Dante’s Purgatory. A visiting artist at numerous upper efficiency solar radiation.” art, materials science, and computer science coming together in colleges and universities, Oatman creates large-scale installations and architecture. performance-based art exhibited at MASS MoCA and other leading ON HOW IT WORKS institutions. ON OUTCOMES In year one, they take courses in the architecture program and a As artist-in-residence in the School of Architecture, he asks his students building studio. The first semester, students develop a transportable Most of our students pursue careers at the forefront of the discipline. to envision how their discipline corresponds to other fields of inquiry. Here, refugee shelter that has to perform in different environmental A number of students go into restoration because buildings are Oatman discusses the rigors of the program, the unusual collaborations, and architecture of the mind. huge cultural resources. But a certain percent move past traditional architecture into the arts, into theory, into hybrid industries that intersect with technology. The whole mission is to arrive at their own ON ART VS. ARCHITECTURE set of research interests. We want a voice to emerge. « An artist rarely doesn’t follow through from concept to completing a project. But in architecture, you’re making the dream of a work of architecture that gets fulfilled only when the client approves. I think 4 that’s the beautiful reality of architecture—that so much of it lives in The Rensselaer architecture program has its roots in building sciences, the mind. the study of the materials and components that go into a structure. Today, In my studios we are designing things students will actually building sciences reflects the importance Rensselaer places on designing realize, in collaboration with industry or performing artists or humanitarian groups.

ON DUCHAMP The Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College invited my Duchamp Seminar to design an exhibition, “Living with Duchamp.” But first they had to learn about Duchamp and modernity. The seminar is a semester course that meets once a week; the design studio met three times weekly. We crammed those 15 to 18 seminar meetings into the first month.

ParaCITY is a new concept for urban living where home, work, and learning blend together in nomadic personal cells clustered onto Cordoba’s high-rises in Cordoba, Argentina.

Latin America Study Abroad Instructor: Gustavo Crembil Student: Tanner Whitney

28 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 29 a design group, or maybe become an environmental consultant. You We meet our students three days a week for four hours. You’ve got developer. You have the public aspirations, the political aspirations, them with loads. That’s when I knew this was going to be different might work with data visualization as well. laptops open and 60 heads down with each student bringing a unique as well as ecological demands. The contradictions become clear to from other schools. perspective to the project. the students: “Wait a minute, one person is telling me they want one ON ELIMINATING BARRIERS thing and another person is telling me they want something entirely ON LEARNING FROM OTHERS ON BEING ON-SITE FOR THE FIRST TIME different.” They had to take a stance. Our students are really smart and everyone in the industry knows this. Dean Douglis has a lecture series in which he brings in artists and It takes hubris to bridge architecture and engineering and this can be Their response was, “Wait a minute; it’s not like the digital model.” ON THE RENSSELAER APPROACH architects from around the world. Some of them are really new and tricky but it makes a lot of sense. There were big mounds of dirt everywhere. The students said, prominent architects and artists. You get to learn about their work and “We didn’t consider the dirt in the drawings; can we use it to Partnering with the public realm through education is a way of their inspirations. After each lecture, students can enter a raffle and ON OUTCOMES change the topography?” Our students learn fast. In the design making an impact. A project like this is unique because academia can the dean chooses two to have dinner with him and the speaker. It’s a very rich degree. Graduates will have marketable skills out of the process knowledge is incremental, you develop what you know offer a diverse perspective that is normally not part of the process. This is a huge challenge for our undergraduates, but it has a lasting gate. I’ve already had companies like Arup contact me for positions. and you keep working. ON THE RENSSELAER COMMUNITY They have a need for these skills. Our students are doing internships effect on the quality of education we can provide. You can teach and mostly doing climate simulation, like daylight simulation. « ON CONTRIBUTING never leave the classroom. Or, you can work on a real-world project The great thing about RPI is that even though it’s really competitive, and things come up that you can never plan for. « everyone is part of the same community. The students from my year, This is really different from working on a project in the classroom, the year above me and below me, we are like a family. That really 5 when the city is coming to look at your work. It’s three months helps. You’re never afraid to see a professor and have a conversation, away and you’re looking at a blank piece of paper; it can feel 6 even if it doesn’t have anything to do with your project. Assistant Professor of Architecture Rhett Russo came to Rensselaer overwhelming. It’s always been the joke around campus that when you meet in 2016 as a pedagogical innovator with experience working on project A slightly new approach on one site can transform the Alexandra Kallish of Tampa, Florida, has wanted to be an architect ever someone and they ask your major, they say, “They let you out of designs ranging from objects to interiors to urban scale. development of the entire waterfront. Our students are visualizing since her parents suggested it after noting her fascination with Legos, the Greene Building?” To some extent it’s true. But the School of the future through technology. The technology helps strategize and her love of both math and art. Rensselaer was her top choice. Today, He quickly carved out a niche, engaging Rensselaer students in Architecture really does a good job of having us circulate and get out. the way they think about climate, water, and density. Kallish is pursuing a Master of Architecture degree, a five-year program she transforming a vacant waterfront in nearby Cohoes. It is a pursuit, he I played varsity tennis last year and I know a lot of people outside of If you understand how to tune in to the technology as a student will complete in 2021. admits, that can be daunting to second-year students, who designed the the architecture program. full 2.4-acre site last fall and followed with housing in the spring semester. coming out of a polytechnic, you can begin to think like an Now starting her third year, she has adjusted (somewhat) to the Northeast The developer was presented with their ideas for consideration. entrepreneur. It’s technology not in service of more technology, but weather—and has quickly come to see that her degree will be far more ON HOW PREPARED SHE IS FOR THE FUTURE the ability to look into the future and transform the way we shape powerful than she envisioned. Here, she talks about options, inspirations, Here, Russo discusses the project, the birds, and Rensselaer’s our cities. This is the long-standing idea behind RPI. and relationships. In most majors, I believe the main goal by graduation is to have unique approach. learned the facts and theories of the profession, and most of the ON THE BIRDS research and exploration comes after school. On the contrary, ON OPENING HER EYES architecture is a major in which the learning itself is found through We made a public presentation and a citizen from a wildlife group ON REDRAWING A WATERFRONT Originally, I thought I wanted to do residential architecture, but research and exploration. Any person can learn the rules and said, “Wouldn’t it be great to see birdwatching on the site? This area Designing is a process that requires you to balance conflicting interests after being here just a little while, my eyes opened to what it really regulations required by the field, which I have discovered in my is a resting place for 200 species.” Only days before, our students had and constraints. Each student was asked to include performance space, means to be an architect, and how there are so many options out internships. The beauty of the Rensselaer School of Architecture is decided to incorporate a wildlife habitat along the waterfront. a boathouse, and over-55 housing. The boathouse could only occupy there. Architecture is such an intensive major that you open that it breaks down preconceptions of architecture and opens your a certain part of the site and not be within the flood plain. There were yourself up to working in a wide variety of fields and across mind to thousands of possibilities. So far at RPI, I have learned how places where things could and couldn’t go and the students needed to ON THE PEOPLE many disciplines. to design. I’m not quite sure yet what I want to design, but I’m using consider alternatives. Then, they have to understand the ecology, the Learning to negotiate is something that comes with real-world Everything was really hands-on from day one. In one of our my time in school to explore different aspects of the field in order to plants, parking, and wildlife of the Hudson River. experience. You’re working in the public domain with a private classes, we immediately built small columns and beams and tested give myself a wide spectrum of design to dive into. n

Latin America Study Abroad Building Sciences Duchamp Seminar Building Sciences Second Year Studio Digital Constructs 2 1 Instructor: Gustavo Crembil 2 Instructor: Mae-Ling Lokko 3 Instructor: Michael Oatman 4 Instructor: Nancy Diniz 5 Instructor: Rhett Russo 6 Instructor: Adam Dayem Students: All Students Students: Liverpool students Students: All Students Student: Debora Nova Student: Felix Reyes Student: Alexandra Kallish

30 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 31 Experiments in

Since the ribbon cutting for the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Time Performing Arts Center on Oct. 3, 2008, EMPAC has helped forge a new paradigm for cross-disciplinary research and production on campus while positioning Rensselaer as a major player in the international art world.

— BY JOSH POTTER

hen the Formosa Quartet takes to the stage at the As Goebel puts it, “Science aims at understanding the underlying Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing systems of nature and life. Engineering creates tools and methods for Arts Center on October 11, it represents, by director supporting human life. Art continually opens doors on the present Johannes Goebel’s count, the 5,557th day of the moments of experience and our search for meaning, and that’s a EMPACW program. By more conventional metrics, this performance necessity for being human.” marks the 10th anniversary of the landmark center’s opening and the So it’s fitting, in a poetic way, that the anniversary of EMPAC’s start of a three-day event—dubbed 10YEARS—being held to celebrate literal door opening be celebrated with a diverse slate of performances the occasion. selected to figuratively do the same. The anniversary celebration Upon opening, EMPAC was hailed by With a twinkle in his eye, Goebel insists it’s the first figure that showcases for Rensselaer students and audience members traveling matters more to the programmatic vision of EMPAC, not the legacy from well beyond the region a host of world premieres, developed The New York Times as a technological of completing a decade. While anniversaries are often taken as an over the past year in residence at the center, including a multimedia opportunity to look back on past achievements, Goebel says, “I’m performance by visual artist Wu Tsang, a 3D sound installation pleasure dome for the mind and senses interested in what happens now! And how to create ever-new ‘nows’ in demonstrating EMPAC’s new Wave Field Synthesis audio system, a . . . dedicated to the marriage of art and the future.” dance-film installation by Cypriot choreographer Maria Hassabi, a As the string quartet leads its audience throughout all four of feature film by Canadian artist Isabelle Pauwels, and an immersive science as it has never been done before. EMPAC’s venues, performing classical repertoire selected to match theater performance by “world-maker” Yara Travieso, capped off by the architectural acoustics of each space, it is indeed in the present a concert performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble tense of listening and feeling the sounds reverberate through the room using a 64-speaker Ambisonic “dome” built around the audience. and against one’s body that Goebel’s point is driven home. While The festival encompasses a talk by Goebel on the philosophy and the scientific method can set future-oriented goals for inquiry, and politics of digital archiving, a demonstration by CISL director Hui retrospectively consider a body of collected data, art instead provides Su on research currently underway at the Cognitive and Immersive a reflective space for the human senses to make integrative sense of Systems Laboratory (CISL @ EMPAC), and the unveiling of the experience in real time. second volume of EMPAC’s “White Book,” Programming EMPAC:

32 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 33 Days 4,159—5,476, a comprehensive document of every project Performing Arts at the World Trade Center in New York City, something Brooks likes to refer to as new “protocols.” in 2013, and is representing France at the upcoming Venice Biennale undertaken at the center since its inception. A new video kiosk in and the West Kowloon Cultural District, a massive 100-acre art As a point of contrast, she points to the way that Hollywood movies in 2019. Working with curators at the Walker, Brooks started with the EMPAC lobby now allows visitors to browse and view full- center currently under construction in Hong Kong—all interested are produced. Because of the commercial objectives driving the the simple question: “What would Laure do if we gave her access to length documentation of over 400 productions and performances in learning how Rensselaer was able to realize both EMPAC’s production, there are certain workflows and hierarchies established theatrical infrastructure and technology for the first time?” Over the created at EMPAC. infrastructural and programmatic capabilities. to ensure efficiency of execution. As a result, there’s a set of rules that course of two years and a series of residencies undertaken at EMPAC More than an anniversary, the 10YEARS celebration distills While it’s easy to see how the EMPAC program radically everyone in the industry follows and a certain language that everyone and the Walker, the question was slowly pursued, eventually resulting what makes the EMPAC program as radical and transformative expands the framework for education, research, and cultural life on understands, but that comes with a calcification of innovation on the in They Are Waiting for You, which premiered last fall at EMPAC before 10 years on as it was when President Shirley Ann Jackson first the Rensselaer campus, EMPAC is similarly changing the landscape level of form and content. traveling to the Walker to be performed in conjunction with Prouvost’s assembled the Electronic Media and Performing Arts Task Force for artistic research and production on an international level. “The interesting thing is when we diverge from these industrial new gallery installation. in 2000, as one of her first major actions toward the realization of Brooks—whose curatorial work focuses on the expansion of visual practices and protocols,” Brooks says. Pursued in a truly collective, Working alongside choreographers, musicians, and stage a new paradigm for cross-disciplinary education and research at art from the static container of the white-box gallery into the more cross-disciplinary spirit, with artists working in constant collaboration technicians toward the realization of her first performance for the the nation’s oldest polytechnic. While this vision has matured into dynamic time-based realm of moving-image and performance— with highly skilled engineers and technical staff, EMPAC productions proscenium stage, Prouvost was forced to expand her disciplinary The New Polytechnic, following EMPAC’s early transition from often initializes her EMPAC productions in collaboration with not only generate new artworks and new technologies, but also new language (based in visual art and video) and learn to speak a new meta- an “electronic” enterprise to the more integrative “experimental” other institutions, like the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in social structures and protocols. language that would encompass the languages of each collaborator. project it now carries in its name, EMPAC continues to anchor New York City, or the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. In much A good example is Brooks’ recent project with French artist Laure Through this method of artistic research, the emergent social the fleet of cross-disciplinary initiatives that have arisen in recent the same way that scientific researchers often collaborate between Prouvost. Prouvost is a well-recognized figure in the visual art world, protocol—a completely new way of working together—was just as years, such as Art_X, while establishing Rensselaer in a much academic institutions, or with private sector entities (as with CISL’s having won the Turner Prize (the UK’s most prestigious art award) novel as the finished performance. broader academic and cultural context. joint venture with IBM Research), these artistic co-commissions pool resources, expertise, and infrastructure to undertake projects n her remarks at the building’s opening in 2008, President that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Jackson challenged the Rensselaer community “to dare to “We can do things here that museums like MoMA can’t,” invest in new enterprises—areas in which Rensselaer had Brooks says, recognizing not only the exceptional infrastructure in not been known but which held great promise and value.” the EMPAC building, but the expertise of the staff, programmatic IThis effort has not gone unnoticed. Upon opening, EMPAC opportunities within the residential production framework, and an was hailed by The New York Times as “a technological pleasure expanded concept of research bridging both artistic and scientific dome for the mind and senses . . . dedicated to the marriage modalities. of art and science as it has never been done before,” that is, Goebel echoes the sentiment, claiming, “The EMPAC something unprecedented in both higher education and across curatorial program is a paradigm that does not exist to my the traditionally distinct fields of scientific research, technological knowledge anywhere else on the planet.” Under Goebel’s engineering, and artistic production. Over 5,500 days (and administration, a staff of curators—Ashley Ferro-Murray (associate counting), the center has hosted artists, researchers, and scholars curator of theater and dance), Argeo Ascani (curator of music), and from nearly 30 countries to undertake collaborative projects, Victoria Brooks (curator of time-based visual art)—pursue distinct- among them more than 100 commissioned projects that have yet-complementary programmatic trajectories, commissioning new gone on to tour the world, in addition to over 600 productions projects from a cadre of international artists working at the leading presented on stage and screen for the Rensselaer community. edge of their form, and then developing these projects through EMPAC productions have garnered a host of awards, including extensive residential engagements at EMPAC. a Pulitzer Prize nomination (Kate Soper’s opera Ipsa Dixit), an As a result, EMPAC production residencies have become Academy Award Shortlist selection (Laurie Anderson’s filmHeart coveted opportunities for artists seeking to expand their work of a Dog), and recognition from publications like Rolling Stone, into new aesthetic dimensions and experiential spaces. This Pitchfork, and The Wire for recordings produced at the center spring, The New York Times followed the two-week production (by Tim Hecker, Ben Frost, Laurel Halo, and others). This residency undertaken by electronic musician Daniel Lopatin spring, Artforum magazine celebrated EMPAC’s “NASA-grade” (AKA Oneohtrix Point Never) in advance of a sold-out three- production facilities in a profile of EMPAC artist-in-residence night premiere of his multimedia “concertscape” MYRIAD at Patricia L. Boyd. Manhattan’s cavernous Park Avenue Armory. Lopatin and “When I arrived at EMPAC, it was rare for artists and his collaborators used the opportunity to rehearse music, colleagues in the visual arts field to know what EMPAC was, prepare a complex projection apparatus, and build an especially in Europe,” reflects Victoria Brooks, who came from enormous inflatable sculpture that would be deployed England to work as EMPAC’s curator of time-based visual art in mid-show. Of EMPAC’s role in the production, 2013. “Now everyone knows about the building and the program Lopatin said simply, “We couldn’t have done it because in the U.S. and internationally there isn’t any other without you.” institution doing what we’re doing.” Beyond curatorial and technical support, In recent years, EMPAC has hosted visitors from a wide range EMPAC production residencies pursue a of international universities and cultural institutions—including form of collaborative experimentation Composer Kate Soper and the ensemble Wet Ink both technological and liberal arts colleges, the San Francisco and research meant to engender new performed the premiere of her Pulitzer Prize-nominated Symphony, the University of Tasmania, the University College social systems and ways of working, opera Ipsa Dixit, developed in residence at EMPAC. of Opera in Stockholm, the new Perelman Center for the

34 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 35 he same venues and tools that make EMPAC a leading-edge ccording to Goebel, EMPAC productions model a core performance space also make it an exceptional laboratory notion of The New Polytechnic that is being enacted across We cannot just discover and invent; for research at the interface between digital technology and the Institute. By exploring the spaces where traditional we must ensure that our discoveries human experience. Recent areas of inquiry include advanced disciplinary boundaries overlap—perhaps between civil T A and inventions are used to serve humanity. visualization, acoustics, sensor design, lighting design, haptics, social engineering and architecture, or cognitive science and game design— interaction, and immersive environments, among others. we expand our frame of intelligibility, collapse artificial boundaries, — DR. ERIC LANDER The Wave Field Synthesis Audio Array is a recent project. and create the possibility for new ideas to arise. Developed by EMPAC audio engineers, this 500-speaker array is one Art delivers this idea in a direct, sensory way, but it’s also the of the most extensive and precise spatial audio systems in the world. objective of more scientific research initiatives taking place at EMPAC, By placing a virtual sound source in physical space, the system creates most prominently with CISL. Working in EMPAC Studio 2 on the “holophonic” sound that moves around the listening space, not unlike design and construction of a cognitive and immersive “situations the sonic equivalent of 3D cinema. room,” which enables groups of human users to interact with large versa. The purpose for this orientation is that technology changes It can be tempting to celebrate the development of new EMPAC is also home to the Cognitive and Immersive Systems datasets through responsive computing agents, CISL is similarly fast, but the human senses and corresponding social environment technologies for the sheer technical brilliance that hatches them, Laboratory (CISL), a joint research venture between Rensselaer and pursuing the research and development of novel protocols for the do not. Every piece of the design process—and by extension every but a core idea of The New Polytechnic is that this is only a piece IBM. With projected applications in the fields of medicine, business, overlapping domain of social space and computing interface. What media platform that EMPAC has developed (from the Campfire of what it takes to educate students who are, in President Jackson’s cybersecurity, and education, CISL is developing prototypes for the links this work to the kind of research and experimentation happening immersive computing interface to Wave Field Synthesis)—had to words, “also articulate, broadminded, and humane.” Echoing the next generation of human-computer interfaces that will help solve with an artwork like Prouvost’s is a content-driven approach to the follow this functionality, considering first the qualitative experience idea at this spring’s Commencement Colloquy, genomic science complex global challenges. project, using technology to conceive ideas and experiences, not the of human perception. pioneer Dr. Eric Lander said, “We cannot just discover and invent; With EMPAC’s spacious studios—optimized for human perception other way around. This continues to be a radical proposition, as virtual and we must ensure that our discoveries and inventions are used to and interaction—along with its complex media and networking Viewed this way, the EMPAC building itself was the first human- augmented reality technologies have enjoyed resurgent interest serve humanity.” infrastructure, researchers across the five schools at Rensselaer have scale research project undertaken by the center. As Goebel recalls, a in recent years and more VR platforms work their way to the In short, we can’t simply “tech” our way out of all our a powerful tool in the quest to better understand human sensory major goal was to “build a space that works well for humans first, then marketplace. Prevailing wisdom might question the return on global challenges; we must create humane relationships to experience, communication, and interaction with computing systems. add the technology.” For instance, by designing the acoustics of the investment of a 220,000-square-foot building while cyberspace our technologies and use our technologies to create humane space to accommodate the human voice and acoustic music, electronic seems to be where the action is. relationships to one another. And to do this requires a method of infrastructure could be added to open further possibilities. Not vice Goebel is unconvinced. “There will always be a difference social and self-reflection, something that the arts offer at their core. between the individualized approach to something and one that For jazz great Herbie Hancock, who visited EMPAC this spring considers the social experience of interacting with groups,” he says. for the Commencement Colloquy, there’s a step that has to happen “EMPAC went against the grain of how the triad—art, science, and before we go out and change the world, a process of self-reflection technology—has been posited in the past decades, which has been that can happen every time we perform or experience a challenging mainly technology-driven, and we continue to do so.” work of art. “If we take it upon ourselves to transform ourselves,” he said, “we transform others and the world around us.” n

Above, left: In 2016, EMPAC featured the world premiere of a new work for voice and electronics featuring soprano Amelia Watkins, utilizing the Wave Field Synthesis Audio Array. The concert featured live voice, 512 channels of processed vocals, and spatialized electronic sound. Above: Dancers perform one of several technicolor scenes for the integrated 3D film/live dance Above: The Mandarin Project, which is at the forefront of advanced research in the Cognitive production Tesseract, developed over three years by “media dance” pioneer Charles Atlas and and Immersive Systems Laboratory, combines artificial intelligence, narrative, game design, and former Merce Cunningham company dancers Silas Riener and Rashaun Mitchell. augmented reality to teach Chinese. Above, right: EMPAC is home to studios that are versatile spaces for the integration of digital technology with human expression and perception (known as “multi-modal environments”). 36 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 37 EXPANDING DATA DIMENSIONS

hmed Eleish, a doctoral student, types a few commands This is network analysis, a powerful data science technique that into his laptop, gives a final click, and sits back. makes it possible to identify common ground in complex datasets. Researchers at Rensselaer are BY MARY MARTIALAY The screen shifts abruptly from the rigid grid of a Network analysis is best known in its guise as “social network A paleobiology spreadsheet to thousands of multicolored analysis”—companies like Facebook use it to generate “friend” dots connected by a web of lines. In a dance choreographed by suggestions based on commonalities found in our profiles—but perfecting network analysis, a powerful algorithms, the dots—representing records of trilobite fossils, in the hands of Rensselaer researchers, it is drilling into the big color-coded into eight biological orders—shiver and shift data log jam. In many fields of research, traditional data analysis data science technique that makes it position, while the web of lines, showing who was found near is limited to exploring relationships between two variables. whom, follows the movement. By looking for communal relationships, network analysis can Minutes later, when the last of the shivering circles has search for patterns in the interplay of as many as 10 variables possible to identify common ground in come to rest, a pattern has emerged. Distinct clusters of dots simultaneously. connected by lines make apparent a truth, a relationship between “Just as we think of people in terms of communities, with complex datasets. factors that is hidden in spreadsheet data too voluminous to be groups of common attributes—location, gender, interests—we processed by the human mind alone. The dots have clustered can find communities in datasets, whether it’s fossils, minerals, into “communities” of trilobites that lived near one another. or materials,” says Peter Fox, a data scientist, Tetherless World Although there’s no time axis, the passage of 300 million years Constellation Chair, and professor of earth and environmental is visible in the steady left-to-right shift in colors, as order sciences, computer science, and cognitive science. “Thinking marked by red circles gives way to yellow, then green, then blue. of community, or as we call it, ‘co-occurrence,’ gets you out of An abrupt choke point marks a mass extinction—followed by a two dimensions, out of x/y plots, and that opens up enormous smattering of blue dots. territory for pulling complex relationships out of data,” he says.

38 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 39 “This idea has been in the mathematics The roster of the projects currently and computer science literature forever, underway in the lab (numbering more but advances in technology have only than two dozen) includes seemingly recently made it practical.” unrelated research—one project explores The history of life on Earth makes a extremophiles while another is focused on good example. With network analysis, metal additive manufacturing—that hints researchers in Fox’s lab coaxed a massive at the breadth of fields where the approach database containing marine fossil may be productive. records—with information including location the fossils were found, age of the — Student-Led Research fossils, and Linnean classification—into Most of the students and postdoctoral Fox has worked on about 10 different quantifying the ecological impact of five researchers in Fox’s lab have their fingers fields in the past three decades, devoting mass extinctions known to have occurred in multiple projects, with anywhere from increasing time over the past 15 years over the course of 542 million years. two to half a dozen researchers teamed to applying data science techniques and up on each project. Many of the projects computer science techniques to developing — Understanding Early Earth involve network analysis, which makes data science computer platforms. Much The analysis, with results published in the sense given that the technique combines data, unifying terminology, and establishing of his earlier work—like a traceable Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the fundamental elements of the lab— best practices. There are also, says Prabhu, account system he built for the Global is the most ambitious thus far in the ongoing structuring data and establishing best decisions to be made, usually as part of a Change Research Program in 2012 and a Deep Time Data Infrastructure (DTDI), practices for data, statistical analysis, conversation between the data scientists and system developed for NASA that allows a collaboration aimed at understanding machine learning models, and data the discipline-specific experts. researchers to rectify data from multiple the intertwined evolution of mineralogy visualization. While network analysis is only “Sometimes, when we explore the data NASA satellites in different flight patterns and biology beginning with early Earth. one of a suite of tools the lab uses to pry that will enable him to explore it and gain that is given to us, we can say ‘these datasets collecting different data—established best Rensselaer provides the primary data science knowledge from numbers, for the moment, some valuable insights. have varied distribution, lots of complexity, practices for structuring and storing data and expertise for the project, headquartered at it is the star player. “I keep thinking we are going to hit a they have the most to tell us, so it would be representing its quality. His research group the Carnegie Institution for Science, and For example, postdoctoral researcher wall with network analysis, that we’ve done worth exploring them,’ ” says Prabhu. “And serves as the data science team for the Deep involves about 30 scientists. The goal is to Fang Huang is leading a network analysis all we can with it. And every time I work sometimes experts say ‘these are the research Carbon Observatory (DCO), a 10-year-long integrate and explore existing discipline- effort on two similar projects—the Census on something new, it surprises me, and I’m questions that we are most invested in and collaboration of more than 1,000 scientists specific data (the project website lists for Deep Life and Cerro Negro—aimed impressed that we gained a new insight,” what can you do to help us?’ ” studying the “quantities, movements, forms, “mineralogy and petrology, paleobiology at understanding how environment affects “JUST AS WE THINK OF says Prabhu, a doctoral student. “Network and origins of carbon inside Earth.” and paleontology, paleotectonics and biology. The Census for Deep Life uses analysis is so versatile in the things that it can — Problem-Solving Methodology Large projects like the DCO often paleomagnetism, geochemistry and datasets on life found under the surface of do; it can be transferable through domains, The work is rooted in a methodology spawn subgroups, and the Deep Time Data geochronology, genomics and proteomics, the Earth, principally in the deep ocean. PEOPLE IN TERMS OF and it can be scaled up and scaled down for that Fox, who began his career as an Infrastructure is a prime example. Observing and more”) to produce insights into the The Cerro Negro project—a collaboration the kinds of analysis that you want to do.” applied mathematician, developed through the practices Fox and his team employed evolution of Earth’s environment. with Karyn Rogers, assistant professor of COMMUNITIES, WITH In each case, the network analysis multiple collaborations, including his in the DCO, Carnegie Institution scientist The trilobite analysis was an offshoot earth and environmental sciences—looks maps a structure formed by “nodes” that work with Tetherless World Constellation Robert Hazen approached the team to of that work. An earlier DTDI network at a dataset on extremophiles taken from a GROUPS OF COMMON represent the object of study (a fossil, an colleague Deborah McGuinness. This suggest a similar collaboration based on analysis produced a time-lapse visualization volcanic mountain in Nicaragua. extremophile, a metal) and “edges,” which methodology—a progression of 11 steps that mineralogy. Hazen, says Fox, was looking to depicting how minerals bearing cobalt—a Doctoral students Hao Zhong, Congrui ATTRIBUTES— express a significant relationship that includes developing a “use case,” developing make the transition from spreadsheets, two rare element essential in life—changed Li, and Feifei Pan, working with Johnson can exist between nodes. In the simplest a model ontology, adopting a technology dimensions, and incremental progress, to in composition as oxygen proliferated in Samuel—associate professor of mechanical, example, researchers begin with an existing approach, and frequent evaluation—makes multiple dimensions and breakthroughs. Earth’s atmosphere. The results contribute aerospace, and nuclear engineering—are LOCATION, GENDER, dataset in spreadsheet form, create a it possible for them to rapidly replicate The team sought funding with the W.M. to our understanding of how biology using network analysis as part of a larger separate spreadsheet listing the nodes to their work, moving among datasets from Keck Foundation. In a rare move that incorporated cobalt from 4 to 2 billion years project to advance the field of metal additive INTERESTS—WE CAN be found on that dataset, and connect the different disciplines and extracting meaning recognizes the value of the approach, Keck ago. Prior to that, a DTDI network analysis manufacturing, better known as 3D printing. two spreadsheets with code that defines the from graph representations without coding asked the team to increase the budget by of similar data showed which minerals And Anirudh Prabhu recently launched FIND COMMUNITIES IN edges, and generates graphs of the structure exhaustive discipline-specific knowledge. 40 percent. The project to date has been so in specific classes (such as copper- or a project to adapt network analysis to small formed by the nodes and edges. Variables “What I really bring is a conceptual successful, Fox says, that team members are chromium-bearing minerals) are likely to be datasets, an idea that stemmed from the DATASETS, WHETHER can be encoded into the nodes—with representation of how to solve problems,” now looking to expand its reach and lengthen found in proximity to one another. Mars Curiosity mission. The CheMin options like color, size, and shape to indicate says Fox. “I’ve developed courses to its duration along the lines of DCO. “Network analysis is a tool for data- instrument aboard the Curiosity rover the variables—and edges. Additional types teach students the skills they need to “This is groundbreaking work, and driven science. We have guiding scientific collects images of minerals which are used IT’S FOSSILS, OR of nodes (fossils and locations) allow more follow that methodology. They know that’s what I came to Rensselaer to do,” questions, but we’re typically not applying to calculate the crystal lattice dimensions of complex networks. Most of the work is that you have to conceptually understand says Fox. “Network analysis is only one an analysis just to prove or disprove a the minerals. Multiple competing methods MINERALS, OR done using open source tools, packages, and the problem, you have to understand the of the tools in our methodology, but it’s hypothesis,” says Eleish. “Instead we are exist to calculate the chemical composition libraries, like RStudio, Python, and Jupyter. terminology, you have to understand the proving extremely effective. It gets us out exploring the data. We work with experts to of the minerals from the limited image data MATERIALS.” Data scientists will tell you there is a research goal or question. And then you of two dimensions and exploring the full identify their purpose and then we apply a collected on the crystal lattice dimensions, known distribution to their work: 80 percent have to be prepared to apply software meaning of what the data has to offer. It’s data-driven approach to help them explore but no single method is acknowledged as data curation, 20 percent data exploration. engineering techniques like rapid useful in any field that has a notion of co- the data and find relationships, patterns, and superior. The dataset is small, but Prabhu ­— PETER FOX Every analysis starts with the long work of prototyping, and spiral development, occurrence, of community. I think this is trends that might be interesting to them.” wants to develop algorithms and practices combing through databases, structuring and social science methodology.” just the beginning.” n

40 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 41 STAYINGCONNECTED STAYINGCONNECTED

HELP RENSSELAER GO GREEN Alumni programs and services are advertised Seeking Outstanding Alumni mainly via email and social media—including Reunion & Homecoming and regional chapter Nominations are open for the Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame information. Help us continue to “go green,” and make sure you don’t miss out on any of the excit- The nominations process has begun for the 2020 class of inductees into the ing and educational events and valuable benefits Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame. offered exclusively to Rensselaer alumni. Write to The Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame was conceived in 1995 to honor the [email protected], or visit alumni.rpi.edu/ past, while celebrating all generations of Rensselaer pioneers. It is designed gogreen and update your email, social media to permanently preserve, celebrate, and widely communicate the long and user name, and contact information. exceptional heritage of the Institute. The stories of these innovators, pioneers, and entrepreneurs provide a powerful source of inspiration for all who follow in their WORLDWIDE TRAVEL PROGRAM paths, and like them, will continue to change the world. See the world with people who share your The guiding philosophy of the Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame is to recognize interests—fellow Rensselaer alumni. Upcom- the “best of the best” as measured by contributions by inductees to humanity; a ing programs include the Galapagos Islands, a specific field of endeavor; or a unique niche area. The criteria for selection include seven-night cruise in the Pacific Northwest on the nominee’s reputation globally, professional achievements, service and career the Columbia and Snake rivers, a luxury cruise contributions, and uniqueness. To date, 86 members have been inducted. Etched from Sydney (Australia) to Auckland (New glass windows have been placed centrally on campus to commemorate their Zealand), and an intimate group (28 maximum) contributions. educational trip to Cuba. Visit alumni.rpi.edu/ Just a few examples of the notable alumni who have been inducted include Steven travel for a complete listing of upcoming trips, or Sasson ’72 (pictured), inventor of the digital camera; civil rights trailblazer Wesley contact program coordinator Michael Wellner ’64 Brown ’51; David Noble ’40, inventor of the floppy disk; and engineering education at [email protected] or (212) 486-3064 for leader Lois Graham ’46. more information. Please submit the names of worthy alumni for consideration for the 2020 class RENSSELAER ALUMNI CAREER SERVICES of inductees by December 31, 2018. A nominations form, and more The Rensselaer Alumni Association offers you information about the current members of Paying It Forward help and support at any stage of your career! the Rensselaer Alumni Hall of Fame, may Rensselaer Career Services, at alumni.rpi.edu/ be found at alumni.rpi.edu/hof. A unique scholarship is supporting students career, offers assistance whether you are seeking For questions, contact Alumni a job, looking to make a change, hoping to hire a Relations at [email protected] or Rensselaer graduate, or simply need some advice (518) 276-6205. n As the 200th anniversary of the founding He convinced Weimer to join the since he was already giving every year, or tips. Visit the website and find all that the of Rensselaer approaches in 2024, the capital Association for Computing Machinery he could create a scholarship. “I wanted alumni network can offer you, or contact Alumni campaign—Transformative: Campaign for student chapter, which gave members free something permanent, and thus my endowed Relations at [email protected] or (518) 276-6205. Global Change—will secure the future of accounts to use the school’s first computer, scholarship was born,” he says. The Donald Rensselaer and enable exceptional students an IBM System/360. E. Weimer ’74 2 Percent Scholarship gives to pursue their passions, realize their dreams, “That’s where I learned to program. priority to students who run into financial and change the world for generations to For the next three years, you could find hardship after their first year. To date, 28 come. For Don Weimer ’74, a commitment me hanging out in the computer lab in the students have benefited from his generosity, to student support was inspired years ago by basement of Amos Eaton Hall,” he says. and he intends to do more. 2018 2019 the generosity that enabled him to pursue a In his senior year, Weimer found himself “I am financially able to give back,” he degree at Rensselaer and by the quality of the being recruited by the data systems division says. “It’s the right thing to do. It is my OCT SCHOLARSHIP GALA. NOV GLOBAL GAME JAN MAYOR’S CUP HOCKEY, JAN ANNUAL RPI SPIRIT JAN BIG RED FREAKOUT Join NYC area CHANGERS PANEL ALBANY. Join fellow DAY. Wear your ICE HOUSE, TROY. education he received. of Grumman Aerospace. He would spend intention to donate the bulk of my estate alumni for an DISCUSSION, hockey fans as RPI RPI gear, and share This annual hockey Intent on studying electrical engineering, the next 22 years working at Grumman, to my scholarship fund, at which point the 24 14 19 25 26 evening celebrating Houston, Texas. Join takes on cross-town rival your pride in your degree tradition includes a buffet Weimer quickly realized that many of his ending up as a systems programmer for the scholarship should be a full ride.” student scholarship Houston area alumni for Union College at the Times with the world! Share a dinner, face painting, and classmates were far more advanced in the company’s IBM mainframe computer before “Don’s 2 percent approach and his and distinguished a high-profile thought Union Center. A pre-game photo of yourself, your more. Take the shuttle to the subject than he was. “I went from being taking a position with Arrow Electronics. commitment to scholarship are unique and leaders, featuring a leadership panel. The reception will be held at friends, family, or co-workers, Houston Field House for one of the smartest kids in my high school Early in his career, Weimer decided to inspiring. We thank him for his impact debut performance by series showcases alumni the venue. Contact Alumni on social media with the Big Red Freakout game give back to Rensselaer. “I received a great on Rensselaer and today’s students,” says who never needed to develop study habits, students and alumni of who are innovators and Relations at [email protected] #RPISpiritDay. Visit the web- vs. Yale, then return post- to one of many in a much more demanding education,” he says. “RPI taught me how to Graig Eastin, vice president for institute the Rensselaer Orchestra game changers who offer or (518) 276-6205. site at alumni.rpi.edu/spirit. game for a dessert reception academic environment.” When his grades think logically and solve problems. Those advancement. at Carnegie Hall. Visit a high-value session with the team and coaching slipped during his freshman year, he skills have served me well throughout my To learn more about offering support, visit carnegiehall.org for for networking. Contact staff. Contact Alumni discovered that his scholarship funding had career.” giving.rpi.edu, alumni.rpi.edu, or contact the discounted tickets using [email protected] or call Relations at [email protected] been reduced as well—a sore point that In 1982, Weimer made his first gift to Alumni Office at [email protected] or (518) promo code DCG29863. (518) 276-2227. or (518) 276-6205. would later influence his approach to giving. Rensselaer, donating 2 percent of his salary. 276-6205. n For more info, visit As luck would have it, his freshman In 1991, he met with a group of Rensselaer giving.rpi.edu/gala/east. roommate got him hooked on computers. advancement officers, who explained that,

42 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 43 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 43 CLASSNOTES CLASSNOTES

Herb graduated from Albert Einstein College of MEMORIES Medicine in 1970 and established a private practice in the heart of Chinatown, where he treated patients regardless of their ability to pay. He was a physician at Gouverneur Hospital, which awarded him for his contributions to Lower East Side patients. He was Class Notes also recognized for his contributions and leadership involving youth, Head Start, and the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, where he volun- teered after his own office hours, as well as by other health organizations. “We shared six bunks in each dorm and did our father, Richard Tietze, passed away in 2016. My —1942— He was active as a Presbyterian Church elder, and run and exercises every morning. (I was assigned mom never recovered after his death and passed Democratic District Leader, and as a board mem- Many thanks to Ed Golash ’69, who sent news to teach semaphore every a.m., having learned it away March 4, 2017.” ber of Hong Ning Housing for the Elderly, and the about his neighbor, Vincent Miller. Vincent cel- in BSA.) Then I was assigned as an engineering From his obituary, supplied by Lynne, we learn Senior Citizen Advisory Board. The Kees’ promi- ebrated his 99th birthday on February 7. Vince officer to a destroyer in San Francisco, part of the that Richard enlisted in the Navy while still in nence in politics is attested to by two quotations received his degree in chemical engineering and Japan invasion fleet; then the war ended. served in the Navy during WWII, rising from high school. He was accepted into the Naval Offi- from his memorial service: “The Kees are to Chi- ensign to lieutenant, senior grade. He designed “I was then accepted back at RPI to complete a cers training program at RPI, earning a bachelor’s natown politics what the Kennedys are to Ameri- and sold water treatment systems for everything BSME and was hired by Ingersoll-Rand Co. in in chemical engineering in three years. After the can politics,” and “Everyone’s here. It’s wall-to-wall from pharmaceutical factories to power plants. He their sales training program. They had four plants war, serving as LTJG in the Atlantic and Pacific judges.” and I decided to stay in their Painted Post, N.Y., started the Vincent J. Miller Co. in 1950, sold the theaters, he returned to RPI and earned an M.S. That April 7 service was attended by more than 300 plant, when my father, chief engineer of American company in 1987, and has been retired for the last in metallurgical engineering. distinguished guests and described: “All of China- Locomotive Co., advised that I’d make a good 32 years. He has been a photographer for 70 years town was here. A lot of people knew each other for engineer, but a lousy salesman. Dick began his career in 1948 at Revere Copper and is well-known for his stunning pictures of the and Brass, Rome, N.Y., division. He held positions 40 years.” SUMMER SURVEY LET US Strathmore neighborhood in Syracuse, N.Y. “I eventually met and married Betty, a school HEAR in metallurgical, production, and systems manage- Among these numerous recognitions was one, in teacher in Corning, N.Y., and we moved to differ- ment, and was named works manager, where he 1999, from The United Jewish Council for building For 60 years, beginning in 1897, civil engineering students completed YOURS! —1945— ent jobs over several years until retirement from served from 1971 to 1980. In 1980, he was pro- relations between the Jewish and Chinese-Ameri- summer courses in surveying, which were held at a variety of locations within Dresser Industries, now Halliburton. In a suburb of These class notes for our Class of ’45 and all other moted to corporate manager of energy planning can communities. a 50-mile radius of Troy. The survey teams were accompanied by a faculty adviser and Los Angeles, that company had 20 subsidiaries in classes that have been and are published in this and control at Revere’s executive office in New stayed at local inns and boarding houses. Bob McGrath ’56 shared memories from the section of the Alumni News provide an overview 18 countries, so I did a lot of traveling. York City. In 1984, he was named National Indus- Herb and Virginia (Hunter College) married young (21 and 19), enjoying 66 years together. They had summer of 1955 at the Hoosac School in Hoosick, N.Y. of the type of products that Rensselaer produces. “We have two wonderful children and several trial Energy Manager of the Year. He retired from no children but were dedicated to youth issues. Five “One morning Professor Parker was in the lead as we strode forward for the day’s As you browse through them, you find that RPI grandkids, most in Scottsdale, Ariz. I owe a lot to Revere in 1985 and continued his career in energy high-achieving godchildren are cited in his obituary. activities. Coming up over a hill, we saw a herd of cattle a short distance ahead. Parker alumni have been some of the major leaders of RPI and the Navy for a wonderful life!” and industrial consulting. companies, laboratories, and other organizations, Other sources suggest very close relationships with halted the group. With a concerned look, he carefully studied the animals. When the and outstanding engineering gurus in their field. The following email came in from Bill Peace Dick was recognized by the Rome Chamber of these and other young people. They established herd started moving toward us, he shouted, “By God, they’re bulls! Run for it!” This set Sr. “My only news is that my darling wife, Libby, Commerce, Rome Family Y, United Way, and the scholarships at Brooklyn Tech and RPI as well as When we entered RPI and other schools in 1941, off a panicked retreat. Left behind were transits, levels, and other assorted equipment. passed away this past September, and I miss her American Red Cross in Rome for his service. In endowments to other organizations. Herb was a the word was that we couldn’t fly faster than the Eventually, the professor stopped the fleeing mob. Laughing now, he said, “Take it easy speed of sound. On Saturday, May 5, 2018, the member of the Patroon Society of RPI and the men, they’re only cows.” In our group were a lot of city boys, and that included me.” Mission to Mars was launched to explore the geol- Dean’s Club of Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “When we entered RPI in 1941, the word was that we couldn’t fly The above photo shows CE Professor and Department Chair Lewis Combs ’16 on a ogy of Mars. (I live only about 12 to 15 miles from Not to slight Virginia, she had been a co-protagonist the launch site—the area was covered with a solid faster than the speed of sound. On Saturday, May 5, 2018, the in many of these endeavors and a leader in her own 1955 summer survey. Who can identify his companion and the location? overcast, but we could hear and feel the rocket Mission to Mars was launched to explore the geology of Mars. I live right. take off for Mars!) only about 12 to 15 miles from the launch; we could hear and feel Among all of these distractions, Herb found time for All the work put into the Ballistic Missile Program introducing city children to the wonders of beach the rocket take off for Mars!” HERB ASBURY ’45 friend in Oklahoma City said no point in staying at served as a junior officer aboard the destroyer USS has made it possible to have the new communica- nature, doing sculpture and ceramics, specialty a motel. This friend was my first wife’s sister. And Daly during the Korean War. After leaving active tions systems that we carry around in our pocket, cooking, carpentry, and gardening. Known as a yes, we put two families together and had a great duty, Joe began his long and successful career as an trips to the moon, new space applications, and tremendously! I just passed my 95th birthday, and retirement, he also became a trained volunteer storyteller, he also took up the ukulele late in life. 43-year marriage. —Fred Williamson ’51; john_f_ investment banker, consultant, and venture capital- now the development of the Mars Mission. And I’m doing pretty well. Have great friends here, fireman at Fripp Island, S.C. —Herb Asbury ’45; He and Virginia found time to travel widely across [email protected] now they are landing the launch vehicles after which is a great comfort to me. All my close friends [email protected] the world, often with godchildren and their families, ist. During this time, he obtained his MBA from launch. We thought we were successful when they from RPI have gone on to their reward.” well into his last years. New York University. got off the ground. —1952— Andrea Lehman, daughter of Edgar Lehman, —1950— This inspiring, commendable life story is burnished Joe married his beloved wife, Grace, in 1958 and It is with deep regret that I have to inform you that To make sure that I could find input for this issue, I responded to my letter. “I just received your Our previous (2002-2016) class correspondent, by descriptions of Herb as a quiet, humble person. moved to Morristown in 1963 with their growing contacted all members of the class for whom I had Joseph Mansfield (B.Ch.E.), a longtime Morris family. They enjoyed a very active life together and class notes request, forwarded from my dad’s last Herbert Kee (B.Met.E) died at age 88, March If you would like to learn more, an internet a regular mail address on my list. County, N.J., resident, passed away on Feb. 16, 2018. traveled throughout the world until Grace’s death in address. Regrettably, he passed away in 2012. I 15 of this year, from complications of Parkinson’s search would be rewarding. —Robert L. Pfeiff ’50; He was 87 years old. 1991. His greatest joys were his family and his faith. The following email from Richard Ettington don’t have anything written about dad’s career. He disease. [email protected] worked most of his life as the VP of sales for S&S Joe grew up in Manhasset, N.Y. He graduated from Joe was a parishioner of the Church of Christ the (BSME) gives you a look at his career. Herb was a beloved pillar of New York’s China- Corrugated Paper Machinery in Brooklyn, for Xavier High School in New York City, where he was King for over 50 years. He was an usher for more town community. Entering RPI from Brooklyn —1951— “I graduated from Pelham High, a suburb of NYC, which he traveled the world. It blended his inter- a member of their highly decorated Rifle Squad. than 35 years at the Sunday mass, always wearing a in June 1943, during WWII, and as no. 2 in class, Technical High School as one of the youngest est in engineering with his interest in people of all I lost my wife March 3. We had a relationship that He was in officers’ training in ROTC and was the vast assortment of what are fondly called “Joe’s fan- was lucky enough to be accepted by the Navy in members of our class, he went on to earn a mas- even Hollywood can’t top. My first wife (a Sage backgrounds and cultures.” senior class president. He was a very active member cy pants.” Those of you who attended our reunions their V-12 Program (being an Eagle Scout prob- ter’s degree from Penn State. He first worked as an grad) decided in 1974 that the assistant minister at of the Class of 1952, organizing and participating in may remember some of those pants. ably helped). After two days of tests at Cornell U. Lynne Wolfgang’s response to my letter reminded engineer and editor at McGraw-Hill but, following our church would make a better mate and left me. RPI reunions until very recently. they assigned a few of us to RPI where the Navy us again that we have lost and are losing class- a visit to the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Haiti, Friends at UCC arranged for me to make sales calls As a very active grandfather, Grandpa Joe/Poppy had an NROTC unit. mates rapidly. “I regret to inform you that my was inspired at age 36 to enter medical school. while she was packing. It was Christmas time. A He entered the U.S. Navy upon graduation and attended countless birthdays, special occasions,

44 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 45 CLASSNOTES CLASSNOTES On the Bookshelf: sporting events, holidays, and graduations with Hurricane Alicia hits Texas; Soviets shoot down required me to be an absent parent and I was not Seagram Wine Co., Christian Brothers Winery, but I enjoy writing about the men of Rensselaer great joy and enthusiasm, always cheering and Korean Air 007; GPS becomes available for civil- RECENT BOOKS BY RENSSELAER prepared to do that. I made the right decision each and Heublein Fine Wines, as well as chairman of that shaped the latter part of the 19th century. My sporting his colorful pants. ians; N. Korea kills S. Korea’s foreign minister; ALUMNI AUTHORS time.” Frank did other things as well. For years his the California Wine Institute and president of the wife and I had lunch with Jerry Reinert and Lois family operated a road building business where he He is survived by his children, Robin O’Connell Baltimore wins World Series; speed of light con- Napa Valley Vintners Association. “I got fired every in Stuart, Fla., and caught up on old times. firmed; 241 U.S. servicemen killed in Beirut; MLK learned about heavy construction equipment and 20 years.” He still serves on several boards, consults and her husband, Sean, Kristin Dunn and her Immune Aspects of Biopharmaceuticals Jerry sent me the following email: “The alumni Jr. Day is created; first Dodge minivan introduced; how to operate it. He and his four brothers built a for the wine industry, and consults in real estate husband, Chris, Joe Jr. and his wife, Susan, Kelly and Nanomedicines magazine comes out only twice a year. So please Argentina, Turkey, and Venezuela begin free politi- golf and country club and then, on his own, Frank with one of his sons. Three of his five children live Brown and her husband, Allan, and Megan. He Raj Bawa ’90 et al. • Pan Stanford, 2018 let us hear from you. Your classmates are interested cal regimes; Irish (IRA) bomb Harrods in London; built and operated three golf courses. “The golf nearby. Dick has a tennis court in his yard but can will be greatly missed by his 11 grandchildren. in knowing how you and your family are doing. drug resistance (DARE) is launched; DeLorean The enormous advances in the operation became too much and I had to leave no longer play, after knee and shoulder injuries. The This year is an exciting one for me. My daughter- While I sent Joe’s obituary by email to my mail- Motor ceases production; Arthur Godfrey, Jack immunology of biotherapeutics teaching. I would have preferred not to.” wine business involved frequent travel, and after his ing list, there are some Class of ’52 members who in-law is on sabbatical. She and my son and my Dempsey, Gloria Swanson, Buckminster Fuller, and nanomedicines in the past first wife’s death 10 years ago he met his second wife are either not on my list or who have new email Frank reports that he is in pretty good shape at age two grandchildren are spending the six months and Joan Miró pass away. two decades have necessitated a on a trip to Hawaii. We are grateful to Dick for his addresses and did not get the obit. So, if you want 87. “My wife pushes me to go out and walk.” He has in Costa Rica. She is a professor of animal biol- comprehensive reference for im- many donations of fine wines for our class reunions. to honor Joe, please feel free to make a donation to Comic book writer Peter Tomasi, along with artist sold the golf courses and become an author. After ogy. I’ll be spending a few weeks there with them. Sara Duvall, has written a “graphic novel” on the munologists, biomedical research- writing some technical papers on golf he has writ- RPI in his memory. ers, physicians, pharmaceutical and A new University of Massachusetts building has In September, Lois and I will be touring India. I’m building of the Brooklyn Bridge. The book had a ten five full-length books—three about hockey, been named for former U.S. Congressman John looking forward to that very much (except for the On a personal note, Esther and I celebrated our formulation scientists, clinicians, two not—and is working on a sixth. They can be fine review in the NYT, April 16, 2018, titled “A Olver. The $52 million, 87,000-square-foot facil- food). Again, I urge you to please help us by making 61st wedding anniversary by going to Shelburne, regulatory personnel, technology transfer officers, ven- acquired through Amazon. “I sit in a La-Z-Boy Family, a Vision, and a Bridge.” The book illustrates ity houses architecture, building construction, and a donation to defer the cost of putting up a plaque Vt., and visiting and touring the Shelburne Muse- Washington Roebling (Class of 1857) and his wife, ture capitalists, and policymakers alike. This book pro- chair. When the thoughts come I put them down. regional planning programs. Initially it was set to at the front door of the Heffner Alumni House to um, the Vermont Teddy Bear Store and Factory, Emily, and their Herculean task. Remember also vides a broad survey of various interconnected topics When there are no thoughts there is no produc- be built with the more common steel and concrete honor and memorialize our classmate and chair- and the Shelburne Winery. Our anniversary din- The Great Bridge by David McCullough and Chief in a user-friendly format. The range of the contributing tion.” The Chiarellis have two sons and two daugh- construction materials, but at John’s urging it was man of the RPI board Sam Heffner. If your travels ner was at a quaint South Burlington restaurant Engineer by Erica Wagner (reviewed previously). authors reflects the diverse and rapidly evolving fields ters. Both boys are in the business of hockey. Peter built with more environmentally friendly laminated bring you to any place near Boca Raton, Fla., please called Pauline’s, where we had filet mignon and fid- Our RPI legacy is secure with the bridge and the of biotherapeutics, nanomedicines, nanoimmunology, was hockey captain at Harvard, became GM of the dleheads. (I think the chef gathered them himself.) world-famous Ferris wheel, which illuminates so and nanotoxicology. Boston Bruins when they won the Stanley Cup On the way home on Mother’s Day, we stopped at Raj Bawa, M.S. ’87, Ph.D. ’90, is president of Bawa many cities around the world. —Arthur Goldstein in 2011, and is now GM of the Edmonton Oilers. JOE KEATING ’55 is delighted that his granddaughter is a student at RPI, Ben & Jerry’s and toured their factory. All told, it ’53; [email protected] Biotech LLC, a biotech/pharma consultancy and patent Michael was a scout with the Bruins and is now was a great weekend. law firm based in Ashburn, Virginia. with the Oilers. Frank reminisced about the immi- studying business. “The first assignment was to start her own busi- If you have any news before the next issue, please —1954— grant experience: “I had two older brothers born in ness. The second was to help Fitbit stabilize their business. They were The Warrior’s Burden Italy. My father came to Canada and brought the send it to me. Also, please send me your email 65th Reunion: Fall 2019 In February, the New Ed Davidson ’62 • Self-published, 2017 family over five years later. I was the first born in interviewed by a Fitbit board member who is an RPI alumnus.” address so that I can keep you updated between York Times had a detailed obit on Lee Pome- Canada and later was much involved in my father’s our newsletters. —Harry (Bud) Hovey ’52; bud@ roy, who passed away Feb. 19. Long before Lee Captain Ed Davidson, known as five businesses.” Frank keeps in touch with his wf2b.com became a famous architect he was editor in one of the most outspoken and remaining teammates from RPI’s 1954 national wood, cross-laminated timber, and wood-concrete call me, (561) 362-5900, and let’s plan a visit.” chief of the Poly, and was elected to Phalanx. I unconventional characters in the composite. It is the largest modern wood building —1953— championship hockey team, including Lloyd Bauer Alan Dolmatch wrote that he (and wife Linda) was privileged to be a features writer on the Poly Florida Keys, has compiled a in the Northeast and saves the equivalent of over and John Magadini. visited with about 20 of his AEPi fraternity broth- Bruce Clements ’85 sent a letter highlighting his staff, where I first met Lee. Over the years he memoir, which Florida Gov. Jeb 2,300 metric tons of carbon compared to a tradi- ers from the ’50s (and their wives) in North Palm “student liaison” with our class at our 30th Reunion brought many honors and plaudits to himself Bush called “colorful, entertaining, When I talked with Franchard (“Mike”) Clarke tional energy-intensive steel and concrete building. Beach at a March 17 reunion arranged by several in 1983. We had 52 alums which I believe included and to RPI, and he will be sorely missed. —Bob yet often intense and poignant” in April he was about to celebrate his 86th birthday. John taught chemistry at UMass before being elect- locally based brothers. Other Class of ’56 members Dick Somers, Bill Shoop, Bill Glaser, Bob Gra- Meyers ’54; [email protected] in the book’s forward. It includes The Clarkes have seven children, three adopted, ed a state legislator. He was first elected to Congress attending included Alan Sawyer and Marty Rog- ham, Sam Wait, Gordon Kilby, Rick Schoen- poems and letters the author wrote throughout his ser- and 10 grandchildren, and have served as foster in 1991 and retired in 2013. hardt, Bill Moller, Sam Markowitz, Arthur Huff, —1955— vice as a “Top Gun” fighter pilot in the Vietnam War. parents for more than 50 children. Recently Mike ers. While in the area, he also saw Jerry Reinert Allen Seckner has been dealing with Parkinson’s (and Lulu) in Boca Raton and had a chance to Francis Skelly, Rod Procaccino, Mike Maas, Tom Bolam and Sally were in Alaska when Hurri- Capt. Ed Davidson ’62, lieutenant commander, has been a caregiver: “My wife had a heart attack, disease for 10 years. After a couple of falls he had to catch up on Jerry’s eventful life and times. “After Len Kranser, Harry Carlson, Don Beebe, Don cane Harvey struck Houston in August 2017. “The USNRR, is an environmentalist who has served as and I’ve had a lot on my plate.” He visits with his give up golf and recently driving, but enjoys playing a week of sunshine, the need for an infusion of Beard, and Hank Clark. (Who else?). Corps of Engineers had to open their dam, flooding chair of the Florida Audubon Society and advocate for grandchildren, does some yard work, and continues the Everglades/South Florida ecosystem restoration to be active in his church. bridge several times a week. “My wife got sensitive cold and cloudy weather overtook them and they Some from Phi Sigma Delta were Jim Silberman, thousands of us. We had four feet of water in our project, among his many public advocacy roles. about my driving.” A career DuPonter, Al reports returned home to Skaneateles, N.Y., for a booster Chester Gerber, Jim Markin, Larry Michaels, house and could not get into it for three weeks. The Joe Keating is delighted that his granddaughter is a that fellow retirees formed a committee out of con- shot of snow and frost.” Richard Greenberg, Herb Cohen, Mike Rose, entire downstairs had to be rebuilt.” Fortunately, student at RPI, studying business. “The first assign- Renewed Energy: Insights for cerns that the recent DuPont-Dow merger might Ron Rubin, and Carl Puchall. Bruce (’85) remem- they had flood insurance. Many in their commu- ment was to start her own business. The second Dave Richards wrote, knowing of my affection for Clean Energy’s Future affect retiree benefits, but the outcome looks quite bers our singing RPI fight songs as we moved to nity did not, and some houses were torn down. was to help Fitbit stabilize their business. They were bridges: “Greetings from Steeler City—Pittsburgh, favorable. —John Schmidt ’55; theschmidts2@ each event. He sent thank you notes to all 52 but Mail delivery stopped, and a major frustration was John Weyant ’69, Ernestine Fu, Justin Bowersock • interviewed by a Fitbit board member who is an Pa., the city of many bridges. I play/lead two dupli- Kauffman Fellows Press, 2018 hotmail.com only received my acknowledgement, thus sending having to go to their post office, which serves a half RPI alumnus. When we were at RPI we just fooled cate bridge games a week...what fun! Looks like the million people, standing in line, ringing a bell, and around the first year.” The Keatings recently moved me this letter. He hoped his 1985 class would be Renewed Energy sheds light on Florida culture could use some bridge technology waiting for someone to go back and look. The Bol- to a retirement village in Lancaster, Pa. “Between —1956— as enthusiastic as ours, as he said, “you guys rocked the recent history of clean energy in view of the recent ‘killer’ bridge failure. We used ams are considering selling and consolidating life in doctor visits and 16 grandchildren, we keep busy.” back in 1983.” Thanks, Bruce, for stimulating our between the 2009 recession and Greetings to all, again. I continue to work on my to design bridges—not any more. The whole coun- their other house in NY state, but probably won’t be Joe plays in a harmonica trio to entertain assisted nostalgia. 2012. The book provides critical, golf game and started playing from the “old guys” try could use some big-time help with infrastruc- able to sell until their Houston community is fur- living residents and plays a weekly round of golf Some highlights from 1983: the internet officially firsthand perspectives from the tees. I am happy with a 200-yard drive these days. ture. Mind you, I’m not volunteering. My wife and I ther restored. Meanwhile Tom and Sally, avid golf- with his son, a priest. His wife stopped him from begins as Arpanet migrates to TCP/IP; seat belts industry’s leading policymakers, I also continue to work on various history articles, are enjoying my retirement. Let’s Go Bucs!” ers, hadn’t played for more than eight months. He playing racquetball, but he still plays pickleball and become in wide use; Mash closes its run; the head technology investors, and industry books, etc., on early Rensselaer graduates. To date expects to keep shooting his age: “It’s getting easier.” competes in senior games including ping pong and I got an email from Crispin Hall telling me that it of the EPA resigns because of a scandal; Strate- experts, including Secretary of I have done books on Charles Macdonald ’57, mile walking. A cross country runner at RPI, Joe was Jack Gilmore and he that captained the track gic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) proposed by After RPI, Frank Chiarelli played professional Energy Steven Chu, Secretary of Defense William Theodore Cooper ’58, Alfred P. Boller ’61, Leffert still stays in touch with the RPI team and contrib- team in our senior year. President Reagan; Michael Jackson introduces the hockey for five years, then decided that it was time Perry, and investor Tom Baruch (RPI ’60), among L. Buck ’68, William H. Burr ’72, J.A.L. Waddell utes to their support. “moon walk”; U.S. brokers a withdrawal of Israel to settle down. He studied at the U. of Toronto to many others, all synthesized into lessons that will bring ’75, and I recently started research on Walton W. I also got an announcement from Bruce Laumeis- from Lebanon; HIV virus is discovered; Japan has qualify as a teacher and then taught math, history, us a cleaner, more powerful future. Dick Maher says he is NQR—not quite retired. Evans ’37 and John W. Murphy ’47. To date Buck, ter telling about the gift of his Bennington Center a major earthquake and tsunami; severe drought and Italian for 25 years. “I had two opportunities John Weyant ’69, professor of management science After the Marine Corps and a Stanford MBA he Waddell, and Boller are in the RPI Hall of Fame. I for the Arts to Southern Vermont College, where it in our Midwest; Sally Ride boards the Challenger; to get into the business of hockey and after care- and engineering at Stanford, was honored as a major spent most of his career in the wine industry. He am working to get Burr and Macdonald into the will be named the Laumeister Art Center at South- nuclear plants in many countries have problems; ful consideration I rejected both. Each would have contributor to the Nobel Peace prize awarded to the has served as president of Beringer Vineyards, the hall soon. None of the books will ever be published ern Vermont College. The president of the College Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007.

46 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 47 CLASSNOTES CLASSNOTES said it was the largest gift ever received. The facil- on the Daniel Boone School board of directors, 12 in Fishkill for over 40 years. Also I found that Paul On a personal note, David reports going head-to- small cruise ship from Windstar Cruises were that discussed brain-computer interfaces (BCI) ity, totaling over 36,000 square feet, includes four years on the Amity Township board of supervisors, Goldstein, a fellow CE, died in Albany on Feb. 17, head with a 30-pound snapping turtle, averting Cris and Douglas Lonnstrom, Ph.D. ’84, Ruth and how a monkey could control the activity of a main galleries, a 315-seat theater and reception and was a 45-year member of the Daniel Boone 2016. He spent his entire career, 35 years, with the disaster dragging it out of his farm-pond drainpipe. and Herbert Grommeck ’59, Cathie and Den- single cell (neuron) in its brain. Eb’s work showed area, offices, meeting rooms, and workshop spaces, Optimist Club. Tom and his wife, Charlotte, had New York State Office of General Services special- Following his mantra “anything worth doing is nis Reardon ’62, and Karin Dunnigan ’72 and that the brain was capable of learning how to oper- as well as a distinctive gallery dedicated to the his- been trying to get in touch with Bob over the years izing in water and waste management. I also found worth overdoing,” David is transforming the farm Roy Czernikowski, M.E.E ’66, Ph.D. ’68. —John ate a BCI without any help. Forty-eight years later, tory and culture of covered bridges in Vermont. and I shared Bob’s email with John to give to her. It that Edward Hasbrouck, another CE, died on into an ultimate nature sanctuary, reforesting Lindsay ’59; [email protected] Dr. Fetz is still at the U. of Washington working on Those of you who attended our 40th Reunion may is this kind of rekindling old friendships and expe- Nov. 20, 2017, in Southborough, Mass. He worked 2,000 trees, and planting 40 tomato plants and 60 the brain’s plasticity. Current work may help recov- recall the great reception and dinner Bruce put on riences that the class notes are intended to foster. with Perini Construction Corp. and the Beacon blackberry vines. David and Pam warmly welcome —1960— ery from spinal-cord injuries, or the strengthening for us at the Covered Bridge Museum. It was also Construction Co. in Boston. ’57 classmate visits whenever in the Washington/ Joel Pratt called me a while ago (remember those of stronger bonds within the brain itself, e.g., the Bruce who took our picture from the ’56 yearbook Bob McGrath also wrote: “Recently I remembered Keep those emails and telephone calls coming in. Baltimore area. old-fashioned phones) and told me the sad news speech-processing area of a stroke victim’s brain. and placed it on T-shirts for the occasion. Well when the Civils were required to take two summer —Frank Griggs ’56; [email protected] that his brother-in-law Mason (Mace) Cadwell Eb says that there is a high hurdle to conduct these done, Bruce! courses in surveying. Our first was for three weeks On a sad note, we heard of the passing of Walt in June 1954 at Green Mountain Junior College Dartland, who passed away in early March. Walt died. studies in people, but that all it requires for further Jim Connors emailed me a summary of his experi- —1957— advances is for scientists to jump in. in Poultney, Vt. The other was for two weeks in was renowned as “the man behind Florida’s Lemon After his graduation, Mace had a three-year stint ences in the Army and with the New York State August 1955, when we were based at the Hoo- We trust that if you attended our 60th last Octo- Law—and the champion of the little guy.” Note- in the Navy (another old-timer who served) and In the field of tax-paying workers helping Ameri- Department of Transportation in Albany, Bing- sac School in Hoosick, N.Y. Memorable events ber, you warmly remember that occasion of ’57 worthy was the decision to run at 81 as a congres- then received a master’s degree from Columbia ca, Murray Edelberg continues to be a leader as hamton, and New York City and as a geotech engi- occurred at both places, but here is one that hap- comradery and good cheer. In that spirit, we who sional candidate in a deeply red district as a Talla- University. A later Ph.D. in environmental science neer in his retirement. He now lives in Cary, N.C., he works toward his 60-year pin. However he has pened at Hoosac. attended our class dinner that Saturday night in hassee Democrat, “the longest of longshots.” Walt propelled him to a career in academe and consult- slowed down to working only four days a week. I Albany will recall David Brunell’s inspiring toast will be greatly missed! —J.R. “Buzz” Campbell ing. Mace and his wife, Jennifer, have horses that hope he isn’t getting tired. to our class and to RPI. I’ve asked Dave to retell a ’57; [email protected] they trained and loved. Their three daughters EBERHARD FETZ ’61 is still at the University of Washington working on shortened version of his toast for the benefit of our started riding as little girls. Allan Whittemore writes that he and wife Marge the brain’s plasticity. Current work may help recovery from spinal-cord whole class: —1958— recently traveled from their Siesta Key condo to Roger Orloff and I have been exchanging emails Ft. Myers to visit with two of his Theta Chi frater- Send in your updates so that we can share your injuries, or the strengthening of stronger bonds within the brain itself, “Why are we here? Not for ourselves, but for, and on various subjects. Roger, an extraordinary Rens- nity brothers: Jim Briem and his son, and Dave news in the next edition of Rensselaer magazine. e.g., the speech-processing area of a stroke victim’s brain. because of, each other, –For all the shoulders we’ve selaer volunteer, agrees with me on the need for Boshart and his long-time Swedish girlfriend. —Jim Augstell ’58; [email protected] been standing on over the years, –For those whose some form of universal service for young people. They reminisced about the old fraternity house footsteps that were beside us, even as we stumbled, Our Volunteer Army has left out many who could at 57 Second Street and competitive bridge games “We were housed in the main building of the Hoo- —1959— with his wife, Renee, and near his three daughters –For the countless people we’ve learned from over and should serve in some way. at the one bridge table in the fraternity. —Brian sac School, a two-story Gothic-style former man- the last 60 years—beginning at RPI, and six of his grandchildren. 60th Reunion: Fall 2019 Herbert Grommeck McManus ’61; [email protected] sion with a foreboding look both inside and out. Roger is vice chair of the Leadership Council for Paul Pillsbury wrote: “In 2000, I retired after 44 “–For those unable to travel here, whose Spirit was reported that several alumni enjoyed the RPI-spon- We had heard rumors of ghosts that sometimes the Lally School and co-chair of the Patroon Soci- years working in the field of gas turbine combus- wanting, but flesh weak, –For our gallant class- sored cruise to the Panama Canal and Costa Rica: ety of the Annual Fund. —1962— visited the building and campus grounds. Inside tor design, first in aircraft jet engines and subse- mates who finished their race all too early, and the mansion’s main entrance hall, on the landing Sponsored by the Rensselaer Alumni Association, We both agree that whatever complaints we may One of my most trusty companions at RPI was my quently in power generation combustion turbines. –For those new generation of Rensselaerians who this cruise provided an interesting and fun adven- have about Dear Old Rensselaer, our contributions manual L C Smith typewriter. To say it was a boat During those years we lived in Connecticut, in of an elaborate staircase, was a full suit of armor. grasp our extended batons as they whip-lash into ture through the Panama Canal with excursions (monetary and other) are for the Rensselaer stu- anchor is no exaggeration. However, it never failed Pennsylvania (near Swarthmore), and just north One night we were awakened by noises coming the 21st century. to the islands, beaches, and rain forests of Panama me and, unlike a personal computer, it taught me of Orlando, Fla. Employers were Pratt & Whitney, from the staircase vicinity. Sleepy-eyed students dents. Let’s keep them coming. “We have so many to celebrate, myriad blessings to and Costa Rica. Also included were a visit to the to type carefully so as to avoid mistakes. The type- Westinghouse, and Siemens Power Generation. emerged from their rooms and assembled in the Keep writing—about anything that you wish. — be grateful for, and the precious gift of continuing Miraflores Locks Museum and the new Frank writer was a gift from my mother who obtained it Following retirement, we moved back to the Phila- hallway, dumbfounded by the scene. Clanging Bill Blanchfield ’60; [email protected] down the stairway was the suit of armor! Strange our journeys in the months and years ahead. Gehry-designed Biodiversity Museum near Pana- from my father’s office when they upgraded to elec- delphia area to be near descendants. I am finding ma City. The last day was spent in San Jose, Costa wooing sounds were emitting from the facemask. “Suddenly, 60 years later, in the blink of an eye tric models. that there is no unemployment for those who will Rica, with visits to the National Theater and the —1961— work free!” The sounds soon changed to uncontrollable laugh- we’re back where we started together—to know National Museum. For those of you who are still actively playing sports Dr. John Hall contacted me via email to say that ter. The knight in shining armor lifted his face- RPI and ourselves again as if for the first time. But In the last issue I included a note on Bob McGrath. and experiencing leg cramps, you may have seen a documentary film titledSecrets of a Frozen Ocean mask. Does anyone remember who was inside?” we are the lucky ones—still entrusted with more The tour also included several onboard lectures It resulted in an email for John Cunningham tell- an article this past year linking this problem not to won the award this year for the best documentary For another tale, see “Memories,” page 45. time, ongoing missions, and purpose—carrying and guided tours by expert local guides. In addition ing me that he, Bob, and Tom Kirchner were muscles but rather to your electrical system. More at the New York City International Film Festival. the torch for all those others we love, owe, and to learning about the history, culture, nature, and brothers in Phi Kappa Tau and that he had kept in On a sadder note, I got a notice that Paul Nepf specifically, a neuron in your electrical system. John owns the hovercraft that was used in the film, honor. wildlife of the area, connecting up with fellow RPI touch with Tom over the years attending his wed- died in Lagrangeville, N.Y., after a long battle with The simple cure to “reset” the neuron is to drink and he funded much of the work. In the movie, he alumni and sharing common experiences made ding, 50th wedding anniversary, and his funeral. Parkinson’s on Feb. 10, 2018. He spent a large “Let us raise our glasses to those who inspire and tart cherry juice or any other very tart substance. said, he appears as “Executive Enabler.” John has this journey an inspirational and rewarding experi- Tom retired in 1996 after working 40 years at UGI amount of his career with IBM until his early make our presence possible tonight. And for our I have tried it and it works. Enter Eberhard Fetz, lived in Israel for about 68.6 percent of the coun- ence. Corp. and died on Nov. 9, 2017, in Reading, Pa. He retirement in 1985. He was the church organist vintage Class of ’57 —whose combined Soul is far who as a postdoctoral researcher at the University try’s existence. —Jay Winderman ’62; jbwrw@ was active in community affairs serving six years and choir director at Our Savior Lutheran Church greater than our individual parts.” Among the passengers aboard the Sea Breeze of Washington in Seattle published a paper in 1969 earthlink.net

Sophia d’Antoine ’15, a senior Captain Ed Davidson Soraya Fouladi ’16 won a $75,000 award from Tiffini Eugene Jones, M.S. Kareem Muhammad ’01, engineering core senior security researcher at Trail ’62, also known as Lt. the Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge for her ’94, is one of a cohort of 80 manager in the Seat & In-Flight Entertainment of Bits, was named the first Cmdr. “Engine Eddie,” company, Jara, which provides emergency education female scientists selected Connectivity Integration Team at Boeing Commer- woman hacker-in-residence became the 33rd Navy to impoverished and disaster-affected communities to participate in a yearlong cial Airplanes, was named the 2018 Golden Torch at NYU Tandon’s Offensive 33 “Top Gun”-type jet worldwide. The handheld Jara Unit can be used any- global leadership program, Award Distinguished Engineer of the Year by the Security, Incident Response and fighter pilot to survive where, without requiring access to infrastructure. 80 Homeward Bound 2019. National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). 37 Internet Security Lab (OSIRIS) more than 200 combat The program culminates in Nick Miller ’79 has won a Lifetime Achieve- in March. As a Rensselaer missions in Vietnam and a two-week expedition to ment Award for his work integrating wind and student, she was a three-year was flying fighter escort Antarctica studying climate solar energy into electrical systems. Nick has participant in NYU Tandon’s next to John McCain change science with scien- worked for the General Electric Company for Cyber Security Awareness Week when McCain was shot tific innovators and leaders 37 years and is a senior technical director of 1 Capture the Flag competition. down and captured. 75k in the field. 2 18 GE’s Energy Consulting Group.

48 Rensselaer/Spring 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 49 CLASSNOTES CLASSNOTES

—1963— cation center (Carey Learning Center); 10 months mph! It made the 18-mile run to the airport in the following about his post-retirement continuous encouragement of its students of great fun watching the construction from the under eight minutes! They also enjoyed day trips career: “Well, art is something I’ve done all to utilize “knowledge and thoroughness” After a career with Eastman Kodak, Pantone Inc., muddy beginning in hard hat and boots to the to the Great Wall of China, Tiananmen Square, my life—I first learned to draw as a kid in for the benefit of the world outside the and Monroe Community College, John Setchell grand opening in late 2016. Happy to say the proj- the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace. They Holland where my dad was stationed at our classroom. For further information about tells me that he is now fully retired. John, a phys- ect came in on budget! Tim and Chris welcomed also stopped in Vietnam, visiting the Hanoi Hilton embassy there. Then at RPI I loved all the their work in the Balkans, please visit ics major, earned his M.S. in physics from the Uni- three great-grandchildren: Oliver, Eliza, and Jaxon. and reading the “North Vietnam” version, which graphics courses and took a couple of elec- balkanarchitecture.org. versity of Illinois. He is enjoying life as a newlywed In between births, they traveled to Australia to starkly contradicts the American or South Viet- tives in the School of Architecture. Right Judith and Brooke have two chil- in Webster, N.Y., having married Margie Cole on visit her sister in Sydney, then a tour of the Great nam version. All in all it was a great trip. after graduation, I began exhibiting in gal- dren—Elizabeth, and Jonathan from Thanksgiving in 2016. The happy couple traveled Ocean Road to Adelaide seeing the sights and vis- leries, beginning on Cape Cod while a grad And finally I can tell you that my wife and I and Brooke’s first marriage—who have across country by train in 2017 to view the solar iting wineries, and then to Perth. “Both Perth and student at Woods Hole Oceanographic. a half dozen friends spent a nice, warm 10 days successfully embarked on careers of eclipse from a farmer’s field in Oregon. John also Adelaide were quite interesting, and Perth espe- These were mostly pen-and-ink drawings in Palm Springs (Calif.) in mid-January. We first their own. Judith and Brooke reside wanted his classmates to know that he suffered the cially had an outstanding public transit system. We of local seascapes. Through two more attended quite a few showings of some of the mov- loss of his dear wife, Judy, to leukemia in February liked Fremantle, which is the port for Perth and the degrees, a commission in the U.S. Coast in Cushing, Maine, where they make ies included in the Palm Springs Film Festival—a 2015. As with all of us, John finds it hard to believe site of some of the America’s Cup competitions.” & Geodetic Survey (now NOAA), a few time to continue volunteer work with that it has been 55 years since graduation from RPI. While there they enjoyed a sail on a Cuda—a type first for us for sure! That was followed by a week years on the faculty of Rutgers University, a town organizations. —Les White ’66; of touring the Palm Springs and surrounding des- [email protected] Looking back, it was during the fall semester of of fishing boat used for barracuda fishing and now reserve commission as a Navy flight meteo- Robert Sturm ’68 completed a 16-day, 90-mile trek of prized by local sailors for racing. ert area. Highlights included a tour of a wind farm rologist, and a 31-year career in remote 1961 that novelist John O’Hara, President Kenne- (renewables are certainly the future); an architec- the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, which went through the —1967— dy’s press secretary Pierre Salinger, publisher Wil- Our superb class webmaster, Bob Burns, reports sensing at NASA’s Langley Research Cen- 17,700-foot-high ThoRang-La Pass, in 2017. ture tour of the many mid-century modern homes From Lee Savidge: “I am an active mem- liam Randolph Hearst Jr., and New York Governor that in January, sort of on the spur of the moment, ter, I continued drawing and painting. in the area; a visit to the cemetery where Frank ber of the Syracuse Veterans Writing Nelson Rockefeller spoke on campus. I think that he invited his lady friend, Sherry, to visit friends “Upon retirement from the Naval Reserve Sinatra is buried; and a tour of the Annenberg Group, Syracuse, N.Y., and we recently was the year that William F. Buckley also gave a in Costa Rica. These were friends he had met in (as a captain) and from NASA, I found estate Sunnylands, used by many presidents with contact information is: [email protected]. — published an anthology titled The Weight lecture at RPI. On the topic of how things change, Malaysia and their paths crossed again in Thai- time to not only exhibit in galleries, but to actually whom Mr. Annenberg was friendly. That was truly Erik Pettersen ’65; [email protected] Of My Armor. Included are true stories and some the Rifle and Pistol Club held a pistol match against land, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Spain, and work in them! The work at NASA included much an amazing place; if you haven’t been I highly rec- poems from 23 veteran men and women whose Vermont and St. Lawrence universities at the Field other places in between. In any event, he and Sher- ommend it. flying (deliberately!) through microbursts and wind —1966— House. RPI won! I guess that doesn’t occur today. ry crashed at their very environmentally friendly shear to develop sensors, instruments, and severe- service in the U.S. military varies from WWII to Election results for Junior Class Representatives house in San Jose, and then used the next two Please keep your updates coming in to me; they weather escape protocols to make flying safer. My J. Brooke Harrington earned a B.S. in building the most recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. showed that Dick Kammann and Roger Lourie weeks to go on hikes, view birds and other wildlife are much appreciated by all our classmates! — wife, Candie, and I live in Fort Myers, Fla., where sciences in 1966, and a bachelor of architecture in All military services and the Coast Guard are rep- led the field over Steve Smith and Bill Wilkes. up close, raft on a Category-4 river (never again!), Michael Wellner ’64; [email protected] we both exhibit our art and volunteer our time at 1967, both from RPI. These degrees would prove resented. The publisher is Parlor Press in conjunc- hang out in a luxurious mountain retreat, walk the the art gallery owned by and benefiting the orga- to be a firm beginning for a distinguished profes- tion with New City Press and you can check it out My mailbox has been pretty much empty. Send me —1965— sional career. He has achieved many major mile- at Amazon. My story in the anthology is titled ‘Air a note, especially those who promised at our 50th! streets of La Fortuna, swim in the warm Pacific nization that provides shelter and rehabilitation in Quepos, and eat lots of beans and rice. Costa stones in over 35 years of architectural practice, Force Brats Conquer Alaska.’ ” Thanks. —Jack Titley ’63; [email protected] Vic Delnore wrote after reading about the pass- for victims of domestic violence. Our five children Ricans are a friendly and proud people and travel ing of our fraternity brother Dave Rowell in my and seven grandchildren live in Pennsylvania and research, and teaching. His acclaimed work has led From Norm Leferman: “You might wonder what to numerous awards, notably including a National was very safe everywhere they went. Then in Feb- last column. In response to my request, he offered Virginia. All the grandchildren are learning vari- a person with an undergraduate degree in language —1964— Endowment for the Arts “Accomplished Profes- ruary he had to escape ous musical instruments, and I join them with my and literature from RPI might become. In fact, sional” fellowship. 55th Reunion: Fall 2019 Bruce McKeon wrote the “cold” of Tallahas- fiddle when we’re together.” Vic’s contact informa- unless you knew one of the three to five people to say that last April he and his wife, Kathleen, see, and go further south tion: http://victor-delnore.pixels.com/. He is now professor emeritus in the Architectural in the program in the mid-’60s, odds are that you went on a scuba live-aboard Bahamas trip, and to Marathon in the Flor- Allen Weston offered a briefer summary of his post- Department of the Tyler School of Art at Temple didn’t even know that the ’Tute offered such a then in September they spent three weeks in ida Keys. “I pitched in RPI career. Enrolled in Army ROTC, he was com- University, where he taught from 1983 through degree. Well, they did and I was one of the very Europe (before a sales meeting in Vienna). They with other RVers to help missioned as a second lieutenant upon graduation. 2010. first to earn it. Now, 50 years later I am happy to skied at Vail in February, and are soon off to go to clean up the streets and He actually volunteered for combat in Vietnam but report that I have had a very successful, 45-plus- Manado in Indonesia for another scuba diving and mangroves that were Professor Harrington and his wife, Judith Bing, was turned down for poor eyesight. Instead he went year career in market research, specializing in com- adventure trip. Bruce reports that he is still work- devastated by hurricane who is a professor emeritus at Drexel University, to Purdue, earning an M.S. in nuclear engineering, munications testing and new product development ing a few days each week with equipment for the Irma, which left a lot of have collaborated on many exhibitions, papers, and as the Army “figured out nukes were more impor- and positioning. After a brief stint as a computer papermaking industry in the Southwest—but with damage behind. A bit a book, but one can only be especially impressed tant than cannon fodder.” His assignment was to programmer to earn some money while attending all that traveling it sounds to me like he has no of reading, relaxing, and by their authoritative and continuing studies, over determine whether the newly deployed Minute- graduate school, I was hired by BBDO Advertis- time for work! swimming filled out the many years, of the “vernacular architecture” of the man II ICBM with the MIRV Mark 12 warhead ing as a market research analyst with no relevant month.” Tough life, eh? historic regions of the Balkans, from Slovenia in On a sad note, you may have read in the last issue was capable of taking out hardened Soviet missile of our Class Notes that my good friend and West- Steve Weinstein wrote silos. (Answer: No.) chester (N.Y.) buddy Richard Koser passed away to say that he and his “The work at NASA included much flying (deliberately!) through micro- After leaving the Army, Allen went to Stanford about six months ago as a result of a long siege with wife, Judy, cruised in Business School, then spent 15 years on Wall bursts and wind shear to develop sensors, instruments, and severe- Parkinson’s disease. Rich was a close friend and a January on a Regent Street, retiring in 1988. He commented that while loyal member for many years of our Westchester Cruise Lines ship for a weather escape protocols to make flying safer.” VIC DELNORE ’65 a number of his Pi Kappa Phi brothers went into Alumni Club. I will miss him. 19-night voyage from military service, only one, Bill Torpie, paid the Beijing to Singapore Del Webster is proud of his grandson, Eamon ultimate price. with stops in Shanghai, experience. But they taught me a lot. By 1977, I Murphy, who graduated from the College of St. the northwest, to Turkey in the east. Hong Kong, Hanoi, Allen sent me excerpts from two books written had enough experience and intestinal fortitude to Rose in Albany this year, with an award as the Saigon (Ho Chi Minh by Colonel David Hackworth, About Face and These scholarly efforts by Professors Bing and found Leferman Associates. Since then I have had Outstanding Senior in Accounting, and will now City), and Bangkok. He Hazardous Duty, which described Bill’s death and Harrington will culminate in a gift of enormous the good fortune to work with over 360 client com- be pursuing his MBA. Congratulations, Grandpa. got to experience a rapid for which Hackworth, as his commanding officer, cultural significance: They plan to donate literally panies (all the big names in foods, cosmetics, finan- thousands of photographs, and hundreds of books My old pool-playing buddy Tim Russell wrote in train ride in Shanghai Five Lambda Chi Alpha brothers, family, and friends enjoyed continued to feel responsible. Allen and I would cial services, and medicine), conducting all manner from the Philadelphia neck of the woods to say on an electro-magnetic both like to learn whether any of our other class- and manuscripts, drawings, and other documents, of quantitative and qualitative studies. And, I am a bicycling vacation in Paris, France, and the Loire Valley this to the Aga Khan Documentation Center at the that he and his wife, Chris, remain active in their field train, where the mates gave their lives in Vietnam. The RPI alumni still working—every project is a new adventure. spring. From left, are Dave Burkhart ’69, Bob Darnall ’67, Chan Libraries of the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- church, St. Thomas’ Episcopal at Whitemarsh. train levitates off the office was unable to answer my query, but if any of While I can’t say that my degree in language and Sweetser ’67, Lee Broad ’68, and Pete Donohoe ’69. ogy, where they continue as visiting scholars. Tim was the owner’s rep for a $5MM renovation ground, and within 10 you know of others, please let me know, and I will literature provided any specific assistance, I will say of the Parish House and construction of a new edu- seconds gets up to 250 share the information in a future column. Allen’s This generous gesture is a reminder of Rensselaer’s that having any degree from RPI (along with my

50 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 51 CLASSNOTES CLASSNOTES

UConn MBA) gave me some early credibility as I MCL and a knee brace, he completed the 90-mile from his exhibition at Trident Gallery—Lessons, cess. Please let me know if you can volunteer some launched my career.” trek that went through the 17,700-foot-high Tho- Barns and Other Structures—were featured in the time to share your thoughts and ideas as part of Rang-La Pass in 16 days. The weather was cooper- Robert Lieberman ’71 Elected to NAE From Steven Kramer (B.S. ’67, M.S. ’68, Ph.D. Spring 2018 issue of Watershed Review, a publica- the Reunion 2019 committee. This Reunion is an ative with only one day of rain/snow, which allowed ’73): “After I earned my doctorate at RPI, I started tion of California State University at Chico. See important predecessor to the big 50th Reunion in Robert to take many outstanding pictures of the my teaching career at The University of Toledo www.csuchico.edu/watershed/2018-spring/art/. Robert Lieberman ’71, M.S. ’74, president of Lumoptix LLC, 2024 which coincides with the 200th anniversary mountains in the Annapurna range. He describes of RPI. This is not a hard job and with all your (Toledo, Ohio). I retired from there in 2008 after A little bit of trivia from our Class of 70 FB page. has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering and the trek as a great adventure in spite of returning a 35-year career in teaching and research. During Lee Mandell said, “My fraternity, TEP, hired The recognized for “innovation, development, and deployment of retirement time maybe you can spare a few hours. home with pink eye and a mild case of bronchitis. that time I served as director of undergraduate Doors to celebrate an anniversary. An expensive optical biosensors, physical sensors, and chemical sensors, We generally conference call and decide where to studies in both mechanical and industrial engi- Last May Nick Pinchuk was selected to address bet that enough tickets would be sold to recoup the and for support of international education in optical technolo- have our class hotel and where to have our dinner neering from 1994 to 2008. My research areas the Southern Vermont College Class of 2018 at the cost of $10K; yes that is all that they cost. I was dis- gies.” Election to the academy is among the highest professional (and what to eat!). Now this is something anyone included mechanical design, kinematics, dynam- school’s 91st Commencement. He also received an appointed that they didn’t come to the house after- distinctions accorded to an engineer. can help with. If you didn’t like our choices in the past, now is your chance. A few of us make phone ics, human factors, ergonomics, and computer- honorary degree from the ward, but I did sit in the front row for the concert.” Lieberman began his career at AT&T Bell Laboratories working aided design. I published over 90 articles in various college based on his leader- calls to get the rest of the class on board but that is I look forward to hearing from more of you as we in semiconductor device development, physics research, and conference proceedings and archival journals. ship in the areas of work- not a requirement. The work starts a few months get closer and closer to our 50th. Our Class of ’70 materials research. He then joined Physical Optics Corporation, force development and tech- from now. So how about it, Class of 1974? Let me “Interspersed with my studies at RPI, I was an Facebook page now has almost 60 members, so where he became vice president and general manager for research and development. In nical education and careers. hear from some volunteers (please don’t make me associate mechanical engineer at IBM Corp., a test connect if you can. As many of us post on FB, we 1998, he left POC to found Intelligent Optical Systems. Recently retired from IOS, he now He is currently the president beg). Remember, if you don’t volunteer you may get engineer at Outboard Marine Corp. driving boats consults through Lumoptix LLC and serves as chief technical officer of Taff Optical and presi- and CEO of Snap-on Inc. are “working at retired.” We would all like to hear elected class president or something worse. on Lake Michigan for a whole summer, which was dent of Adaptive Computation LLC. and has been widely recog- about your travel, your service to the community, a blast, a draftsman at the Dunham Tool Co. in This past February I had the pleasure of lunch nized for his contributions to and those things you would like to share in our Lieberman holds 34 U.S. patents on biological, physical, and chemical sensors, has chaired New Fairfield, Conn., and associate research engi- with Dr. Jackson as well as several members of the formation of the country’s technical education Class Notes section of Rensselaer magazine. Send dozens of conferences on optical sensors, and has helped found more than five startup neer at Albany International Corp. staff and students when they visited Sarasota, Fla. agenda and for the growth of a skilled workforce. them to me. —Rick Hartt ’70; [email protected] companies. A fellow of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and a senior member of IEEE, Lieberman earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics at Rens- They discussed the new Transformative Campaign “While at the University of Toledo, I assisted attor- The former St. Joseph College that you may know —1971— selaer, and his doctorate in solid-state physics and biophysics at the University of Michigan. with the purpose of raising $1 billion. While two of neys in over 250 cases for both plaintiff and defense from your days at RPI became Southern Vermont the three pillars are simply doing what was always in motor vehicle accident reconstruction as well College after it moved to its current Bennington Arnie Gundersen writes: “My wife of 39 years, done, i.e.—enhancing the student experience, as accidents in the home and workplace. I was an campus in 1974. The college became an accredited Maggie, and I live in Burlington, Vt. She runs a developing world-class teaching and research— expert witness in many product liability and acci- four-year college several years after the move and nonprofit called Fairewinds Energy Education, sion on the preservation of 18th-century houses. Engineering and professor of applied physics and there were two new programs: CLASS (Clustered dent cases. competes with Rensselaer in NCAA Division III and I am on the board. In March of 2015, I spoke Linda moved to Newburyport in 1975 after com- has served as chair of the Department of Mechani- Learning, Advocacy, and Support for Students) “I have been active in ASME over the years. This women’s basketball. —Mal Crawford ’68; K1MC- at Northwestern U. in Chicago, giving a speech, pleting her M.A. in architecture at MIT. Since cal Engineering and Materials Science for over 12 and the Center for Science—a state-of-the-art included University of Toledo ASME faculty advi- [email protected] ‘Building New Nuclear Plants Would Make Global then she has run her own firm specializing in the years. He is a widely recognized expert in computa- laboratory/classroom building which would gather sor for 18 years, national chairman of the Design Warming Worse.’ Forbes magazine covered the restoration and remodeling of older buildings. tional studies of combustion...especially investigat- programs throughout the campus into one location Engineering Division Honors and Awards Com- —1969— speech. The Forbes story, titled ‘Did Tesla Just Kill ing methods of quantifying combustion-generated and allow the expansion of the Jonsson Engineer- Nuclear Power,’ about my Northwestern speech RPI track and cross country hall of famer Bill Pol- mittee, chairman of the Education Group, and 50th Reunion: Fall 2019 Dave Burkhart sent lock of Hunt, N.Y., completed the 2018 Boston nanoparticles from land- and air-based systems. I’m ing Center and better coordination among engi- many other positions. In 1987 I became an ASME photos from a recent bicycling vacation in France had 530,000 page views! Also, I recently had an sure you have all been wondering what happens to neering programs. Whether the Center for Science article published in the Bulletin of Atomic Scien- Marathon in 5:19:47, which was 383rd place in fellow. with Lambda Chi Alpha brothers Bob Darnall the M65-69 age group. The runners fought strong those nasty nanoparticles when they are spewed would be complete by 2024 (our 50th year and the ’67, Chan Sweetser ’67, Lee Broad ’68, and Pete tists with a great pic of me collecting radioactive in the air. Mitchell has developed models to know “I was fortunate to have received several awards headwinds on a cold rainy day in Boston. Congrats, Institute’s 200th) was not clear but certainly within Donohoe ’69 (see photo, page 50). After three days samples near Fukushima titled ‘Is Solar Power where they go and why. Congrats to Mitchell on his during my career. This includes the University Bill! I completed the Haddonfield Adrenaline Run possibility. I asked her if the naming rights were in Paris, they rode between 30 and 40 miles a day Advisable in a Nuclear Disaster Zone?’ I also had appointment. of Toledo Outstanding Teacher Award in 1984 5K road race on March 17 with a time of 21:34, available and she smiled and replied, “Yes.” Any- in the Loire Valley where the kings of France built a peer-reviewed paper published in Science of the and the Outstanding Advisor Award in 1994. In which placed me second in the M65-69 age group. In other news, the Rensselaer Outing Club had a one out there with several million dollars or per- their fabulous castles—Chateau de Chambord, Total Environment about my Fukushima research 1985 I received the Ralph R. Teetor SAE Award. —Seth Bergmann ’71; [email protected] 40ish reunion of sorts with several members of our haps a few thousand Bitcoins might want to think Chaumont, Amboise, Chenonceau, Villandry, and on radioactively hot particles.” I received the ASME Faculty Advisor Award for Class of ’73 present. (Yes, they went camping...of about it. For more info, visit transformative.rpi.edu. the Palace at Versailles. Although Dave, Bob, Lee, Region Five three times. In 1988 I was chosen as I received this note from Gordon Cass: “I like to —1972— course!...to the Mojave Desert at the Joshua Tree George Jakobsche writes that after software engi- and Pete have kept in touch and seen each other remind colleagues in our age group that Facebook the Outstanding Engineering Educator for the I’m sorry to report that William “Ziggy” Bernfeld National Park). Campers included classmates Rog- neering for 20 years he started attending law school over the years, none of them had seen Chan in does have positive features. Heading from MA to State of Ohio by the Ohio passed away on February 26, after a long struggle er Harris, Carlos Barraza, Ginny Kania Solla, to become a patent attorney, because DEC wanted about 50 years. It was a wonderful reunion and FL in February and posting as I drove. My fresh- Society of Professional Engi- with lung disease. Ziggy graduated from the Lally and Ginny’s daughter, Victoria, RPI ’11. No rain to grow its in-house patent group. His boss said a great vacation. —Henry Scheuer ’69; henry man RPI roommate 1967-68 contacted me to say neers. In 2000, I received the School and received a commission from Army was reported, as it hasn’t rained in the Mojave Des- he would pay for tuition and books but halfway [email protected] he lives in Tampa and to stop in. We had dinner Honors Professor of the Year ROTC in 1972. He earned an MBA from the ert in years. through law school, DEC laid off his entire depart- and caught up on 50 years. Great evening with at the University of Toledo. University at Albany and an M.S. in accounting ment. After 18 months of “consulting,” he got a —1970— Steve Gerstein.” Gordon, would you believe I Finally, our old friend Michael Eckstut comment- from Pace University. He retired from the Army job at an intellectual property (IP) law firm in Bos- “Since retiring in 2008 I remember Steve Gerstein? He was a sprinter on the ed on Robert Bochnak’s LinkedIn blog recently on I reconnected with basketball buddy Bob Reith. in 2002 after 30 years of service. He maintained a ton. A couple of years later, his former boss asked have been a volunteer math Bob’s passion is now photography, and he says RPI freshman track team! the most important qualities of board members. practice as a certified public accountant from 1986 if he was interested in applying for the company’s and science tutor, first at a that beyond working out, he gets a lot of his exer- Michael says it’s important to “not try and run the The Adirondack Almanack recently ran a front-page until his retirement in 2010. He is survived by his first-ever in-house patent counsel job. Going from local community center, and cise photographing wildlife. He uses two primary business”...recognizing that only in rare instances article on trailblazer Kathleen Suozzo: “Kathleen wife Catherine, his children, Rebecca MacMillan being a first-year associate at a law firm to being now at Perrysburg High School and Junior High lenses among several, and one of them is a beast, will you know more than management about spe- Suozzo’s work is at the heart of one of the more ’99, Jennifer ’01 & ’02 (Greg) Miller, and Adam in-house patent counsel didn’t hurt, either. After School (Perrysburg is just south of Toledo). I also weightwise. His wildlife photography is something cific business issues. Good advice. difficult issues facing the Adirondacks today: (Brittney) Bernfeld, and his four grandchildren. six years, he left to join a different law firm, then became a snowbird. My wife and I go to Fort Myers to behold. Go to his Facebook page and check out Beach for two months in the winter. On the way upgrading aging waste-water and drinking-water —Bob Dvorak ’72; [email protected] I was looking forward to seeing many of you at our another, and finally ended up at Sunstein Law for his wildlife photos: www.facebook.com/bob.reith/ treatment facilities in small communities where the 45th Reunion in late September. We’ve been hav- over 10 years. He says he still writes code for fun down and back, we visit our son, daughter, and five photos. grandchildren who live near Orlando.” —Stu Berg cost is borne on the backs of local residents, though —1973— ing a great time catching up...check www.rpi73.org (Arduino projects, and the like), and is still a ham the heaviest usage is when tourists and seasonal radio operator. ’67; [email protected] Gordy Benoit not only volunteers with ski patrol Well, RPI certainly has a following at the Yale for updates. —Gary DiCamillo ’73; garydicamillo residents come to visit. At stake are the lakes, riv- but also with Flower City (Rochester) Habitat for School of Engineering and Applied Sciences @gmail.com George tells me he is living in Concord, N.H., with ers, and streams of the region.” Kathleen is an RPI —1968— Humanity. Within the last year he has helped (SEAS). Our ’73 classmate Mitchell Smooke his wife of 30 years and they have two children, one Habitat rehab neighborhoods in South Florida and engineering grad who lives in Bolton Landing, N.Y. Classmate Robert Sturm sent in a short descrip- recently was named acting dean of Yale SEAS, —1974— a chemistry professor at Clark University, the other in Rochester. tion of his 2017 trek of the Annapurna Circuit in Linda Miller, founder and co-president of the succeeding Kyle Vanderlick, RPI Class of ’81. 45th Reunion: Fall 2019 Reunion 2019 is only a a photographer. “I like all kinds of beer, especially Nepal with a guide and porter. In spite of a torn Ed Touchette continues his artistry. Four pieces Newburyport Preservation Trust, presented a ses- Mitchell is the Strathcona Professor of Mechanical year away and we need your help to make it a suc- Belgian and Scottish ales. I always have at least a

52 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 53 CLASSNOTES CLASSNOTES dozen different kinds of beer at home in my beer He is recognized as a “Top Lawyer” in intellectual wisely picked a place to go camping that (a) has commercial and defense aircraft and aeroequip- chair of Hamlin Harkins Ltd., fridge (a dorm refrigerator, whose thermostat I property by Sacramento Magazine. stellar rock climbing and hiking, and (b) where we ment. —Michael Mino ’76; [email protected] and has worked with Citibank’s modified to run at beer temperature), and about could absolutely count on it not raining: California’s Associates First Capital, Trident Héctor D. Abruña ’75 Elected to Duane Covino continues to make good use of 200 bottles of wine in the crawl space under my Mohave Desert. The 11 ROC alumni attendees in —1977— Systems, Asyst, and Texaco. time in his now almost 11-year-long retirement National Academy of Sciences house addition. Hobbies include photography Joshua Tree National Park for four days graduated from full-time work. In October 2017 he joined an A plea to our Facebook page—RPI Class of Anthony DeLio has been pro- (beginning on astrophotography now), wood- from RPI from ’71 to ’78 (our 12th camper is a cou- 1977—brought in a little news I can share with moted to senior vice president, working, and electronics projects.” George can be “Arts and Ceramics of China and Taiwan” tour, rageous wife who’s tolerated ~40 years of bizarre Héctor D. Abruña ’75, the Émile M. Chamot Professor of you. From Vic Vitek: He and his wife are in the corporate strategy, and chief reached at [email protected]. visiting such places as Jingdezhen, the “mecca of ROC tales and ROCer visits...surely earning hon- Chemistry at Cornell University, has been elected to mem- process of selling the house they have lived in for innovation officer of Ingredion meccas” of Chinese pottery. He continues to study orary ROC status the hard way). bership in the National Academy of Sciences, one of the One of our classmates is keeping very healthy while and practice pottery at his local community college, over 25 years and are having a retirement home Inc. Most recently serving as highest honors given to a scientist or engineer in the U.S. helping others with autism. Robert “Nick” Nick- and is also finishing his third semester of Spanish “The campers who managed to remain hale, built in New Hampshire. They hoped to be in it by senior vice president and chief erson is in the process of running 3,000 miles to hearty, and crazy pulled out the ropes, carabiners, September. Good luck with the move, Vic! innovation officer, Anthony is Abruña’s interdisciplinary language studies. During spring break 2018, he research addresses problems of raise awareness for the need to fund research to etc., and tackled JT’s spectacular red granite for- responsible for further develop- joined a weeklong guided tour of Portugal. While Rick Brodzinsky retired last June after being with electrochemical interest, with a find the cause(s) of autism before it becomes the mations, while the saner ones hiked and explored ing the company’s strategy, iden- in line in the Geneva airport to change planes for IBM for 34.5 years. Congratulations, Rick! current emphasis on fundamen- disease/disability of the century. As of April, he had Portugal, directly in front of him was RPI Class of Joshua Tree. No ROC gathering could ever be tifying growth opportunities, complete without a slide show, of course. JT NP is a Jim-Bob Williams joined an improv troupe and tal studies of battery and fuel cell passed 1,300 miles and was still going strong—or at ’84 alum Michael Gobeli, who noticed that Duane and pursuing partnerships and designated International Dark Sky Park, providing will be doing stand-up comedy soon. All of us systems, and molecular electron- least as strong as anyone can at 72. For more info or was wearing a light-grey RPI fleece jacket. (It pays acquisition opportunities. He to donate, visit his website 3000MilesForAutism. a spectacular backdrop to share old and new pics know he will be great at that and wish him the ics. His research group synthe- to advertise!) —James C. Wernicke, P.E. ’74; joined Ingredion in 2006 as divi- org. If classmates don’t remember him, it is because of our wilderness adventures around the world and best. I was delighted to see him at Reunion last fall. sizes novel, tailored inorganic [email protected] sional vice president and general complexes and organic battery he has never been in Troy…he graduated from the reminisce. We hadn’t seen him since our wedding! manager, North America. Prior RPI Hartford Graduate Center. materials to drive discovery of —1975— “While planning, we heard from dozens of other Bryon Harry Rakoff wrote that he retired last to Ingredion, he held senior new chemical and electrochemi- ’70s-era ROCers, who offered lame excuses like fall from full-time work. He was an airport plan- leadership positions with ADM, When the law firm of Dickinson Wright chose Greetings to the Class of 1975! Got a note from cal properties. to open a branch in Silicon Valley, they picked ‘I’m hiking in Peru’ or working the grape harvest, or ning consultant in the private sector for 27 years Mars, and Nestle. Ingredion is a Leland Deck last winter that just missed the cutoff Michael Ferrazano as the member for the office the so-sad ‘still have an office job’ affliction. As we and then was with the Federal Aviation Admin- global ingredient solutions pro- Abruña earned his bachelor’s (1975) and master’s (1976) for the Spring ’18 issue, so here it is: of patent agents and property attorneys. Michael packed up we started planning for another reunion istration Airports Division for 13 years, and is now vider, turning grains, fruits, veg- degrees in chemistry at Rensselaer and his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He joined Cornell brings his experience in computer networking, “In October a group of ’70s-era Rensselaer Outing in 40 years, but some talked us into trying to do working part time. He and his wife, Linda, are etables, and other plant materi- in 1983 and has guided 54 doctoral students and 66 digital signal processing, integrated circuit design, Club (ROC) members had a 40th-ish-year reunion better than that. As long as we’ll be at another enjoying semi-retirement and are planning numer- als into value-added ingredients postdoctoral associates over the course of his career. and semiconductor device fabrication to the firm. (camping of course). Roger Harris, ’73 & ’76, rain-free campground, we’ll likely make it. ous trips including one to Poland and Russia and a and biomaterial solutions for the cross-country drive. He is still very involved with food, beverage, paper, brewing, “PS: A special shout out to Victoria Solla ’11. Not Among Abruña’s many awards and honors are the 2011 theater, most recently in a local production of My and other industries. Serving only did she follow both her parents’ path to RPI, Faraday Medal of the Royal Society, the 2013 Brian Fair Lady. As a former RPI Player, he writes that he customers in over 100 countries, but she was also a hard-core ROCer; a certified Conway Prize from the International Society of Electro- still knows “which way is up”! their ingredients make crackers chemistry, and the 2017 Gold Medal of the International double-barreled RPI-ROC legacy!” To see who attended, see photo, at left. Barbara (Compaine) Cobuzzi left her former crunchy, yogurts creamy, candy Society of Electrochemistry. He is a member of the health-care billing company and really likes being sweet, paper stronger, and add American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow of Big news from the Stark household is the engage- back on her own again. Bob Cobuzzi is still work- fiber to nutrition bars. the American Association for the Advancement of Science, ment of my older son, Chris. Maureen and I won’t ing at AT&T as a project manager for new tech- the International Society of Electrochemistry, and the be going on any big vacations this year—the wed- I enjoyed a great ski season here nologies. They enjoyed a vacation to the Domini- Electrochemical Society. ding will be in October. in the Northeast and had a good can Republic in March and really enjoyed our 40th ski trip with my wife and friends Send news and updates. Cutoff dates are May 1 Reunion last October. to Morzine, France, in March. for the Fall issue, and November 1 for the Spring That’s it for this time! Now—while you are think- Mountain biking season is now issue. —David Stark ’75; [email protected] upon us and I’m focused on not going over the And has it really been 40 years since we received ing about it—send me a note! —Maureen H. our diplomas from George Low? Plan to join us at handlebars or hitting trees! —Mark Keough ’78; Regan Robinson ’77; [email protected] Rensselaer for our Class 40th Reunion next Octo- —1976— [email protected] ber—the exact date hasn’t been set as we go to After 20 years as an avionics consultant in sup- —1978— press. —Paul Sicard ’79; [email protected] port of USAF surveillance aircraft (E-3 AWACS —1979— Expect to have lots of stuff to write about in the and E-8 JSTARS), Nelson Gomm, M.S. ’76, next edition from our 40th Reunion. If you weren’t 40th Reunion: Fall 2019 Paul Vitucci writes —1980— retired last August. Now living on Cape Cod with able to attend, please send me a quick email, as we that while he was seriously considering retiring in his wife, Laurie, he has resumed a hobby he had Bob Schuetz was promoted to operations vice would love to hear from you! the next year or two, he received an offer he could president at Energy Northwest in April. Before ignored for over 50 years—ham radio. “RPI and not refuse. He left American Bridge Co. after 22 NCE gave me the education, tools, and confi- Donna Hamlin has been appointed to the board joining Energy Northwest in 2013, he served as years and started working as the quality manager maintenance manager at the Institute of Nuclear dence to become an independent contractor.” He of directors of DailyPay. Dr. Hamlin is an inter- for Brightline, a new express rail service in South can now spend more time with family and boating nationally known authority in human resources, Power Operations. Bob served as a submarine Florida. His focus will be on the east-west rail line officer in the Navy for 28 years, including time in the summer. and has provided strategy, change management, construction in the undeveloped corridor from the and human performance management services as commanding officer of the attack submarine John McManus was promoted to senior vice Florida east coast to the Orlando airport. for Fortune 500 global enterprises in more than 44 USS Hyman G. Rickover and deputy commander In October, Rensselaer Outing Club members from the ’70s celebrated a reunion with four president, environmental services, at American countries. DailyPay enables an employee to trans- Nick Miller has won a Lifetime Achievement and chief of staff for the Submarine Force U.S. days of camping, hiking, and rock climbing in California’s Joshua Tree National Park. They Electric Power in March. He is responsible for fer earned wages when the employee needs them, Award from the Utility Variable-Generation Pacific Fleet. —Kathy Pratt Harrington ’80; also shared tall tales and memories, as well as their customary slide show of photos old and directing the development of environmental policy rather than waiting for a weekly or biweekly pay- Integration Group for his work integrating wind [email protected] new, against the stunning scenery of the park, which is a designated International Dark Sky for AEP, assuring compliance and overseeing envi- check. This provides a first step for the employee and solar energy into electrical systems. Nick has Park. Pictured, front to back, and left to right, are, kneeling: Roger Harris ’73; middle row: ronmental support services for AEP’s generation toward financial security, resulting in a 40 per- worked for GE for 37 years and is a senior technical —1981— Ginny (Kania) Solla ’73, Rich Tocher ’77, Susan Phifer ’71, Carlos Barraza ’73, Carol Mor- and energy delivery facilities. cent reduction in voluntary turnover within three director of GE’s Energy Consulting Group. He has I heard that Larry Landon and Jack Colucci got gan (Jablonski), USCD, Eric Solla ’76, and Mike Wand ’77; and, back row: Dan Stevens ’75, Robert Saia, M.S. ’76, was named senior vice months, accompanied by an increase of 87 per- spent more than 15 years working as an inventor together in Niagara Falls, when Jack was up there Ed Jablonski, RPI/Manhattan College ’74, Doug MacBain, RPI/Williams ’75, and Leland president, business development, at Cadence cent in employee satisfaction and a reduction in and technology developer for GE’s wind equipment for a hockey tournament. I am informed that Deck ’75. For more, see the Class of ’75 column. Aerospace, a provider of highly complex aerospace employee absenteeism of 26 percent. Dr. Hamlin business, focusing on making wind and solar power after 37 years, Jack still has it! He can still make components and assemblies to manufacturers of is currently a CEO of Boardwise LTD and board grid-friendly, including developing several patents. plays! And speaking of Larry Landon, he is the

54 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 55 CLASSNOTES CLASSNOTES executive director of the PHPA—the Professional ute. Lou also casually mentioned that he was— —1983— alumni who are living over there, let me know. psychologist at Wiesbaden Air Force Base in Ger- —1986— Hockey Players Association. They are celebrat- ahem—a bit “seasoned” when he graduated and is many and RAF Lakenheath, England. He has also Mark Begor was named CEO at Equifax Inc. Lastly, I am a grandma. Darling Hannah Anne The Albany Times Union recently published an ing their 50th anniversary, and have only had currently 88! Updegrove was born in November. Ready or not, commanded Medical Operations and Ancillary two executive directors. Larry has been in this Mark spent 35 years at General Electric serving in Services Squadrons in both Idaho and Ohio and article about women entrepreneurs overcoming the Diane Ozovek Howard retired in 2016 after 34 time to move on to the next phase of life! Please position since 1993. In celebration, two YouTube a variety of roles leading multibillion-dollar busi- has served as the director of the Department of hurdles of starting a business, featuring RPI grad years in industry. She started at IBM as a computer send some news! —Diane Updegrove ’84; kupde@ videos were made and you can see the great work ness units of the company, including president and Defense Psychological Health Strategic Operations Lynn Momrow-Zielinksi (B.S. Chem.Eng., M.S. engineer in Endicott, N.Y. Eventually she trans- sbcglobal.net done by our classmate Larry: www.youtube.com/ CEO of GE Energy Management from 2014 to for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense at Mgmt.Eng.), who co-founded Extreme Molding, ferred to IBM’s Federal Systems Division in 1992 watch?v=DvTVbhMlu4I&t=15s and www.you 2016, president and CEO of GE Capital Real Estate —1985— the Pentagon. a silicone and plastic injection molding manufac- and worked the remainder of her career in the from 2011 to 2014, and president and CEO of GE turing company in Watervliet, N.Y., in 2002. The tube.com/watch?v=UTasoy62Ttw. In March, Greg Travelstead (Geol.) was appointed defense industry with roles of increasing respon- Capital Retail Finance (Synchrony Financial) from Biogen, in Cambridge, Mass., has appointed Mark business partners leveraged their savings to pur- executive director of the Sawtooth Society located What great tributes these are. Lou Lamoriello sibility for IBM, Lockheed Martin, Thales, and 2002 to 2011. Most recently, Mark was a managing Hernon (Ind. & Mgmt Eng.) as senior vice presi- chase their first injection molding machines. Their in Hailey, Idaho. Formed in 1997, the nonprofit and the hockey night Canada legend Don Cherry Northrop Grumman. She retired from Northrop director at Warburg Pincus. dent and chief information officer. Biogen discov- products range from dog collar buckles to pacifiers, and nonpartisan Sawtooth Society is the only have some great things to say about Larry and the Grumman as VP, operations—Cyber Division. ers, develops, and delivers worldwide innovative following strict health and safety guidelines for Materials engineer turned comedian (yes, you read organization dedicated exclusively to protecting, PHPA. This is a true tribute to my friend. Hat’s off Upon retirement she made a quick retreat from the therapies for people living with serious neurological multiple baby products. Sales have reached at least to Larry. Washington, D.C., area with her husband, Don that right) Eric McMahon was back in Troy this preserving, and enhancing the 756,000-acre Saw- and neurodegenerative diseases. In his new role, past year to perform at the Troy Savings Bank $5 million annually and sometimes twice that. (Col. (R) U.S. Army, and also a retired Lockheed tooth National Recreation Area (SNRA). Greg Hernon leads the global information technology Cliff Meiselbach (BSME) has retired after a Music Hall during the New Year’s Eve celebrations. Lynn’s philosophy, “when times get tough, go bowl- Martin executive) to Sarasota, Fla., where they has served as the Sawtooth Society’s stewardship organization and is responsible for accelerating and 36-year career at IBM, including positions as CFO Eric, now residing in central New Jersey, has been ing,” has served her well. are both enjoying the sunshine along with many coordinator preserving open space in the scenic supporting Biogen’s operations through delivery of of its Greater China Region and its Microelectron- featured on ESPN and NBC. As he told the Troy visitors escaping the winter cold from the North! Sawtooth Valley and Stanley Basin; he has worked innovative technology tools and systems. Dr. Alec Gallimore (B.S. Aero.Eng.) has been ics Division. He and his wife, Elizabeth Katz (M.S. Record, “It’s always good to come back to Troy and Diane continues to volunteer for RPI as chair for with policymakers and the public to address threats named to the ANSYS Board of Directors. ANSYS Pysch), reside in Fairfield, Conn., and recently see how much the area has changed. Even though In prior years with Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Her- the Annual Fund Volunteer Leadership Council facing the SNRA. Additionally, he has consulted is the global leader in Pervasive Engineering Simu- celebrated their 35th anniversary while on safari I’ve been gone more than a few years now, I’m in non served as regional CIO for the Americas and and enjoys her frequent visits to campus—“RPI with the government, and private and nonprofit lation software, enabling imaginative and innova- in South Africa. They plan to increase travel and the area every year at least either to perform or clients, on land and water planning issues while global head of R&D, QA, and HR systems as well is amazing!!!” Diane also stated that “...our 35th tive product design across a myriad of aerospace family time, while plotting their next career moves. to ski or both. Troy also helps me find new mate- working for the U.S. Forest Service on trail mainte- as VP of operations for the Cambridge site. He was Reunion weekend was a lot of fun last fall, although and consumer products. Dr. Gallimore holds sev- rial—it’s got a never-ending supply. The city seems nance. Good luck! most recently the global head of R&D Site Strategy Frank Scavo sent news that Gustavo ‘Gus’ San- sparsely attended from the Class of ’82! (Our 40th eral posts at the University of Michigan, including to have had some highs and lows, and I’m happy to and Operations, where he led the global transfor- telli passed away May 15, 2017. His career included will be just around the corner—hope we can get After retiring from the Air Force in 2016, Col. professor of aerospace engineering. He is director of see that it’s currently on one of the highs.” —Don mation of Takeda’s R&D footprint. Hernon holds two decades at DuPont, and almost 15 years at more of our class to campus!)” Hans Ritschard (Chem.) joined the staff at the the NASA-funded Michigan Space Grant Consor- Hubicki ’83; [email protected] a B.S. & M.S. in industrial and management engi- Lead Time Technology, where he became presi- Cheyenne Regional Medical Center where he is tium, co-director of the Plasmadynamics and Elec- Stephen Mohr moved into the Applied Research neering and an MBA from the Lally School of dent and CEO. —Marc Glasser ’81, mglasser81@ now the director of performance improvement. He tric Propulsion Lab, and has served on the U.S. Air group at OSIsoft. Stephen shares that his “...son —1984— Management. gmail.com leads a variety of initiatives that ensure a culture Force Scientific Advisory Board. Alec also holds Matthew finished his RPI degrees in May. By 35th Reunion: Fall 2019 I encourage everyone of continuous improvement, and facilitates projects Alumni often ask me about the difference between an M.S. and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from —1982— coincidence, his master’s project and some of my to send in their updates as I have not received any that increase efficiency and promote the high- the RAA Endowment and the RAA Scholarship; Princeton University. research are in the same area of graph theory. Mat- let me clarify our philanthropic initiatives. When Please join us on Facebook! www.facebook.com/ recently! I know there is plenty going on; it is the est quality of health care. In the greater commu- Although he did not compete at RPI, Ed Neigh- thew likes to point out that he got better grades you give to the RAA Scholarship Fund, your dol- groups/RPIClassOf82. time in our lives for exciting changes! Instead, you nity, he has served on the Cheyenne Frontier Days bour (B.Arch, B.S. Bldg.Sci.) has become an avid than me!” lars go directly to assist student scholarship. In are left to read about my RPI endeavors because I General Committee as the Military Chair, and he long-distance runner. He is president of the Morris A. Curtis Pagano is the VP of quality and regula- 2016, the RAA launched a student scholarship Ernest Grey retired as a lieutenant colonel in the have nothing else to report. currently serves as a board member of the Greater County Striders after fulfilling two terms as presi- tory compliance at Delavau Pharmaceutical Part- initiative that directly assists today’s students. This U.S. Army Air National Guard, after decades Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce. dent of New Jersey’s USATF and as division chair ners in Philadelphia, Pa. He is expecting to retire Kevin and I had a delightful dinner and evening endowed fund is used to financially support schol- navigating C-130s to Earth’s polar regions between of the Long Distance Running Committee. He has in late 2018 and looks forward to new and exciting with Kaitlyn Lounsbury ’15 who was the southern Col. Ritschard also has M.A. and Ph.D. degrees arships for worthy undergraduates. When you give their respective brutal winters. competed in several New York City marathons, as non-work-related things. representative from the Alumni Office. from Fuller Theological Seminary, two master’s to this fund, you help students succeed at Rens- William “Bill” Meaney was appointed to the degrees from Air University, a postdoctoral fellow- well as Philadelphia, Rome, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Naomi Shields shared that she is “...beginning I had lunch in Berkeley, Calif., with lab partner selaer. When you give to the RAA Endowment, board of directors of State Street Corp. Bill is the ship from Harvard Medical School, and a public and the Big Sur in California. over! Amazing at almost 60! I’ve been in Wichita Mark Mitchell. It was great to catch up on 34 years your dollars fund programs that benefit our current president and chief executive officer of Iron Moun- policy fellowship at the Rand Corporation. and future alumni. It sponsors an annual award to John Jacquin (M.S. Comp.Sci.) recently received since 1994. Tremendous reputation and good of “life.” Mark takes exceptional pictures of birds/ tain Inc., a global provider of storage and informa- a rising junior or senior who is a leading member the Division Leadership & Service Award from friends made in residency while in the Air Force in animals and posts them on Instagram. He still is During his Air Force career, he served as a child tion management services. of the Red & White Stu- the TAPPI NET Division at the 2018 PaperCon San Antonio. My adopted parents now have some a consultant for pharmaceutical companies in dent Organization, and Conference Awards. John is technical service and health issues, so the plan is to go back to Texas Gordon Davidson was hired as the executive “trouble.” it subsidizes the annual application development manager at Michelman, a in June 2018 and join San Antonio Orthopaedic director of the Mount Washington Community I also enjoyed two weeks in the small town of Freshman BBQ to instill global developer and manufacturer of environmen- Specialists. There are a few mission trips during Development Corp. in Pittsburgh, Pa. His respon- Schlehdorf, Germany, where roommate Chrissy in them the importance tally friendly advanced materials for the coatings, my transition; Costa Rica with Health Volunteers sibilities include implementing a new strategic plan, Krempl lives. We hiked daily in the mild spring and advantage of the printing and packaging, and industrial manufactur- Overseas in February, then Haiti and Vietnam in developing new programs and plans for community weather thanks to the foehns (look that one up). connection that unites ing markets. He received his B.S. in chemical engi- May. I’m teaching a couple of Clinician Patient needs, developing multiple funding strategies, and Chrissy is changing from project manager to mar- all alumni. To promote neering from Rutgers University and is currently Communication workshops as well. Oh, and I hate developing strong communications with commu- keting manager for EOS GmbH, a 3D printing alumni career advance- chair of the Binders, Additives & Minerals Com- moving and the boxes!” nity members and stakeholders. company. She is a great host if you get to the area. ment, the RAA Endow- mittee of TAPPI. —Jane LaGoy ’86; 73tantalum Don Maynard (B.S. ’82, M.S. ’88) is still working George Lukacs Jr. reported that “I find myself river I’ve been emailing with Gary Rapp. He has quite ment sponsors a staff @gmail.com for the Johnson Co. in Montpelier, Vt., after 30 running, swimming, cart-golfing, and deep powder the RPI legacy and his son Kent, currently attend- position in the Office of years. Don’s work is focused primarily on clean- snowmobiling a whole lot more than back-country ing, is in Germany. Kent was selected for the Alumni Relations whose —1987— ing up hazardous waste, these days in the National skiing in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains between Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young duties include providing Christopher Fontes, staff scientist at Los Alamos Parks (Anacostia River, D.C.; NYC landfills), and entrepreneurial ventures these arthritic days.” Friends who gathered at RAHP Apartments during their student Professionals. The program provides 75 American career and professional National Laboratory, has been elected a fellow of also public water supply development and dam years met for a mini reunion in April at the Riverside Center for the On a somber note: George Lukacs let us know that and German students between the ages of 18 and development services the American Physical Society for his pioneering engineering. He’s married to RPI engineer Louise Performing Arts in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where they enjoyed Ed Carey III passed away unexpectedly in Febru- 24 the opportunity to spend one year in each oth- (RAA Connect) in a contributions to a broad range of physics problems Beaulieu ’81 and has one grandchild. dinner and a live production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. ary “...doing what he loved most, alpine skiing!” er’s countries, studying, interning, and living with world of fast-changing including nuclear fusion and astrophysics. His hosts on a cultural immersion program. From left, are Sue (Wenner) Marvin ’86, class correspondent technologies. Lou Alongi noted that he designed a very low- Also, Rob Peterson shared that Lisa, his wife of 32 Jane (LeCount) LaGoy ’86, Susan (Case) Imamura, M.S. ’87, and most recent work includes trying to understand tech drip irrigation system that’s “user-friendly” for years, passed away after a long battle with cancer. The opportunities available to students today are Jim Imamura ’85, Ph.D. ’90. Got news? Send it here. the light that is emitted from neutron star mergers, senior citizens. The system is very green because —Mark Bowers ’82; mark.bowers@lighthouse-one. truly amazing. My son Andrew will be studying —Patricia DeLauri ’85; in connection with the recent gravitational wave it uses gallons of water per hour and not per min- com abroad this fall in Copenhagen; if we have any [email protected] observation announced in August 2017 and the

56 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 57 CLASSNOTES CLASSNOTES

Nobel Prize awarded in December 2017. —Peter Martin Grohman (Chem.E.) was featured in the Rob Mueller (B.S. ECSC), also a “Nifty 50” this and traveling. I eventually settled down in the including operational and commercial activities, Edward Gumina was named president and CEO Quinones ’87; [email protected] March 25 edition of the Portland Herald Press. It’s year, has been active. After crossing skydiving off Puget Sound region, where I live in a house among and meeting sales and organic growth targets, as of Precision Roll Grinders, which specializes in an interesting read and it’s not the only time he’s his bucket list in 2016, he and wife Sharon had a the trees with my wife, Andrea, our three children, well as developing talent. —John Trammell ’92; high-tolerance regrinding and repairs for industrial —1988— been written about—he’s a state representative great time scuba diving during Pirates Week in and several cats. I currently work as a software [email protected] cylinders used in various industries, including tex- George Pastrana (BME) has been named the new from Biddeford, Maine. He is the director of sus- Grand Cayman last fall. Rob and Sharon spend engineer in the local tech industry, and can be tiles, flooring, film, and chocolate. —Bill Wheeler president and chief operating officer for Dogfish tainability for GAF, one of the country’s biggest about one month each winter working remotely found on LinkedIn.” —1993— ’94; [email protected] roofing companies, and he has championed recy- from Florida, and are starting to plan a Disney Head Craft Brewery. He transitions there after Rebecca Whittemore Kreider writes: “I recently Keisuke Hoashi was invited by Dean Mary cling the asphalt shingles used in roofing jobs into vacation with their three grandkids over Hallow- —1995— working at ACH Food Companies for six years as earned my doctorate from New Jersey City Uni- Simoni of RPI’s School of Humanities, Arts, and paving materials. een. All that activity and his passion for hockey the chief marketing officer and vice president of versity in educational technology leadership. In Social Sciences to speak at the HASS commence- Please keep the updates coming. Kaan Aslansan finally caught up to Rob this spring, when he elect- marketing and innovation. Dr. Judy Cezeaux, ’89 Ph.D, was selected as the 1991, I graduated from RPI with a B.S. in science ment on May 18, 2018. He has an update of film was named managing director with the corporate ed to have hip replacement surgery. Not one to sit next dean of the Arkansas Tech University College & technology studies and in 2001 from Stevens and TV roles that have been booked recently, transformation services practice at the Alvarez Raffi Garabedian (EE) has been named an out- still for long, Rob was up and about in no time and of Engineering and Applied Science. At the time Institute of Technology with an M.S. in informa- and aired in the last year or so: Law & Order True & Marsal firm. Tim Fiore was appointed chief side director of Covalent Metrology to assist in dancing again only three weeks after his surgery. its mission to create an enabling and democratiz- of her appointment, she was chair of biomedical tion management. Currently I am working on a Crime (NBC), StartUp (Crackle Network), Will & procurement officer at Ryder Systems Inc. Bill ing one-stop-shop for rapid, diverse, high-quality engineering at Western New England University. Here in Katy, last December Dianne and I enjoyed makerspace/STEM lab build-out at Mount Olive Grace (NBC), Adam Ruins Everything (animated Garbati was appointed regional director, business a rare touch of winter in the form of 1.5 inches of development, of Ameresco’s U.S. East Region Sales metrology and characterization data and advice. David McIntyre, M.S. ’89, was one of the 2018 Middle School in Mount Olive, N.J.” series), Most Likely to ... (ABC), Ghosts of Tsushima snow. We followed that up with a spring break trip Organization. Douglas Hembdt was selected for He currently works as chief technology officer of Silver Beaver Award recipients awarded by the Funny story is that we discovered through our dis- (Sony Playstation), The Detour (TBS), Big Little Lies to Breckenridge, where we decided to hang up the Navy Meritorious Service Award at Naval First Solar Inc. and has held that position since Boy Scouts of America. Recipients are recognized cussion that we had worked together in an EMAD (HBO), and Brockmire (IFC), a comedy series star- the skis and join our son on the snowboard. We Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport for May 2012. He joined First Solar in 2008 as direc- for their distinguished and noteworthy service of CAD project sophomore year and I had photo evi- ring Hank Azaria. enjoyed having both kids home from university at his exceptional record of process improvement and tor of disruptive technologies and served as its vice exceptional character to youth by Scout leaders. dence of that in my scrapbook. various times this summer. If you find yourself in iPartnerMedia was named Start Up of the Year by workforce development. LTC Joshua Green was president of Advanced Technologies since 2010. the Lee County (Fla.) Economic Development and Previously, he had founded Touchdown Tech- Gregory Allen (Chem.E.), a member of the the Houston area, please be sure to let us know! — Even funnier is that I ran into Charles Havasy last the keynote speaker at the Foxboro High School Department of Defense, was recently profiled by Rob Sherman ’90; [email protected] year at my milestone high school reunion in New Horizon Council at the annual Industry Apprecia- annual Veteran’s Day service. —Michael Van nologies Inc. and served as its CEO. He worked tion Awards. Randy Mitchelson (vice president, in the semiconductor and microelectromechani- the Army Chemical Materials Activity group York City, because his wife, Meredith, was 10 years Poots ’95; [email protected] where he works. His interesting background shows —1991— behind me and in a different milestone class! He marketing and sales) joined iPM founders Mark cal systems (MEMS) industries for over 15 years Pace and Albert Arguelles to accept the award, —1996— developing new products ranging from automotive how he was able to pursue his dreams and break Hello, Class of 1991. Been awhile since I wrote a sent a photo (see page 58) from his USAF retire- stereotypes. ment ceremony last year that includes John Marsh which honors local business and nonprofit organi- sensors to telecommunications switching systems. column, but a good batch of articles in the email zations. In this issue we turn to a few updates from fellow He holds 20 issued patents. Congratulations to everyone! Find us on Face- bag and from the Institute this time. Lately, I’ve ’90, Steve Mare, Melissa Wong ’92, Charles, and Lambda Chi Alpha brothers. Ed Bellem ’89. Charles now works for The MITRE Express Scripts Holding Co. announced that Mike book—“RPI Class of 1989.” —Joseph Hom ’89; joe been pretty busy still working as a senior HVAC Michael Wojcik has moved from Logan, Utah, to Mike Peralta (EnvE) has been named execu- Corp. in McLean, Va., conducting defense-related Cirillo has been named president of myMatrixx, tive vice president, Central Sales Operations, for [email protected] engineer at New York State Office of General Ser- Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M., to studies. John is working at the F-35 Program an Express Scripts company. Mike has more than Criteo, S.A., where he will oversee the central vices in Albany, and my wife Jenny and I are busy support the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Office, Steve is working for the Northrop Grum- 25 years of leadership experience in worker’s com- sales team to drive forward revenue operations —1990— with our two sons, Teddy (born in 2015) and Josh- Vehicles Directorate as a systems engineer. Mike man Corp., Melissa is at the Applied Physics Lab, pensation, claims management, and pharmacy. and demand for Criteo’s newly launched products, Greetings from Houston! Allow me to play the ua (born September 2017). Now on to all of you: confirms that the food in New Mexico is satisfy- and Ed is at the Defense Intelligence Agency. All Most recently, he served as president of Specialty including Criteo Audience Match and Criteo Cus- averages here and wish many of you a happy 50th Beth Sienel was appointed by the Nuclear Regula- ingly more spicy. live in the greater Washington, D.C., area. Solutions Rx, where he helped deliver cost-reduc- tomer Acquisition. Prior to this position, Peralta birthday this year! tory Commission as the new resident inspector for tion solutions to national accounts and payers by Steve Lee came out to visit over the last weekend was president and CEO of AudienceScience. Pre- the Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant in Scriba, Charles writes: “I have been enjoying my time at Bianca Mancinelli (B.S. Math) shared some fan- enabling better patient outcomes. of February and join me for his first-ever American viously he held numerous executive positions in The MITRE Corporation—I’m actually spending tastic news: their son Dante will attend RPI begin- N.Y. Beth joined the NRC in 1990, and has pre- Birkebeiner ski race. The point-to-point ski race the U.S., Europe, and Asia, including roles as the more time at the Pentagon now than when I was in ning this fall! Dante joins Bianca, Paul ’90 (B.S., viously been a reactor engineer in the Division of Kevin Hunt, M.S. ’93, Ph.D. ’03, was presented travels over the hills of northwest Wisconsin for 50 CRO of MediaMath, COO of Magnetic, CRO of uniform. It has been an easy transition as I am still Phys.), and sister Chiara (May, 2019) in what is Reactor Safety and a resident inspector at the Pil- Goldey-Beacom College’s Annual Excellence in winding kilometers, all the way from Cable to Hay- Tumri, and an SVP at AOL and Advertising.com. doing defense-related projects.” becoming an RPI family. With their youngest son grim, Millstone, Vermont Yankee, and James Fitz- Teaching Award. He is assistant professor of English ward. There are almost 1,400 meters of total climb Gary Borla, who earned multiple master’s degrees entering high school this fall, the adoption of two patrick stations. Remember, you never know who from RPI you’ll and humanities and chair of the Arts and Sciences in the race, so it’s a major accomplishment. from RPI, recently retired after a 35-year career at kittens, and Paul’s 50th birthday, 2018 is shaping run into in life and where and when! Until next Department. His students say he takes the time to Joe Lanzisera rejoined Eigen X as principal/owner. Proving that you can find RPI just about anywhere, Eversource Energy/Northeast Utilities. During his up to be an amazing year. time, cheers, and keep those updates coming in! — get to know each one of them and finds fun ways to In 2012, he co-founded Eigen X, a CRM, analytics, Steve was wearing an RPI cycling jacket while we tenure there, he held positions of increas- Richard Vehlow ’91; [email protected] keep them focused. Known for developing new pro- and agile technology company. Previously, did a little recovery skiing the day after the race ing authority and responsibility in engi- grams, he was an original architect of the college’s Joe was president and CEO of Anexinet. when a complete stranger skied up to us to let us neering, account management, conserva- —1992— academic boot camp program taught each sum- Darold Londo, MBA ’91, is the new CEO know he graduated from RPI in the early ’90s and tion and load management, and customer mer for potential students. —Ileana Gonzalez ’93; of Lac du Flambeau Business Develop- James Petrosky was re-appointed Air Force Tech- was now working as an engineer in Milwaukee. and asset management. Since his retire- [email protected] ment Corp. and has 25 years of manage- nical Application Center Endowed Term Chair It was a great weekend of skiing and catching up, ment, he joined his family’s energy busi- ment and CEO experience. He has a mili- for Nuclear Materials. A professor of nuclear engi- capped off with a get-together with fellow Twin ness. He has also spent time visiting his —1994— tary background, having graduated from neering and the M.S. curriculum chair in the Air Cities-based brothers Piet Hansel ’91 and Mark paternal family roots in Italy, and planned West Point prior to attending RPI, and has Force Institute of Technology’s Dept. of Engineer- 25th Reunion: Fall 2019 Tiffini Eugene Jones, Schlichenmeyer at a Saint Paul’s Flat Earth Brew- to visit maternal roots in Ireland during also attained a JD from the University of ing Physics, he has expertise in radiation effects M.S. ’94, a sustainability consultant and doctoral ing Co. summer 2018. —Grace Vitagliano Roth Wisconsin Law School in Madison, Wis. on electronic devices, EMP, experimental design, candidate at Prescott College, has been selected ’88; [email protected] radiation detection, and nuclear weapon effects. to be in a cohort of 80 female scientists participat- Here’s to hoping everyone had a safe and enjoy- Philip Kahrl writes: “After graduation ing in a yearlong global leadership building project. able summer. Keep the updates coming! —Hank —1989— from RPI, I went on to get an MSME from Lawrence Jordan, president and co-owner of “Mother Nature Needs Her Daughters” is the Carbone ’96; [email protected] Wi-Tronix, was featured in a January 2018 article 30th Reunion: Fall 2019 At the begin- UC Davis while working on robotic solu- sentiment behind the Homeward Bound 2019 in Crain’s Chicago Business. The article discusses ning of 2018, Earle (Rusty) Bascom was tions for highway repair for the California Project. Based in Australia, the HB2019 program —1997— Violet, the Wi-Tronix product being field-tested by appointed to a two-year term as chair of Department of Transportation. After UC culminates in a two-week expedition to Antarc- Our intrepid reporters have discovered that Scott Davis, I was commissioned in the U.S. seven major U.S. freight lines to improve safety and tica studying climate change science with scien- the IEEE Insulated Conductors Commit- Joining Charles Havasy ’91 at his U.S. Air Force retire- McNeal has been appointed vice president of Navy and did a tour aboard the USS Rentz efficiency. tific innovators and leaders in the field. Tiffini is tee. The group focuses on the develop- ment ceremony in June 2017 were Rensselaer Air Force information technology for Terex Aerial Work ment of IEEE guides and standards relat- (FFG-46) including a deployment that Coats, a leading industrial thread manufacturer, part of a global collaboration with a goal of having Platforms (AWP), the business unit of Terex Corp. ROTC graduates, from left, John Marsh ’90, Steve Mare took me all over Southeast Asia. I left the ing to underground and submarine power ’91, Melissa Wong ’92, Havasy, and Ed Bellem ’89. has appointed Keith DuPont as president of per- 1,000 women in STEM to inform and shape policy that includes the Genie brand. In this role, he is transmission and other types of insulated Navy in 1996 and spent many years work- formance materials. Keith is responsible for deliver- and decision-making in support of climate change responsible for all Terex AWP IT tactical planning conductors. ing as an IT consultant, climbing, skiing, ing the overall strategy for performance materials, issues. and operational execution, making IT a strategic

58 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 59 CLASSNOTES CLASSNOTES asset to drive improved customer experienc- —Ed DerGurahian ’03; [email protected] He spent two years as lead solo pilot with the elite serve as class correspondent. If you are interested Darcie Cook became the new science content es through faster innovation and improved Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Squadron. in writing the class notes column, contact alum. developer for the Cape Fear Museum of History business processes. He will also drive the —2004— and Science this past spring. After graduating from Alyssa Kent joined the board of the Tiny Mira- [email protected]. transformation of IT into an enterprise- RPI, Darcie received her Ph.D. in immunology 15th Reunion: Fall 2019 Nathan Cook cles Foundation in January. She is co-chair of the enabling function. He is based in Redmond, —2010— from Emory University and was a historic collec- (Comp.Sci.) recently received his MD degree NICU Family Advisory Council at Yale and was Wash. tions associate at the CDC Museum. from Wayne State University in Detroit, formerly the chair of the CT March of Dimes Fam- Hello, Class of 2010! I hope all is well. Can you I was able to catch up with a few RPIers at Mich. Nathan has relocated to Mt. Leba- ily Teams. In 2016 she was named CT AIA Emerg- believe it has been eight years since we graduated? In April, Andrew Cook hosted a webinar on a fundraiser in April, too. Neha Biggs was non, Pa., for his pathology residency at the ing Architect of the year. She lives in Fairfield, Things have been a little quiet here on the maga- “Threat Hunting Versus Compromise Assess- in town from Chicago to support Camp Pittsburgh Medical Center with an intended Conn., with her husband, Heath, and three chil- zine notes front—my apologies for that. Over the ments: What’s the Difference?” to help IT and Kesem’s Magic Ball in Boston (she’s on the focus on genomics. Between RPI and medical dren. —Katie Karaffa ’05; [email protected] past 12 months, I got married to Chris Moulder, information security professionals better under- national board), where they raise funds to school, Nathan worked for IBM doing soft- we moved to Dubai for my job, and recently moved stand and address the fact that malicious hackers support the operations of Camp Kesem, an ware performance testing, completed a post- —2006— back to Cincinnati—lots of fun adventures around and cybercriminals are always refining their tech- baccalaureate pre-med program at Harvard organization that supports children through Lina Dureza, who earned an M.S. in management the world! While in Dubai, my husband and I host- niques to avoid security tools and controls. Andrew University, worked in a neuroscience lab at ed the first alumni event in Dubai with President and beyond their parent’s cancer via awe- Growing up watching space shuttle launches on at Rensselaer, became the administrator at Hughes is currently a manager at Delta Risk, a cybersecu- some summer camps run by the most enthu- Yale University, and was a credited contribu- Jackson. It was a wonderful gathering overlooking rity consulting firm, and was a prior active duty Air TV, Deb Ocejo ’95 was bitten by the space bug. At tor to a number of published research papers. Health & Rehabilitation in West Hartford, Conn. siastic undergrads you’ll ever meet. Alicia Rensselaer, she was part of a team that designed She was previously Hughes’ director of nursing. — the Burj Al Arab with about 15 alumni and par- Force Officer and spearheaded cybersecurity teams (Sopko) Kabir is Camp Kesem’s COO and an unmanned helicopter. After pursuing graduate Richard Off was promoted to project coordi- Meghan Kate ’06; [email protected] ents of current students. We would love to hear that discovered and countered advanced persistent she and Taric are also on the Boston board studies at Georgia Tech, she worked for Boeing, nator at Hoffmann Architects, where he has more about your adventures and life updates— threats to critical national assets. of the organization. please make sure to send them my way! Pratt & Whitney, and then Orbital, where she provided architectural support for projects at —2007— And in May, Derek Foster was profiled as part of New York City’s historic First Presbyterian My husband, Brian Fitzpatrick, and I were worked on the Pegasus Rocket. That sealed her Jesus “Laz” Montano, MBA ’07, was named A huge congratulations to our fellow alum, Army the Albany Business Review’s 40 Under 40 class. He destiny as a rocket scientist. Today, Ocejo is chief Church, Washington Irving and Countee there to support them, along with fellow head of enterprise information risk management Captain Christopher Smith, who was selected is president and CEO of Daigle Cleaning Systems engineer for the Common Boost State (CBS) rocket Cullen Libraries, and the 1385 Broadway Class of ’97 classmate Jason Federspiel. (EIRM) and chief information security officer at as the commander for Jason is director of technology at AMAG motors at Orbital ATK. “Bridal Building.” He earned his bachelor Bravo Company, 522nd of architecture degree at Rensselaer and a MassMutual. He has nearly 30 years of technology Pharmaceuticals; he and his wife, Rebecca, and cybersecurity experience. —Alex Salinsky ’07; Military Intelligence Bat- have two kids, Elly and Tad, and are neigh- master of architecture and urban design at talion in Wiesbaden, Ger- Columbia. [email protected] bors to Kyle and Pamela Hollasch up in degrees in electrical engineering at Rensselaer. many. His company is New Hampshire. Matthew House, M.S. ’04, was appointed vice —2008— responsible for providing Chris Latreille was promoted to principal in the president of homeland security and national secu- all-source intelligence sup- That’s it for now! —Kristen Fitzpatrick ’97; Finger Lakes office of Ryan Biggs Clark Davis Caitrin (Donnelly) Facini and her husband, Adri- [email protected] rity at eGlobalTech, an IT solutions, cybersecurity, port to United States Army Engineering & Surveying. He is currently design- and management consulting firm in Arlington, Va. an, celebrated the birth of their daughter, Louisa, Africa. Before his selection, ing the clinical lab addition on Bailey Road for the in February. Congratulations to you and your fam- he was deployed in sup- —1998— Heather Gozdiskowski was named assistant University of Rochester. —Bridget Olson ’00; ily, and welcome to parenthood, Caitrin! port of France’s Task Force Allegra da Silva joined the engineering and con- [email protected] project manager at Grand Canyon Development Partners, a Las Vegas-based construction and real On July 3, former women’s ice hockey captain Barkhane to counter violent struction firm Brown and Caldwell as regional Kelly Barbera married Darius Feili in the beauti- extremist organizations in water reuse leader. She was previously water reuse —2001— estate development and construction management company. A registered architect, she previously ful mountains of Canmore, Alberta. In attendance the Sahel region of Africa. From left, Joey, Monica, Jonnie, Michael, Lou, and Anna Leszczynski, and practice leader, Rocky Mountain region, for Stan- Bill Fioravanti has been named director of eco- Mark Thibodeau. worked in project management with Shawmut were former women’s ice hockey players Brooke Looking forward to hear- tec. She earned her B.S. in chemical engineering at nomic development for Orange County, N.Y. He Design and Construction, executing multimillion- (Thompson) Warren, who served as matron ing your stories! —Meghan Rensselaer, and M.S. and Ph.D. in environmental served most recently as the Orange County Part- dollar projects in the hospitality industry. —Send of honor, Ellen McNamara, who served as maid Lenihan ’10; lenihm@alum. Connecticut Manufacturer Is a engineering at Yale. —Mike Johnson ’98; mjohnson nership’s director of business attraction and is a news to [email protected]. of honor, Sarah (Daniel) Danielsmith ’07, and rpi.edu @alum.rpi.edu former associate executive director of the YMCA Melissa Boik ’09. Blake Huovie was also in atten- Rensselaer Family Affair of Middletown, and executive director of the Boys —2005— dance to help celebrate with his former roommates. —2011— —1999— & Girls Clubs of Orange and Sullivan Counties. — Congratulations, Kelly! Great to see RPI friend- The Leszczynskis decided as a family to launch K4 Machin- 20th Reunion: Fall 2019 Nava Cretu-Kessel Mike Cooke ’01; [email protected] Buongiorno, Class of 2005! I am writing from sun- ships that last a lifetime. Congratulations to JP ing, a new precision parts manufacturer in Waterbury, Con- and her husband, Barnet, welcomed their third ny Sicily to reconnect us all from around the world. Trasatti, who got engaged to necticut, with the goal of fostering manufacturing in the state Please keep your updates coming and make sure to child, Joel “Joey” Reuven, on December 24. —2002— If you have updates to share...life goals you are Steven Sankel last Decem- by engaging young professionals in the business. Parents Lou like our Facebook page at facebook.com/RPIClass Their other kids are 6 years and 4 years old, and working on...we want to hear them. Please email ber 2 on the top of Buck and Anna Leszczynski, who each had 30-plus years of experi- Jennifer Keyes was selected as NASA Langley Of2008, follow us on Snapchat, and join us in our they live in Newton, Mass. Nava recently cel- me @ [email protected]! Mountain in Lake George, ence in manufacturing, were looking for a new challenge that Research Center’s Executive Officer (XO) in April. weekly class reunion using your VR headset. — ebrated her five-year anniversary with TripAdvi- Jonah Brown, a U.S. Air Force major, has flown N.Y. They currently both would get millennials excited about the field. In this role she serves the deputy center director Trent Gillaspie ’08; [email protected] sor, where she oversees business intelligence for and associate center director in the implementa- F-15 jets since 2007 and served two three-year work in the Albany area and recently moved into a To begin, they needed look no further than their dinner table. TripAdvisor Flights and SeatGuru. She was really tion of centerwide and institutional strategies. She tours at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, as All four of their children are involved, including three with —2009— brand-new home in Saratoga looking forward to being on the RPI campus in writes: “Also new for Dennis ’03 and me is that in well as a solo six-month mission in 2013. In June he Rensselaer ties: Michael Leszczynski ’16 earned his B.S. in 10th Reunion: Fall 2019 Kendra Krueger found- County. Wishing all the best early May for an advisory board meeting of RPI’s the fall of 2017 we purchased an oceanfront condo made a low-level flyover in an F-15 fighter jet in his industrial and systems engineering at Rensselaer and master’s ed 4Love + Science, a workshop and educational for two great people! M.S. in Business Analytics program. —Erica in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., on the Outer Banks. It hometown, Catskill, N.Y., on his way to attend an at Cornell; Monica Leszczynski ’17 earned a B.S. in mechani- program designed to arm students with the tools Kulesza ’99; [email protected] is available for rent and if you are ever looking air show in Niagara Falls. The flyover was dedicat- The New York engineering cal engineering and is completing her MBA at Rensselaer; and gleaned from science, sustainability, social justice, for a place to escape: www.firstflightrentals.com/ ed to all those who serve in the military and who firm Barton & Loguidice Jonnie Leszczynski ’21 is currently a mechanical engineer- and art to develop new modes of thinking and —2000— booking/ffr308-keys-to-serenity/10.” —Elizabeth inspired him to follow in their footsteps, he told the announced in February that ing student. Joey, still in high school, also plans to join the existing in a complex world. Trained in facilitation, Jeffrey Langer joined the law firm Stites & Harbi- Trawinski Aitken ’02; [email protected] online newspaper HudsonValley 360. Jeanne Rice joined their company. permaculture, anti-oppression, and mindfulness son, PLLC, as a partner in the Intellectual Property Maj. Alexander Turner was inducted into the Albany office as a project meditation, she facilitates trainings, workshops, K4 Machining specializes in precision machining of metals & Technology Service Group. He was previously —2003— Chelmsford High School Alumni Association engineer in the Facilities and research and learning programs that cover a and plastics utilizing CNC (computer numerical control) mill- managing partner for an IP boutique firm in its Allison Shannon, senior associate at SWBR, Hall of Fame. A U.S. Air Force major, he served Group. In her previous role, wide variety of disciplines. She was featured recent- ing, turning, and mill/turn multitasking capabilities to produce Alexandria, Va., and China offices and is proficient received the 2018 Rochester chapter of the Con- tours of duty in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. she worked as a structural ly in a publication by Lenovo, because the Think- simple and complex parts by developing innovative manufac- in Mandarin Chinese. He also spent four years in struction Specifications Institute Starlight Award. While deployed during Operation Odyssey Dawn design engineer on residen- Pad has been an integral tool in her work. turing solutions. Switzerland with Philip Morris International as in- A project manager in SWBR’s education studio, she in 2011, he flew what is believed to be the longest tial, commercial, and utility house sr. council. Jeff earned B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. manages projects for K-12 districts in New York. Viper combat mission on record at 13-1/2 hours. The Class of 2009 is now looking for a volunteer to structures.

60 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 61 CLASSNOTES CLASSNOTES

Inc. and is looking to grow the business through franchising. Dominic Gelfuso ’16 Named to If you have any notes you’d like me to share, please IN MEMORIAM remember to send them—we’re far along in that Ford’s Thirty Under 30 post-graduation period of “newly management,” Bernard Eichwald ’42, chairman of Kenneth A. Frassa ’52, retired after George M. Benson ’57, engineer, University, and dean; July 31, 2017. “newly married,” and “newly parents,” and many of Dominic Gelfuso ’16 was selected as a member of Ford Motor Com- B. Eichwald & Co., which provided 35-year career in management posi- bookseller, urban homesteader, Ralph J. Rascati ’69, research sci- us would like to hear what you’ve been up to! — pany’s Thirty Under 30, a leadership program that empowers young electronic facilities for the UN, in- tions with Mobil Oil Corp., and pe- harpsichord maker, and lover of mu- entist in virology, professor and dean Michael Zwack ’11; [email protected] employees to work with and learn about philanthropic organizations. cluding his patented earpiece for si- troleum consultant; May 21, 2018. sic, peace, and justice; April 8, 2018. of university college, Kennesaw The 30-member group works on world problems related to hunger, multaneous translations; May 2018. John MacPhee ’52, retired senior Walter T. Dartland ’57, attorney State University, Feb. 3, 2018. —2012— economic access, and more, in what the program founder, Ford Philip W. Kline Jr. ’42, retired from scientist and former VP, Baldwin and consumer advocate who led Jens A. Ortendahl ’70, retired se- Congratulations to Nick Krutz, who was recently executive chairman Bill Ford, refers to as his “Millennial Think Tank.” Sears Roebuck and Co., previously Technology, with over 20 inventions the enactment of Florida’s “Lemon nior mechanical engineer, Raytheon awarded the Young Engineer Award from the avia- Gelfuso, who earned dual bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering and with Power Equipment Co., and in nuclear, industrial, robot, and Law,” and U.S. Marine Corps vet- Company; March 28, 2018. tion division at General Electric. Nick was recog- design, innovation, and society, is a project development engineer at Ford’s U.S. Navy veteran; Feb. 15, 2018. graphic arts industries; Dec. 1, 2017. eran; March 1, 2018. nized for his expertise in the area of materials pro- William “Ziggy” S. Bernfeld ’72, headquarters working on electric vehicles and Ford’s Wireless Power Transfer Robert T. Barnes ’44, propulsion Joseph F. Mansfield ’52, invest- Kenneth T. Fichtel ’58, retired en- cess modeling. He is currently working toward his Army ROTC, retired Army colonel, project, which can charge electric vehicles wirelessly. engineer for Pratt & Whitney, GE, ment banker, consultant, and ven- gineer and manager, GE, sailor, and Ph.D. at Ohio State University. and retired certified public accoun- As part of the application process, Gelfuso made a short video submission Bell Aircraft, and Raytheon, and ture capitalist, active alumnus, and U.S. Navy veteran; Dec. 27, 2017. tant; Feb. 26, 2018. Please continue to share your professional and per- to the final round of applications. The video pays tribute to the late Rensselaer professor Burt WWII Army veteran; Jan. 4, 2018. U.S. Navy veteran; Feb. 16, 2018. Edward B. Fisher ’59, M.S. ’67, sonal updates. To stay connected with the Class of Nelson R. Corby Jr., M.E. ’72, D.E. Swersey, who, Gelfuso said, “helped me discover my love of using design for social good by Robert L. Calvin ’46, retired senior Col. Francis P. Wiegand ’52, retired research engineer, co-founder and 2012, like our Facebook page, RPI Class of 2012, ’76, research scientist at GE, award- teaching me to ask not just why, but why not?” systems analyst, Pratt & Whitney after a career in the D.C. federal president of Veritay Technology and follow us on Twitter, @rpiclass2012. —Rob ed 50 patents for work in robotic vi- Aircraft Group, and U.S. Navy vet- government and private sector, and Inc., and former principal engineer, Sobkowich ’12; [email protected] sion and more; April 1, 2018. eran; March 21, 2018. Korean War veteran; Feb. 27, 2018. Calspan; April 23, 2018. John D. Enderle ’75, M.E. ’77, —2013— ginia University School of Medicine and is now in 2017 Rising Star Award. —Sarah Spellane ’15; Hubert I. Flomenhoft ’46, retired Eric K. Weber ’53, retired partner Robert E. Schulz ’59, retired presi- ’78, Ph.D. ’80, professor emeritus, her residency for general surgery at the University [email protected] dent and CEO, LNP Corp., a global This year’s reunion—a milestone for our class— consulting engineer and manager, in the engineering firm Rummel, University of Connecticut, biomedi- of Connecticut. We’re thankful for her and for our leader in engineering thermoplastic coincides with continued, significant milestones aeromechanical, Raytheon Co. Mis- Klepper & Kahl of Baltimore, and cal researcher, and fellow of many many classmates who tirelessly pursue careers that —2016— compounds; March 27, 2018. for our classmates. In addition to the marriages sile Systems Division, Aug. 3, 2018. avid sailor; April 29, 2018. technical societies; April 2, 2018. prioritize health care. following engagements from past updates—I hear Greetings, RPI classmates! I hope these class notes Joseph A. Rice ’48, retired chair- Lee Harris Pomeroy ’54, renowned G. Mason Cadwell ’60, consultant Jeffrey M. Turner ’78, M.E. ’79, your wedding bells, Paul and Veronique Parker- In the close-to-home category, I caught up with find each and every one of you doing well and man and CEO, Irving Bank Corp., founder of Lee Harris Pomeroy Ar- in energy and environmental en- senior technical staff member, IBM, Malek!—more than a couple of new couples my post-grad roommate Lindsay Poirier when she hopefully putting your positive mark on the world! and former chairman, Guggenheim chitects, known for focus on adap- gineering, and U.S. Navy veteran; where he achieved a level 5 patent crossed my radar this year. attended a research conference in Berlin earlier We have many new and exciting stories to share Memorial Foundation; Jan. 8, 2018. tive reuse, and restoration of NYC Feb. 22, 2018. plateau; April 18, 2018. this year: Lindsay has defended her thesis, earning subway stations; Feb. 19, 2018. You won’t find Mary Ciufo on Facebook anymore, from our classmates in this edition. Those of you Therese A. (Garry) Zeh ’48, Navy Frank Manna ’60, former CEO of Gustavo G. Santelli ’81, former her Ph.D. in science and technology studies at our because she’s Mary Arntzen now. Mary and Eric who would like to share with us your success and civilian draftswoman, NASA vol- Douglas S. Barrie ’55, retired presi- electrical contractor Fischbach & president, Lead Time Technology, alma mater. Continue your applause to congratu- Arntzen ’14 met on campus, started dating in accomplishment, please feel free to reach out to me unteer, HOA board leader, and ac- dent, international, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Moore; June 4, 2018. following a 20-year career in man- late her on accepting a tenure-track faculty posi- 2013, and married in April 2017. Trading places at my email listed below. tive alumna; June 28, 2018. Co., following 28 years at Procter & Robert H. White ’61, retired proj- agement at DuPont; May 15, 2017. with one of her own bridesmaids, Mary will be in tion at the University of California at Davis. We’ve Gamble; May 9, 2018. First, we would like to extend our congratulations Ralph D. Fisk ’49, founder of Fisk ect engineer, Pratt & Whitney, and Edward J. Carey III ’82, retired the wedding of Nicole Christenson—shout out to only seen the beginning of Lindsay’s impact. to our fellow classmate, Joshua Thomas, who was Gas Service and Hartford Manu- August H. Jorgensen Jr. ’55, retired scout troop chairman; Feb. 6, 2018. advanced quality engineer, GE, my co-adviser from Student Orientation 2010!— Please—when I say “please,” it means I would be appointed to Barton & Loguidice (B&L) Environ- facturing, national LP gas board R&D manager and patent holder, when Nicole marries Jeffrey Lowery this August. David B. Pye ’63, retired director and longtime ski coach, Killington really grateful to not stalk the web for news—send mental Group as an engineer. Joshua previously representative, and WWII Army Zeon Chemicals; Jan. 5, 2018. for reactor engineering, Naval Nu- Mountain School; Feb. 3, 2018. Last September, Tyler Campbell and Hannah updates! —Stephen Nock ’13; stephenpnock@ worked as a project manager at Casella Waste Sys- veteran; May 17, 2018. Neil L. MacFarlane ’55, MCE ’60, clear Propulsion Program, and U.S. Theresa M. Benedetti ’93, archi- Narcross married in Montreal. The freshman gmail.com tems. Great job, Joshua, and best of luck on your Samuel H. Cheney Jr. ’50, aerospace retired senior project director, Ex- Navy veteran; Jan. 27, 2018. tect, IBI Group-NYC, active in the sweethearts met while painting a fence during future success! engineer, GE, and WWII Army Air xon Research and Engineering Co., Michael A. Skibo ’66, retired direc- American Institute of Architects freshman orientation. Today, they live in Atlanta —2014— We would like to also highlight the huge success Corps veteran; July 28, 2017. yacht club director, and U.S. Navy and as a volunteer for New York where Tyler develops software and Hannah is pur- tor of computing and former flight 5th Reunion: Fall 2019 Elizabeth Plowman story of Alexa Gruschow who in March was veteran; July 3, 2018. Cares; March 18, 2018. suing her Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Georgia Thomas H. Donnelly ’50, former test engineer, Boeing, where he joined Phillips Lytle LLP as an associate in the announced as the National Women’s Hockey Tech. May there be as many anniversaries for these manager, Swift & Co., college pro- Louis H. DuBois ’56, former senior worked on airliners, military aircraft, Caine M. Goyette ’01, decorated firm’s Buffalo office. She earned her J.D. from Wil- League’s Most Valuable Player! An RPI 2016 grad, couples as we have class reunions. fessor, patent holder, and U.S. Navy vice president, Enserch Exploration, and AWACS; March 3, 2018. U.S. Marine Corps major, who liam & Mary Law School and practices in the area Alexa studied biology, before going on to play for veteran; April 28, 2018. exploration manager at Mobil, con- Nat A. Stater, M.E. ’66, retired col- served in Okinawa, Bahrain, and I spoke to Hannah’s freshman roommate, as well: of commercial litigation. the newly developed NWHL. She led in scoring Wasil Glushko Jr. ’50, retired lieu- sultant, youth hockey coach, and onel, U.S. Air Force; Feb. 25, 2018. Africa; July 10, 2017. Alison Blair Reid has returned to the books and Bianca Wentzell was appointed assistant profes- this season with 22 points on nine goals, 13 assists, tenant colonel, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy veteran; April 7, 2018. has added fabric bolts to her library. She studies sor of biology at St. Thomas Aquinas College. She with 1.38 points per game. She plays for the Met- Martin M. Burdick, M.S. ’67, re- Matthew P. Wentland, M.E. ’10, systems management engineer, De- Paul A. Goldstein ’56, MMG ’66, fashion marketing at Parsons School of Design in earned her Ph.D. at Rensselaer ropolitan Riveters, so if you’re ever in the Tri-State tired U.S. Air Force colonel, man- retired environmental scientist and partment of Defense, and WWII civil engineer, NYS Office of Gener- engineer at GPI in Vermont, and the city. Upon graduation, she intends to return and conducted postdoctoral area, be sure to go out and cheer her on (don’t for- ager at Lockheed Martin, and con- veteran; March 19, 2018. al Services, specializing in water and sultant for Pratt & Whitney; May avid outdoorsman; Feb. 9, 2018. to her hometown of Baltimore and open her own research at both Montclair get to pick up one of her jerseys, too!). boutique. waste management; Feb. 17, 2016. 13, 2018. State University and Kean Best to all the RPI 2016 grads. Goodbye, summer, Herbert L. Kee ’50, family physician Joseph E. Flaherty, computer sci- Following her undergrad and grad work in slopes, University and specializes in and hello, fall. See you at Homecoming! —Maggie and community leader in China- Edward J. Hasbrouck ’56, founda- Anthony R. Kane ’67, retired ex- ence pioneer, Amos Eaton Profes- dams, foundations, soil, and sub-surface investiga- wetland ecology and plant Murphy ’16; [email protected] town, New York City, who treated tion expert, Beacon Construction, ecutive director, Federal Highway sor, and former dean of the School tions—a gamut of expertise to my novice mind— biology. —Thomas Thayer all regardless of their means to pay; formerly with Perini Corp., and U.S. Administration, and director of of Science; March 28, 2018. Elizabeth Wroe earned a geotechnical engineer- ’14; [email protected] —2017— March 15, 2018. Navy veteran; Nov. 20, 2017. engineering and technical services, Sorab K. Ghandhi, professor emeri- AASHTO; May 15, 2018. ing position with Gomez and Sullivan Engineers in Averi Chan, who started at the Chazen Compa- Richard J. Hamlin ’51, computer Paul Nepf ’56, retired manager, IBM tus, electrical, computer, and sys- Utica. We wish you stability in the job, Elizabeth. —2015— nies as an intern in summer 2016, was recently company executive, Rensselaer at Poughkeepsie, longtime church James M. Clapper ’68, M.S. ’70, tems engineering, who pioneered To commence the commencement announce- The FAA’s Next Gen office, a nationwide pro- named an assistant project engineer in the Land Hartford professor, and U.S. Navy organist and choir director, and hos- retired president, Aladdin Temp- in microelectronics technology re- ments and blow this update out of the water: gram to modernize the national air transporta- Development Group. —Conrad Mossl; conrad veteran; Feb. 21, 2018. pital volunteer; Feb. 10, 2018. Rite, former professor, Wake Forest search; July 6, 2018. Christina Provenza has graduated from West Vir- tion system, presented Jocilyn Rudisill with the [email protected].

62 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 Rensselaer/Fall 2018 63 ONECLASSLASTNOTESTHING WRITETOUS! We welcome contributions “One of the things I value most about my Rensselaer to “One Last Thing.” Send experience is the volunteer work I’ve done teaching LEGO personal essays of 750 words Robotics to middle school kids at the Hope 7 Community or less to [email protected] Commemorating a Landmark Speech Center. So my scholarship isn’t just an investment in my ambition and my potential, it’s an investment in the kids I teach Architect Revisits a Civil Rights Leader’s Call to Action | KATHRYN PRIGMORE ’78, FAIA and their futures, and the energy and excitement they can bring to science and technology. It’s a chain reaction.” — Adam Ney ’18, School of Engineering At the 1968 American Institute of such as Equity by Design, and aimed at Architects (AIA) Convention in Portland, supporting diverse populations within Oregon, civil rights leader Whitney M. the profession, such as Riding the Young Jr. delivered a fiery speech about Vortex, currently thrive. A

diversity in the architecture profession. merican There is a higher percentage of firms He told his audience of mostly white which undertake socially conscious

men: “…you are not a profession that I endeavors either as part of their primary nstitute has distinguished itself by your social and mission or as tertiary activities now than civic contributions to the cause of civil there were in 1968. Just like the rest of

of

rights…You are most distinguished America, and most of the world, our A by your thunderous silence and your rchitects progress has been steadily moving in a complete irrelevance.” positive trajectory. Ironically, within our As head of the National Urban League, profession the greatest strides have been Young led the drive for equal opportunity made relative to gender equity, an area for African-Americans in U.S. industry Civil rights leader not even mentioned in Young’s speech. and government service. He urged the Young addressed many ills of society members of the architecture profession Whitney M. Young Jr. and of inequities in the built environment not only to increase the number of delivers his historic that planners, engineers, developers, minorities in the profession, but also bureaucrats, politicians, or others are to actively address such issues as lack address at the 1968 more able to affect than practicing of access to economic opportunity and American Institute of architects. In response to this aspect of discriminatory housing practices. his challenge, our academic communities On the 50th anniversary of his Architects Convention acknowledge they are training not landmark speech, Architect, the journal of in Portland, Oregon. just professionals but individuals with the AIA, published a series of essays backgrounds in architecture who will by contemporary practitioners reflecting fill roles within the entire spectrum on the speech and its aftermath. The of professionals involved with conceptu- You’re Not Just following was written by Kathryn challenge took many forms. Some, like alizing, designing, and constructing the Prigmore ’78, FAIA. the National Organization of Minority built environment. As more individuals Architects, began immediately and have trained in architecture become policy- Whitney M. Young Jr. could have given evolved into sustained institutions with makers and financiers, the better our Investing in Me this address to any profession in 1968. equity in the profession as a primary physical environments will become, not Or in 1978; or, even today some 50 years mission. Others were later additions just for those who can afford to commis- later. He was speaking to not just men to the cause, such as the powerful sion an architect but for everyone. or architects, or Americans, but to all of ArchVoices which purposefully Today, as in 1968, there is no simple us as supposedly compassionate human dissolved after achieving its primary goals answer to the questions Young posed. beings. He was asking each of us—no and stimulating the introduction of many As long as change happens within the matter what our race, or gender, or initiatives through which architects and existing socio-political environment we Adam is a recipient of the Kay and Edward E. Hood, Jr. Scholarship. condition—why we refuse or are others can focus on specific aspects of can only achieve modest gains. For true reluctant to funnel some of our energy disparity within the built environment. parity to be achieved, we need to dissolve and passion to improving the lives of Architects and students regularly reach the laws and institutionalized policies Scholarship support enables students like “Bridging the Gap” between student need those less fortunate than we are. He was beyond the boundaries of our profession which provide the foundation for Adam to dream big, work hard, and pay it and available financial aid is a key pillar of asking us why, once we reach a certain through a broad range of programs such inequity in our profession, in America, forward. Scholarship support does more than Transformative: Campaign for Global Change, stature, do we isolate ourselves from as Canstruction and the Rural Studio. and throughout the world. ■ change the world for one student—it inspires which will ensure our students receive the our more humble pasts? Pipeline programs such as Architecture confidence, fosters community, and unleashes world-class educational experience to prepare Thankfully, architects are making in the Schools expose diverse groups Kathryn Prigmore ’78, FAIA, is a senior the potential of our talented students, and them to lead in the 21st century. Consider a progress toward overcoming “our of young people to the possibility of associate at the Washington, D.C., architec- future alumni and alumnae, to discover how world-changing, annual gift to scholarship by thunderous silence” and our “complete becoming an architect. Initiatives tural firm Shalom Baranes Associates, and they, too, can change the world. making a donation at giving.rpi.edu. irrelevance.” Mobilization of the aimed at making us more aware of the is adviser to the president of the National profession to address Mr. Young’s shortcomings within our profession, Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA).

64 Rensselaer/Fall 20142018