journal Cruickshank ’83
Robert pi Back onthegrid, with renewedeffi The Magazine of Worces of Magazine The t ciency er Poly er
t echnic echnic I ns t i t u t e
FALL 2017 FALL Worcester Polytechnic Institute Vol. 13, No. 2 | fall 2017
[contents] 16 features 16 28 [ RCOVE story] Te h Science of Marketing Back on the grid, with renewed efficiency A shley Daisley ’12 gets into the minds of consumers at Procter & Gamble R obert Cruickshank ’83 By Erin Peterson | Photography Matt Furman By Michael Blanding | Photography Matt Furman 22 34 Building Tomorrow’s Economic Renaissance N uclear Engagement AM EMBer OF EIGHT NATIONAL INSTITUTES, WPI CREATES Ar powe ful attraction keeps Diana Hart ’92 in AN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING HUB IN CENTRAL MASS. the energy business.
By Joshua Zaffos | Illustration Sean Loose By Joan Killough-Miller | Photography Matt Furman
Cover Photography Matt Furman VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF OF STAFF Amy Morton
editor Doreen Manning [email protected]
Associate Editors Peggy Isaacson Joan Killough-Miller
Research Editor Michael Dorsey
Contributing Editor Judith Jaeger
Art Direct0r 34 Caryl Guarino Buhler Contributors Andy Baron Michael Blanding 15 Andrew Faught Ask the Archivists Michael Kemezis Sharron Kahn Luttrell Who was George C. Gordon? Check out Erin Peterson what our archivists found out about this Allison Racicot Susan Shalhoub esteemed community member. Julia Quinn-Szcesuil Colleen Wamback 28 Joshua Zaffos 33 Production Manager Dianne Vanacore departments Turning Point Bob Sinicrope ‘71 earned his BS in math, Photographers Matthew Burgos but jazz was always his first love. Learn Kathleen Dooher how he managed to play to his strengths Matt Furman 02 Matthew Healey Letters to the Editor throughout his career. Illustrators See something you like in our pages and want Michael Aiello to high-five us? Want to tell us we missed the Jakob Hinrichs Sean Loose boat on something? Send your letter to editor 42 Jon Reinfur Doreen Manning at [email protected] and WPI Insider Elizabeth Traynor maybe you’ll see it in our Winter issue! Worcester native Ama Biney ’18 is a team player—not just in academics, but in 03 basketball and softball. A Conversation with the President Laurie Leshin talks with Stephen Flavin 44 and Gregory Fischer about PracticePoint, Across Earle Bridge a landmark healthcare technology initiative Catch up on what you missed at Alumni Correspond with WPI Journal that brings together academia, industry, and WPI Journal Weekend and Homecoming. Discover how 100 Institute Road - Boynton Hall healthcare practitioners. our alumni are giving back to WPI in so Worcester, Massachusetts 01609 many wonderful ways. [email protected] wpi.edu/+journal 508-831-4971 05 Submit Class Notes: [email protected] Global Impact 53 WPI Journal (ISSN 1538-5094) ©2017 is published quarterly by Worcester Polytechnic Our focus this issue is Greece—students visit Class Notes Institute (WPI) in conjunction with the WPI the heart of the Mediterranean to learn Our Flat Gompei Contest was a fantastic Alumni Association. Periodical postage paid lessons they can’t get in a classroom. non-profit at Worcester, Massachusetts, and success! Can your classmates be found additional entry offices. Issues are mailed to in this photo collage? (Don’t forget to send all known WPI alumni living within the U.S. in your own update to [email protected]). as a benefit of having graduated from WPI. This publication is guided by WPI’s principles 06 of free expression and accepted standards of good taste. Opinions expressed are those of the Wπ signed contributors and do not represent the The WPI community is a wonderful mix of 56 opinion or official position of WPI or its officers. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes, education, athletics, community action, and Completed Careers Form 3579, to WPI Journal, Worcester award-winning research. Learn more about it In memory of alumni, faculty, and other Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609-2280. in this section. members of the WPI community.
fall 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 1 [ LEtts to ethr e editor]
Pru aise s or pan us or simply share by submitting your Letter to Editor Doreen Manning at [email protected].
A Song in His Heart I am writing to let you know that my father, Robert Favreau ’52, passed away at his home in Pottsville, Pa., on June 16. Before he died, his grandson, Ryan Drasher ’04, emailed the lyrics of the WPI alma mater to his father, so that he could sing them to Bob at his bedside. Bob’s eyes lit up at the memory, as they did whenever he talked of WPI (which to him was always Worcester Tech). My father had a great life, in large part due to the education he received at WPI and the friendships he made there. My sister and I heard more than one epic tale about fun times with college friends at The Boynton! — Robin Harley
Trask, Scanlon, Remembered After graduating from WPI, I did my master’s in industrial engineering at URI and then my Army ROTC commitment. When I was ready to enter the real work world after my discharge in one piece, I contacted Bill Trask, who encouraged alumni to job interview. My luck was good. Engineering jobs were not plentiful in 1972 compared to 1968 when everyone I knew had
Editor Doreen Manning photobombing 10 offers or more. I began a 30-year career with Robert Cruickshank ’85, at the NREL FM (Factory Mutual, now FM Global) until campus in Golden, Colo. For more fun The WPI Journal team wants starting my own consultant business in the behind-the-scenes shots, including to know what you think of world of fire protection (now retired). videos from our WPI Journal fall our university magazine! About the same time (45 years this October), features photoshoots, stop by I met my future wife, Ruthanne, who worked wpi.edu/+journal. Stop by at Tufts University for Dick Blue, who turned out to be Bill’s college roommate and was also in job wpi.edu/+journalsurvey2017 placement/career development. My wife had for a quick survey and share spoken with Bill for years in her job and finally your feedback with us. put a face with the name at one of the WPI reunions we attended (probably our 10th). In the last couple of years, Bill and Father Pete [Rev. Peter J. Scanlon], who married us, have passed. They were both the type of individual a young person needed to be available for guid- ance as one ventures into his or her future life. — Kenneth Gminski ’68
CORRECTION: In our Summer 2017 issue, our Global Impact story on Costa Rica should have been credited to writer Sharron Kahn Luttrell
Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
2 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 President Leshin talks about PracticePoint with Gregory Fischer and Stephen Flavin [ a conversation with the president] t PracticePoint at WPI is a landmark healthcare have all the elements to bring together an will help people stay healthier, longer, all technology initiative that brings together exciting initiative. within their own homes. We need places to test those concepts out. And it’s not just academia, industry, and healthcare practitioners LL I think it’s going to be amazing, because in a central point of research, development, and it’s going to provide a place where people the devices, right? It’s understanding how real-world testing. President Leshin spoke with can try things out, test new things. I love to get the data safely, securely; it’s all about two key members of the PracticePoint initiative— your story, Greg, about trying to test surgical making sure they’re hacker-proof as well, right? PracticePoint director Gregory Fischer (center), robots inside MRI scanners at Brigham and associate professor of mechanical engineering and Women’s Hospital at 3 a.m. What were some GF Absolutely. This is about designing security robotics engineering and director of WPI’s Auto- of the challenges you faced in trying to test into these devices from the ground up. these things? mation and Interventional Medicine Robotics LL This was a great win for WPI. Tell us a bit GF When you’re putting together a medical Research Laboratory, and VP of Academic and about the funding, and where it’s coming device, it requires iterative development. So Corporate Engagement Stephen Flavin (below, from. left)—to help our readers understand just how you need to be able to get into these clinical care scenarios, do your testing, get back and SF We worked with the Massachusetts important this enterprise is for WPI. perform engineering changes and modifica- Technology Collaborative and secured a $5 LL PracticePoint is really all about the idea tions, and then return to the clinical million capital grant to help build out this of cyber-physical systems in health and settings. It can take days, weeks—even facility at WPI’s Gateway Park. In addition to medicine. So to start, let’s explain to months—between these experiments. So, the MTC, we have core founding partners everybody … what are cyber-physical systems? we’re excited about the idea of interweaving and complementary partners—like UMass GF Well, we’re excited, as this aligns very these point of practice care scenarios with Medical School and MITRE—and our anchor well with our robotics engineering program. engineering, R&D, and manufacturing partners at GE Healthcare, who have If you think about robots, there’s sensors, facilities that are co-located. committed $2.5 million over two years to there’s actuators, there’s intelligence; and LL So there’ll be certain kinds of environ- help get this initiative off the ground. that’s essentially cyber physical systems in a ments within PracticePoint that will serve LL Why this is important to do right now? much broader sense. So, what we’re talking as test beds. Tell us about a couple of these about are smart medical devices. environments. GF Medical devices are obviously a core business within the commonwealth. So, LL Right. Smart devices that help us be GF We’re going to have a hybrid medical WPI’s expertise in robotics and cyber-physi- healthier. Let’s talk more about what imaging and operating room suite, plus a cal systems, plus our cybersecurity knowl- PracticePoint actually is. controlled-care scenario to mock up an edge, is a perfect combination, as well as an emergency room, or a clinical care scenario. SF PracticePoint is going to create a opportunity to accelerate this industry. We’ll also have a residential suite and a unique environment—one that brings This is an ideal time. rehab suite. together academia, industry, and healthcare LL I can’t wait to see where PracticePoint practitioners in a single place where they LL Love the idea of the residential suite. can do rapid research development and That, to me, resonates with the idea of aging takes us. Thanks so much to you both. applied testing. This environment is very at home. And soon we’ll be receiving data Check out a video of this entire conversation disruptive and innovative, and I think we and information out of smart homes that at wpi.edu/+journal. This Is Not Your Typical Study Abroad
Our Global Projects Program sends students off campus to fundamentally change them—and their world. 100% of students (beginning with the Class of 2022) receive a global scholarship to complete a project at one of 40+ project centers across the world. TOP 10 Most Popular Study Abroad Programs for four years in a row—the only technological university in the top 20. The Princeton Review (2017-18)
wpi.edu/+globalprojects [ globalimpact] URT F IN E R
ON J illustration
hen WPI trustee when Morgan first raised the idea every apartment unit includes a Center with a greater confidence Daniel Morgan of a project center in Thessaloniki, balcony, totaling many acres of in their ability to work well under approached the Greece’s second largest city. growing space. The group pressure. When they arrived in W university about Morgan has ties to the American investigated the viability of Greece, they learned that a staff establishing a project center in Farm School in Thessaloniki and hydroponics—raising crops change there meant their project Greece, the country was six years proposed that WPI partner with without soil—on the balconies. would shift from researching the into its financial crisis and its Perrotis College of Agriculture, They gauged interest and feasibility of crop-health sensors suffering high unemployment. Environment, and Life Sciences. collected information by in small gardens to surveying The economic climate would offer With Hersh’s work in food interviewing residents—some residents about the city parks. They students opportunities for systems, and the Greek financial they met through contacts at the were forced to scrap the painstak- real-world problem solving while crisis inspiring young people to American Farm School; others ing work they had completed back learning sensitivity to a foreign return to their agricultural roots, they approached on the street or home and start fresh. culture. That’s the kind of lesson it seemed like a natural fit. in businesses. It was “super The team rose to the challenge, you just can’t get in the class- Two groups of students have intimidating,” Bray says, until according to Hersh. Booth says the room, says Devon Bray, who in traveled to Thessaloniki for their the students embraced their experience, while stressful, was 2016 was among the first group IQPs since the spring of 2016. The status as outsiders. With data and invaluable. She and her teammates of students to travel to Greece focus has been on issues around 100 hours of interviews, the team learned to work under pressure for their Interactive Qualifying urban agriculture, developing designed three different balcony despite their different back- Project (IQP). artisanal food products, and hydroponic systems. grounds, majors, and personalities. “That was a critical learning,” identifying export opportunities “To be able to do this effectively, And they were able to do it in an says Bray, who graduated last in the US for traditional Greek we had to have a somewhat entirely different culture. spring with a bachelor’s degree food products such as wine comprehensive knowledge of the “Although it was a little bit in electrical and computer and olives. current state of affairs,” he says. difficult, it was a good experience engineering. “The conversations Students are looking at critical “We had to have the social science understanding what it’s like to always went better when we were questions in projects, even behind the engineering to build work on projects in the real coming from a place of ‘we’re though their time is short in the something that people would world,” she says. “With jobs, trying to learn about your culture country. Hersh explains, “We actually want and will use. It sometimes things don’t go as rather than we’re trying to build don’t see them as one-off projects; seems obvious now but it’s not planned and you have to make something that we think you we’re looking at them as 5- to something that we, at the time, changes without getting too want.’” 10-year projects.” realized.” stressed out. It was, honestly, Interdisciplinary & Global Bray and his three IQP team- Electrical and computer probably one of one of the best Studies instructor Robert Hersh mates studied urban gardening. engineering major Veda Booth ’18 experiences I’ve had in my life.” was running the Sustainable Food There isn’t a lot of spare land and her teammates came away —Sharron Kahn Luttrell Systems Project Center on campus in Thessaloniki, but virtually from the Thessaloniki Project
fall 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 5
[Wπ]
How They Row Members of WPI’s women’s rowing team took their skills across the pond this summer to compete in the revered and renowned Henley Women’s Regatta in London. They made it to the quarterfinals of the Senior Eights as they competed against some of the strongest rowing teams in the world. Participating in the Regatta gave the team a unique competing experience outside of Lake Quinsigamond. “It’s a battle [in England], not a race,” says Sarah Wutka ’18. “We went head-to- head with just one other boat, compared to Worcester, where we race up to six other boats at once.” The team’s regular season ended back in May, but they kept their momentum going to prepare for the Regatta. They rowed twice a day—at 6 and 10am—right up until the day they left for England. When they arrived, the practice continued because, according to teammate Gina Gonzalez- Roundey ’18, “You are held to a higher standard, and are simply expected to be greater than what you were a day ago, every day.” And after building a strong ground- work with all but two rowers returning for the upcoming season, it’s clear the team will continue to do just that. — Allison Racicot
fall 2017 | follow us @WPI # wpijournal 7 [ wπ ]
Patel says clothes-drying to WPI to pursue a doctorate in International Space Station. technology is long overdue for an aerospace engineering. He Here on Earth, Patel points out Making update. He and his fellow research- switched to mechanical engineer- that the development of new ers have been working on the ing and focused his research on consumer technologies like Drying ultrasonic dryer for several years, thermal and fluid sciences. His PhD heat-free dryers follows a cycle that beginning with small prototypes advisor was Jamal Yagoobi, head of is relatively slow, potentially up to capable of drying a piece of fabric WPI’s Mechanical Engineering five years. Cool the size of a quarter. High-fre- Department and director of the But that period gives consumers “We’re looking to revolutionize quency vibration applied to Center for Advanced Research in more time to figure out what to do laundry,” says Viral Patel ’15 (PhD), piezoelectric transducers forces Drying (CARD). with all the time they will who is part of a team of research- water out of the fabric, all without Yagoobi placed Patel among the potentially save with a shorter ers at Tennessee’s Oak Ridge the heat used in traditional top 5 percent of all graduate laundry-drying process, and the National Laboratory creating an drum-style clothes dryers. students he’s ever worked with. money saved from using five times ultrasonic dryer that requires no While lab work is under way, he “Viral’s technical background in less electricity. heat, thus speeding up drying says, GE Appliances is offering the field of fluid mechanics and While the ultrasonic dryer will time. consumer insight, working under heat transfer is very solid. He has make doing laundry easier, “The cost of energy associated an agreement to take the research- played a significant and central it won’t solve all your washday with clothes drying is $9 billion in ers’ innovation toward the role” in research on electrohydro- woes, Patel jokes. You’ll still need the United States,” he says. “We are commercial market dynamics cooling technology for to sort your colors and fold your essentially trying to double [the Patel earned his BS at Illinois spacecraft, published research that towels—at least for now. dryer’s] efficiency.” Institute of Technology and came produced experiments for the —Susan Shalhoub
neural tracts deep in the brain are more vulnerable to injury than others, which is consistent with neuroimaging findings. Also, certain neural Heady tracts are better indicators than others of the likelihood of brain injury. Research The findings are important at a time Sports concussions have been a growing when many researchers are still largely concern for years. According to the focused on simple impact parameters Centers for Disease Control and such as linear and rotational accelera- Prevention, nearly 330,000 children aged tions to assess the likelihood of brain 19 or younger were treated in United injury. States emergency rooms in 2012 for In addition to learning more about sports and recreation-related injuries how impacts can damage important that included a diagnosis of concussion neural pathways, Ji and his research or traumatic brain injury. Despite their group are studying the cumulative effects prevalence, the biomechanical mechanisms of repetitive head impacts, particularly the underlying these injuries are poorly importance of the repeated straining along understood. white matter fibers from multiple head blows. A WPI biomedical engineering professor is Ji says he hopes these studies will lead to the studying this critical health issue from a new perspec- development of a tool for clinical concussion tive. On the strength of a four-year, $1.5 million award from diagnostics. the National Institutes of Health, Songbai Ji is seeking to better integrate “I am very encouraged by the research and think that we can make an advanced neuroimaging into biomechanical models of the human head impact in this crucial health area,” Ji says. “My research team understands to study traumatic brain injury in contact sports. just how important it is to advance concussion research for athletes of In a recently published paper in Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechano- all ages.” biology, Ji and his associates found that certain white matter regions and —Andy Baron
8 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 [ wπ ]
feedback to the user. Toroidal Ultrasound Upgrade air-filled actuators stiffen up (PCT/U.S. Pat. No. 2006/012327) around the user’s fingers, and The Freehand 3-D Ultrasound WPI tactile sensor data is sent from the Scanner senses and tags positional robot to the HERO Glove, where it points in a patient’s anatomy, is used to vary the pressure in the which are correlated, via software, toroidal actuators to simulate the with the 2-D planes normally sense of touch. The technology has produced by ultrasound imaging been licensed by PowerHive, which devices. The technology produces intends to incorporate it into medical diagnostic scans that are virtual reality games. clearer and more accurate. IPA dramatic upswing in patent and licensing activity in the past year reflects WP’s culture of innovation and entrepreneurship that focuses Shock absorbing skate on practical application. Todd (U.S. Pat. No. 9,089,763) Keiller, director of WPI’s Office of ReLeaf Blade, a new type of figure Intellectual Property & Innovation skate attachment, incorporates a for the past five years, says, “The load absorption device between student entrepreneurial mindset the top of the skate blade and the has really increased, so we’re bottom of the skate boot, so getting a lot more students who impact loads are not entirely say, ‘I want to create my job rather transferred to the foot and leg. than go out and get a job.’ Many This can reduce the occurrence of the inventions involve faculty of overuse injuries (stress and students—so they are fractures, tendonitis, etc.) due working together.” to jump landings common Here are some examples in elite figure skaters. of WPI innovation that may touch your life soon. 3D Printed Habitat Self-Adjusting Solar (U.S. Pat. No. 62/237,670)* Collector Invented to produce housing for (U.S. Pat. No. 1,951,404) astronauts on Mars, this scalable The Focusing Mirror and Directing 51 new invention disclosures technology can be placed any- Mechanism for solar heating in FY 2017 where to rapidly construct self-adjusts to follow the sun’s 43 signed licenses to date full-scale structures at a relatively vertical and horizontal deviation, 70 student teams who have come low cost, with minimal set-up and resets after sunset. Alternative through the IPI office in the last time. Here on Earth, it could be energy companies are still trying few years inquiring about their used for providing emergency to bring to market a fully realized new intellectual property housing for disaster victims, as version of this innovation first or well as for more efficient construc- envisioned by Robert Goddard, 50/50 split on ownership, if yn WPI covers patent fees ra tion techniques. WPI Class of 1908.
T Soft Touch Robots
th *Provisional patent issued (Patent application PCT/ 99% ownership (1% remains be
a with WPI) if student pays the z US2017/031024 filed) i l patent fees E The Haptic Exoskeletal Robot n Operator (HERO) Glove lets users @90 alumni standing ready to remotely control robot manipula- help, through WPI’s Tech Advisors stra tors while providing sensory Network (TAN) ll i u TIO
fall 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 9 [ wπ ] o iell A Disease Discrimination hael c i
M It’s a fact: There is a gender bias Most C. elegans worms are in neurodegenerative disorders. self-fertilizing hermaphrodites, Women are more likely to carrying both egg and sperm develop Alzheimer’s disease, cells. But a very small percentage ll I ustration while men are at greater risk for of the C. elegans population is Parkinson’s. A better understand- fully male (none of the worms ing of the differences in the basic are fully female). neurobiology of males and In previous studies, Srinivasan females might yield some keys discovered a novel sensory circuit for the development of better that helps male worms locate treatment strategies for these mates. In the newly funded crippling ailments. project, he and his colleagues To search for those clues, will dig deeper into the molecu- researchers at WPI are turning to lar mechanisms that actuate the of a Girls Who Code program $20,000 an unlikely model, the olfactory olfactory nerve circuitry in the each annually for up to four years system of a soil-dwelling worm male worms, seeking to identify of undergraduate studies. In August, about the size of a mustard seed. the specific neurotransmitters Girls WPI welcomed its first class of Girls “It is known that in human and neuropeptides involved and Who Code Alumni Scholars. cases of Alzheimer’s, a dimin- to understand the neural code Who Code “Our world is transforming,” says ished sense of smell is one of that allows the organisms to Scholars Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO the early symptoms,” says Jagan distinguish types of odors and of Girls Who Code. “Technology is Srinivasan, PhD, assistant their concentrations. Dirk At first glance it looks like a classic about to change everything about professor of biology and Albrecht, PhD, assistant professor case of supply and demand. Last year the way we live and work, yet our biotechnology. “So understand- of biomedical engineering, a there were more than 500,000 open girls continue to get left behind. ing gender differences in the co-investigator on the grant, computing jobs nationwide, but only We know that in order to get more worm’s olfactory system may has developed several imaging about 43,000 computer science women into technology fields, we give us new information that is technologies and data processing students graduated into the need to create clear pathways for our relevant for what is seen in algorithms that allow for workforce. This is great news for participants to college and into the human neuropathology.” visualizing neural activity of students studying computer science workforce. I am so grateful for WPI’s As principal investigator on a free-moving worms in real time, as it means the job market is ripe; commitment to helping the five-year, $1.6 million award from as they respond to multiple however, a critical gap remains. recipients of the WPI Girls Who the National Institutes of Health stimuli. Encouraging more women to pursue Code Scholarship reach their full (NIH), Srinivasan is exploring “These studies will define careers in the field and helping them potential and be the next generation how Caenorhabditis elegans, or general principles of how specific pay for advanced education is one of female technologists leading this C. elegans, a widely used model neural pathways are recruited in way to build a bigger and more revolution.” system for research on molecular the brain to mediate behavior,” diverse pipeline. The inaugural recipients of the biology, processes environmental says Srinivasan, “and will provide To help close this gap, WPI has WPI/GWC Alumni Scholarship are stimuli. This tiny worm is a framework for understanding partnered with Girls Who Code, a Sreeshti Chuke of Arlington, Mass.; deceptively complex: about a gender biases in human olfaction national nonprofit organization Sadie Dominguez of Oakland, Calif.; third of its cells are dedicated to as it deteriorates differentially in working to close the gender gap in Nicole Kuberka of Chatsworth, Calif.; its nervous system. It also has the two sexes.” computer science. Together they Michelle Santacreu of Tampa, Fla.; and unusual gender differentiation: created the WPI/GWC Alumni Ella Torregrosa of Putnam Valley, N.Y. Scholarship. It offers five graduates —Colleen Wamback
10 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 [ wπ ]
part of chemical compounds like without luck. A pioneering study membrane from gallium that was Driving water and methane. To obtain pure by a team led by WPI chemical up to 35 times more permeable to Innovation hydrogen, it must be separated from engineering professor Ravindra hydrogen than a comparable these other molecules. Most of the Datta, PhD, has shown that liquid palladium membrane. They learned WPI Team Shows That Liquid hydrogen sold in the United States is metals may be the elusive alterna- that liquid metals offer challenges: Metal Membranes May Help separated from natural gas through tive. A number of metals are liquid they’re highly reactive and can’t be Make Fuel-Cell Cars Viable a cumbersome, multi-step chemical at the elevated temperatures found placed on metal and many ceramic Hydrogen fuel-cell cars have longer process called steam reforming. in steam reforming systems, and supports. Plus, they need to be ranges and a lower overall environ- The cost and complexity of this most are far cheaper than palla- sandwiched between two layers of mental impact than electric cars, operation can be reduced by dium. And as liquids, they are not support materials to prevent leaks. and they can be refueled in minutes, replacing the final steps, in which the subject to the defects and cracks While many questions remain to versus hours of charging time. But hydrogen is segregated from other that plague solid metals. be answered, Datta says “by they’ve yet to make a dent in the gas products, with a membrane. More important, the WPI team demonstrating the feasibility of marketplace, largely because it’s still Most of the hydrogen separation demonstrated that many of these sandwiched liquid-metal mem- too expensive to produce the pure membranes under development use metals appear to be significantly branes, we have opened the door to hydrogen needed to power them. palladium, but this precious metal more effective than palladium at a highly promising new area of Hydrogen, the most abundant is expensive and fragile. separating pure hydrogen from hydrogen energy research.” element, occurs naturally in the Engineers have long sought a other gases. The team did theoreti- —Michael Dorsey environment, but almost always as replacement for palladium, but cal studies and also built a working
SailBot s Burgo
“It’s an incredible exercise to w understand all the sophistication tthe a needed for control of robotic M vehicles of any sort,” says Ken
Stafford, a full teaching professor Photo in mechanical and robotics engineering. “But it’s more complicated with sailing because of the hard-to-predict conditions.” In 2017, he advised a student team that designed a robotic sailboat for the annual SailBot competition. SailBot teams must feel equally passionate about sailing and robotics, because they won’t understand the necessary mechan- ics of building a successful robotic sailboat without knowledge of each, says Stafford. He believes the fluctuations like strong or absent Academy, attracted teams from and companies. environment and the high wind, choppy or still water, rogue the US, Canada, Brazil, and the “You have to be both a sailor and expectations give the students, waves, and variable currents, UK to sail their robotic creations a roboticist to do this,” says most of whom took Stafford’s but they do it all while operating in a series of challenges that test Stafford. “It’s one of the toughest sailing PE-credit class, an opportu- the boat remotely or even everything from navigation to robotics problems you can tackle.” nity to test their skills and instincts autonomously. endurance. Students from high —Julia Quinn-Szcesuil in a constantly shifting setting. The 11th SailBot event, held school to graduate level may Competitors must manage this year at the United States Naval participate, as can individuals
fall 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 11 [ wπ ] s ch ll I Hinri Jakob ustration
Despite the hype, says IMGD Moriarity points to WPI’s UXDM post—so there’s potential for them Creepy professor Brian Moriarty, interactiv- (User Experience & Decision Making to customize story content around ity is still clunky and distracting Laboratory), already equipped with your preferences.” Your personal because it requires a conscious technology that can unobtrusively cut of a movie could be altered Cinema decision that must be transmitted monitor eye motion, pupil size, to suit your age, your sexual In the 50 years since the first by physical device. “We can read head tilt, respiration, pulse rate, orientation, or even your desire audience-guided movie, filmmakers keyboards, mice, touchscreens, and, and other real-time physiological for more dwarf action in a Lord have been experimenting with occasionally, gestures,” he says, “but indicators of a viewer’s interest of the Rings movie. “interactive cinema.” In 1967 the we can’t read minds.” and arousal. Based on a viewer’s “The creative opportunities are Czech film Kinoautomat premiered In a recent New Yorker article called responses, he says, a movie could almost unimaginable,” Moriarity at Expo 67 in Montreal, where “Alternate Endings,” Moriarity be subtly tailored, on the fly, to says. “So is the potential for abuse.” viewers could press green or red predicted some futurist mind-meld- better suit individual preferences— With the advent of virtual and buttons on the armrests of their ing that is not at all far-fetched. In without having to stop and ask. augmented reality making it seats at key plot points to “vote” interactive cinema, he told staff “Interactive monitoring is possible to alter the world we on different courses for the story. writer Raffi Khatchadourian, frequently used by advertisers now, perceive, “Anything is possible,” This was a great technological leap “Explicit interactivity is going to he says, “but could easily be he says. “I don’t know if I’ll like it, forward from the film’s original yield to implicit interactivity, where leveraged for streaming content but that doesn’t matter. It’s coming version, which had an onstage the movie is watching you, and such as by Amazon or Netflix. They whether I like it or not.” moderator asking for a show viewing is customized to a degree know what you watch, they can find —Joan Killough-Miller of hands. that is hard to imagine.” out what you buy and what you
12 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 Early Promise WPI’s Newest CAREER Award Winners Target Cybersecurity and Education With its five-year CAREER Award, the National Science Foundation invests in young faculty members whose research shows exceptional promise. Two recent awards bring to five the number of WPI faculty members who have received the prestigious honor during the past two years. Ivon Arroyo in Social Science and Policy Studies, with her $587,000 award, aims to develop a new way to teach mathematics in elementary school, one that not only helps students master concepts but keeps students— particularly girls, underrepresented minorities, and those who may be struggling—from disengaging from math and possibly missing out on STEM careers down the road. Arroyo’s approach uses games that students play in groups, with instructions, feedback, and hints provided by smartphones or smartwatches. These “embodied” games use movement and gestures to reinforce learning; they also involve social interaction and communication. The games are driven by an “engine” that will ultimately be able to adjust the games’ difficulty to students’ abilities and detect emotion and intervene when students disengage. This smart tutoring system will also gather data that will help teachers assess students’ progress and target their teaching more effectively. Craig Shue in Computer Science is concerned about the nation’s 54 million residential computer networks, which are, for the most part, poorly secured against the cyberattacks that can leave us vulnerable to fraud and compromise and make our computers and connected devices inviting targets for hackers seeking to build “botnets” to send phishing emails or launch malicious Internet attacks. Shue, with his half-million-dollar award, will develop a groundbreaking approach to security that uses cloud- based security providers and deployable security solutions to take the task of defending home networks out of the o hands of homeowners—who typically have little train- ll e i A
ing—and outsource it to experts. It’s an approach he l e believes will transform home networks from security ha c i
liabilities into assets. M
—Michael Dorsey n io t ra t ll us I [ wπ ]
Besides introducing kids and Touching their families to all that the world of STEM has to offer, TouchTomor- Tomorrow, row is the definition of a team effort. Nearly 50 faculty members and their students opened their Today labs and shared their research with If you thought downtown Worces- visitors; more than 275 members ter looked a little less crowded on of the WPI community volunteered June 10, it wasn’t your imagina- to help ensure that the day went off tion—nearly 10,000 attendees without a hitch. flocked to WPI for TouchTomor- “It really shows how dedicated row. The annual festival has they are to science, to WPI, and to become a summer staple for sharing their enthusiasm for what countless families, giving them a they do,” says Stephanie Pasha, one glimpse of future science and of the project leads on TouchTo- technology in action, and this year morrow. “I could not be more (its sixth) was no different. From proud of this community and the controlling robots and watching work that people from all parts of up-close fire testing demonstra- campus put in to ensure that our tions to mastering the basics of guests, especially our youngest coding and using a laser cutter to ones, had the best day possible.” create souvenirs, the WPI campus —Allison Racicot was the place to be that Saturday.
they can do it,” says Winston (Wole) physics, materials science and job market. Sub-Saharan Soboyejo, dean of engineering and engineering, biology and chemis- “There are a lot of young folks professor of mechanical engineer- try, and robotics—and they learned who have to be engaged,” says Math & ing at WPI. With uniform teaching how to train the trainers who will Soboyejo. “Electronic access to good modules presented in a digital introduce the method to classroom information is critical. Then it’s Science format, students across Africa will teachers. Nigeria hosted its first about how you creatively use that have access to the same material in-country training in July. information.” WPI hosted the inaugural Math and and will be taught by educators The consistent access to knowl- The conference has personal Science for Sub-Saharan Africa who are trained in the same way. edge gives students greater significance for him. “I was raised (MS4SSA) Conference in May. It Representatives from 17 African educational opportunities and in Africa from the age of 1 to 13,” attracted approximately 150 countries (including Niger, Senegal, more career options; it strengthens he says. “I could have been one of attendees who are interested in Lesotho, Ghana, and Rwanda), the the global STEM pipeline. More those school kids. I had ideas of facilitating a new classroom United States, China, Japan, and education means more skilled what I wanted to do, and by approach to math and science India came to the conference and workers will enter a growing pursuing a life of science and education in their home countries. the 10-day post-conference workforce that desperately needs technology I have been able to do “This will demystify science and workshop. Participants worked on them and will be qualified for those things.” technology and get students to feel modules in mathematics and higher paying careers in the global —Julia Quinn-Szcesuil
14 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 Coming in with the ASSIST [ wπ ] Neil Heffernan, PhD, professor of computer science and director of the Learning Sciences and Technologies Program, is aiming to change the way students do homework—one classroom at a time. Thanks to two new grants totaling Ask $7 million, he’s one step closer to The Archivists achieving his goal. “These two new IES grants will further Q. George C. Gordon may be a examine and, I believe, validate the familiar name if you’ve spent a efficacy of ASSISTments in improving lot of time in the library at WPI, students’ math skills, while also providing but who was this man? And why significant ‘clinical grade’ data to demon- is his name on the building? strate the program’s ability to close the achievement gap across socio-economic A. George Crompton Gordon groups,” explains ASSISTments lead was born in Worcester in 1872. creator Heffernan. He graduated from WPI in 1895 Since 2002, Heffernan and his wife, with a degree in electrical engi- Cristina, have been working on ASSIST- neering. ments, a tutoring platform that gives According to the 1895 year- students immediate feedback as they book, Aftermath, he “will always complete their homework. Their labor of be remembered as he who put love has already been shown to improve the base-ball nine on its feet.” student learning, and has regularly He was also a star cross-country received multimillion-dollar grants from runner and a member of Sigma organizations like the National Science Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Foundation, the U.S. Department of George’s brothers preceded Education, and the Bill and Melinda Gates him at WPI: Lyman (1881) would Foundation, allowing them to further found Wyman-Gordon with improve the program and make it more fellow alum Winfield Wyman accessible to students around the world. (1882), and Albert (1886) would Their latest grants—Evaluating the become chairman of Crompton Effectiveness of ASSISTments for Improv- & Knowles Loom Works. ing Math Achievement and Efficacy of After working a while for Ly- ASSISTments Online Homework Support man at Wyman-Gordon, George for Middle School Mathematics Learning: moved to Cleveland and in 1911 A Replication Study—are from the became vice president of Park Institute of Education Sciences (part of the Drop Forge Company; he was U.S. Department of Education). Thanks to left $5 million to WPI, the largest named company president in these and more grants, efficacy studies, gift ever given to the school at 1930 and chairman of the board Do you have a question for and successful implementation in Maine the time. Most of his donation in 1958. He also formed an asso- classrooms, ASSISTments can now begin funded the construction of the WPI’s archivists? Send it to ciate company, Ohio Crankshaft, to be integrated into schools across the which became one of the largest library, which opened its doors [email protected] and check out country. manufacturers of crankshafts for in October 1967. A smaller part While ASSISTments focuses on improv- the next issue of the WPI Journal diesel and gas engines. of the gift was used to fund the ing learning, students aren’t the only ones Even though he moved away Leonard P. Kinnicutt Professor- for more interesting facts and benefiting from the program. Teachers are from Massachusetts, George kept ship (current recipient is Carissa getting feedback and adjusting their information about WPI wonders. close ties with Worcester Tech. Perez Olsen, assistant professor teaching styles to better accommodate the When he passed away in 1964, he of chemistry and biochemistry). learning needs of students. ASSISTments produces a personalized report listing the problems that gave students the hardest time, making for a more effective lesson the next day. —Allison Racicot fall 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 15 Back on the grid, with renewed efficiency By Michael Blanding
RobertCruickshank ’83 Back on the grid, with renewed efficiency
Like an electrical circuit that has finally closed, Rob Cruickshank’s life has come full circle. Having begun his career at WPI studying energy efficiency, he took a 21-year detour into the cable industry, helping create some of the most pioneering innovations in the field. Now, as a doctoral student at the University of Colorado and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, RobertCruickshank ’83 he’s focusing on energy management once again.
By Michael Blanding | Photography Matt Furman
16 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 [coverstory]
RobertCruickshank ’83
Cruickshank outside the Research Support Facility on the campus of the U.S. Department of Energy, NREL in Golden, Colorado. At the National Wind Technology Center, utility-scale wind turbines undergo rigorous testing and compliment solar photovoltaic generators. His career in cable was hardly metal thermometer and a device a lark, however. Indeed, he sees using UV light to kill barnacles on telecommunications as the key Navy vessels. “Rich would bring in to transforming our energy grid, in- something new and tell us what he tegrating renewables, and ensuring had in mind, and we’d figure out a more sustainable energy future. how to build it,” he says. Cruick- Along with others in the field, shank ate it up. “Bob was just an Cruickshank envisions a grid that open-minded and energetic guy, works not just one way—pump- and always found a way to find ing energy from power plants to fun in whatever we were doing,” our homes and businesses—but Nason says. communicating in all directions But Pryputniewicz was also an at once, sending power where it’s extremely rigorous professor, who needed and, crucially, stopping the forced Cruickshank to get serious generation of power when it’s not. about the underlying science as It’s an idea that has obsessed him well. “When he was on the podium, ever since his freshman year at WPI. he would start by asking the class, A student who favored hands-on ‘Do you have any questions? If over book learning in high school, not I have a question for you,’” he spent most of his hours building recalls Cruickshank. “And you’d things in a wood- or metal shop. better have a question, because He was most in his element on his if he called on you it was going parents’ property in the Catskills, to be ugly.” where both sets of grandparents The new rigor was just what owned large compounds filled with Cruickshank needed, forcing everything a future engineering him, for the first time, to dedicate student could want—farm tractors, himself to his studies. What made bulldozers, a gravity-fed spring the biggest impact on him was the water system. “I remember reading basic concept of efficiency, which about electric motors and the dis- in the simplest terms means the tinction between AC and DC when amount of useful work you get I was in fourth or fifth grade,” he out of something divided by the says. “There was an old Jeep pickup amount of energy you put into it. truck you could use to go out and He was inspired by how the equa- look for deer at night—but you tion changed depending on where had to jump-start it to get it you drew the boundaries. If you running first.” considered the amount of cold a What really transformed his life refrigerator produced compared was walking into Rich Pryputnie- to the amount of electricity to run wicz’s mechanical engineering it, for example, you got a com- class. The new, young faculty mem- pletely different answer than if ber ran the impressively named you included the amount of heat Center for Holographic Studies released from the coils on the back, and Laser micro-mechaTronics which then had to be removed by (CHSLT)—or as it was known by the air-conditioning. grad students, the laser lab. It was “The equation works on so many a playground where they could ex- levels,” he says. “If you look at periment to their hearts’ content. lightbulbs, for example, now LED Brian Nason ’83, Cruickshank’s lightbulbs hardly get hot at all, so freshman-year roommate and in- they are so much more efficient separable companion, remembers [than incandescent bulbs]. It works working on everything from fiber for any system—and once you optics and circuit boards to a liquid understand efficiency, you get it.”
fall 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 19 For his MQP, Cruickshank went into the grid, he realized there was to users about how much supply back to his grandfather’s farm a problem in the way the system is available, so they could modify in the Catskills, with the ambi- was designed. Then, as now, energy their energy usage accordingly and tious project of calculating just flows primarily in one direction, put less pressure on the system to how much energy the land could from the large central-station ther- tap into its inefficient reserves. produce—including sun, wind, mal power plants to our homes That meant developing a water, and organic matter. With his and offices, sometimes traveling sophisticated means of telecom- father’s help, he hauled a shack up vast distances to get there—and munication. Cruickshank went to the top of a mountain, installed losing efficiency on the way. At any back to school at the University of solar panels, and set up a weather given time, the electric company Colorado to study the subject in an monitoring station complete with is keeping up with demand by interdisciplinary PhD program in two anemometers atop a 50-foot operating nuclear, coal, gas, or civil engineering, telecommunica- tower to measure wind. His father water-powered turbines—as many tions, and computer science. He bought him a microcomputer to as it takes to keep the lights on. had completed all but his disserta- store data, but the microchip in- “When we walk into a room tion (the dreaded “ABD”) by the side only had the capacity for two and flip the light switch, we do it time he received an offer to join a weeks of data. “Every other Friday without a thought that a thimble- burgeoning company called Cable night, I’d be driving home, rain or ful of coal is being thrown on an Television Laboratories, or Cable- shine, to climb the mountain to already gigantic fire,” he says. “It’s Labs. There, his “detour” began, as swap in a fresh chip,” he says. “It the power companies’ job to make he rose through the ranks for the was a real adventure.” sure it works.” The dark side of that next two decades developing cable It was that experience that first single-minded mission, however, modem technology. In the 1990s, gave him the idea that perhaps is that powerful generators come he served as head of CableLab’s there was a better way to manage with an incredible amount of iner- DOCSIS project—short for Data our nation’s energy grid. At the tia, which means they can’t simply Over Cable Service Interface Specifi- time, there was a wave of back-to- be switched on and off on a dime. cations—where he helped develop the-landers looking for ways to live In order to anticipate estimated the ISDN (Integrated Systems “off the grid.” His studies showed demand, plants have to run genera- Digital Network) standard that took him that there was ample energy tors at excess power levels to create modems from 28.8 kilobits per just sitting out there in nature if reserves, starting with the least second to 64 kilobits per second. that could be harnessed—in other expensive generators and gradu- “It’s a thousand times faster,” he words, if the boundaries around ally turning on more expensive says, still in awe of what his team the energy grid could be drawn to generators as the loads increase. accomplished. “We took it up to include the renewable sources of Even after 135 years of engineering Washington to demonstrate it energy surrounding it. “I thought innovation, central-station thermal on Capitol Hill, and showed that my ‘off-the-grid’ efficiency idea generation wastes as much as two- what might take three years to would work great on the grid as thirds of the energy we put into it. download before could be done in well,” he says, “if only you were Integrating more decentralized a day.” The standard was eventually much the same burning question able to orchestrate supply and sources of energy such as wind used in over a billion modems. now as then,” he says. “If the elec- demand.” and solar, Cruickshank realized, During all that time spent trans- tric grid could be overlaid with a After graduation, Cruickshank could cut down on the amount forming our nation’s telecommu- telecommunications network, and took a job with AT&T Bell Labs in of power needed from the central nications, however, Cruickshank elements of supply and demand Denver, “thrilled to be working generators, making the genera- never lost sight of his passion for could communicate with each at the greatest research lab in the tion cleaner and more efficient energy efficiency. When his most other, what would the impact world.” Reality quickly set in, how- overall. But there was a catch. Since recent employer, Cablevision, went be on efficiency, cost, and the ever, as he began feeling like a cog renewable energy is both intermit- through a merger last year with environment?” caught in a large bureaucracy, and tent and unpredictable—varying the Franco-Dutch conglomerate At the university, Cruickshank research opportunities were few greatly depending on whether Altice, he took a buyout offered to re-joined the civil engineering de- and far between. “When I got there, the sun is shining or the wind executives—and went right back partment, and also began working I was like, is this it?” he says. “I was is blowing—the system needed to the University of Colorado to with the Renewable and Sustain- champing at the bit for more.” a real-time sense of how much pick up where he left off on the able Energy Institute (RASEI), a As he continued thinking about demand is required from moment subject of how to make the energy joint project with the U.S. Energy how he could get closer to his pas- to moment. Ideally, it would even grid more efficient. “Although Department’s National Renewable sion about integrating renewables be able to send information back the details are different, it’s pretty Energy Laboratory (NREL). RASEI’s
20 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 NREL’s Energy Systems Integration Facility at the foot of South Table Mountain focuses on increasing penetration of utility-scale wind, rooftop solar, and electric vehicles.
but the “Internet of Things” offers amount of light or shade, and age appliances and building heating of construction. In addition, the and cooling systems the potential data includes readings taken every to communicate with the network 15 minutes on 30 different appli- like never before. ances, including hot water heaters, “Right now, when we hear the re- refrigerators, televisions, dryers, frigerator go on in the other room, and ranges, providing a detailed it’s completely autonomous,” says snapshot of the energy demand Cruickshank. “But you could imag- of the homes’ occupants. ine, in the face of high electricity By analyzing the energy usage costs, the fridge could decide, of all of these homes, Cruickshank ‘I can wait five minutes.’” Then, says, it will be possible to create a should the sun come out from mathematical model to more accu- behind a cloud, making lower-cost rately estimate electricity demand renewable energy available to the across a much larger region. In grid, the refrigerator could turn addition, analysts can experiment itself back on to keep the sun’s with different prices to examine energy from being wasted. Not how that demand changes as only that, but that same fridge smart appliances react. “You don’t could have separate controllers want to create a rebound effect to save energy-intensive activities, where everything turns off or such as defrosting, for times of on at once,” he says. “You want lower demand. “You could create everything to flow as smoothly pent-up demand, and then send a as possible.” low price alert so a smart appliance In a sense, the research is like controller would know it’s time to his MQP up on the mountain in use clean, low-cost energy.” reverse—instead of meticulously The same principle could be measuring all the energy nature used for millions of appliances can provide, he is meticulously across a region, as well as for build- measuring all the energy civiliza- ing heating and air-conditioning, tion needs. But the principles, where the change in a degree or he says, are the same as those he two might not even be felt by learned in college. “Now I am us- occupants, but could have a big ing a computer to draw the same impact on the amount of energy graphs I was drawing by hand in required from power companies. 1982,” he says. That, in turn, could allow them to After finally earning his doctor- associate director, Gregor Henze, is able to come back to the school use more renewable energy and ate, Cruickshank intends to remain had been a student with Cruick- and once again be on the receiving hold off on starting up inefficient active consulting on energy proj- shank 20 years earlier, and was end of education.” and dirty reserve generators. ects, and using the connections now an engineering professor. In Of course, in the two decades In order to really implement he honed for years in the cable addition to becoming his thesis ad- since he’s been away from the such a system, however, companies industry to bring together energy visor, Henze helped him get a posi- problem, the entire communica- need to have a better handle on companies and telecommunica- tion at the lab, the nation’s only tions landscape has been utterly just how much energy is required tions companies to work together laboratory completely devoted to transformed. “The networks are at any given time, so when the to create an efficient energy grid. renewable energy, where he works here now in a way they were consumer hits that light switch, “WPI taught me how to be an two days a week. not there before,” Cruickshank the lights still go on. That’s where engineer,” he says, “and it gave me Henze admires Cruickshank’s enthuses. “Computing power is so Cruickshank’s latest research the confidence that I could succeed dedication and focus now that he great and inexpensive that first- comes in. For his thesis, he is in making a difference.” Now years is finally back where he’s always year students can create elaborate analyzing more than two years’ after learning that lesson, Cruick- wanted to be. “There is just a sense big data analysis and control sys- worth of data on the energy usage shank is coming down from the of humility and gratitude that tems on their laptops.” Not only is of some 1,400 homes in the Pacific mountain at last to make his long- he has,” Henze says. “He is clearly broadband and Wi-Fi able to trans- Northwest—taking into account held dream of making a difference someone who cherishes the fact he mit data at lightning fast speeds, such elements as insulation, on energy efficiency a reality. J
Visit wpi.edu/+backongrid for an insider look at our photoshoot with Robert Cruickshank.
fall 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 21 22 wpi journal wpi.edu/+journal | fall 2017 building tomorrow’s
As a member of eight national institutes, WPI is creating an advanced manufacturing hub in Central Massachusetts
By Joshua Zaffos | Illustration Sean Loose
fall 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 23 In 1865, on the eve of the American stands beside the Washburn Shops, technology, and services. To date, WPI’s leading role in Manufac- Industrial Revolution, Worcester their distinctive towers symbol- 14 public-private institutes have turing USA is “a natural connec- was already emerging as a manu- izing the blending of theory and been established, each dedicated to tion,” says Bogdan Vernescu, WPI’s facturing hub, with factories turn- practice that has always been at the a specific area of advanced manu- vice provost for research, “because ing out everything from textiles to heart of a WPI education. facturing. Each was launched with these eight fields reflect some of horse-drawn carriages. Recognizing For nearly a century after WPI’s $70 million in federal funding, our current research and academic the need for a new kind of profes- founding, its graduates regularly plus matching funds from non- strengths and because our faculty sional to lead such enterprises, ascended to positions of leadership government partners, to kick-start members and students are already two local self-made men dreamed in the nation’s manufacturing en- work that will take place over the engaged in a lot of interesting and of establishing new colleges. terprises. But as American manu- next five years. forward-looking work in these John Boynton, a manufacturer of facturing jobs sharply declined, WPI has been named a mem- areas. We were founded by manu- tinware, committed to donating beginning in the 1960s, student ber of eight of the 14 institutes, facturers for manufacturing-work- his life’s savings—$100,000—to es- interest in the field, along with making it one of only a hand- force development, so it’s reward- tablish a school that would provide WPI’s research focus on traditional ful of universities to play such a ing to think that we are continuing a scientific education to the youth manufacturing, ebbed. Today, prominent role in this high-level that long tradition.” of Worcester County. there are signs that the nation initiative. The eight institutes focus Repeated financial setbacks had may be on the threshold of a new on such emerging sectors as light- led one of its city’s most successful manufacturing renaissance, and weight materials manufacturing, industrialists, Ichabod Washburn, the Institute, its professors, and regenerative medicine and tissue owner of the world’s largest wire- its students appear poised to play engineering, robotics, biophar- making enterprise, to set aside his key roles. The impetus is a new maceutical manufacturing, clean own plan to establish a school to national initiative to invest in ad- energy innovation, and integrated replace the age-old apprenticeship vanced manufacturing industries, photonics. system for mechanics and other accelerate product commercializa- craftsmen. Reluctantly, he cast his tion, and help prepare a workforce lot with Boynton. He pledged to for emerging job opportunities. build his rival’s school a work- Known as Manufacturing USA ing manufacturing facility where and formally established in 2014 students could apply the knowl- with support from Congress and edge they gained in the classroom President Barack Obama, the initia- building, which would be named tive represents a $1 billion federal for Boynton. investment to create a network of The Worcester County Free manufacturing research collabora- Institute of Industrial Science, later tives that bring together universi- renamed Worcester Polytechnic ties, industry groups, businesses, Institute, opened in 1868. Nearly and government agencies to share 150 years later, Boynton Hall still research and develop products,
24 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 Be Prepared With its new strategic plan, offer the potential for society- “By reducing weight, we use Manufacturing has evolved adopted in 2015, WPI has heeded changing advances, Vernescu says. less fuel, cut energy consump- considerably since the Industrial this advice. Taking stock of its In short, the five research themes tion, and reduce products’ carbon Revolution. While many people research enterprise, the university of the strategic plan seemed tailor- footprints,” Apelian says. He adds still picture textile mills, auto- identified five multidisciplinary re- made for Manufacturing USA. that improved reclamation and mobile assembly lines, and steel search areas for emphasis: health In 2014, as the strategic plan recycling of aluminum, another plants when they hear about and biotechnology; robotics and was taking shape, one of the first focus of research within MPI, al- “manufacturing” jobs, industries cyberphysical systems; sustainable Manufacturing USA institutes lows manufacturers and suppliers and opportunities today span a materials and manufacturing; was launched; it also happened to conserve natural resources and much wider range of products and cyber, data, and security science to be the first to accept WPI as a limit new mining, too. services. That’s something even and engineering; and learning member. Lightweight Innovations For example, a decade ago a universities—including WPI— sciences and technologies. for Tomorrow (LIFT) focuses on a typical car included about 150 lbs. have been slow to recognize and goal that is familiar to research- of aluminum. To meet safety speci- support, Vernescu says. ers in WPI’s materials science and fications, the rest of the frame and engineering programs. body, the engine block, and many other components were made from steel and other heavier met- als. Today, through advances in metal casting (including contribu- tions from WPI’s research labs), cars typically contain 350–400 pounds of aluminum alloys,
It’s called lightweighting, which which are one-third the density Diran Apelian, founder of the of steel but just as strong. Ford university’s Metal Processing even makes a pick-up truck with Each of these areas encompasses Institute (MPI), defines as develop- an all-aluminum body. “In meetings with leadership of current research strengths, while ing materials from light metals, “We here at WPI have a running different Fortune 500 companies, also embracing emerging disci- like titanium, aluminum, and record of over 25 years of light- a lot of chief technology officers plines where WPI faculty and stu- magnesium, or composites like weighting,” Apelian says, referring have told us that we in higher dents could have a wider impact. Kevlar, which can perform as well to the accomplishments of the education are not doing enough As it happens, each also touches as denser iron, steel, and other Advanced Casting Research Center in preparing a workforce for 21st on at least one field of advanced ferrous components in cars, (ACRC), the nation’s first aluminum century manufacturing jobs,” manufacturing—an area where trains, planes, spacecraft, and casting laboratory. Established he notes. novel manufacturing technologies infrastructure. in 1985 as an industry-university
fall 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 25
consortium, ACRC today works ing and melt-processing research, engine heat. That breakthrough you can write papers and publish with 35 industry partners, includ- one of the institute’s six “technol- could almost double a diesel en- them, but for us the payoff is ing aluminum producers and ogy pillars” (the others include gine’s fuel efficiency. In another when people are using the tech- metals casting companies, as welding and advanced joining major effort, WPI and Ohio State nologies we develop here—when well as manufacturers, including and assembly, powder metallurgy, researchers are developing and someone takes an innovation and Boeing, Harley-Davidson, and Fiat and novel and agile materials casting ultra-thin-walled, high- applies it and commercializes it.” Chrysler, who are increasingly manufacturing). Each pillar strength, die-cast aluminum that relying on innovative lightweight represents a challenge related to can be commercially produced. New Growth materials, alloys, or advanced producing advanced lightweight So far, LIFT has brought about Other Manufacturing USA pro- steel to make lighter vehicles. materials on a large scale. $2 million to WPI, while helping grams are charting even more Once Manufacturing USA Through LIFT, Apelian and the university and the ACRC lever- novel areas for manufacturing, opened requests for proposals for Brajendra Mishra, director of age and complement existing including regenerative medicine, its initial institutes, Apelian and the Metal Processing Institute, funding and support. The ex- which holds the promise of heal- WPI collaborated with colleagues currently oversee eight projects panded portfolio of projects and ing damaged tissues and organs at other universities on a submis- at different universities, includ- public and private partners is also and producing innovative disease sion that emphasized the ACRC’s ing several based at WPI. In one, attracting more engineers, scien- treatments. track record and its industry con- WPI engineers are studying how tists, and students eager to work Researchers in industry and nections. The pitch, coordinated to directly produce aluminum at WPI and the casting center. university labs have been creat- by partners at The Ohio State composite materials from molten Ultimately, the success of LIFT ing engineered versions of skin, University and the University of metal and chemical precipitates and the other Manufacturing muscle, and other kinds of tissue Michigan, led to the successful to develop stronger materials that USA institutes will be defined for nearly 20 years, says Kristen proposal for LIFT, which is head- can withstand higher tempera- by commercialization of tech- Billiar, head of WPI’s Department quartered in Detroit. tures. That would allow manu- nologies and products that serve of Biomedical Engineering. These Based on WPI’s expertise with facturers to use aluminum alloys society and nurture new business, efforts have led to lab-grown skin metal processing, Apelian was in diesel engines without fearing Apelian says. “You can have labo- grafts to treat ulcers, replacement chosen to lead LIFT’s metal-cast- that they might be melted by ratory innovations and results, cartilage cells for use in damaged knees, and an engineered trachea, and is forging relationships be- prototyping center for companies novel fields. among other notable successes. tween biomedical researchers and in Central Massachusetts in collabo- “The majority of our undergradu- But important engineering chal- biotechnology, so each can better ration with AIM Photonics at SUNY ate students are going to work in lenges still need to be solved before understand the others’ needs. That Poly and the AIM Academy at MIT. industry,” Billiar says. “So as these the dreams of regenerative medi- connection will be a critical link industries grow, they will be well cine can be fully realized. as the institute seeks to support Promising prepared because it won’t just be At WPI, a team led by Glenn efforts to scale up new and more Opportunities theoretical stuff, they’ll actually Gaudette, professor of biomedi- complex technologies and, ulti- As the various hubs of Manufactur- understand the manufacturing cal engineering, took a large step mately, to build a marketplace and ing USA launch projects and collab- processes that these companies are toward a solution for one hurdle: job opportunities. Billiar says he orations, WPI finds itself once again really going to need.” the difficulty in getting oxygen also expects the institute to serve as in the role of helping drive the Looking to the future also means and nutrients to cells deep within a forum to standardize and share evolution of manufacturing and WPI and other partners are already a growing engineered organ. They research and production methods, manufacturing education. And as planning for future funding to discovered a method for removing improve quality control of engi- a member of eight manufacturing sustain the initiatives beyond the the living cells from spinach leaves neered materials and tissues, and institutes, which span a breathtak- federal government’s five-year and using the remaining vascu- speed up product development. ing sweep of the diverse disciplines investment. Vernescu says some ini- lature to support the growth of Billiar and his lab, for example, that fall under the umbrella of tiatives will likely prove more suc- beating heart muscle (WPI Journal, concentrate on engineering advanced manufacturing, Vernescu cessful than others, but successes Summer 2017). replacement heart valves, a process says WPI has an opportunity to in commercializing products and The breakthrough may ultimately that began by painstakingly making restore itself and, by extension, its applications should help sustain play a role in helping scale up small samples at the lab bench. By home region to the prominence it the programs. tissue and organ regeneration. partnering with a company, Billiar once enjoyed in the manufacturing Ultimately, the investment, It also highlights one of the ongo- now has access to automated fluid- landscape. collaboration, and acceleration ing challenges for research teams handling robotics that can rapidly “Our vision is to develop a 21st toward manufacturing industries involved in regenerative medicine: and precisely replicate his pro- century manufacturing hub here and innovations represents a how to take new methods and cesses. “And that’s basic compared in central Massachusetts,” he says. “culture change,” Vernescu says. technologies developed in the lab, to what we could do in the future “While we acknowledge that we University researchers who think often on a small scale, and turn through BioFabUSA,” he says. are part of eight separate institutes, of themselves as scientists and them into manufactured products The other six Manufacturing USA each with its distinct vision and engineers now have opportunities that can be commercialized. institutes to which WPI belongs goals, we also recognize that these to be manufacturing innovators To address that need, the federal are also in the developmental eight memberships offer us the and leaders and help reinvigorate government in December 2016 stage. They include the Advanced chance to create a unique synergy. American manufacturing indus- inaugurated the Advanced Regen- Integrated Manufacturing in Already, we are seeing the cross fer- tries at large. erative Manufacturing Institute Photonics (AIM) program, which is tilization of ideas across the faculty “Manufacturing has not always (ARMI), one of the last of the 14 dedicated to advancing the technol- associated with these eight entities, been in vogue,” says Apelian, “but, Manufacturing USA hubs to get ogy for manufacturing photonics and we fully expect these connec- at WPI, we have always taken under way. With 87 public and integrated circuits (PICs) [photonics tions to lead to new interdisciplin- the view that manufacturing is private partners, including WPI, involves generating and harnessing ary grant applications, new innova- a critical, transformational, and ARMI launched BioFabUSA, which light and other forms of radiant tions, and new opportunities.” foundational industry for this is led by Dean Kamen ’73, founder energy]. Integrated photonics allow Vernescu says the synergy he nation.” WPI’s wide engagement of the New Hampshire-based DEKA designers and manufacturers to envisions extends to education with Manufacturing USA reaffirms Research & Development who is put thousands of photonic compo- and workforce development, that premise across a new range of credited with such biomedical nents (such as lasers, detectors, and which are vital elements of the disciplines—while connecting the innovations as the first wear- waveguides) on a single chip, allow- mission of each of the Manufactur- school’s storied past with exciting able medication infusion pump ing capabilities that were not previ- ing USA institutes. In addition to opportunities for the future. “To (invented while Kamen was still ously possible. Under the direction creating the new knowledge and some extent we’re building on the a student at WPI) and the Luke of Douglas Petkie, head of the Phys- innovations that will help build legacy of the university,” Apelian robotic prosthetic arm. ics Department, WPI is building a new industries and commercial adds, “and when you are true to Still in its formative stage, Bio- partnership with Quinsigamond ventures in the United States, WPI your legacy and what you are good FabUSA has identified five research Community College to develop a will help prepare students with at, it always pays off. And for us, it and workforce training focus areas workforce training, testing, and the skills required for jobs in these really has paid off.” J
fall 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 27
28 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 Ashley
D by by erin p eterson a | p | hotogra p h y y isley matt
f u rman
When she turned five, Ashley Daisley ’12 (BS BE) told her mom she wanted guests to bring books to her birthday party, not presents. It was an odd request, she acknowledges in retrospect, but her mom relayed the message and her friends complied. To everyone’s surprise, the book-themed event was a massive hit. The five-year-olds spent nearly the entire party reading aloud from the books they’d brought. In that moment, Daisley’s mom saw op- portunity—she brought the idea of “read- ing parties” to Ashley’s day care center in Brooklyn, and later to area Barnes & Noble bookstores. She formed a literary organiza- tion, Young Readers Network. Ashley was integral to the new nonprofit: she attended the events dressed as a butterfly, reading books to her peers. Their story was written up in the New York Times, and they received a letter from President Bill Clinton thank- ing them for their work.
summer 2017 | follow us @WPI wpi journal summer fall 20172017 || followfollow usus @WPI ##wpi jjournalournal 2929 THE SCIENCE OF MARKETING Ashley My job is to be the consuherom ers’ The experience taught Daisley out for often-solitary research lasting impact on her. had volunteer consumers browse that there is value in paying close projects. Daisley used her fledgling mock stores with shelves set up attention to what resonates with Though she didn’t find a perfect customer research skills to land like a typical haircare aisle. But people and being brave enough fit in her classes, she did discover a coveted spot in a week-long she obtained the most useful feed- to act on that knowledge. “I loved an outlet where she was able to consumer strategy workshop at back from focus groups where that there was a way to take a bring her considerable skills to Procter and Gamble the summer she would ask consumers to think little idea and turn it into some- bear: the Goat’s Head pub on after her sophomore year. After about the bottles in unexpected thing that had an impact on a campus. As a sophomore, she besting close to 10,000 applicants, ways. lot of people’s lives,” she says. It’s was hired as the restaurant’s first she and eight other students After showing research partici- a lesson she carried with her to student entertainment coordina- completed a case study linked to pants two bottles of Pantene—one WPI and one that has helped her tor. Her responsibilities included Olay skin care products, worked with the current design and one thrive beyond it. planning events, negotiating fees on consumer research, and even with a new design, she asked with performers, and creating presented findings to former P&G them to imagine that the bottles The seeds of success marketing materials to attract CEO Bob McDonald. She parlayed were guests at a party they were Daisley made an early mark students. that experience into a summer hosting. ”If you saw these two through reading, but in school Assistant dean of student internship at the company the fol- bottles,” she’d say, “how would she also showed an aptitude for programs Jim McLaughlin recalls lowing year and landed a full-time you describe them?” math and sciences. When a math that Daisley’s commitment to the role at P&G after she graduated. Once the initial confusion about teacher at her magnet high school work was admirable. “Whether The work in consumer and the questions faded, participants in Washington, D.C., told her to she was planning a Halloween- market knowledge allowed her to were game, she says. “Women consider WPI, she admitted she’d themed pumpkin-carving contest combine her curiosity and scien- might say things like, ‘The older never heard of it. But after a bit of or a gingerbread house decorat- tific thinking, her love of people, bottle looks like the person who research—which included looking ing party in the winter months, and her desire to make the world didn’t even want to come to the into WPI’s biomedical engineer- it was clear she enjoyed planning better—one small step at a time. party. She’s not talking to anyone, ing program—she was persuaded activities that made students’ lives and I have to worry about her to give the school a chance. An fun at WPI.” Getting into the mind of a consumer because I’m not sure she’s making overnight visit sealed the deal. Nevertheless, she wondered if Her first full-time position at P&G, friends.’ About the new bottle Thinking she might become she had her finger on the pulse as a consumer and market knowl- they might say, ‘She looks like she a medical doctor, she enjoyed of student desires. She sent out a edge associate manager for beauty came to the party in a nice car her first few science courses. But survey to learn what students re- and grooming, focused on the and gave all of my friends great while there was a lot she loved ally wanted to see. She took their look and feel of Pantene shampoo fashion tips.’” about the biomedical engineer- feedback to heart and developed and conditioner bottles. Embedded in those statements, ing program—learning to define an array of new events, including The products were effective, but she says, were deep insights about problems, ask questions, and a “Minute to Win It” game show– sales were slow. Shoppers seemed what consumers like (or loathe) investigate hypotheses—there style competition that proved disinclined to take the bottles about a product. Most people was one sticking point. “The labs enormously popular. She admits off the shelf. She and her team find it difficult to explain why a made me realize I wasn’t that she never would have come up needed to find out the “why.” How certain product doesn’t connect great around blood,” she says. A with the idea without hearing do people make decisions? What with them, but when researchers social animal at heart, she also from students. The lessons from makes us do what we do? reframe their question into terms realized she might not be cut that simple questionnaire had a Daisley conducted surveys and that resonate with our everyday
30 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 hero
Daisley gets excited when she talks about her adopted hometown of Cincinnati. “I love the art and culture you can find all around the city,” she says, like this mural done by friend Cody Gunningham.
summer 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 31 experiences—like hosting a party— or not buy a product. upstart candidate garner 10,000 something that’s already out in they can gain surprisingly useful For example, she traveled to votes—just short of a seat. And she the world. Her group was respon- insights. Translated, that knowl- Brazil to see if P&G could develop has been a tireless volunteer for sible for a pilot test of Tide Spin, a edge can help guide designers and a new market for its liquid floor her local NAACP branch, working partnership with Uber. “Just press help marketers create products that cleaners. But when she visited to attract new members, leading a button in an app,” she says, “and people love to have in their lives. homes and restaurants, she discov- branch retreats, and developing someone will pick up your laundry, For personal care products, she ered that consumers “liked using new projects for the group. “I did wash and fold it, and drop it back says, getting the details right mat- gritty powdered laundry detergent some consumer research work off at your house when it’s done.” ters. “These are products people on their floors, because they felt within our branch to understand For Daisley, the joy of her work use every single day. They put the it cleaned better.” “That insight— what we were really passionate isn’t about a new bottle shape or bottles in their showers—some of which we couldn’t have discovered about,” she says. “Our executive a new app. It’s about understand- the most intimate spaces in their any other way—saved us from go- committee was my focus group.” ing people better, knowing what homes. In a crowded marketplace, ing into that market with a liquid At work these days she’s busy they really want, and finding ways something as simple as the color of product,” she says. on top-secret work in fabric care, to deliver that to them. “In [P&G] a bottle can keep a shopper from Her ability to extract key lessons called “front-end innovation.” She meeting rooms, there will always buying an otherwise outstanding about what people really want has and her team gather up some of be people who want to cut costs or product.” helped her in other areas of her the company’s best ideas, deter- increase profits, but my job is to be Daisley’s work stood out, and she life. She has served as campaign mine which ones have a shot at the consumers’ hero—to be their quickly scaled the corporate ladder, manager for a friend who ran for success, and do small tests to see if champion,” she says. “People rely taking on new roles that led her to a seat on Cincinnati’s City Council. they’re worth pursuing. on our brands every day of their dig deep into subtle issues that led Though she wasn’t able to propel While she can’t say much about lives. I want to make sure we’re do- consumers and businesses to buy him to victory, she helped the her current work, she does share ing the best we can for them.” J
Visit wpi.edu/+scienceofmarketing for a behind-the-scenes look at Ashley Daisley’s photoshoot on the streets of Cincinnati.
32 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 er ooh D leen th [ turningpoint ] Ka PHOTO
The soundtrack to Bob Sinicrope’s years earning his BS in math was jazz—with a touch of polka. Sinicrope ’71, now in his 44th year at the prestigious Milton Academy, launched the prep school’s jazz department and serves as its jazz director. But he hadn’t started out on that path. “I worked my way through college playing in a polka band,” he says with a smile. He also played in the WPI Brass Choir and the ROTC band; he sang in the Glee Club; and he composed and conducted pieces for the Brass Choir at his commencement ceremony. “I loved math and music,” he says, he was encour- aged by a WPI career counselor to consider teaching at a prep school. Hoping to combine his love of both by teaching both subjects, he was encouraged by a WPI career counselor to consider teaching at a prep school. “I applied to several and was hired by Milton Academy in 1973 as a full-time math teacher,” he says. “I asked if I could teach a jazz course in my second year and over the next decade I increased the number of jazz courses to serve the students’ interests. I have taught jazz courses full-time since 1995.” Teaching and working with young students has become a fulfilling blend of career and hobby for Sinicrope. He’s toured South Africa with students 11 times, delivered over $200,000 of donated materials to township music programs, won four national awards, played at the White House, and performed at the gubernatorial inauguration of his former math student Deval Patrick. He’s also had the honor of playing for Desmond Tutu and James Taylor; he’s played on four NPR programs, at 10 International Jazz Education conferences, and at several European jazz festivals. He was the first high school teacher to serve as president of the Jazz Education Network. The teachings of WPI have kept the melody harmonious with his career in various ways. “I learned how to approach problems by isolating their various aspects and understanding how to deal with them,” he says. “Once you understand smaller components, you can approach the entire problem. I still can hear Professor van Alstyne asking, ‘What don’t you like about this problem?’ I often ask the same thing of my jazz students.”
fall 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 33 summer 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpijournal 33 Hart in the GE Hitachi changing room at their Wilmington, SC nuclear facility. This room is for ‘dressing out’ to enter the contaminated area of the facility. Nuclear A powerful attraction keeps Diana Hart ’92 in the energy industry Engagement
By Joan Killough-Miller | Photography Matt Furman
fall 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 35 It was love at first sight.
In her sophomore year, Diana Hart to earn a master’s in the field. A here,” Hart relates. “I am a huge piled into a van with the other second master’s in environmental animal lover. I knew we would kill students in Professor John Mayer’s engineering and science broadened those deer if we turned the units nuclear engineering class for a field her scope. on. I was thinking, ‘I don’t want to trip to the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Her early work with the U.S. do this; and I really don’t want to Station. Almost three decades Nuclear Regulatory Commission do this in front of members of the later, she vividly recalls what was involved inspecting facilities and public, some with children.’” She running through her head when improving radiation protection put in a call to corporate relations she first glimpsed the reactor. “Oh programs. It was a valuable founda- to broach the idea of delaying my god, I want to do this. I want to tion, she says. “I still pick up my operations. She also knew that soon work at one of these.” 10 CFR [the document that defines customers would be reaching their While her classmates were en- federal standards for the energy homes and turning on the TV, the tertained with tall tales about the industry] when I have questions on oven, the dishwasher … maybe enormous lobsters that gathered how to interpret a regulation,” she starting a load of laundry. in warm waters around the plant’s says. “Of course, most of it is online After some deliberation, a deci- outflow, Hart was overwhelmed by these days, but I still keep that big sion was reached to close the park. the sheer size and complexity of fat book on my desk.” But once the intimidating throng the plant. It’s an attraction that de- Yet, all along, she yearned to get of people dispersed, the deer took fies words. “There’s just something closer to the operations side of off. “It was the crowd that was keep- about the nuclear aspect—because things. She joined Exelon in 2003 to ing them there all along,” she says. GE Hitachi monitors the North Cape Fear River to ensure that no I understand it, and I have always manage radiation protection and “Now we know how to get rid of emissions go beyond safe limits. been fascinated by it—so it just industrial safety. Within a few years deer if that happens again!” draws me,” she says. she was offered the opportunity to Apart from a few years in hy- manage the company’s Conowingo Nuclear Strong droelectric operations, Hart has Hydroelectric facility—an offer As much as she thrived on the chal- proving processes and proce- spent her entire career in nuclear she couldn’t turn down. Although lenge of running 1,619 mW worth dures. Asking questions—like safety. She holds thousands of lives hydro power might sound like a of hydro, Hart was pulled back to “What’s not working for you?” or in her hands, with the confidence cakewalk compared to nuclear, it her first love in 2012, when she “How can we make this better?”— grounded in solid education. could be a wild ride at times. When joined GE Hitachi in Wilmington, helps her zero in on improvement A physics major, she took all Tropical Storm Lee raged in the fall N.C. Today, as a vice president with opportunities. the nuclear engineering classes of 2011, she had to make crucial numerous managers of the various Much of Hart’s work centers on (then offered by the mechanical decisions about opening the plant’s safety and security areas reporting fostering a culture of nuclear safety engineering department) that she 50 floodgates, some of which were to her, she favors being “boots on in which everyone takes respon- could. She speaks glowingly of more than 80 years old. the ground,” out where the real sibility. She explains, “If you look labs done in WPI’s Leslie C. Wilbur Even in more peaceful times, work is being done, rather than back in this industry, there are Nuclear Reactor: activating Tums when raging floodwaters weren’t sitting behind a desk or in end- examples where employees didn’t antacid tablets, a section of sewer threatening thousands of down- less meetings. To make this clear, always feel comfortable raising con- pipe, and a bit of gold foil. The stu- stream residents, lives still hung in she set up a second office within cerns to the management. We want dents were outfitted with meters to the balance. She recalls with humor the controlled access area, to be in them to know that anyone can raise measure radiation, but that never one delicate standoff: One after- better touch with her “rad protec- a concern, and we offer employees worried Hart. “I found it exciting. It noon, as she was about to rev up for tion” monitors and nuclear safety multiple pathways for problem wasn’t scary. I thought it was really the evening’s peak power demand, team. She takes every opportunity identification and resolution.” GE interesting and new.” she saw through the window five to “dress out” in an anti-contamina- Hitachi has developed a program it A health physics class during deer that had wandered in from the tion jumpsuit, gloves, and booties, calls “Nuclear Strong,” inspired by her sophomore year helped define adjacent parklands. The innocent and “badge in” to the radiological the NRC’s policy statement of traits her niche. She liked the blend of animals were huddled on a ledge areas to observe workers in action. that define a positive safety culture. theoretical physics and fact-based right in front of the dam. That allows for the kind of ongo- “You need to look at your leader- engineering, and she went on “I said a word I won’t repeat ing dialog she says is vital for im ship, your communications, and
36 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 portfolio. I don’t think that renew- ables alone can meet our [power] generation needs. To reduce greenhouse gasses and our reliance on fossil fuels, I think nuclear has to be a part of that mix. To do that, you’re going to need people that understand it and can work in it.” Apart from her brief stint in hydro, Hart has stayed true to her first love. “I came back to it, because that’s where my passion is. I like the rigor that is applied in nuclear. It’s a highly regulated industry—I would say, equal to aviation, in terms of oversight from the regulators. There’s just something about that rigor that appeals to me.” As for reactions to her chosen oc- cupation, she notes dryly, “People do tend to provide their opinion.” Although she’s always willing to answer genuine questions, she says, “I tend not to engage in de- bate at this point in my life. I don’t find it gets me anywhere, really.” To those who ask “Do you glow?” she’ll quip, “Only in the dark.” your work processes,” says Hart. back to high school, when she some non-supportive people.” She “Not everyone loves nuclear,” “It’s important to refine procedures nearly flunked a physics test. prefers to focus on the mentors she acknowledges. “I’ve always said, so they’re simple, straightforward, “It was the only D I ever got,” she who helped her along the way, and I still maintain, people are and clear. You need to make certain says, “and that’s what I decided to and to return the favor by working afraid of what they don’t under- that workers have the right tools major in.” After “freaking out” with the Society of Women and stand. And I can’t expect everyone and products to do their jobs.” She over the grade, “I went for all the Engineers, and U.S. Women in to understand nuclear power. I’d stresses that in her own role, she extra credit I could, and I went to Nuclear. Today, she says, “There rather live next to a nuclear power needs to be more than a slot on the the teacher for extra help until it are still not many women on the plant than a plant that manufac- org chart, or a nameplate on an clicked.” She ended up getting an operations side of the nuclear tures acids. Because I don’t know office door. “When you’re talking A in the class. industry.” She also worries about what their safety requirements about driving a culture, you can To the question “Why nuclear?” declining interest in the academic are, or what they have in place. So only do that by being an example she replies, “I like something discipline. (See sidebar) I understand why people feel the and interacting with folks. When that’s not easy. With every job I’ve “Back in 2005, to about 2007, we way they do about nuclear, to I tell them, ‘If you’ve got a concern, ever taken, I’ve always had some were looking at a nuclear renais- some extent.” I want to hear about it,’ then I need nervousness: Am I really ready for sance, with plans to build a lot of Asked how she copes with the to be there to hear about it.” this? Am I am really capable? If my new plants. The school programs responsibility of all the lives she answer is ‘Heck, yeah, I can do this!’ dusted off their books. We saw a holds in her hands—nearly a thou- A Stubborn Streak then I’m probably not interested. resurgence of students going back sand employees, and thousands What keeps her up at night? After I like being challenged!” into nuclear-specific engineering more surrounding GE Hitachi’s a hearty laugh, Hart replies, “The As the lone female physics major programs. Then, with the Fuku- facilities in the US and Japan—she problem somebody doesn’t want for much of her time at WPI, and shima disaster in 2011, that sort of says, “I will say that our plants are to tell me about!” a minority in her profession, she ended that renaissance. It’s unfor- very safe, and I feel very comfort- Hart’s self-described stubborn- says, “To get where I am, I’ve seen tunate. I personally feel that we as able working here. And so should ness has served her well, dating some … let’s call it ‘adversity,’ and a nation are in need of a balanced the people who live near them.” J
For a look behind-the-scenes of Diana Hart’s photoshoot on the banks of the Cape Fear river, visit wpi.edu/+nuclearengagement
fall 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 37 WPI’s Nuclear Discipline
1953 “The United States knows that peaceful power from atomic energy is no dream of the future. The capability, already proved, is here today. Who can doubt that, if the entire body of the world’s scientists and engineers had adequate amounts of fissionable material with which to test and develop their ideas, this capability would rapidly be transformed into universal, efficient and economic usage?” —President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his 1953 “Atoms for Peace” speech to the United Nations General Assembly
1958 “The nuclear program on campus, the first one to be available for training purposes in New England, shows again the pioneering spirit of W.P.I.” —Professor Donald N. Zwiep, on WPI’s Leslie C. Wilbur Nuclear Reactor (named in 1995) in the Washburn Shops. In 1967 WPI’s reactor is upgraded from 1 kW to 10 kW, and nuclear engineering courses see a similar surge in enrollment.
1980 “One important thing the nuclear people learned was that you can’t put men with only a high school diploma and a little Navy training in charge of operation of a nuclear plant.” —Professor Leslie C. Wilbur, in the aftermath of the Three Mile Island accident. Construction of new power plants in the U.S. ceased, and enrollment in nuclear engineering programs declined.
1990 “If the trends in nuclear engineering education continue, a rising demand for nuclear engineers will outstrip the supply within a few years.” —“U.S. Nuclear Engineering Educations: Status and Prospects,” National Academy of Engineering report
2000s With course enrollment declining, the WPI faculty votes to phase out Nuclear Engineering major in 2000. The Wilbur reactor is decommissioned, with a “Possession Only” license issued in 2007, and decontamination continues over the next seven years.
2014 WPI receives more than $1.1 million in grants from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to educate a new generation of nuclear scientists and engineers to fill a critical need. The awards support the development of new curricula, graduate fellowships, and faculty research. “There is both a domestic and worldwide need for highly qualified nuclear professionals to keep nuclear power plants and nuclear materi- als safe and secure. … These grant programs offer college and university recipients an opportunity to encourage their best and brightest to pursue careers in nuclear engineering, health physics, radiochemistry, and related sciences.” —NRC Chairman Allison M. Macfarlane
2017 and Beyond A master’s program in nuclear science and engineering and a PhD program in health and medical physics will soon be formalized at WPI, in addition to the undergraduate courses and graduate certificate currently available. The curriculum for a restored undergraduate major is under development. The university supports the national objective of reinvigorating the nuclear power industry, as well as fostering research on medical therapies and imaging technologies.
Hart outside the main offices of GE Hitachi.
38 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 These results are typical at WPI.
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Discover our formula for success wpi.edu/+results
As you know, the education you get here is anything but. y E al e H [ wpiinsider] Worcester native Ama Biney ’18 (management engineering
with a concentration in operations) is a team player. We’re Mathew not just talking about her generous personality here, but Photo also her place on the rosters of two varsity teams—basketball and softball. As a high school senior, Biney struggled with many decisions —which college to attend, what to study, what sport(s) to play, even what division to strive for within her chosen sport. On her second visit to WPI, she spoke with associate athletic direc- tor and women’s basketball head coach Cherise Galasso and softball head coach Whitney Goldstein. Both coaches spoke of the community and culture at WPI in a way that resonated with Biney. “They genuinely wanted to help me make a decision that was best for me, even if that meant not going to WPI,” she recalls. “Understanding that type of selflessness and maturity combined with the long-lasting tradition of WPI, drew me to fall in love with the school and ultimately enroll.” Biney says her athletics involvement has offered her a new level of growth. “Through sports here at WPI, I have been able to sharpen my leadership skills and instincts. Also, I have been able to create many bonds and even spark different job opportunities.” Her secret to juggling two teams on top of her school and extracurricular activities? Stay on schedule and be a good teammate. “Whenever I am finding myself lazy, I think of my teammates,” she says. “If I can’t work hard for my team, then that overall trust is broken. We all must continue to do the right thing even when no one is watching.” This hard-working student also finds time to volunteer weekly (through the basketball team) at Elm Park Community School as part of the Big Brother Big Sister Program; she is a member of the Black Student Union; and she has been accepted to the Trustee Mentor Program. Her biggest surprise so far has been the overwhelming support from the many diverse groups across campus, she says. “Many people—from individuals in the student body to professors to even the president—are engaged in all that the students are doing. They are so quick to offer support and congratulations when it is needed or deserved.” After graduation, Biney has her sights on either becoming a grad assistant at WPI while she obtains her MS or landing a job at a company as a program manager or business analyst. No matter which path she takes, Biney is on a stellar winning streak.
HONORABLE MENTIONs: Crimson and Gray Award • Trustee Mentor Program • Dean’s List • Academic All-American • Black Student Union • Investing Association • APICS Organization
40 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 ALLYSA GRANT ’18 Hometown: Framingham, Mass. Major: Mechanical Engineering
Involvement: • Swimming & Diving Team • Alpha Phi Omega • Association for Mechanical Engineers • IQP Site: Rabat, Morocco
“Your support makes my experiences at WPI possible. Without you, I wouldn’t be able to follow my dreams.”
Through WPI’s hands-on, project-based curriculum, students learn to solve real-world problems, work in diverse teams, and experience what it means to be resilient– all skills that will propel them throughout their careers.
When you give to the WPI Fund, you support students like Allysa, and provide scholarships that empower students to pursue important projects and research, on campus and abroad. You also become part of the long and proud tradition of philanthropy upon which this world-class university was founded.
Make your gift today and start your WPI legacy.
wpi.edu/+give 1-877-WPI-FUND The WPI Fund, 100 Institute Rd., Worcester, MA 01609 (please make checks payable to WPI)
HONORABLE MENTIONs: Crimson and Gray Award • Trustee Mentor Program • Dean’s List • Academic All-American • Black Student Union • Investing Association • APICS Organization [facultysnapshot]
Steve Kmiotek WPI BS ’80, MS ’82, PhD ’86 Professor of 2 Practice, Chemical Engineering
Photo of my professor, mentor, and friend, 1Professor Bob “Daddy Wags” Wagner, the person who inspired me to stay in chemical engineering at WPI back in the 1970s. There are many stories, but among my favorites: Bob would find out when our birthdays were and sing to us in class. We returned the favor on his 60th birthday, at 2am on a Sunday morning in July, belting out Happy Birthday to him on his front lawn. (There might have been fireworks and adult 1 beverages involved.)
Outstanding Teaching Award, April 2017. I was 2 completely blown away!
“Bullshit grinder” that my Dad made. I was a first- 3 generation college student, the son of a carpenter. My folks were really supportive of my education.
Tower packings. I spent most of my career working 4 in the environmental field ... I got my start as a fresh engineer, charged with redesigning and building/install- ing an air pollution control system at my first employer, Cabot Corp. It was a tricky problem, but the WPI projects really set me up for solving it. These tower packings went into that project.
Goodbye clock. In the 1990s, I joined what was a 5 startup environmental firm, ultimately helping build it to a national firm, providing chemical and environmental design engineering services around the country. I got this clock when I left.
Minions. I made the mistake of referring to my 6 first MQP groups (after starting as a prof) as my “minions.” They returned the favor by getting me these toys—including a GRU for me.
ChemE Car. I advise the WPI chapter of the 7 American Institute of Chemical Engineers; this was the chemically powered car that competed in the 2017 3 competition. We didn’t win, but it was cool!
Boxes of data. A local, retired chemical engineer 8 has contracted Alzheimer’s and his family wants to preserve his legacy. As part of that, the students of WPI are cataloging his life’s works, which we will archive and make available.
Me on a camel. My daughter did a semester abroad in 4 9 Cairo back in the summer of 2010 and we visited her. For some reason, this pic gets a lot of comments!
Hardhat from Dow. Prior to coming back to 10 WPI as faculty, I was responsible for all environ- mental, health, safety, chemical process safety, security, y
and emergency response at Dow’s NorthEast facilities. E al e H
7 Vials of Ferric Molybdate Catalysts. I did my 11PhD at WPI with Professor Ed Ma, studying the deactivation of catalysts in exothermic reactions. Cabot graciously supported the studies. Mathew Photo 42 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 6
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11 Alumni Weekend 2017 Highlights Nearly 1,000 alumni and friends returned to campus for Alumni Weekend, June 1–4, 2017. This is one of our favorite times of the year—welcoming a new group of alumni while celebrating our most outstanding graduates, our most steadfast supporters, and our time-honored traditions.
Celebrating WPI One of the main reasons people come back to campus for Alumni Weekend is to share in the strong traditions that make WPI the place so well loved across generations. Alumni who graduated 50 years ago or earlier attended the 50-Year Associates dinner on June 2. The dinner honored two award recipi- ents from the Class of 1967—Douglas Klauber and Jonathan Titus—for support of the mis- sion of WPI and professional achievement, respectively. Saturday morning, June 3, after a campus update from President Leshin, reunion classes gathered at the parade. Groups proudly car- ried their banners around the Quad, and members of the Class of 2017, the newest members of the WPI Alumni Association, received their class banner. The parade was followed by the Annual Alumni Awards Luncheon, where 11 more remarkable alumni were recognized for their outstanding con- tributions to their professions and for their service to WPI (see page 50-51). Saturday evening festivities included re- union class dinners and receptions. All alumni gathered for post-dinner entertainment featuring live music and lawn games on the Quad, Wagers in the Wedge, and dancing in Bartlett Center.
“Why wouldn’t you want to come back to WPI?” —Rachel Delisle ’96, ’06 MBA Goats immediate past president of the Alumni Association “I love seeing my friends and the amazing staff Come Home in the Office of Lifetime Engagement, where I Many alumni celebrated their 30-, 40-, and 50-year reunions at Alumni Week- worked when I was a student.” end 2017; WPI’s younger alumni found the weekend a great excuse to return —Bo Pierce ’16, ’17 MBA to campus for trip down memory lane. Celebrating Our Supporters Alumni Weekend provides an opportunity for us to thank and recognize some of our most generous donors. The weekend kicked off on Thursday, June 1, with the Giving Societies Reception, which celebrated members of the Founders, 1865, Goddard, Salisbury, Washburn, and Boynton Lifetime Giving Societies, recognizing donors who have achieved lifetime giving of $100,000 or more; members of the President’s Circle, which recognizes o l WPI’s leadership annual donors; and Alden mo Society members, who have included WPI in their estate plans or who have made endowed
Sternai gifts to WPI. President Leshin gave attendees s insights to her work on the Mars Curiosity Rover mission and her time as a director at Charle d NASA. The next day Alden Society members len an
o gathered for their annual luncheon; WPI’s e D Bernard M. Gordon Dean of Engineering o J Winston Oluwole (Wole) Soboyejo, spoke on os t
o his vision for engineering at WPI. h P
“I’ve enjoyed going to the “I’m here with my wife and Washburn Shops and getting an child (and another one on the “I just had to see “I love the trip all my friends who engraving on my WPI keychain down nostalgia way), and it seemed a good favor, and being presented with time to come back and show graduated with the the banner for my class.” lane.” them the campus.” Class of 2017.” —Joseph Sceviour ’07 —Tori Miller ’15 —Alexander Wald ’17 —RJ Ramirez ’92
“It’s been great reconnecting with “My cousins graduated from WPI, too, the alumni community and seeing and I just have a lot of connections here. “It was really fun seeing the staff from the Alumni Office This place will always have a special my old residence hall.” and my friends.” place in my heart.” —Richard Skowyra ’07 —Hasson Harris Wilcher ’17 —Russ Grossman ’07 o v e r [ earlebridge]
Can’t Hide that letter Tech Pride Campus was a sea of crimson and gray during from Homecoming 2017, September 8 and 9. Alumni, the alumni students, and friends gathered to enjoy a weekend of traditions including the Pep Rally, president Parade of Floats, football game, and Rope Pull. Special events were held for Admissions Tour Guide and Representative alumni, the Baystate Battalion, and Women’s Athletics. The commu- nity also paid tribute to the late Bill “Tuna” Trask Dear Alumni: on Friday afternoon. This fall has started off filled with WPI pride. Homecoming Weekend, Sept. 8 and 9, brought so many alumni and families back to campus. In keeping with the theme of the weekend, we could not hide our Tech pride. The Parade of Floats, football and other athletic games, the Rope Pull, and enjoying time with friends on the Quad made for a weekend of tradition, cheer, and great memories. On Friday many alumni and friends returned for a special memorial service for Bill “Tuna” Trask, who was a fixture of our community for decades. Tuna was a mentor and friend to countless alumni and students, and was a presence on campus until the end of his life. He is missed by his WPI family, but his legacy continues in those who now act as mentors to others. I am now looking forward to Nov. 1 and the inaugural Hall of Luminaries induction ceremony and festivities. If ever there is to be a WPI pride moment— this is it, and you do not want to miss it. We’re hoping to see as many alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends as possible in the Sports and Recreation Center as we honor 11 remarkable individuals who have brought about the most extraordinary accomplishments to our society. This is going to be an amazing moment in the history of our university, and I hope you will join us. When I’ve been on campus lately, I’ve started paying more attention to other pride points. The large, heavy oak doors on Boynton Hall; the many spaces in the Rubin Campus Center where I attend events and meetings; the two goat statues that symbolize our mascot and the proud spirit of our community; the bricks engraved with names on the Quad. An individual, a reunion class, or a senior class made a gift to WPI to create these lasting legacies on our campus. They symbolize our long and proud tradition of philanthropy—a tradition we can all be a part of each year through the WPI Fund. I hope you will consider joining me in sharing your pride at the Hall of Luminaries event and through the WPI Fund this year. It’s not too early to save the date for Alumni Weekend 2018—May 31–June 3. I also encourage you to email me at [email protected] with your ideas and feedback.
My best,
David Wheeler ’93, ’04 MS
46 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 Photos Joe Dolen and Charles Sternaimolo o v e r [ earlebridge]
former Alumni Gym). “I actually feel like my financial giving is significantly less relevant than the time that I give to the students,” he says. “The financial part is just what I can do.” His interest in the university extends beyond service and monetary gifts. The Dunns are the parents of triplets, two of whom—Meaghan and Sarah— graduated from WPI in 2014 with degrees in biomedical engineering and management engineering, respectively. Though Dunn completed his medical education at Albany Medical College in 1982, he continues to draw daily from his WPI experience. “WPI placed an emphasis on self-learning and problem solving,” he says. “Especially in plastic surgery, many might be Here in a UMass Memorial surprised to learn that almost An Investment of time Hospital emergency suite, every patient situation is unique Dr. Dunn says he can make a Enrolling at WPI in 1974, from the late John van Alstyne, and may require a unique significant positive impact Raymond Dunn ’78 had his heart beloved mathematics professor solution. When I encounter a upon a patient’s life at a set on a life in the sciences. and dean who was known as problem without an obvious crucial moment. He majored in chemistry and, “van A” to students. solution, the school and my after his junior year, he took an Today, thanks in large part to further training influence my internship with what was then van Alstyne and WPI, especially ability to ‘figure out’ those Norton Company, a Worcester- the WPI Plan, he is chief of plastic new swimming pool. More solutions.” based abrasives company. and reconstructive surgery at recently, he made a gift to name Dunn’s work includes all areas The experience served its UMass Memorial Medical Center one of the 34 century-old of plastic surgery but especially purpose, but not in the way in Worcester. He’s also been an limestone grotesques that gazed reconstruction for injury Dunn expected. adjunct professor of biomedical from the heights of Alumni patients, including burns. As “I was making experimental engineering at WPI since 1992. Gymnasium, which was razed he envisioned, his his career is grinding wheels,” he says. “It was Giving back to the community earlier this year to make way for about helping others. an excellent experience, but I and his alma mater always has the new Foisie Innovation Studio “In surgery, we can start found some things were missing, been in Dunn’s character. As a and Messenger Residence Hall. something and, in a matter of especially greater ‘people’ member of Phi Gamma Delta Incorporated into a promenade, hours, have a significant positive contact.” fraternity, he donated time to the grotesques, most of them impact on a patient’s life,” he says. Dunn altered his path. Easterseals and Big Brothers Big sports-related, will silently watch To his WPI students, some of Reflecting on an anatomy and Sisters of America. He has served over the new facility, which will whom are aspiring physicians, physiology class he took as a WPI as a member of the Biology provide generations of students Dunn says he tries to impart “as sophomore (“It was one of my and Biotechnology Advisory with the physical space in which much advice as possible. I tell favorite courses”), he decided Board and the Biomedical to immerse themselves in WPI’s them that they really have to be more earnestly to pursue a career Engineering Advisory Board. He distinctive brand of learning. devoted, love it, and be prepared in medicine that had always been and his wife, Beth, supported the Dunn says he made his gift out of to work hard, but the rewards are a consideration. He received Sports and Recreation Center by a love for WPI but also for history worth the effort.” guidance and encouragement naming one of the lanes in the (WPI’s) and architecture (the —Andrew Faught
48 w pi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 Alumni Benefits & Resources Take advantage of these services and programs offered by the Alumni Association and Office of Alumni Relations. Some, like the insurance program, have special rates for WPI alumni. Several are free, and some benefit WPI scholarships. More at wpi.edu/alumni
CENTENNIAL WALKWAY Leave your mark www.edu/+bricks
INSURANCE PROGRAM Great prices on insurance products www.edu/+alumnibenefits
ALUMNI CAREER SERVICES WPI RING PROGRAM Free—for life Your connection to WPI tradition www.edu/+alumnicareers www.edu/+alumnibenefits
GORDON LIBRARY Lifetime access www.edu/+library
ALUMNI DIRECTORY WPI MERCHANDISE A global network of more than 38,000 Show your WPI pride in style www.edu/+alumnibenefits www.edu/+alumnimerchandise o v e r [ earlebridge]
Celebrating Our BEST Congratulations to the 13 individuals who earned recognition from the Alumni Association in 2017.
Alumni Association President Dave Wheeler, Deborah Foley McManus ‘97, Wheeler, Marni Hall '97, President Leshin Myles Walton ‘97, President Leshin
Wheeler, John Kelly ‘82, Lise Jorgensen ‘87, David Cortese ‘92, Joseph Killar ‘77, President Leshin, Immediate Past President of the Alumni Association James Mayer ‘77, President Leshin Rachel Delisle ‘96, ‘06 MBA, Jonathan Titus ‘67, Dusty Klauber ‘67
50 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 Marni Hall ’97, John Boynton John Kelly ’82, Robert H. Zhiqiang Tan ’87 PhD, Robert H. Deborah Foley McManus ’97, Young Alumni Award for Service Goddard Award for Outstanding Goddard Award for Outstanding Ichabod Washburn Young Alumni to WPI: co-sponsor of student Professional Achievement: vice Professional Achievement: CEO Award for Outstanding Profes- projects, guest speaker at WPI, president for quality operations and chairman at a start-up sional Achievement: analytical host for incoming students events, and environment, health and company, Framedia Ltd. in Beijing, and transformational executive Class of 1997 board member, safety at Pfizer, with global where he grew revenues from RMB leader for Morpho Detection, LLC, WPI Life Sciences Advisory Board responsibility for all quality and $36 million to RMB $1.2 billion; where she is vice president of member, Women’s Impact EHS functions. most recently worked for quality and program Network member, and WPI “This was a humbling experience for Northern Light Venture Capital, management. trustee. me and for my family. The recognition the China-focused venture firm, “I feel so incredibly grateful and “I remain engaged with WPI reflects on the opportunities I have where he helped build its media blessed to have the career that I have because this is where I learned how to had to contribute in my career at presence. and feel the root of it started at WPI. I be the best version of myself. … Not Pfizer to help to supply medicines to received a significant scholarship from surprisingly, I still get so much out of people around the world to maintain Jonathan Titus ’67, Robert H. Ed and Millie Sydor when I was at my current engagement with WPI. In and improve their health and quality Goddard Award for Outstanding WPI. The several times I saw Ed and addition to ‘giving back’ it provides of life. And it all started with my Professional Achievement: Millie, I would thank them because me the opportunity to be part of this undergraduate experience at WPI.” invented the Mark-8 personal I couldn’t believe that a total stranger wonderful community in new ways, minicomputer in 1974, which was would help me pay for my education. which I continue to find personally Joseph Kilar ’77, Robert H. at the Smithsonian Institution as Without them, I’m not sure if WPI and professionally rewarding.” Goddard Award for Outstanding part of the “Information Age” would have been a reality for me. Professional Achievement: display. I now look at the time I spend giving David Cortese ’92, Robert H. developed a high-profile $27 “My education at WPI gave me a back to WPI as well as our financial Goddard Award for Outstanding billion project on a site of 168 good foundation for further study, contributions as my way of thanking Professional Achievement: square kilometers in Saudi but beyond that it taught me to think Ed and Millie.” worked for USWeb and was vice Arabia; currently serves as head about and solve problems. My president and divison CIO at Sony of construction and execution problem-solving skills improved as Naveen Selvadurai ’02, Ichabod Pictures Home Entertainment for strategy at Oberoi Realty Limited, years went by, and I’m always grateful Washburn Young Alumni Award seven years; has his own company, a real estate developer in for the firm foundation I received for Outstanding Professional Media Salvation; currently serves Mumbai, India. at WPI.” Achievement: co-founder of as president of digital technology Foursquare, a location-based at Advantage Solutions: Sales, James Mayer ’77, Robert H. Douglas Klauber ’67, William R. social networking website/app; Marketing, and Technology. Goddard Award for Outstanding Grogan Award for Support of the currently a partner with Expa, a Professional Achievement: Mission of WPI: member of the start-up studio that works with Mehrdad Givehchi ’87, Robert H. co-founder of EPRO Engineering Alumni Board, past president of proven founders to develop and Goddard Award for Outstanding and Environmental Consulting, the Alumni Association, longtime launch new companies. Professional Achievement: now leads strategic development chair of the Alumni Association co-founder of Acacia Communica- and manages large EPC projects Citations Committee, active Myles Walton ’97, Ichabod tions, an optical interconnect for TRC, following its merger with alumni volunteer in many Washburn Young Alumni Award market supplier; listed as an EPRO Engineering in 2002. capacities, and, with his wife, for Outstanding Professional inventor on four patents. “WPI provided me an exceptional established an endowed scholar- Achievement: managing director education and much more. I found ship fund for undergraduates. at Deutsche Bank; tied as the No. 1 Lise (Wivestad) Jorgensen ’87, WPI to be a challenging and “I have stayed involved because aerospace and defense analyst in Robert H. Goddard Award for demanding environment when WPI represents excellence at all levels, the nation, as ranked by Bloom- Outstanding Professional I arrived. I also found supportive and I will never be able to give back as berg Markets, and consistently a Achievement: has worked in professors and classmates, willing to much as I have received. As anyone top-ranked analyst by Institutional research and development around help. The high-performance environ- who knew Bill Grogan or read his Investor magazine. the world for Procter and Gamble, ment of WPI along with a supportive biography knows, receiving an award “I was humbled to be honored by Bristol-Myers Squibb, Clairol, Estee culture prepared me to succeed in named after him is the highest honor the Institute and the Alumni Lauder, and Unilever; seven similar professional environments. an alum could ever receive for Association. There are so many patents to her name. It also guided me when influencing supporting the mission of WPI.” deserving alums, so to get a special the culture of my own company and call-out was a great experience.” those where I have worked.”
fall 2017 | follow us @WPI #wpi journal 51 SAVE THE DATE
ALUMNI WEEKEND: MAY 31JUNE 1, 2018
Alumni Weekend is the perfect opportunity to come back to WPI to reconnect with friends, revisit favorite spots, and see how the campus has changed since your student years. Special reunion activities for undergraduate classes ending in 3 and 8. Contact us at [email protected] or 508-831-5600 if you’re interested in serving on your reunion committee.
For complete details on our biggest alumni gathering of the year visit wpi.edu/+alumniweekend [ classnotes ] submit your class notes to [email protected]
1946 1959 John Barrett ’46 has extended his 2. “Summer fun is lots of baseball lineage with his son, Tom Barrett ’83, games at the Oakland Coliseum with and his grandson, Matthew Barrett ’21. Gompei,” writes James Alfieri, who Tom writes, “Dad is 92 and loves that his brought the mascot along on an outing
youngest is attending WPI.” t with his wife, Janet.
Floyd Wyczalek was interviewed on “Autoline After Hours” (episode 1961 AAH#377) about his work as project Don Bottomley’s widow, Betty, informs manager on General Motors’ Electro- us of his passing on March 29, 2017, in van, the world’s first hydrogen-powered Miami. Don continued his education in fuel cell vehicle. Its 50th anniversary the military and earned honorable was celebrated last year. “This can’t be discharge in 1974 as captain of the 102D real,” he writes. “Star Trek teletransport, Engineer Battalion, New York Army fast-forward once-upon-a-time… Kirk to National Guard. “I met Don in the Mr. Spock: ‘Beam me up, Scotty.’” Chicago area in 1974,” she writes. “We were married in 1977 and pursued our careers in Miami while enjoying the 1952 summers here. according to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. local national parks on foot and in the Robert Favreau’s daughter, Robin “I used my engineering skills learned Call or write ACLU national director water. Don inspired everyone with his Harley, writes to tell us of his passing in at WPI to construct staging around this Anthony Romero in New York City.” knowledge and his love of life, and that June. See her Letter to the Editor on large house (three floors in back) and passion to explore and share his page 2 for a touching memory. installed vinyl siding to spare us experiences with others lasted his repainting every five years. Later, after I 1957 lifetime. He will be greatly missed and r retired, we needed a garage to house 24. Mike Stephens ’57 brought Gompei fondly remembered by so very many.” 1953 our toys (O’Day Mariner sailboat and 14 along for a patriotic salute to the U.S. David Hathaway sends reflections on bicycles). That was my first major military on Memorial Day 2017. life from Islesboro Island in Maine’s construction by myself, where I learned 1962 Penobscot Bay, written on a rainy Bill Krein writes, “This marks my 20th that two people could not push up a Spike Vrusho writes, “As fundraising Memorial Day. year as adjunct faculty with WPI, now 24-foot wall! Visitors are welcome to chair for the Unitarian Universalist “It is a time to celebrate life and teaching courses in the Foisie Business come and see the beauty of an island Fellowship in Vero Beach, Fla., I remember all those before us who School MBA program and the Corporate that has attracted folks from major organized and raised $4,500 with a yard have made this life possible for all of us. and Professional Education division. A cities, as well as movie stars. We have a sale, and $16,901 from an auction. As My father and I found this beautiful great opportunity to participate in the great range of people here in Islesboro my contribution to the auction I island in 1947 and we have been ongoing excellence of WPI.” and it is a wonderful place to grow old offered to prepare a Greek dinner and a coming back every year. The Navy kept by staying active!” New Orleans shrimp dinner, which Andy Terwilleger me away for a number of years while I brought in $900.” sends this shout-out roamed the earth, but I never forgot to the class. “The Few! The Proud! The this beautiful space. In ’47 and ’48 I FEW! The Class of ’62!” He elaborates, stayed over the summer to work, first as 1955 r “Though the Class of ’62 had just nine Bob Holden writes, “I’m trying to get 1958 a caddy, then as a construction worker Bill Rabinovitch members at our 55th Reunion (Carm the San Diego ACLU to file my case in writes, “A European art cleaning mortar off used bricks for a Carosella, Bob Cawood, Mike Davis, Holden vs. the Electoral College, to magazine is now preparing a six-page new house, and finally as assistant Dick DiBuono, Bill Krein, Bernie declare the Electoral College unconsti- piece about my career. That prompted salad chef in the kitchen of the island’s Meister, John Szymanski, Andy tutional, since it violates Wesberry vs. my posting on Facebook the WPI Journal largest hotel at that time. When I Terwilleger, and Steve Wells), we had Sanders. (It requires House seats to be piece from the 1990s that the NY art learned of a significant piece of land more laughs per capita than any other of equal population!). I read the case world never saw. I linked to my for sale at $350, it was a no-brainer class! Our Class Dinner went well into in 1964 while taking a constitutional painting that hangs in Fuller Labs at for my dad. We tried to be woodsmen, the evening, while we shared memories, law class. I also got an MA in history WPI. My FB audience is steadily giving my brothers and my Dad, which we thoughts, and joys. Those who could from San Diego State University in 1995. 500 to 1,000 reactions a week, according were not. One rainy weekend, we brought their wives. This evoked a The Electoral College was added in 1787 to notifications—a lot of exposure moved our tent into an abandoned mystery: How did these ladies mature by anti-democracy Hamilton at the globally.” house nearby, then bought it, and more graciously than we? (When my request of smaller slave states, ever since we have been spending wife was ‘carded’ for ordering off the
reunion year r submit [email protected] 53 [ Classnotes ]
Senior Menu at Friendly’s, the waiter Carbohydrate Chemistry of the voters to tackle this local problem with checked her ID to be sure she was ‘of American Chemical Society (ACS) about 1969 a locally driven answer. However, age.’ Then he glanced at me and an award in Professor Horton’s memory Steve Legomsky has retired after 34 navigating an entrenched system and grumbled, ‘You’re OK.’) for Distinguished Achievement in years as a law professor at Washington implementing the solution on a small “Another question: Does anyone Industrial Carbohydrate Chemistry University in St. Louis, specializing in island served by a daily ferry has proved remember the name of Carm’s (with my company doing the sponsor- immigration, refugee, and human ‘educational.’” Roger also serves as a short-term freshman-year roommate, ship for at least the first few years), my rights law. During that time, he took a director of Monotype Imaging the one who ‘lost’ the door to his dorm idea was well received. On Aug. 21, 2017, leave of absence to serve the Obama (NASDAQ:TYPE), in Woburn, Mass., a room?” the first Derek Horton Award in Administration as chief counsel of U.S. supplier of typefaces and corporate Industrial Carbohydrate Chemistry will Citizenship and Immigration Services. branding technology. He is chairman of be presented to Dr. Francis Berti of GSK Shortly after retiring, he returned to the Community Foundation of the r 1963 Vaccines, Sienna, Italy. At the award Washington to serve as senior Florida Keys, which nurtures a Carl Stoutenberg writes, “In 2001, after symposium I will present “Banded counselor to the Secretary of Homeland charitable network of donors and 34 years and several patents, I ‘retired’ paper: An important example of Security. He has been called to testify nonprofits up and down the Keys. from The Stanley Tools Product contemporary industrial carbohydrate before Congress many times while in Engineering department in New Britain, chemistry.” the private sector, and has served as a Attorney Peter McDermott gave a talk Conn. I needed to devote more time to a consultant to the transition teams of on IP strategies at WPI’s Foisie Business hobby business that was becoming a Presidents Clinton and Obama, the first School in April. A graduate of Suffolk full-time job. It was Good Friday and as r President Bush’s commissioner of University Law School, he returns to his luck would have it, Friday the 13th. For immigration, the U.N. high commis- 1968 undergraduate alma mater regularly to me a very good Good Friday. A. G. Ken Battle writes, “My wife, Jeanette, sioner for refugees, and several foreign share his expertise with students in Backeast (datatags.com) was started in and I are days away from selling our governments. His latest book, Professor Jim McKenna’s business law 1982 to service antique and special South Jersey house that we have owned Immigration and Refugee Law and course. “Peter was tremendous—again,” interest automobiles. The business was for 21 years. We are moving full-time to Policy (now in its sixth edition), has says McKenna. “Not only does he have moved from Connecticut to Colorado in our lake house on Cayuga Lake, in New been a required text at 185 law schools an exceptional knowledge (he is ranked 2005 and expanded to include muscle York’s Finger Lakes region, which we since its publication. as one of the best intellectual property cars and trucks. Today it enjoys a have owned since 2011. A small Since retiring, Steve has been attorney in the world), but he was able worldwide market as there are car and expansion is planned. I continue to occupied almost full-time with media to illustrate the concepts with stories truck collectors pretty much every- work part-time for Jacobs Engineering interviews, appearing several times on drawn from his experience. I asked the where. Recently my son Brett moved and do some consulting projects as well. PBS NewsHour, NPR, and other national students what they thought, and the from Connecticut to the Western Slopes I have been adjunct faculty for Drexel and overseas TV, radio, print, and online uniform consensus was that, even of Colorado, bringing new ideas and University’s Chem E department in the media, as well as volunteering with beyond the substance, he connected efficiencies to the operation and past and hope to establish a relation- various nonprofits. Last spring he wrote with them extraordinarily well.” possibly allowing me to finally retire ship with Cornell’s program. I am still his first novel, a sci-fi–neuroscience permanently. Time will tell.” into cars and currently own a 1984 psychological thriller, in which “no Michael Peterson writes, “After Ferrari 400i and a 2003 M-B E55 AMG set right-thinking publisher would have completing my career with National up as a track car for Watkins Glen. even a glimmer of interest,” he writes. Grid’s energy efficiency group, I have 1966 Jeanette and I enjoy wine and touring “Retirement has freed up more time to now retired. But, recently I went back John Lauterbach writes, “A week after wineries in the Northeast; the lake spend with my wife of almost 40 years, to the energy efficiency field as a graduating from WPI, I enrolled in the house has a large wine cellar fitted with Lorraine Gnecco, my two wonderful consultant. Life is good, and helping chemistry graduate program at The racks.” daughters, and my two perfect Ohio State University, receiving my MS grandchildren. I highly recommend to make a better future for our kids is in 1968 and my PhD in December 1970 Cary Palulis writes, “Turned 71, and retirement for everyone.” a great feeling. International travel has under the direction of the late Professor still working full-time as VP of sales for been a part of my recent years, with Derek Horton, a noted researcher in recycling company Heritage-Crystal visits to Nepal and India. There is a r carbohydrate chemistry. For many Clean. Survived open-heart surgery in 1973 great big world out there just asking years, Horton’s research group was May to replace my leaking aortic valve. Roger Heinen reports that much of his for us to visit.” housed in the “Sugar Alley” section of Now six weeks into recovery, and so far time is devoted to a single project: Mark Whitley the chemistry department complex. so good. Susan and I live in Avon, Conn., building a $4M municipally owned writes, “After four years in The building housing the original and Port Saint Lucie, Fla. I golf and fish 1-gigabit broadband internet access retirement, I have gone back to work “Sugar Alley” was razed in the early in my spare time. I attended a Hall of system for the 650 homes and small and started a new oil and gas company. 1980s. In 2012, Ohio State broke ground Fame induction for my track coach at businesses of Islesboro, a small Maine I am president and CEO of Chisholm for the Chemical and Biomolecular Cheshire Academy and gave the island community. “It’s no secret that Energy, located in Fort Worth, Texas. Engineering and Chemistry Building, acceptance speech. Talked two different small rural towns in the U.S. are dying a Our company specializes in acquiring which houses a new “Sugar Alley.” My HS students into attending WPI instead slow death of a thousand cuts as they assets in mature fields and adding value son and I were at Ohio State for both of RPI and MIT. They love it at our are trapped on the wrong side of the through the application of industry the groundbreaking ceremony and for school! I am looking forward to our digital divide—too small or too isolated leading horizontal drilling and the grand opening ceremonies in April 50th class reunion in 2018!” for incumbent investment,” he writes. fracturing technologies. We are buying 2015. I was one of the major contribu- “Islesboro is unique in that it has a long our first asset in the second quarter of tors to the new “Sugar Alley.” When I history of self-reliance. I am a member 2017. Our plans are to drill several approached the Division of of the small group that convinced the hundred wells on this property.”
54 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 submit your class notes to [email protected] [ Classnotes ]
1974 1978 r 4. Ed Gordon writes, “I took my Flat After 32 years with Lockheed Martin, Gompei photo to show what I normally John Bourassa has accepted a senior do: Sit back and surf the net in my Man test engineer position with CACI at Cave nest in Austin, Texas.” Aberdeen Proving Ground. 1975
Judy Nitsch’s firm, Nitsch Engineering, t took first place among the medium- sized companies on the Boston Globe’s 75 Top Places to Work list for 2016. Of the 2,021 companies invited to participate, 332 went all the way through the process. More than 70,000 employees rated them on factors such as direction, execution, connection, management, work, pay, and benefits. Alumni employees who joined Judy in a toast at the company celebration included Maddie (Willer) DeClerck ’14 (right, front), Coleman Horsley ’16 (right, rear), and Steve Farr ’88 (not pictured). 1980 Martin Rowe writes, “Spent a week in Austin at the annual NIWeek Confer- 1977 ence, but I had a little down time when Mike Abrams writes, “We had a good the conference ended. So what do you contingent of Riley dorm dwellers of the do in Austin? Well, play guitar, of Class of ’77 at John Nowosacki’s annual course. A local friend took me on a tour chili cook-off at his home in North of the city’s guitar shops, including
South Austin Music, where we paused Reading, Mass. Attending were (in photo, t for a photo. left to right, front to back) Jerry Yelle, Eric Blom, Chuck Dreyfus, and Brian Tremblay, Erik Macs, John Nowosacki, Scott Shurr, Bruce Baldwin, Mike 1982 Abrams, class president Raymond Thomas Harley joined Louis Berger as Baker, Chuck D’Ambra. and t vice president and New England regional transportation manager, working out of Jim Baer writes, “As outgoing president the firm’s Rocky Hill, Conn., office. He and vice president, respectively, of the was previously with the Connecticut WPI Outing Club, Mark Knights and I Department of Transportation. planned one last club backpack to a remote, off-trail lake deep in the David Rubinstein was named CEO of Pemigewasset Wilderness of New Nizhniy Health in Somerville, Mass. He Hampshire for Memorial Day 1977. We brings more than 30 years of executive both bailed, probably to study for finals. operations experience to the home Over the next 40 years, including a few health agency. working together at Sanders Assoc. in Merrimack, we kept discussing this hike. r On June 21, we finally made it! We 1983 topped it off the next day by bush- Mark Besse sends greetings from Texas. whacking up to the Appalachian Trail “My Dell Division was bought by NTT and over a couple of 4,000-foot peaks. Data, so I moved with them to a great IT After decades of climbing in the company, where I’m still supporting Colorado Rockies, where I moved in document imaging and medical 1981, there is still immense pleasure in processing. My 19-year-old son is hiking the White Mountains as we did completing his second year at John Brown
back then.” t University, while my two girls are still busy with our homeschooling. Just celebrated 22 years with Kristy on April 1.”
reunion year r submit [email protected] 55 [ Classnotes ]
1989 1994 Fran Hoey joined his son Conor ’18 Lenny Belliveau (MS FPE ’97, MS MTI (civil engineering major) in Australia, ’04) and Robin Juchnevics (Assumption after he wrapped up his IQP at the College ’94) were married on April 9, Melbourne Project Center. Their tour 2017, at The Harding Allen Estate in included Port Campbell National Park, Barre, Mass. “Our honeymoon was spent where they paused for a father-and-son in Belize,” Len writes. He is a senior fire photo at a stop known as Twelve protection engineer and vice president t Apostles along the Great Ocean Road. of strategic accounts in the Framing- ham office of Jensen Hughes. t 1991 Jason Johnson writes, “At the end of a Lisa DiFrancesco, board-certified plastic long Memorial Day weekend, it was nice surgeon, joined the prestigious Haute to relax, supervised by Gompei.” Beauty Network, which is affiliated with luxury lifestyle publication Haute Living. 1995 Col. Spence Cocanour, USAF, reports a 1992 Change of Command from the 720th 17. From Scottsdale, Marc Licciardi Special Tactics Group at Hurlburt Field, sends a photo of himself “representing Fla., to the 24th Special Operations Wing, where he serves as vice wing WPI in the Arizona sun.” commander. “The 720STG and 24SOW Donald Peterson was appointed to lead provide forces specializing in precision the Northern Illinois University College strike, global access, and personnel of Engineering and Engineering recovery in numerous combat theaters Technology as the third dean in the around the globe,” he notes. “Here I am prior to a High Altitude-Low Opening college’s history. He was previously (HALO) parachute jump from the dean of the College of Science,
C-130.” t Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics at Texas A&M University- 6. Lisa (Cigal) and Roy Schletzbaum Texarkana. The announcement referred started off their summer with a trip to to him as “an accomplished researcher Fenway Park with their boys, Karl (14) who straddles the line between and Konrad (12). “Our family is on a engineering and medicine.” quest to visit all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums,” writes Lisa. “We 8. RJ Ramirez shares, “Will be started the journey in 2014 and now celebrating my 18th year at Intel Corp. have five left to go.” in October, while also celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary and welcom- ing our 2nd child.” 1996 On Valentine’s Day of 2017, Mike Caprio
r proposed to Diana Felicia Rodriguez of 1984 1986 t 1993 Freeport, Long Island, at the Brooklyn Edward Diamantis reports that’s he has Desiree Awiszio was honored at the Donna Barone writes, “On May 17, my diner where they first met just over six taken a leave of absence from his post as IEEE-USA National Professionalism son Jonathan Viens Jr. graduated from years prior. Awards Ceremony in Charlotte, N.C., in WPI. He and his uncle, Nick Barone ’65, senior IT program manager for Charter April, along with MathAltitude School (center in photo, with me and Jack) are Communications and is serving Joseph Maraia, a partner at www. of Mathematics principal Olga both FIJIs. It was a very special day for all.” full-time as lieutenant colonel in the burnslev.com Burns & Levinson, was Serebrennikov. “We won the K-12 STEM Army Reserve as Battalion Commander named to the “Intellectual Property Literacy Educator-Engineer Partnership of the 310th Military Police Battalion, r Trailblazers” list by The National Law Award,” writes Desiree. “It was an 1988 on Long Island, N.Y., as the unit Journal. According to the magazine, the unforgettable experience, with 800 Bill Noel writes, “I have returned to PwC prepares to deploy to Guantanamo Bay, real-world, practical experience he people in attendance.” in a new capacity, as VP of product Cuba. “I was commissioned in 1993 gained as a master electrician has management in PwC’s New Ventures from WPI’s ROTC program, the Bay helped him focus on the engineering team. This group is chartered with State Battalion, and became a member and biotechnology sectors. He received introducing new business models, of Pershing Rifles—eventually,” he adds. his JD from Suffolk University Law offerings, and products.” School.
56 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 submit your class notes to [email protected] [ Classnotes ]
Ian Catlow was promoted in April to vice president at Tighe & Bond. He brings more than 20 years of water and wastewater design experience throughout New England, including combined sewer separation work in Boston and water reuse systems at Gillette Stadium. He also managed Tighe & Bond’s award-winning Sturbridge wastewater treatment facility upgrade, which was the first ballasted biological flocculation treatment system in the United States. His recent work includes numerous low-level nitrogen and phosphorous removal projects across the region.
Jason Hutt sends this update. “In February, I was selected as the Orion Crew Systems Integration Lead in the Vehicle Integration Office of NASA’s Orion Program. I am responsible for the development of the cockpit of NASA’s 2004 Tim Baird (’08 MS ME) recently Orion spacecraft, which I manage as self-published his first full-length chair of the Cockpit Working Group. We ensure that every piece of equipment, novel, The Dragon in the Whites. “It’s every crew interface, and the cockpit a dragon-themed fantasy novel that environment meet NASA requirements takes place in and around the White and ensure mission safety and success. Mountains of New Hampshire,” he We’re busy reviewing hardware designs writes, “and is available for download
and verifying requirements in or purchase on Amazon.” t preparation for the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft, currently expected In its May edition, Consulting-Specifying to launch in 2021. That mission, Engineer honored founder and principal Exploration Mission 2 (EM-2), will and senior fire protection engineer perform a low-altitude flyby of the Brian Thompson (MS FPE), as one of Moon, similar to Apollo 8, and will 40 building industry professionals age return astronauts to the moon for the 40 and younger with demonstrated first time in almost 50 years. commitment to excellence in academic, 1998 r professional, personal, and community involvement. Jeff Alderson left his role as principal 2000 analyst at Eduventures for a new career 12. On July 6, 2017, Lt. Col. Daniel closer to home in Natick, Mass. He leads Murphy, USMC, took command of MCAF 2005 Online Learning Product Marketing for Quantico, Va., the airfield that supports Catherine Desmarais graduated in 2016 MathWorks, launching new products to HMX-1 and the Presidential Support with a doctorate of public health (DrPH) help STEM faculty integrate MathWorks mission. He is a CH-53E Helicopter in epidemiology from Tulane University products such as MATLAB into Pilot and has deployed five times to School of Public Health and Tropical academic courses to train the next the Horn of Africa, Iraq, and Afghani- Medicine. generation of scientists and engineers. stan in support of the Global War on Jeff and his wife, Sara, continue to use Terrorism and Operation Iraqi William Herbert sends this update. “I their science and education skills to Freedom. Prior to assuming command, graduated from Harvard University support their local town. Jeff cam- he graduated from the School of paigned for Natick School Committee Advanced Warfighting, Marine Corps Extension School in May with my (albeit losing by only seven votes), and University with a master’s degree in master’s degree (concentrating in Sara volunteered with the Solarize Mass operational studies. He is currently software engineering). I was promoted Natick program, a project that resulted enrolled at Northeastern University for in July by KAYAK to senior software in 156 new homes getting solar second master’s degree—in Interna- engineer, where I’ll also be celebrating my two-year anniversary in August. I installations. t tional Relations and Global Politics. He resides in Stafford, Va., with his wife, currently reside in the West End of Diana, and their four children. Boston.”
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15 16 17 18 Our summer class notes contest with Flat Gompei was a big success! See if you can recognize any familiar faces from those who sent us in their selfie with Gompei. Look for more photos in our upcoming winter issue. 19
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24 25 26 submit [email protected] 59 Pamela (Giasson) Lynch joined the research presentation, and a team surrounding Antarctica seems to be changes! I think back on the old days board of directors of Youth Villages in interview. The RoboHillers competed in increasing, despite climate model very fondly.” Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Kentucky in April in the VEX IQ World predictions to the contrary. Even with Championships with teams from all over frigid temperatures, constant darkness, Priya Jayachandran graduated with 26. Erica (Abrahamsen) Sabia writes, “My the globe.” Amy, who also holds a master’s and wild storms, the first winter voyage high honors from UCSF with her husband, Jay, and I welcomed our first degree in education and biology from to the Ross Sea in nearly 20 years is going doctorate in pharmacy and was inducted son, Miller John Sabia, in January 2017. Worcester State University, is the Project very well.” Julian recent took Flat into Phi Lambda Sigma, the national We’ve just returned from his first vacation Lead The Way teacher at Hopkinton. Gompei out onto the Antarctica sea ice pharmacy leadership society. She also in Colorado to see another WPI grad, his to snap a photo while the science team received the Dean’s Award for Outstand- auntie Lauren Abrahamsen ’02 (MENGR 3. Michael Freeman took Gompei along was setting up an ice sampling station. ing Research for her studies on warfarin ’03). We live in Wilbraham, Mass.” on a family vacation to Disney this year. in healthy volunteers. Priya earned her MS Che at UC Berkley in 2009. She helped bring the Precision Medicine Curriculum promoted by President Obama’s White House to UCSF, and has been published in the school’s newspaper, Synapse. After completing an 8-week internship with the FDA, she is now a postdoctorate fellow, doing NIH-funded research in clinical pharmacology.
11. Jaris Wicklund shares, “Came back for Alumni Weekend and had a great time seeing everyone and how much the campus has changed over the last ten years!”
2008 r 25. Jen Hosker checked off a lifelong dream and became a Red Sox season ticket holder.
Andrea (Hevey) King writes, “Three t future engineers came into the world in March from three WPI couples! And the moms have kept in touch, moving on from trading stories about being orientation leaders at WPI, to now swapping advice about motherhood.” They are Siobhan (Fleming) and Matt Conway (daughter Aibhlinn), Erin (Vozzola) Ryan Kendrick Rocco Lore was hired as a dispensary On March 3, 2017 Greg Ratner ’06 got and (daughter 13. Andrea (Hevey) 2006 assistant at Tufts Medical Center’s dental married to Jamie Julian in Tamarindo, Audrey), and and Matt King ’10 Amy Borges is currently teaching at facility in March. Costa Rica. They live together with their (daughter Alexis).
Hopkinton (Mass.) Middle School where two dogs in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. t she offers a VEX Robotics VRC program 19. Julian Race spent part of her for 8th grade students and teaches other summer onboard the RVIB Nathaniel B. 2009 Alex technology and engineering courses as Palmer on a 65-day mission to the Ross Sea, Owlchemy Labs, founded by 2007 Schwartz, was acquired by Google in well. “I brought our middle school Antarctica. He is supporting a research 5. Vanessa Castro joined Derive Systems May. “We set out on a journey over six RoboHillers teams to the VEX IQ project called “PIPERS” (Polynyas, Ice as a project manager, where Richard years ago to build the kinds of games we Challenge Southern New England Production and Seasonal Evolution in the Welch ’80 serves as chief operating wanted to see exist,” Alex writes on the Championship, where they won several Ross Sea), which involves spending two officer. “We enjoyed posing together Owlchemy blog, thanking fans and awards,” she reports. “Team 1715B won months on the icebreaker during the holding some of Derive’s best known supporters who believed in the company the Teamwork Champion Award and the austral winter. “Using a combination of products,” she writes, “—and then early on. “We’re insanely excited to join STEM Research Project Award, and team on-ice observations and samples, UAS and Gompei just wanted to stop in and the Google family and we cannot 1715A won the Design Award and the UAV missions, buoy arrays, and traditional say hi!” Teamwork 2nd Place Award, which oceanographic sampling techniques,” he freaking wait to show you what we’re qualified them both for participation in writes, “the science team hopes to better 15. Russell Grossman writes, “My wife, concocting next.” the World Championship. The events understand the processes that drive sea Amy, and I celebrated our sixth wedding involved tele-operated control, ice production in the Ross Sea during anniversary. It was great being back on autonomous programming, a STEM the winter, and why the annual ice campus for our reunion. Lots of
60 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 2011 Kristen Garza and Harold Reader got Colleen Heath accepted the Young married in Punta Cana, Dominican Professional of the Year Award from the Republic, on May 27. Classmate Brendan Massachusetts chapter of the American Gove recited “Footprints in the Sand,” as Council of Engineering Companies on part of the ceremony. A number of other March 15. This annual award recognizes WPI friends made the trip to celebrate engineers under the age of 30, highlight- with the couple. Surrounding them in ing their interesting and unique work, the photo are Brendan Gove, Tom and the resulting impact on society. Her Cucinotta, Kat Kulzer ’12, Jean Friend projects at CDM Smith have contributed ’13, Katie Partridge, Maggie (Fulton) to the protection of wildlife and the Pringle, Tom and Nicole (Comosa)
environment without limiting water Izzo, and Ryan Stock. t suppliers and the areas they serve. Her work has also helped communities meet public safety standards and mitigate 2012 water quality issues. Nick Gardiner writes, “Time flies! Despite growing up in New England, after Rebecca Trojanowski (’14 MS ME) graduation I moved to the Midwest, received the Best Young Researcher along with my wife and now two kids, Award in Biomass at the 2017 World for a job at Oshkosh Defense (military Sustainable Energy Days conference trucks, not kids clothes!). My time at WPI Wels, Austria. She notes, “When I was gave me the tools and confidence needed completing my bachelor’s degree in to succeed in my career. As a lead chemical engineering at WPI, I would manufacturing engineer, I now lead a have never guessed I’d be burning wood team of engineers building trucks to for my research, but over the past few protect soldiers all around the world. years I’ve come to realize how important How awesome is that? Don’t worry, I still this work is.” have plenty of time to build hot rods on the side.”
reunion year r submit [email protected] 61
Katherine Larson joined Burns & Levinson 2016 in Providence, R.I., as a patent agent. She 22. Julianne Flynn writes, “After graduat- Honoring the received her certification in 2016 and ing in 2016, I began working at Pratt & earned her PhD in biomedical engineer- Whitney in the Manufacturing Engineer- Rev. Peter J. Scanlon ing from Brown University this year. ing Rotational Program. I enjoyed being back on campus for Alumni Weekend!” Thomas Lextrait and Nhi Vo-Lextrait had their first baby, a daughter named 18. Bo Pierce writes, “After graduating in Camelia. February 2017 with my MS in manage- ment, I co-founded The Hum with Tim Christopher Sanchez writes, “The last five O’Neil ’14 and Dave Powers ’17. We are a years have gone by so quickly. It truly feels digital media company that crafts content like yesterday when I last walked through for young entrepreneurs. We are working the WPI campus as an undergraduate. with anyone outside the 9–5 to promote Now that I finished my master’s in innovation and entrepreneurship.” manufacturing engineering, I feel that there are more doors open for me to grow and develop as an engineer. Since 2017 transitioning into the delivery assurance 1. Norma Bachman shares, “I am going team at Pratt & Whitney, I have become with flow, living life to its fullest! Learning more involved in solving manufacturing as much as I can and identifying what my and production issues for the Externals passions are. My brain feels like a sponge. parts on the GTF commercial engines. My first adventure is working as a From providing drawing clarifications and manufacturing engineer at a contract changes, to visiting with suppliers both in manufacturing medical device company. the U.S. and abroad, it has been a Goat Big or Go Home! :)” If you walked the campus between 1969 and 2006, never-ending challenge. I know that the you most likely heard the booming voice of Father Scanlon, learning I gained from my classes and 20. Just after graduation, Michael Beinor who touched countless lives while serving as WPI’s first projects through WPI has prepared me shared his plans. “Starting work at Pratt & full-time chaplain. to face these tasks, to deliver the best Whitney like so many, but first competing product to our customers. Our engines in the Henley Royal Regatta and then a are not only responsible for bringing trip around Europe.” Father Pete dearly loved his home city of Worcester. He passengers to their destinations safely, served 58 years as a Roman Catholic priest for the Worcester but also for ensuring that we provide the Eric Fast reports, “I will be starting flight best power plant to protect our nation. school with the Navy, looking to go faster Diocese, was a devoted guardian of the Worcester Fire I cannot thank WPI enough for helping and higher than ever before.” Department, and seemed always to be wherever he was me become a better engineer, and being needed. He became WPI’s full-time chaplain in 1969 and able to take ‘Theory and Practice’ and Giovanni Greci shared some quality time with Gompei at Reunion. spent the better part of his life serving as faith coach, apply it to my work every day.” advisor, confidant, mentor, matchmaker, community 14. Cameron Jones writes, “Moved on to service advocate, friend, and strong shoulder to lean on for 2014 MathWorks in Natick, Mass. Enjoying not 7. Michael and Laura (Sandford) Burns having homework and assignments thousands of college students, alumni, and area residents. have gone from living in Institute Hall anymore!” freshman year, to recently celebrating Following his passing in September 2015, Alex Papianou their first wedding anniversary. 23. Erin Leger writes, “Right out of WPI I started working for Softbank Robotics ’57 and Deborah (Foley) McManus ’97 began a fundraising 21. Nichole Holman writes, “I’ve been a America in Boston, which is a company effort to establish the Rev. Peter J. Scanlon mechanical engineer at Mercury Systems I’d had my eye on since before I started Endowed Scholarship, to ensure Father Scanlon’s legacy in Hudson, N.H., since I graduated.” school. Less than a month after I began they asked me to go to the Aldebaran would live on for generations to come. Father Scanlon Emily Lurier received a Fulbright office in Paris to upgrade Pepper robots! exemplified leadership and community service, and these Scholarship and the Whitaker Interna- I love my job and the places it will take qualities are also among the qualifying requirements for tional Fellowship to study in the me!” the new endowed scholarship established in his memory. Netherlands. She is a PhD candidate in bioengineering and biomedical 10. A shout-out from Miguel Enric Escuer The scholarship fund has surpassed $50,000 and will soon engineering at Drexel University and Velásquez: “We did it! From here on, the benefit academically qualified undergraduate students from expects to graduate in 2018. world is in our hands... so watch out! Worcester and Worcester County with financial need—thus Something good is about to happen!” honoring Father Scanlon’s love of Worcester and WPI. 2015 9. Saluting Gompei at Reunion, Hasson 16. Tori Miller and Tyler Alexander got Harris Wilcher relates, “Newly minted WPI Contributions to the Rev. Peter J. Scanlon Endowed Scholarship engaged on the top of the Cliffs of Moher graduate here! Taking a short break and in Ireland this May. jumping headfirst into the work world. can be made through Lisa Maizite, assistant vice president for Excited for the opportunities and new development, at 508-831-5073, [email protected]. Kirsten Reed shares, “Every Monday we chapters of my life.” go to trivia at Tijuana Garage in Atlanta to grab some drinks and tacos and expand our minds!” This summer, Flat Gompei came along for the nachos.
62 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 “I was looking for an easy way to support WPI and our class scholarship. A qualified charitable distributionMembership Drive from my IRA required a simple phone call to my account administrator and completing a one-page form.”Join today!
Steve Alpert ’67 ALDEN SOC I E T Y Lawrence D’Addario ’90 decided to make a planned gift to help future engineering students benefit from a WPI education. Through his involve- ment in TAN (Tech Advisors Network) and his planned gift, Lawrence is also helping young entrepreneurs get off to a strong start. “I am pleased my planned gift will help future students enjoy the WPI experience as much as I did. WPI is a key path that led to many of my successes,” says Lawrence. “It’s a win-win situation.” HAVE YOU INCLUDED WPI in a will or trust? in a life income gift? as a beneficiary of life insurance, IRA, or other retirement account?
The Alden Society is always accepting new members, please join today to help ensure WPI's future!
Membership is about giving you recognition NOW for your plans to support WPI in the FUTURE. To join visit plannedgiving.wpi.edu. Let us know if you've made arrangements for WPI and we'll welcome you into the Alden Society.
FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact Lynne Feraco Director of Planned Giving 888-974-4438 [email protected]
submit [email protected] 63 [ completedcareers] Pete Koliss ‘38 MS EE Bob Newton ‘40 ME, Theta Chi dent. He later retired from Paychex Inc. Charlie Smith ‘41 ME, Phi Kappa Theta as vice president for western operations. Frank June ‘45 ME, SIM, Theta Chi Redon was elected to the WPI Board Regis Breault ‘46 EE of Trustees in 1992 and served for 18 Frank Mazzone ‘46 ME years, including two years as vice chair- Stanley Morris ‘46 ME, Alpha Tau Omega man. WPI honored his service with the Frank Wotton ‘46, Phi Kappa Theta Herbert F. Taylor Alumni Award for Burl Watson ’49 (d. 2013) Distinguished Service in 2013. He was a Bob Favreau ‘52 CHE, Phi Kappa Theta member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and Skull. His interest in the arts (he was Walt MacDonald ‘53, CHE an accomplished guitarist and singer Bob Pickford ‘54, Sigma Phi Epsilon who performed with the BureauCats, Earl Bloom ‘55 EE, Sigma Phi Epsilon a band made up of Rochester city em- Philip Rotondo ‘57 CE, Phi Gamma Delta ployees) led him to join WPI’s Arts and Wayne Mosman ‘58 ME, Phi Gamma Delta Sciences Advisory Board. Stephen Arthur ‘60 Redon and his wife, Denise, gave DONALD BOTTOMLEY ’61, ME, SIGMA PHI EPSILON $75,000 to support WPI’s graduate Raymond Rec ‘61 EE, Lambda Chi Alpha programs in the life sciences and Ralph Griswold ‘62 EE bioengineering. In recognition of the Leonard Redon ’71, trustee emeritus, his career at Eastman Kodak in Rochester Stu Bowen ‘64 CE, Tau Kappa Epsilon as a photographic product development gift, a conference room was named for died May 9, after a battle with cancer. He James Hall ‘65 CE was 65. His death was announced by the engineer, and led several divisions and the Redons in the Life Sciences and Joe Adamik ‘68 CE, Sigma Alpha Epsilon mayor of Rochester, where Redon had subsidiaries during his 28-years there. He Bioengineering Center. In addition to his wife, he is survived by their Vic Calabretta ‘68 CE, MS CE, served as deputy mayor under two suc- told the WPI Journal in 1991 that he was Phi Kappa Theta the first non-white employee to serve as children, Jason and Jennifer. ceeding administrations, stepping down Raj Chauhan ‘69 CHE due to health concerns in 2011. He began assistant to Kodak’s chairman and presi- Jack Greenshields ‘71 ME Steve Joseph ‘72 MG, Phi Kappa Theta Robert Martel ‘74 SIM Longtime assistant coach Byron Menides died on July 20, John Stopa ‘74 MA 2017, at age 85. He leaves his wife, former WPI English Robert Berry ‘77 SIM professor Laura Jehn-Menides, two children, and many nieces Tsu-Hsing (Abraham) Shen ’80 (MS CS) and nephews. Michael Walsh ‘90 EE A graduate of Dartmouth College, where he earned a degree Joanna Chaplin ‘08 BB in international relations, he went on to earn an MBA from David Kost ’12 MS EVE the Amos Tuck Business School. His career spanned the worlds of business, sports, and higher education. He served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of Global The WPI community also notes the passing Power Networks Ltd, founded Byron Menides Management Company, and held top executive roles and a number of of these friends of the university: public companies. At WPI he taught courses in the former Dorrance Hamilton, Alice Hoogasian, School of Industrial Management and parlayed his success Constance Horwitz (assistant director, as a high school defensive and offensive tackle (and later, line Career Development), Diana Johnson (WPI coach for the Lynn English School junior varsity team) into a reference librarian), Lois Johnson, John role as assistant coach. Menides continued coaching until he Jorstad, Charles Moser, was 83 and remained a steadfast presence on the sidelines of Nydia Moser, Byron Menides, home games of WPI’s football and basketball teams. Ann Prouty, and Jeanine Wetherhead. “Byron was one of the most lovable people I’ve ever met during my time here at WPI,” says head football coach Chris Complete obituaries can usually be found online, Robertson. “He supported WPI in so many ways and loved our by searching legacy.com or newspaper websites. football program and all the players he met and interacted WPI Journal will share information from our files with over the years. He was a gentle soul with a big heart and and assist classmates in contacting surviving family members. Contact [email protected] or he will be missed dearly.” call 508-831-5998 to request further information.
Correction: Abraham Shen, memorialized in the previous issue as a friend of WPI, was also an alumnus. He earned a master’s degree in computer science from WPI and should have been listed in the Completed Careers section as Tsu-Hsing (Abraham) Shen ’80. Our apologies to the family.
64 wpi journal wpi.edu/news/wpijournal | fall 2017 Inaugural Induction Ceremony Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Join us to honor the members of the WPI community who have brought about the most extraordinary accomplishments to society.
George Alden, Hon. 1926* John Boynton, Founder* Curtis Carlson 1967, Hon. 2006 Robert Goddard 1908* William Grogan 1946, Hon. 1990* Dean Kamen 1973, Hon. 1992 Judith Nitsch 1975, Hon. 2015 David Norton 1962 Stephen Salisbury II, Founder* Ichabod Washburn, Founder* Richard Whitcomb 1943, Hon. 1956*
Induction Ceremony 3 pm Sports & Recreation Center
Permanent Exhibit Opening & Reception 4:30 pm Rubin Campus Center, Upper Level
Don’t miss one of the most inspirational events for the WPI community!
#wpiluminaries | wpi.edu/+luminaries
* deceased Colorado. Renewable Laboratory, Energy inGolden, the U.S. ofEnergy, Department National pauses for amoment onthecampusof ON THECOVER: Robert Cruickshank’83 Worcester, MA01609 100 InstituteRoad, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
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