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GEORGE  C.  GORDON  LIBRARY 


WORCESTER  POLYTECHNIC  INSTITUTE 
WORCESTER,  MASSACHUSETTS  01609 


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Front  Cover:  From  left,  chemical  engineering  majors  Avery  Chan 
Jennifer  D.  Wilke  t94  and  Amy  L.  Gilman  '94  in  the  Unit  Operations 
Laboratory  of  Goddard  Hall.  Finding  ways  to  help  students  learn  bet- 
ter is  the  focus  of  a  host  of  initiatives  all  across  campus.  Photo  by 
Jim  Raycroft.  Stories  begin  on  page  ©.This  page:  Students  make 
their  way  through  the  aftermath  of  one  of  the  many  storms  that  have 
dumped  more  than  seven  feet  of  snow  on  campus  this  winter.  Photo 
by  Janet  Woodcock.  Back  Cover.  Over  the  years,  many  songs  have 
vied  for  the  title  of  WPI's  alma  mater.  Photo  by  Janet  Woodcock. 

J      Story  on  page  30. 


WH  Journal 


VOLUME  XCVII  NO.  1     WINTER  1994 


6 


13 


20 


25 


30    8T 


FEATURES 

Reinventing  the  Classroom 

Michael  Dorsey 

The  WPI  Plan  has  long  placed  the  Institute  on  the  leading  edge  of  educational 
innovation.  But  innovation  is  a  never  ending  process.  Today,  the  campus  is  alive 
with  new  initiatives  aimed  at  revitalizing  the  teaching  of  undergraduates. 

Breaking  the  Mold 

Diane  Benison 

With  a  $550,000  grant  from  the  Davis  Educational  Foundation,  WPI  is  testing  a 
new  approach  to  teaching  that  makes  undergraduates  full  partners  in  the  learning 
process,  and  helps  faculty  members  make  more  productive  use  of  their  time. 

The  Power  to  Change 

Diran  Apelian 

Engineering  education  is  at  a  crossroads,  as  universities  face  financial  challenges, 
a  changing  employment  outlook  and  shifting  demographics.  WPl's  provost  looks 
at  how  we  reached  this  turning  point  and  offers  a  prescription  for  the  future. 

The  Privilege  of  Teaching 

Ray  Bert '93 

Jack  Boyd  has  devoted  35  years  to  teaching  new  generations  of  engineers.  As 
he  approaches  retirement,  he  talks  about  his  career,  shares  his  philosophy  of 
teaching,  and  offers  a  critical  view  of  the  WPI  Plan,  which  he  helped  create. 

To  Alma  Mater,  Good  and  True 

Joan  Killough-Miller 

For  82  years,  a  simple  song  by  Willard  Hedlund  TO  has  been  known  as  WPI's  alma 
mater.  But  how  did  it  earn  that  title,  and  does  it  still  serve  alumni  and  students 
today?  A  committee  of  the  Alumni  Association  found  some  answers. 

DEPARTMENTS 

9  Advance  Word    Michael  Dorsey 
A  Year  of  Remembering  When. 

^  Letters 

African  Marketplace  a  Sign  of  Changing  Times; 
Thanks  to  the  Pre-health  Advisory  Committee. 

A  Communique    Francis  C.  Lutz 
A  Time  for  Reflection. ..and  Change. 

Q0  Final  Word    Bonnie  Gelbwasser 

Columbus'  Legacy  Sends  Lyle  Wimmergren  on  His  Own  Voyage  of  Discovery. 


30 


Staff  of  the  WPI  Journal:  Editor,  Michael  W.  Dorsey  •  Contributing  Writers.  Diane  Benison,  Bonnie  Gelbwasser,  Joan  Killough-Miller,  Neil  Norum  and  Ruth  Trask  •  Designer.  Michael  J.  Sherman  • 
Photographer,  Janet  Woodcock.  Alumni  Publications  Committee:  Samuel  Mencow  '37,  chairman  •  Paul  J.  Cleary  '71  •  James  S.  Demetry  '58  •  Judith  Donahue  SIM  '82  •  William  J.  Firla  Jr.  '60  • 
William  R.  Grogan  '46  •  Robert  C.  Labonte  '54  •  Roger  N.  Perry  Jr.  '45  •  Harlan  B.  Williams  '50  •  The  WPI  Journal  (ISSN  0148-6128)  is  published  quarterly  for  the  WPI  Alumni  Association  by  the 
Office  of  University  Relations.  Second-class  postage  paid  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  additional  mailing  offices.  Printed  by  The  Lane  Press,  Burlington,  Vt.  Printed  in  the  L'.S.A. 

Diverse  views  presented  in  this  magazine  do  not  necessarily  reflect  the  opinions  of  the  editors  or  official  WPI  policies.  We  welcome  letters  to  the  editor  Address  correspondence  to  the  Editor,  WPI  Journal, 
WPI,  100  Institute  Road,  Worcester,  MA  01609-2280.  Phone:  (508)  831-5609,  FAX:  (508)  831-5604,  Electronic  Mail  (Internet),  mwdorsey@wpi.wpi.edu.  Postmaster:  If  undeliverable,  please  send  form  3579 
to  the  address  above.  Do  not  return  publication  Entire  contents  ©  1994.  Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute 


ADVANCE  WORD 


A  Year  of  Remembering  When 


Every   year    is   filled 
with  events  that  are 
tragic  enough,  joyous 
enough  or  surprising 
enough  to  linger  in  the  mem- 
ory long  after  the  year  is 
over.  But  certain  years  stand 
apart  from  the  rest.  They 
crackle  with  the  electricity  of 
human  drama  and  emotion. 
They  seem  filled  with  changes  that  have  the 
power  to  define  our  times.  Decades 
later,  just  the  mention  of 
the  year  brings  back 
vivid  images  of  people 
and  moments. 

Such  a  year  was  1969. 
Sirhan  Sirhan  was  con- 
victed of  the  murder  of 
Robert  Kennedy  and  James 
Earl  Ray  got  99  years  for 
killing  Martin  Luther  King. 
Richard  Nixon  became  our 
37th  president  and  Golda  Meir 
became  the  fourth  prime  minis- 
ter of  Israel. 

In  1969  people  walked  on  the  moon  for 
the  first  time,  the  supersonic  Concord  took 
its  inaugural  flight,  and  the  FDA  banned  cy- 
clamates.  The  Saturday  Evening  Post  ceased 
publication,  Hurricane  Camille  ravaged  the 
East  Coast,  the  New  York  Mets  won  the 
World  Series,  and  Charles  Manson  and  com- 
pany murdered  actress  Sharon  Tate  and 
four  others  in  Los  Angeles. 

1969  was  a  memorable  year  at  WPI,  as 
well.  Less  than  a  month  before  the  start  of  the 
year,  President  Storke  made  a  major  decision. 
Like  many  faculty  members  and  administra- 
tors, Storke  recognized  that  WPI  did  a  perfect- 
ly fine  job  teaching  students  to  be  engineers 
and  scientists.  But  perfectly  fine  no  longer 
seemed  good  enough. 

Storke  appointed  a  committee  of  faculty 
members  to  think  seriously  about  WPI's  mis- 
sion and  to  see  if  there  might  not  be  a  better 
way  to  provide  a  technical  education.  The 
committee  created  the  framework  for  what 
would  become  the  WPI  Plan,  the  ground- 


«*% 


V'ed 


h„ 


breaking  undergraduate  curricu- 
lum that  the  full  faculty  endorsed  in  the  fall 
of  1970. 

The  Plan  was  the  product  of  much 
debate  among  faculty  members,  administra- 
tors and  students.  A  few  of  those  students 
were  women.  The  first  two  female  under- 
graduates enrolled  in  the  fall  of  1968,  follow- 
ing a  vote  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  in  the 
spring  of  that  year  to  change  a  century-old 
policy  of  admitting  only  men.  The  following 
fall,  24  more  women  matriculated,  making 
1969  the  year  women  truly  began  making 
their  mark  at  the  Institute. 

The  WPI  Journal  will  observe  the  25th 
anniversary  of  these  two  pivotal  develop- 


ments of  1969  in  upcoming 
issues.  In  the  meantime,  we'd 
like  to  invite  alumni  to  play  a 
role  in  helping  shape  this  cov- 
erage by  sharing  their  memo- 
ries and  thoughts  with  fellow 
Journal  readers. 

We'd  like  to  hear  from 
women  graduates.  Tell  us 
about  your  experiences  as 
female  students  at  a  technical  Institute  where 
most  of  the  students — and  faculty  members — 
were  male.  What  were  some  of  the  challenges 
you  faced?  Who,  or  what,  made  your  WPI 
years  easier?  How  do  you  feel  your  WPI  edu- 
cation— and  your  experiences  as  a  woman  at 
WPI — prepared  you  for  your  career?  What 
has  your  experience  been  like  in  your  career? 
Have  you  faced  obstacles  or  realized  rewards 
your  male  colleagues  have  not?  Humorous 
recollections  are  encouraged,  especially  those 
that  show  how  far  we've  come. 

If  you  graduated  under  the  WPI 
Plan,  we'd  like  to  hear 
your  thoughts  about 
what  you  gained  from 
your  project-oriented  edu- 
cation. Do  you  think  the 
Plan  has  helped  you  in  your 
career  and  personal  life?  Did 
it  give  you  an  edge  over  col- 
leagues from  other  colleges 
and  universities?  What  do  you 
think  about  how  the  Plan  has 
«t     evolved  over  the  years? 

Please  write  down  your 
thoughts  and  mail  them  to  the  editor,  WPI 
Journal,  100  Institute  Road,  Worcester,  MA 
01609-2280.  You  may  also  fax  them  to  (508) 
831-5604,  send  them  via  the  Internet  to 
mwdorsey@wpi.wpi.edu,  or  e-mail  them  via 
CompuServe  to  70337,1557.  Our  coverage  of 
the  25th  anniversary  of  women  at  WPI  will 
run  in  the  Spring  issue,  so  we  need  to  hear 
from  you  right  away.  The  coverage  of  the 
Plan  is  set  for  the  winter  of  1995,  so  those 
comments  should  arrive  by  July  1. 
We  look  forward  to  hearing  from  you. 

—Michael  Dorsey 


itn 


'!*  i. 


Winter  1994 


LETTERS 


African  Marketplace  a 
Sign  of  Changing  Times 

To  the  Editor: 

I  am  an  African-American  alumnus  of 
WPI.  It's  been  many  years  since  I  received 
any  kind  of  information  or  news  from 
WPI— not  that  it  was  sorely  missed.  When  1 
was  a  student,  WPI  was  severely  lacking  in 
outlets  where  1  could  express  myself  as  a 
black  man  or  satiate  my  cultural  thirsts.  In 
fact,  the  atmosphere  on  campus  was  benev- 
olently repressive. 

Imagine  my  surprise  upon  receiving  the 
Spring  1993  issue  of  the  WPI  Journal  and 
reading  that  WPI  had  held  an  African  Mar- 
ketplace as  a  cultural  event,  and  that  there 
is  a  Black  History  Month  Committee.  I  could 
never  have  imagined  these  things  happening 
at  the  Institute. 

You  see,  I  always  felt  that  the  Black  Stu- 
dent Union  was  begrudgingly  tolerated  by 
the  rest  of  the  school  in  the  1970s.  There 
was  a  misanthropic  entity  named  the  Tech 
Conservative  Society,  full  of  gloom  and  John 
Birch  Society,  that  actively  campaigned — on 
and  off  campus — against  issues  like  the  bus- 
ing controversy  in  Boston,  financial  aid  to 
minority  students,  and  black  social  activism 
on  campus. 

The  school's  general  atmosphere  was 
"New  England  white"  (no  offense  intended). 
There  were  few  avenues  of  cultural  satis- 
faction for  black  students,  most  of  whom 
were  from  urban  areas  like  New  York  and 
Chicago. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  during  my  four  and  a 
half  years  at  WPI  (1971-76),  the  largest  num- 
ber of  black  students  attending  the  Institute 
at  any  one  time  was  24  (out  of  a  total  stu- 
dent body  of  1,200).  That  number  also  in- 
cluded African  students;  it  doesn't  take  an 
engineer  to  figure  the  percentages. 

All  this  is  by  way  of  saying  we  felt  exclud- 
ed from  many  aspects  of  campus  life  and 
student  body  decisions.  There  were  many 
times  when  we  felt  antagonism  and  a  sense 
of  being  unwelcome — especially  during 
intramural  basketball  games. 

This  antagonism  and  indifference  was 
not,  however,  institutionalized  (at  least  not 
consciously).  Certain  members  of  the  faculty 
and,  particularly,  the  administration  tried 
hard  to  accommodate  the  black  students,  as 
well  as  everyone  else.  I  have  fond  memories 
of  Dean  Bernard  Brown  (now  vice  president 
for  student  affairs)  and  then  financial  aid 
director  Ed  Heselbarth. 


Anyway,  wow — an  African  Marketplace! 
Are  you  guys  making  strides,  or  what? 
Thank  you  for  letting  me  see  photos  of  La- 
chelle  Hatten  '95,  Naomi  Carnegie  '93  and 
Yvonne  Harrison.  Maybe  I  can  recommend 
WPI  to  a  young  African-American  student 
interested  in  going  to  a  technical  college. 

— Benjamin  M.  Jacobs  '76 
Brooklyn,  N.Y. 

Thanks  to  Pre-health 
Advisory  Committee 

To  the  Editor: 

As  one  of  the  pre-health  professions 
advisors  at  WPI,  1  was  particularly 
pleased  to  see  an  entire  issue  of  the 
WPI  Journal  dedicated  to  medicine  (Summer 
1993).  As  this  wonderful  issue  demonstrat- 
ed, the  impact  of  technology  on  the  practice 
of  medicine  continues  to  grow,  and  WPI  stu- 
dents and  alumni  find  themselves  well  pre- 
pared to  contribute  to  a  variety  of  medically 
related  fields. 

As  was  mentioned  in  the  introduction  to 
the  issue,  the  number  of  WPI  students 
expressing  an  interest  in  medicine  contin- 
ues to  grow,  and  we  rely  on  the  ongoing 
advice  of  our  Pre-health  Professions  Advi- 
sory Committee  to  help  ensure  that  our  stu- 
dents remain  competitive  and  well  pre- 
pared for  admission  to  health  professions 
programs. 

The  committee  includes  many  WPI  alum- 
ni who  are  actively  involved  in  medically 
related  careers,  and  1  would  like  to  take  this 


opportunity  to  publicly  thank  all  of  the  mem- 
bers for  their  work.  In  addition  to  WPI  facul- 
ty and  staff  members,  the  committee  is  com- 
posed of 

—  Dr.  Nancy  Berube  '75,  assistant  professor 
of  medicine,  Family  Health  and  Social 
Services,  University  of  Massachusetts 
Medical  Center 

—  Dr.  Gail  A.  D'Amico  Mason  '79,  veteri- 
narian, Bath-Brunswick  Veterinary  Asso- 
ciation, Brunswick,  Maine 

—  Dr.  Raymond  M.  Dunn  '78,  assistant  pro- 
fessor of  plastic  surgery  and  clinical  dir- 
ector of  the  Plastic  Surgery  Research 
Laboratory,  University  of  Massachusetts 
Medical  Center 

—  Dr.  Richard  Glew,  physician  in  chief, 
Medical  Center  of  Central  Massachusetts 

—  Rebecca  A.  Griffith  '91,  medical  student, 
University  of  Massachusetts  Medical 
Center 

—  Dr.  Karl  H.  Kraus,  assistant  professor  of 
small  animal  surgery,  Tufts  University 
School  of  Veterinary  Medicine 


—  Dr.  Peter  H.  Levine,  president  and  CEO, 
Medical  Center  of  Central  Massachusetts 

—  Dr.  Laima  T.  Pauliukonis  '77,  staff  anes- 
thesiologist, Sturdy  Memorial  Hospital, 
Attleboro,  Mass. 

—  Marilyn  Z.  Pryor,  professor  of  biological 
sciences,  Mount  Holyoke  College 

—  Dr.  Thomas  M.  Villani  '82,  dentist, 
Brighton  Marine  Public  Health  Center, 
Brighton,  Mass. 

As  our  program  grows,  we  rely  on  their 
expertise  to  keep  us  on  track. 

—Jill  Rulfs,  Assistant  Professor 

Biology  and  Biotechnology 

and  Pre-health  Professions  Advisor 


WPI  Journal 


COMMUNIQUE 


A  Time  for  Reflection. .  .and  Change 


By  Francis  C.  Lutz 

Leaders  of  industry,  professional 
societies,  and  even  the  Accred- 
itation Board  for  Engineering 
and  Technology  are  saying  the 
time  is  ripe  for  change  in  technical 
higher  education.  Students  in  science 
and  engineering  programs,  they  say, 
need  increased  awareness  of  the  glob- 
al society  in  which  technologies  are 
designed,  manufactured  and  used. 
They  need  to  gain  leadership  ability, 
problem-solving  skills,  and  the  capaci- 
ty to  communicate  orally  and  in  writ- 
ing. And,  everyone  agrees,  they 
should  acquire  eagerness  for — or  at 
least  comfort  with — assuming  per- 
sonal responsibility.  Never  has  there 
been  a  clearer  call  for  the  original  ten- 
ets of  the  WPI  Plan. 

In  meetings  with  WPI  students  1 
have  found  consistently  strong  support  for 
the  Plan,  especially  its  required  projects  and 
its  provision  for  seven-week  terms.  When 
students  speak  about  the  need  for  improve- 
ment at  the  Institute,  they  are  most  often 
talking  about  the  social — not  academic — 
aspects  of  the  student  experience. 

Still,  over  the  past  several  years,  con- 
cerns have  been  raised  about  our  under- 
graduate curriculum,  about  the  challenges 
of  operating  within  seven-week  terms,  and 
about  the  meaning  of  grades  and  academic 
credit  within  the  Plan.  A  self-study  of  the 
quality  of  the  learning  experience  in  the 
freshman  year  (completed  in  1991  as  the 
Institute  prepared  for  its  decennial  accredi- 
tation by  the  New  England  Association  of 
Schools  and  Colleges)  affirmed  our  suspi- 
cion that  we  need  to  devote  more  attention 
to  this  critical  time,  when  expectations  for 
intellectual  responsibility  are  established. 

Last  summer,  as  a  result  of  these  con- 
cerns, I  asked  a  group  of  faculty  members, 
administrators  and  students  to  prepare 
some  background  about  the  Plan  that  could 
serve  as  a  basis  for  further  reflection  and  re- 
assessment. That  group  prepared  a  white 
paper  that  critically  evaluates  the  mission 
and  success  of  undergraduate  education  at 
the  Institute. 

The  committee  identified  a  number  of 


"At  an  institution  so  well 
known  for  educational 
innovation,  curricular 
review  and  change  is 
a  process  that  never 
stops. " 

issues  we  need  to  think  about.  For  example, 
the  seemingly  high  proportion  of  above- 
average  grades  our  students  earn  seems 
inconsistent  with  the  low  level  of  effort  they 
themselves  say  they  expend  on  their  stud- 
ies. This  doesn't  bode  well  for  our  commit- 
ment to  maintain  our  standards  of  academic 
excellence. 

The  white  paper  was  distributed  to  all 
faculty  members  in  December,  and  in  Janu- 
ary I  challenged  them  to  use  it  as  the  start- 
ing point  for  a  much  needed  campuswide 
curriculum  review.  WPI  is  a  recognized 
leader  in  moving  engineering  and  science 
education  toward  a  broader,  liberal/profes- 
sional blend  that  emphasizes  life-long  learn- 
ing. But  to  maintain  that  leadership,  we  must 
focus  anew  on  the  process  of  learning  and 
on  what  we  can  do  to  improve  it. 


One  thing  we  can  do  right  away  is 
more  clearly  define  our  expectations 
for  students  and  our  standards  of  aca- 
demic achievement  and  conduct.  We 
must  also  strive  to  create  a  campus 
environment  that  facilitates  learning. 

The  learning  environment  is 
already  evolving — even  without  our 
help.  Just  think  of  the  tools  our  stu- 
dents have  at  their  disposal.  They 
may  supplement  their  studies  for 
many  of  our  courses  by  reviewing  old 
tests  and  completed  homework 
assignments  borrowed  from  students 
who've  taken  the  courses.  Through 
the  Internet,  they  will  soon  be  able  to 
see  the  lecture  notes  of  faculty  mem- 
bers at  other  universities.  And  it 
won't  be  long  before  they  are  routine- 
~  ly  using  things  like  virtual  reality 
simulations  and  self-directed  multimedia. 
Developments  like  these  challenge  our  tradi- 
tional ideas  about  teaching  and  learning. 

Student  learning  is  closely  linked  to  what 
has  come  to  be  called  faculty  productivity. 
As  colleges  like  WPI  continue  to  grapple 
with  tight  budgets,  they  must  find  ways  for 
faculty  members  to  make  more  productive 
use  of  their  time  while  still  maintaining — and 
possibly  enhancing — the  quality  of  learning. 
One  way  to  accomplish  this  is  for  faculty  to 
become  managers  of  the  learning  process, 
using  students  as  active  partners  to  help 
teach  other  students.  We  must  also  acknowl- 
edge more  fully  that  students  have  responsi- 
bility for  their  own  learning. 

The  quality  of  teaching  and  learning  is 
also  affected  by  what  faculty  members  do 
outside  of  the  classroom.  In  recent  decades 
WPI  has  emphasized  the  vital  importance  of 
faculty  scholarship.  In  large  part  this  is 
because  faculty  members  who  are  actively 
involved  in  a  community  of  scholars  make 
more  effective  instructors.  There  should  be 
no  debate  about  that. 

A  related  issue  is  the  need  to  better  de- 
fine the  relationship  between  our  undergrad- 
uate and  graduate  programs.  It  is  unlikely 
that  we  will  achieve  any  measure  of  success 
if  we  don't  set  out  to  merge  these  two  levels 
of  education  into  one  continuous  program. 


Winter  1994 


We  may  even  find  that  better 
aligning  undergraduate  and 
graduate  education  results  in 
less  pressure  on  faculty  and  our 
budget. 

These  are  not  unrelated 
issues  that  can  be  addressed  in 
isolation.  We  need  to  conduct  a 
forward-looking  curriculum 
review  that  begins  with  the 
aspirations  of  individual  depart- 
ments and  culminates  in  a  com- 
mon commitment  to  learning. 
Such  a  commitment  should 
encompass  not  just  the  Insti- 
tute, but  our  partners  in  the 
educational  process:  compara- 
ble universities,  the  professions 
our  students  pursue,  the  gradu- 
ate schools  that  educate  our 
alumni,  the  high  schools  that 
prepare  our  freshmen,  the  col- 
leges that  educate  our  transfer 
students,  the  publishers  of  our 
teaching  materials,  and  the 
practitioners  who  define  the 
state  of  the  art  in  the  disciplines  § 
we  teach. 

You  will  see  as  you  read  this  * 
special  issue  of  the  WPI  Journal  * 
that  the  process  of  reviewing  and  changing 
WPI's  curriculum  is  already  well  under  way. 
(In  fact,  at  an  institution  so  well  known  for 
educational  innovation,  curricular  review 
and  change  is  a  process  that  never  stops.) 
The  articles  on  pages  6-19  describe  the 
many  departmental  curricula  that  are  being 
reworked,  the  revision  of  our  approach  to 
mathematics  instruction,  the  exciting  pilot 
program  in  cooperative  learning  being  sup- 
ported by  the  Davis  Educational  Foundation, 
and  many  more  initiatives.  These  are  all  part 
of  what  is  turning  out  to  be  an  exhilarating 
era  of  educational  change  and  revitalization. 

At  the  same  time,  we  are  beginning  to 
address  some  of  the  larger  issues  facing  us 
as  educators.  A  group  of  faculty  members, 
under  the  leadership  of  Lance  Schachterle, 
assistant  provost  and  associate  dean  of  un- 
dergraduate studies,  is  evaluating  the  learn- 
ing experience  in  that  critical  first  year. 


More  than  60  faculty  members  attended  an 
all-day  workshop  on  that  topic  in  January. 

Looking  to  the  future,  I've  asked  all  of  our 
academic  departments  to  examine  the  cur- 
ricula of  similar  departments  at  other  col- 
leges and  universities  with  which  they  wish 
to  be  compared  favorably.  We  need  to  see 
how  we  measure  up  in  such  areas  as  course 
content,  depth  of  coverage,  level  of  special- 
ization, curricular  flexibility,  opportunity  for 
independent  work,  and  exposure  to  labora- 
tory learning. 

Once  we  have  this  base  level  of  compari- 
son, 1  have  called  on  the  faculty  to  establish 
the  process  by  which  our  curriculum  can  be 
re-examined,  not  only  to  assure  the  competi- 
tiveness of  our  undergraduate  program,  but 
to  renew  and  enhance  our  common  commit- 
ment to  excellence  throughout  the  Institute. 

As  the  leaders  of  American  industry  call 
for  exactly  the  attributes  the  WPI  Plan  set 


out  to  foster,  and  as  accrediting 
organizations  begin  to  recognize 
the  value  of  outcomes  over 
inputs  in  measuring  the  success 
of  the  educational  process,  the 
need  to  assess  and  validate  what 
we  do  here  at  WPI  becomes 
more  critical.  As  we  do  so,  we 
must  be  prepared  to  accept 
constructive  criticism  and  be 
willing  to  make  whatever 
changes  will  strengthen  our 
programs. 

Making  changes  is  not 
enough,  of  course;  curriculum 
innovation  should  lead  to  im- 
provements in  learning.  There- 
fore, measuring  the  learning 
that  takes  place  in  our  program 
is  a  critical  endeavor.  We  need 
to  verify  that  the  changes  we 
make  achieve  the  goals  we  es- 
tablish. One  particularly  power- 
ful outcome  is  how  well  the  edu- 
cation we  deliver  serves  our 
graduates  as  they  pursue  their 
careers  and  lives. 

Accordingly,  I  would  be  most 
interested  in  hearing  from  you. 
How  has  your  WPI  education 
affected  you?  If  you  are  a  Plan  graduate,  did 
the  projects— Sufficiency,  IQP  and  MQP— 
make  a  meaningful  contribution  to  your  expe- 
riences as  a  professional  and  as  a  person? 
How  might  we  go  about  improving  the  educa- 
tion we  offer?  How  can  we  best  document  our 
sincere  belief  that  WPI  graduates  are  compe- 
tent in  their  major  disciplines?  Would  you  or 
your  organization  agree  to  participate  in  a 
comparative  analysis  of  achievement  of  grad- 
uates of  WPI  and  other  schools? 

Please  send  me  your  thoughts.  The 
address  is  WPI,  100  Institute  Road,  Worces- 
ter, MA,  01609-2280.  You  can  also  reach  me 
by  fax  (508-831-5774)  or  e-mail  (fclutz® 
jake.wpi.edu).  We  look  forward  to  hearing 
from  you.  You  may  be  assured  your  obser- 
vations will  have  an  effect  on  the  curricular 
review  we  are  beginning. 

Lutz  is  dean  of  undergraduate  studies  at  WPI. 


WPI  Journal 


Reinventing  the 


By  Michael  W  Dorsey 


Winter  1994 


lassroom 


In  every  corner  of  the 

WPI  campus,  efforts  are  under  way  to 

rethink,  recreate,  rebuild  and  remold 

the  undergraduate  curriculum.  With 

restructured  courses  and  sequences, 

new  classroom  and  lab 


technology,  and 

new  ways  of 

delivering 

information, 

WPI  continues 

to  lead  the  way 

in  educational 

innovation. 


Today,  many  of  the  nation's  leading 
technological  colleges  and  universi- 
ties are  engaged  in  a  spirited  effort 
to  revamp  their  decades-old 
approach  to  teaching  students  to  be  engi- 
neers and  scientists.  There  are  some  practi- 
cal reasons  behind  this  flurry  of  activity,  a 
recent  article  in  Business  Week  noted. 

For  one,  traditionally  rigid  engineering  and 
science  curricula  encourage  students  to  strive 
for  individual  achievement — good  grades — 
even  though  corporate  leaders  say  they  need 
professionals  who  can  work  in  teams  to 
achieve  common  goals.  While  most  technical 
programs  have  been  built  around  well-defined 
academic  disciplines  with  tightly  drawn  bor- 
ders, the  work  of  engineers  and  scientists 
today  is  increasingly  multidiseiplinary. 

And  despite  tremendous  advances  in 
computers  and  laboratory  equipment,  basic 
math  and  science  courses  are  taught  today 
much  as  they  were  half  a  century  ago,  with 
the  result  that  students  never  really  see  how 
these  subjects  relate  to  their  future  careers 
and  must  wait  until  more  advanced  courses 
to  experience  the  excitement  of  hands-on 
design  and  research. 

WPI  got  a  head  start  on  the  rest  of  the 
pack  when  it  created  the  WPI  Plan  25  years 
ago.  The  shapers  of  the  Plan  understood  the 
shortcomings  of  classical  technical  education 
that  many  of  today's  reformers  are  just  now 
beginning  to  address.  Through  the  years,  the 
Plan  has  demonstrated  its  ability  to  prepare 
the  kinds  of  engineers,  managers  and  scien- 
tists industry  needs — professionals  able  to 
work  in  teams,  to  lead,  to  think  critically,  to 
solve  problems,  and  to  communicate  well. 
As  society  has  evolved,  the  Institute  has 
continued  to  assess  its  undergraduate  pro- 
gram, frequently  taking  time  to  stop  and  ask, 
"Are  there  better  ways  to  teach — and  better 
ways  for  students  to  learn?" 

Over  the  past  several  years,  with  the 
dawn  of  a  new  millennium  fast  approaching, 
that  question  has  been  asked  with  increas- 
ing frequency  by  individual  faculty  members 
and  academic  departments.  More  and  more, 
it  is  being  tackled  by  the  Institute  as  a  whole 
(see  Communique,  page  4).  In  the  pages  that 
follow,  we  report  on  a  few  of  the  products  of 
this  soul-searching. 

One  of  the  most  promising  of  these  prod- 
ucts is  a  program  in  cooperative  learning 
funded  by  the  Davis  Educational  Foundation 
(see  page  13).  Another  exciting  program,  the 
Entrepreneurs  Collaborative,  is  seeking  to 
teach  students  the  skills  they  need  to  be 
entrepreneurs  and  to  bring  an  entrepreneur- 
ial perspective  to  the  companies  for  which 
they  work.  For  more  on  that  initiative,  see 
the  Winter  1994  WW  Mr*?. 


WPI  Journal 


Rethinking  the 
Curriculum 

At  least  five  academic  departments 
have  recently  taken  on  the  substantial 
task  of  evaluating  and  improving  their 
undergraduate  curricula.  The  Chemical  Engi- 
neering Department,  for  example,  is  reorga- 
nizing its  curriculum  around  three  possible 
paths — environmental  engineering,  biopro- 
cess  engineering  and  advanced  materials. 

"Working  within  the 
requirements  of  ABET 
[Accreditation  Board  for 
Engineering  and  Technol- 
ogy], we  will  have  a  variety 
of  courses — some  already 
developed,  some  under 
development,  and  some  offered  by  other 
departments — that  will  enable  a  student  to 
get  a  degree  in  chemical  engineering  with 
one  of  these  three  interests,"  says  Albert 
Sacco  Jr.,  head  of  the  department. 

The  idea,  Sacco  says,  is  to  make  sure  stu- 
dents have  a  solid  grounding  in  chemical 
engineering  while  gaining  a  degree  of  special- 
ization in  an  area  in  which  they  may  like  to 
work.  The  new  sequence  will  also  expose 
students  more  fully  to  the  social  and  policy 
issues  with  which  professional  chemical 
engineers  must  grapple.  "With  this  approach, 
we  feel  we  can  graduate  better,  more  mar- 
ketable chemical  engineers  while  maintain- 
ing our  ABET  accreditation,"  he  notes. 

The  Civil  Engineering  Department  has 
been  working  on  its  undergraduate  and 
graduate  programs  for  a  few  years,  notes 
Department  Head  Robert  W.  Fitzgerald.  "We 
concluded  that  we  are  comfortable  with  the 
undergraduate  course  offerings,  in  general," 
he  says.  "A  few  of  our  basic  courses  had  gaps 
and  overlaps,  which  we've  addressed." 

One  major  effort  has  involved  integrating 
the  computer  into  the  curriculum.  A  new 
freshman/sophomore-level  course  on  com- 
puters in  civil  engineering  has  been  pilot- 
tested  (see  page  17).  A  second  pilot  course 
on  computer-aided  design  software  in  civil 
engineering  is  heavily  oversubscribed.  Both 
will  be  prominent  in  the  curriculum. 

The  department  has  also  been  placing  a 
major  emphasis  on  student  advising, 
addressing  the  question  of  whether  civil 
engineering  majors  should  specialize  in  a 
single  subdiscipline  or  acquire  a  broader 
exposure  to  the  field. 

"Students  often  think  it  is  best  to  go 
down  a  narrow  path,"  says  Fitzgerald.  "We 
feel  it's  best  for  undergraduates  to  have  a 
good  grounding  in  the  fundamentals,  a 
strong  computer  background,  and  some 


depth  in  two  or  even  three  areas  of  civil 
engineering.  In  addition  to  better  speaking 
and  writing  skills  and  an  understanding  of 
professional  practice,  these  are  the  qualities 
employers  tell  us  they  seek." 

Fitzgerald  says  the  civil  engineering  fac- 
ulty also  wants  to  help  students  plan  their 
entire  curriculum  to  make  the  best  use  of 
their  projects  and  courses  in  mathematics, 
science,  the  humanities  and  other  dis- 
ciplines. "We  don't  intend  to  dictate,  of 
course,"  he  says.  "All  we  hope  to  do  is  pro- 
vide guidance  on  how  students  can  con- 


"The  question  we  tried  to  answer  is,  'What  will  a 
mechanical  engineer  need  to  know  by  the  year 
2010?'  With  that  in  mind,  we  looked  at  the  content 
of  every  course  we  teach."  —  Mohammad  Noori 


struct  an  entire  program  that  best 
meets  their  goals  and  needs." 

A  major  effort  to  rebuild  the 
undergraduate  curriculum  in  the 
Electrical  and  Computer  Engi- 
neering Department  began  in 
1991  with  the  appointment  of  the 
Phoenix  Committee,  made  up  of 
six  members  of  the  ECE  faculty. 
"There  were  several  good  reasons 
for  this  review,"  notes  Department 
Head  John  Orr,  "but  the  most  important  is 
that  the  practice  of  our  profession  is  funda- 
mentally changing." 

The  explosion  of  new  technology  like 
fiber  optics  and  VLSI  chips,  the  shift  from  a 
technology-driven  to  a  customer-driven  ori- 
entation in  industry,  and  the  increasing 
reliance  of  engineers  on  computer  software 
led  the  committee  to  conclude  that  the  20- 
year-old  introductory  sequence,  which  took 
circuit  analysis  as  its  basic  starting  point, 
was  no  longer  appropriate. 

The  committee  threw  out  a  two-course 
sequence  that  all  ECE  majors  take  and  creat- 
ed a  four-course  sequence  that  also  takes 
the  place  of  the  first  laboratory  course  in 
electrical  engineering  and  a  recently  intro- 
duced survey  course.  The  new  sequence, 
which  students  may  begin  in  the  freshman 
year  (most  engineering  students  take  their 
first  engineering  course  in  the  sophomore 
year,  Orr  says),  provides  a  comprehensive 
overview  of  electrical  engineering. 

"In  part,"  Orr  says,  "the  change  was  de- 
signed to  help  students  understand  what 
electrical  engineers  actually  do.  Students 
report  major  increases  in  their  level  of 
understanding  of  the  profession,  compared 
with  students  in  the  previous  sequence. 
Students  also  understand  better  the  impor- 
tance of  mathematics  and  physics  in  electri- 
cal and  computer  engineering." 


While  the  Phoenix  Committee  was  getting 
down  to  work  in  Atwater  Kent  Laboratories, 
next  door  in  Fuller  Labs  the  Computer 
Science  Department  was  evaluating  the  intro- 
ductory sequence  for  its  majors.  Like  ECE, 
Computer  Science  has  fashioned  new  cours- 
es for  the  freshman  and  sophomore  years. 
But  the  department  remains  divided  over  a 
basic  element  of  the  new  sequence:  the 
choice  of  a  primary  computer  language, 
notes  Department  Head  Robert  E.  Kinicki. 

"There  is  a  con- 
stant push-pull  in 
the  department 
between  the 
theoretical 


the  nontheoretical  people  as  to  which  is  the 
best  way  to  teach  students,"  he  says.  "The 
theoretical  side  wants  to  stay  abstract,  but 
the  practical  side  wants  to  make  sure  our 
students  can  get  jobs." 

The  new  sequence  replaces  courses 
developed  four  years  ago  that  were  built 
around  a  language  called  Scheme,  a  dialect 
of  LISP,  which  is  used  extensively  in  artificial 
intelligence.  Unlike  many  other  computer 
languages,  Scheme  is  based  on  formal  math- 
ematical logic,  and  Kinicki  says  many  stu- 
dents seemed  to  have  trouble  learning  to 
program  using  these  abstract  concepts. 

The  new  sequence  exposes  students  first 
to  C,  a  language  widely  used  in  science  and 
engineering.  "Frankly,  we  were  losing  some 
students  who  were  not  mathematically 
strong  enough  to  hack  the  Scheme  ap- 
proach," Kinicki  says.  "Plus,  I  believe  that 
most  companies  want  C  programmers." 

Students  now  learn  programming  and 
data  structures  in  a  two-course  introductory 
sequence  based  on  C.  They  begin  to  meet  up 
with  the  more  abstract  elements  of  computer 
science  in  three  new  sophomore-level  cours- 
es. The  sophomore  courses  also  introduce 
students  to  object-oriented  programming,  a 
technique  of  rapidly  growing  importance  in 
industry. 

The  more  theoretically  oriented  mem- 
bers of  the  faculty  are  not  entirely  happy 


8 


Winter  1994 


with  the  new  arrangement,  Kinicki  says,  and 
the  process  of  evaluating  and  fine-tuning  the 
new  sequence  will  continue,  as  will  efforts  to 
revamp  the  remainder  of  the  undergraduate 
major  program. 

"Our  department  spends  a  lot  of  time 
debating  our  approach  to  education,  which 
is  very,  very  healthy,"  he  says.  "At  schools 
where  they  don't  care  much  about  the  cur- 
riculum, they  don't  take  the  time  to  debate.  I 
let  the  debate  go  on  until  I  think  there  is  a 
direction  in  which  we  can  move  forward." 

The  Mechanical  Engineering  Department 
has  just  finished  an  intensive  effort  to 
restructure  its  undergraduate  curriculum, 
notes  Department  Head  Mohammad  N. 
Noori.  The  curriculum,  if  approved  by  the 
faculty,  will  be  implemented  in  the  1995-96 
academic  year.  (Some  new  courses  may  be 
offered  as  early  as  this  fall.)  The  process  co- 
incides with  plans  for  a  major  renovation  of 
the  department's  home,  Higgins  Labora- 
tories, scheduled  to  begin  this  spring.  The 
renovation  will  include  the  creation  of  a  host 
of  new  educational  facilities. 

"For  the  past  30  years,  the  traditional 
mechanical  engineering  curriculum  has 
changed  little,"  Noori  says.  "While  the 
content  of  our  courses  has  certainly 
evolved,  we've  been  teaching 
the  same  types  of  courses  for 
decades.   With   all   of   the 
changes  taking  place  in  the 
discipline,  we  decided  we  had 
to  address  this  issue." 

Divided  into  four  groups 
representing  the  primary  di- 
rections ME  is  taking — applied 
mechanics,  design  and  manu- 
facturing, materials  science 
and  engineering,  and  thermal- 
fluids — the  mechanical  engi- 
neering faculty  met  weekly  to 
talk  about  how  best  to  pre- 
pare students.  "The  question 
we  tried  to  answer  is,  'What 
will  a  mechanical  engineer  need  to  know  by 
the  year  2010?'"  Noori  says.  "With  that  in 
mind,  we  looked  at  the  content  of  every 
course  we  teach." 

Noori  says  several  major  reports  pub- 
lished in  recent  years  have  concluded  that 
mechanical  engineering,  which  has  become 
a  highly  compartmentalized  field,  must  fos- 
ter greater  interaction  among  its  subdisci- 
plines  if  it  is  to  continue  to  meet  the  needs 
of  industry. 

"Within  each  of  our  working  groups,"  he 
says,  "we've  succeeded  in  identifying  multi- 
disciplinary  areas  that  can  cross  these  bor- 
ders. For  example,  we  are  exploring  the  pos- 
sibility of  offering  a  program  that  will  bridge 
the  gap  between  materials  science,  an  exper- 


imentally based  field,  and  mechanics,  an 
analytical  and  computational  discipline." 

Through  efforts  like  this,  the  department 
will  rebuild  its  curriculum  from  the  ground 
up.  In  all,  between  seven  and  eight  new 
courses  will  be  created  and  changes  will  be 
made  in  another  15  to  20.  Some  courses  will 
be  eliminated.  "This  has  been  an  enormous 
effort,"  Noori  says. 

A  committee  is  also  working  on  the  de- 
veopment  of  a  freshman-year-experience 
course  in  which  students  will  be  exposed  to 
hands-on  projects  and  an  overview  of  vari- 
ous engineering  disciplines — not  just  mech- 
anical engineering.  "After  much  discussion, 
we  realized  that  this  should  not  be  an  ME 
course,  but  should  be  taught  to  students  in 
all  engineering  disciplines,"  Noori  says. 

"We  also  decided  that  whenever  a 
mechanical  engineering  course  has  multidis- 
ciplinary  content  and  can  be  of  interest  to  all 
engineers,  it  will  carry  the  designation  'engi- 
neering science,'  rather  than  mechanical 
engineering.  We've  already  changed  six  ME 
courses  to  ES  courses.  Mechanical  engi- 
neers need  to  know  about 
other  disci- 


plines and  vice  versa.  That's  what 
the  real  world  is  all  about." 

Building 
Tomorrow's 
Classroom  Today 

At  the  White  House  on  Oct.  22,  1993, 
Richard  D.  Sisson  Jr.,  professor  and 
associate  head  of  the  Mechanical  Engi- 
neering Department,  watched  proudly  as 
President  Clinton  announced  the  winners  of 
the  first  round  of  41  grants  under  the  Tech- 
nology Reinvestment  Program  (TRP),  a  fed- 
eral program  aimed  at  helping  business  and 


industry  weather  the  transition  to  a  post- 
Cold  War  economy. 

Among  the  winners  was  the  REALIZA- 
TION Consortium,  a  group  of  five  colleges 
headed  by  WPI.  With  $8.6  million  in  TRP  and 
industry  funding,  the  consortium,  which 
consists  of  WPI,  Cornell,  MIT,  North  Carolina 
A&T  and  Tuskegee,  will  seek  to  create  noth- 
ing less  than  a  whole  new  way  of  educating 
engineers.  (WPI  is  a  key  member  of  the 
Massachusetts  Manufacturing  Moderni- 
zation Partnership  and  the  Massachusetts 
Bioengineering  Center,  which  also  received 
TRP  awards.  For  more,  see  the  Winter  and 
Spring  1994  issues  of  the  WPI  Wire.) 

Sisson  says  the  REALIZATION  Consor- 
tium grew  from  the  acknowledgement  that 
while  engineering  education  has  traditional- 
ly been  effective  in  teaching  students  to  ana- 
lyze and  solve  problems,  it  has  done  a  poor 
job  of  teaching  them  how  to  effectively  meet 
customer  needs. 

"The  focus  of  the  consortium  is  on  that 
transition  from  customer  need  to  final  prod- 
uct," he  says.  Because 
there  were  no  models 
within  engineering  edu- 
cation for  such  a  pro- 
gram, Sisson  says  he 
and  his  colleagues 
looked  at  how  students 
are  prepared  for  other 
professions.  They  found 
the  models  they  were 
seeking  in  architecture 
and  medicine. 

"We  asked  the  dean 
of  architecture  at  MIT 
how  they  train  archi- 
tects to  be  creative,  be- 
cause you  need  creativi- 
ty to  go  from  a  customer 
need  to  designs  you  can 
analyze  and  test.  He 
said,  'We  give  students  a 
fuzzy  problem — a  gener- 
al definition  of  what 
we're  looking  for  in  a 
building.  We  have  them 
work  to  solve  it  and  we 
provide  criticism  while 
they  do  it.' " 
At  the  end  of  the  project,  the  student 
designs  are  evaluated  by  a  jury  of  architects 
from  around  the  world.  "This  all  happens  in 
real  time,"  Sisson  says.  "The  criticism  is 
right  there  in  front  of  them.  The  experts  may 
disagree,  but  the  students  learn  by  listening 
to  the  discussion." 

The  other  model,  Sisson  says,  is  the 
teaching  hospital.  Doctors  learn  to  practice 
medicine  by  being  given  the  responsibility 
to  care  for  real  patients.  "They  learn  by 


By  using 
interactive 
television  and 
other  advanced 
communication 
tools,  students  will 
be  able  to  work 
with  students  at 
other  consortium 
colleges  and  to 
interact  in  real- 
time with  profes- 
sional engineers 
at  corporations. 


WPI  Journal 


doing,"  he  says,  "but  all  the  time  there  are 
experienced  physicians  who  offer  criticism 
and  suggestions." 

From  these  examples,  the  consortium 
developed  the  Learning  Factory,  the  frame- 
work for  a  new  way  of  educating  engineers. 
In  addition  to  the  idea  of  real-time  critiques 
found  in  the  architecture  and  medicine  mod- 
els, the  Learning  Factory  stresses  teamwork. 

"Engineers  don't  work  alone,"  Sisson  says. 
"Through  the  consortium,  we  are  going  to 
give  students  the  opportunity  to  work  in  geo- 
graphically dispersed  teams,  something  that 
is  becoming  quite  common  in  industry."  By 
using  interactive  television  and  other 
advanced  communication  tools,  students  will 
be  able  to  work  with  students  at  the  other 
consortium  colleges  and  to  inter- 
act in  real-time  with  engi- 
neers at  corporations. 


The  focus  for  all 
this  activity  will  be 
the  Design  Studio  of 
the  Future,  one  of  the 
new  facilities  in  Hig- 
gins  Labs,  where  stu- 
dents will  work  on 
progressively  more 
complex  design  prob- 
lems during  their  four 
years  at  WP1.  Like  the  pro- 
jects assigned  to  architec- 
tural students,  the  problems  will 
be  open-ended. 

Students  will  work  on  the  problems  in 
multicollege  teams.  They  will  use  advanced 
computer-aided  design  tools  and  will  also 
have  access  to  a  variety  of  equipment  locat- 
ed on  the  campuses,  at  manufacturing  com- 
panies, and  in  government  labs  for  making 
prototypes  of  their  products.  "This  will  be  a 
virtual  design  studio,"  Sisson  says,  "because 
not  all  of  the  colleges  will  have  all  of  the 
equipment.  But  once  you  have  a  CAD  file, 
you  can  send  it  over  a  network  to  another 
location  to  be  produced." 

The  ideas  for  the  projects  will  come  from 
companies  affiliated  with  the  consortium. 
The  students  will  be  required  to  carry  their 
ideas  right  through  to  working  products.  As 
they  work,  they  will  consult  with  engineers 
at  the  sponsoring  companies,  getting  feed- 
back on  how  well  they  are  meeting  the  cus- 
tomer's needs  and  designing  a  quality  prod- 
uct that  can  be  made  quickly  and  cheaply. 
At  the  end  of  the  year,  projects  will  be  evalu- 
ated by  a  design  jury. 

Since  completing  such  open-ended 
assignments  will  encourage  students  to  seek 
out  information  and  skills  that  may  not  be 
taught  at  WPI,  Sisson  says  a  key  element  of 
the  consortium  will  be  the  development  of 
modular  courseware — multimedia  instruc- 


tion modules  that  students  can  consult  on  a 
"just-in-time"  basis.  "The  idea  of  modular 
courseware  fits  well  with  WPI's  philosophy 
of  helping  students  learn  how  to  learn," 
Sisson  says. 

As  they  work  on  their  projects,  students 
will  come  to  understand  the  importance  of 
such  basic  concepts  as  project  management, 
the  design  process  and  brainstorming,  he 
adds.  "If  they  do  this  four  times  during  their 
careers  at  WPI,  they  will  learn  well  how  do 
these  things." 

A  critical  goal  of  the  initiative  is  to  create 
a  model  that  other  universities  can  adopt. 
Over  the  next  three  years,  the  consortium 
colleges  will  work  with  15  affiliate  institutions 
to  teach  them  how  to  run  a  learning  factory. 
The  consortium  will  also  share  its  experi- 


"Engineers  don't  work  alone.  Through  the  consortium, 
we  are  going  to  give  students  the  opportunity  to  work  in 
geographically  dispersed  teams,  something  that  is 
becoming  quite  common  in  industry."  —  Richard  Sisson 


ences  and  course- 
ware through  workshops  and  other 
vehicles.  And  the  Society  of  Manufacturing 
Engineers  will  build  a  duplicate  of  the  Design 
Studio  of  the  Future  at  its  headquarters  in 
Dearborn,  Mich.,  to  serve  as  a  showcase  for 
its  member  manufacturing  companies. 

One  important  idea  the  consortium  will 
share,  Sisson  says,  is  how  to  manage  stu- 
dent project  work.  "WPI  is  the  lead  institu- 
tion in  this  consortium  for  a  number  of  rea- 
sons," he  says.  "First,  we  have  one  of  only  10 
ABET-accredited  programs  in  manufacturing 
engineering  in  the  country.  But  just  as 
important,  we  have  more  than  20  years  of 
experience  with  student  projects  and  we 
have  a  lot  we  can  teach  other  schools." 

Reforms  Are  Adding 
Up  in  Mathematics 

Like  a  trip  to  the  dentist,  studying  calculus 
has  been  an  unpleasant  but  necessary 
chore  for  generations  of  engineering  and  sci- 
ence students.  Characterized  by  tedious  lec- 
tures and  homework  problems,  calculus  has 
always  seemed  far  removed  from  the  practi- 


cal, hands-on  education  students  get  in  their 
other  courses. 

But  it  doesn't  have  to  be  that  way,  says 
Samuel  Rankin,  head  of  the  Mathematical 
Sciences  Department.  Having  been  active  in 
the  mathematics  education  community  and 
having  served  as  a  reviewer  of  proposals  for 
calculus  reform  grants  for  the  National 
Science  Foundation,  Rankin  became  con- 
vinced not  long  after  he  joined  WPI  in  1987 
that  "we  had  the  right  faculty  to  change 
things,  and  that  WPI  was  the  right  setting  for 
change." 

Rankin  says  two  basic  alterations  were 
needed.  First,  it  was  important  to  introduce 
computers  into  the  calculus  courses  to  make 
it  possible  for  students  to  be  exposed  to  more 
complex  problems  than  the  simple  textbook 

examples  they 
were  doing  by 
hand.  Second,  it 
was  critical  that 
students  see 
how  calculus  is 
actually  used  to 
solve  engineering  and 
science  problems. 

"Mathematicians 
have  been  guilty  of 
teaching  everyone  as 
if  they  were  mathe- 
matics majors,"  Rankin 
says.  "We  have  to  re- 
member we  are  teaching 
people  who  want  to  use  mathe- 
matics but  who  don't  necessarily  want  to 
devote  their  careers  to  it." 

In  1988  the  department  began  experi- 
menting with  a  new  calculus  curriculum  that 
introduced  computers  into  classroom 
instruction.  Then  in  1990  it  received  a  two- 
year,  $1 19,000  grant  from  the  NSF  to  develop 
a  more  comprehensive  overhaul  of  the  cal- 
culus sequence. 

Under  the  direction  of  William  W.  Farr, 
associate  professor  of  mathematical  sci- 
ences, a  pilot  course  was  run  in  the  fall  of 
1991.  The  course  introduced  two  principal 
innovations:  the  use  by  students  of  a  com- 
puter algebra  system  called  Maple  and  the 
assignment  of  multiweek  projects  in  which 
students  use  calculus  to  solve  problems 
drawn  from  engineering  and  science. 

"One  of  the  problems  with  most  calculus 
courses,"  Farr  says,  "is  that  students  tend  to 
focus  on  manipulations.  They  never  learn 
why  they  should  use  calculus,  how  to  use 
calculus,  or  when  to  use  calculus  to  solve 
problems.  As  engineers  and  scientists,  that's 
what  they  need  to  know." 

Now,  in  addition  to  attending  lectures, 
students  spend  time  in  a  computer  lab  work- 
ing in  groups  on  exercises  that  teach  them 


10 


Winter  1994 


about  using  calculus — and  the  computer— 
to  solve  problems.  The  lab  itself,  with  its  23 
workstations,  was  funded  by  a  major  grant 
from  the  NSF;  the  department  has  applied 
for  more  NSF  funding  to  add  a  second  lab. 

During  the  course,  the  students  also  tackle 
several  complex,  open-ended  projects.  They 
are  given  three  weeks  to  complete  each  one 
and  to  write  a  technical  report  summarizing 
how  they  attacked  it.  "In  the  reports  I  look  for 
a  student's  abili- 


also  acknowledged  the  upside — they  had 
learned  a  lot." 

Farr  and  Petruccelli  say  that  although 
they  believe  the  new  approaches  are  prom- 
ising, formal  study  is  required  to  prove  that 
the  methods  really  are  better  for  students. 
Recognizing  the  importance  of  assessment 
in  curricular  re- 
form,   the 


It  was  important  to  introduce 
computers  into  the  calculus 
courses  to  make  it  possible  for 
students  to  be  exposed  to 


science  problems. 


ty  to  mix  words 
and  equations, 
knowing  when 
to  use  each  to 
describe  what 
they've  done 
mathematical- 
ly," Farr  says. 
"To  do  well  with 
these  reports, 

students  really  have  to  understand  what  they 
are  writing  about." 

Many  of  the  problems  students  are 
assigned — such  as  designing  a  crankshaft  or 
studying  the  economics  of  an  electric  power 
system — are  suggested  by  faculty  members 
in  WPFs  engineering  and  science  depart- 
ments. In  complexity  and  relevance,  they  are 
far  removed  from  the  problems  calculus  stu- 
dents typically  see,  Farr  says. 

While  the  new  calculus  sequence  was 
being  implemented,  another  team — 
Professor  Joseph  D.  Petruccelli  and  Assis- 
tant Professors  Balgobin  Nandram  and 
Minghui  Chen — was  revamping  the  basic 
statistics  sequence  with  a  $165,000  NSF 
grant.  Like  the  new  calcu- 
lus courses,  the  statistics 
sequence  relies  heavily 
on  the  computer  and  on 
learning  through  group 
projects. 

In  pilot  classes  in 
the  fall  of  1993,  the 
three  instructors  took 
somewhat  different 
approaches  to  teaching  statistics 
For  example,  while  Petruccelli  tried  to 
eliminate  lectures  entirely  and  have  stu- 
dents learn  the  class  material  in  groups, 
Nandram  gave  "mini-lectures"  and  had  stu- 
dents get  together  in  groups  only  to  do  pro- 
jects and  lab  exercises. 

The  goal  of  the  new  approach,  Petru- 
ccelli says,  is  to  have  students  learn  how  to 
learn  by  actually  using  statistics  to  solve 
problems,  rather  than  listening  to  lectures 
and  reading  a  textbook.  Used  to  the  lecture 
approach,  students  were  skeptical  at  first, 
he  says.  "Much  of  the  burden  was  on  them 
and  I  think  they  felt  that.  But  in  written 
assessments  at  the  end  of  the  course,  some 


»^K 


v/ 


Mathematical 

Sciences  Department  this  year  hired 
Assistant  Professor  Susan  L.  Ganter,  who 
has  made  that  her  specialty. 

During  the  current  academic  year, 
Ganter  has  been  working  with  Farr  to  assess 
the  success  of  the  calculus  program.  "At  any 
one  time,  we  have  10  sections  of  calculus 
under  way,"  she  says.  "Four  are  running 
under  the  new  model  and  the  remainder 
under  the  old  model.  To  compare  the  two 
approaches,  we  gave  common  finals  to  stu- 
dents in  both  tracks." 

She  says  the  results  show  that  students 
in  the  new  sequence, 
in  addition  to  learn- 


"Since  we  haven't  had  the 
engineering  equivalent  of 
Marcus  Welby  on  television, 
and  since  students  don't 
study  engineering  in  high 
school,  (the  case  study) 
may  be  their  first  true  expo- 
sure to  real  engineering." 
— Christopher  Brown 


ing  computer  skills,  technical 
report  writing,  and  calculus  theory  and 
practice,  learn  the  basics  of  calculus  manip- 
ulations at  least  as  well  as  students  in  the 
traditional  courses.  Based  on  the  success  of 
the  pilot  program,  the  mathematics  faculty 
will  soon  be  asked  to  approve  switching  the 
calculus  sequence  entirely  over  to  the  new 
format  beginning  this  fall. 

Ganter,  who  will  perform  similar  assess- 
ments with  the  revised  statistics  and  differ- 
ential equations  courses  (see  page  18),  says 
she  will  follow  the  students  who  pursued 


both  the  revised  and  traditional  sequences 
to  see  how  they  do  in  later  math  courses 
and  in  their  other  course  and  project  work 
at  WPI.  She  also  plans  to  interview  students 
later  in  their  academic  careers  to  assess  the 
impact  of  the  new  methods  on  their  atti- 
tudes about  and  ability  to  use  mathematics. 
At  press  time  it  was  learned  that  the 
department's  reform  efforts  will  expand  even 
further.  The  National  Science  Foundation 
has  approved  a  two-year,  $100,000  grant 
for  a  revision  of  the  linear  algebra 
sequence.  The  effort,  to  begin  this 
spring,  will  be  spearheaded  by  Assis- 
tant Professor  Ansuman  Bagchi. 

"With  NSF  support,  we  are  essen- 
tially realigning  and  restructuring 
our  entire  freshman  and  sophomore 
curriculum,"  notes  Rankin,  who  says 
his  hope  is  that  the  department  can 
ultimately  transfer  what  it  has  learned 
in  these  efforts  to  the  entire  mathematics 
curriculum. 

Introducing  Marcus 
Welby,  P.E. 

What  does  an  engineer  do?  Surpris- 
ingly, many  engineering  students 
don't  really  know,  says  Christopher  A. 
Brown,  associate  professor  of  mechanical 
engineering.  To  provide  a  window  on  real- 
life  engineering  for  students  and  to  give  fac- 
ulty members  a  vital  link  to  the  concerns 
and  needs  of  industry,  Brown  and  several 
colleagues  at  WPI  have 
turned  to  the  case  study, 
a  tool  widely  used  in  man- 
agement education. 

Over  the  past  few 
years,  Brown,  Richard 
Sisson,  John  J.  Bausch  111, 
assistant  professor  of 
mechanical  engineering, 
Sharon  A.  Johnson,  associ- 
ate professor  of  manage- 
ment. James  C.  O'Shaughn- 
essy,  professor  of  civil 
engineering,  Jeanne  Wenzel  Ross,  assistant 
professor  of  management,  and  David  C. 
Zenger,  assistant  professor  of  mechanical 
engineering,  have  been  developing  case  stud- 
ies to  use  in  courses  in  environmental  engi- 
neering, materials,  management  and  manufac- 
turing engineering. 

The  work  has  been  supported  by  the 
Society  of  Manufacturing  Engineers,  the 
National  Consortium  for  Business  and 
Technology,  and  AT&T,  which  in  1992 
awarded  WPI  a  three-year,  $200,000  grant  to 
develop  the  case  study  approach. 


WPI  Journal 


11 


Brown  says  several  case  studies  have 
already  been  developed.  In  one,  which  has 
been  used  in  manufacturing  and  manage- 
ment courses,  students  are  presented  with 
the  problem  of  determining  the  real  cost  of  a 
discrete  manufacturing  operation  like  cut- 
ting a  workpiece  with  a  band  saw.  A  number 
of  factors  can  affect  this  cost,  including  the 
quality  and  cost  of  the  blade,  the  cutting 
speed,  and  the  cost  of  operating  the  ma- 
chine and  changing  the  blade. 

Like  the  other  studies,  this  one  was 
developed  in  consultation  with  corpor- 
ations, including  American  Saw  and 
Manufacturing  Co.  in  East  Longmeadow, 
Mass.,  which,  in  addition  to  saw  blades,  pro- 
duces software  that  companies  can  use  to 
make  such  calculations.  Students  use  a  ver- 
sion of  the  software  as  they  work  on  the 
case  study. 

"This  is  a  valuable  study  because  we 
have  an  industry  that  is  actually  doing  this 
kind  of  thing,"  Brown  says.  "We  know  that 
some  of  our  engineers  will  work  for  compa- 
nies that  aren't  aware  of  how  to  do  this — 
and  that  may  be  wasting  money — so  we  feel 
we  are  making  a  real  contribution." 

Brown  says  the  greatest  value  of  the  case 
studies  is  that  they  expose  students  to  the 
kinds  of  things  engineers  really  do.  "They 
use  the  specialized  software  engineers  use 
and  experience  real-life  engineering  scenar- 
ios," he  says.  "Since  we  haven't  had  the  engi- 
neering equivalent  of  Marcus  Welby  on  tele- 
vision, and  since  students  don't  study  engi- 
neering in  high  school,  this  may  their  first 
true  exposure  to  real  engineering." 

The  case  studies  seem  to  work.  Brown 
says  that  after  the  most  recent  offering  of 
his  materials  processing  course,  where  a 
quarter  of  the  class  time  is  devoted  to  case 
studies,  30  percent  of  students  said  the  stud- 
ies changed  their  perceptions  about  what  an 
engineer  does. 

But  while  they  are  effective,  Brown  says 
case  studies  take  far  more  time  than  simply 
preparing  lectures.  "It  takes  a  graduate  stu- 
dent a  full  term  to  develop  a  case  study 
that  takes  two  hours  of  class  time  to  work 
through,"  he  says.  "You  also  have  to  add  in 
a  great  deal  of  a  faculty  member's  time. 
That  can  seem  like  an  inefficient  method  of 
teaching." 

To  make  the  idea  more  feasible  for  other 
instructors,  Brown  and  his  colleagues  plan 
to  write  a  book  about  using  case  studies  in 
engineering  education.  "We  have  to  sell  peo- 
ple on  the  worth  of  this  method,"  he  says. 
"But  as  we  look  at  shrinking  budgets  and 
higher  student-faculty  ratios,  there  will  be 
less  time  for  such  activities.  That's  why  sup- 
port from  organizations  like  AT&T  is  so 
important." 


Defining  the  Future  of 
Lab  Instruction 


n  1991,  the  Chemistry  Department  opened 
the  doors  to  its  new  Introductory  Chem- 
istry Instrumentation  Center.  The  lab  repre- 
sented a  major  change  in  the  way  students 
in  the  Institute's  introductory  chemistry 
course  would  spend  their  lab  periods. 
Funded,  in  part,  by  a  major  grant  from  the 
National  Science  Foundation,  the  center 
houses  several  clus- 
ters of  sophisti- 
cated analytical  ^ 
instruments, 


like  gas  chromatographs, 
Fourier  transform  infra- 
red spectrometers  and  spectrophotome- 
ters— the  kinds  of  state-of-the-art  tools  one 
usually  finds  only  in  a  modern  chemistry 
research  lab. 

Developed  by  Professors  Nicholas  K. 
Kildahl  and  Ladislav  H.  Berka,  the  center, 
part  of  the  General  Chemistry  Laboratory 
in  Goddard  Hall,  is  the  focus  of  a  new 
approach  to  teaching  introductory  chem- 
istry that  seeks  to  expose  students  early  in 
their  academic  careers  to  real  research. 
Working  in  teams,  students  in  introductory 
chemistry  use  the  instrumentation  through- 
out the  course  to  solve  problems  and  lab 
exercises. 

The  idea,  notes  Department  Head  James 
W.  Pavlik,  is  to  get  students  excited  about 
scientific  research  at  a  time  when  they  are 
still  considering  their  career  options.  "Since 
most  of  WPI's  2,600  undergraduates  take 
General  Chemistry  during  their  first  year  at 
the  Institute,"  he  says,  "the  new  center  is 
having  a  major  impact  on  the  education  of 
virtually  every  WPI  student. 

"This  experience  will  certainly  help  pre- 
pare our  engineering  and  science  students 
to  assume  positions  of  leadership  in  an 
increasingly  competitive  technical  world," 
adds  Pavlik,  who  says  the  department  is 
working  to  extend  this  approach  to  lab 


instruction  throughout  the  entire  undergrad- 
uate chemistry  curriculum. 

According  to  Dean  of  Undergraduate 
Studies  Francis  C.  Lutz,  rethinking  the  un- 
dergraduate laboratory  experience  will  be  a 
major  thrust  of  future  curricular  reform 
efforts  at  WPI.  "Because  of  the  real-world 
work  WPI  students  do  through  their  pro- 
jects, there  is  less  of  a  need  for  hands-on  lab 
work  at  WPI.  On  the  other  hand,  to  do  the 
projects  well,  students  need  to  learn  hands- 
on  skills,  so  in  a  sense  there  is  more  of  a 
need  for  this  type  of  instruction.  I've  called 
for  this  issue — and  an  examination  of  the 
best  ways  to  deliver  lab  instruction — to  be  a 
priority  for  the  faculty  and  the  administra- 
tion in  the  months  ahead." 

Lutz  says  the  appearance  of  such  infor- 
mation-age technologies  as  computer 
simulations,  teleconferencing  and 
virtual  reality  may  provide  oppor- 
tunities for  lab  instruction  to  be 
delivered  in  entirely  new  ways  and 
for  universities  and  academic  depart- 
ments to  share  equipment  and  course- 
ware to  lower  the  cost  of  lab  instruction. 


Faculty  members  from  virtually  every  science  and 
engineering  discipline  have  submitted  proposals 
to  the  National  Science  Foundation  under  its 
Instructional  Laboratory  Improvement  program. 


A  significant  move  to  address  laboratory 
instruction  is  already  afoot  on  campus,  Lutz 
says.  He  says  faculty  members  from  virtually 
every  science  and  engineering  discipline 
have  submitted  proposals  to  the  National 
Science  Foundation  under  its  Instructional 
Laboratory  Improvement  program.  "We've 
already  received  some  funds  through  this 
program,  which  supports  new  visions  for  lab 
instruction.  It  has  made  a  big  difference  in 
the  quality  of  education  at  WPI." 

Lutz  says  is  he  heartened  by  the  amount 
of  change  and  reassessment  he  sees  around 
him  today.  "There  seems  to  be  a  recommit- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  faculty  to  our  most 
important  strategic  goal:  enhancing  the  ex- 
cellence of  our  undergraduate  program. 

"Our  faculty  are  scholarly  people  who 
recognize  that  there's  an  awful  lot  of  schol- 
arship in  the  teaching  process.  They  are 
active  in  understanding  how  teaching  and 
learning  interact.  And  they  are  deeply  con- 
cerned about  the  kinds  of  skills  and  knowl- 
edge our  graduates  need  to  succeed  today — 
everything  from  the  ability  to  learn  how  to 
learn,  which  enables  one  to  adapt  more 
quickly  to  changing  societal  needs,  to  an 
understanding  of  other  cultures,  so  vital  in 
our  global  economy.  It  makes  for  some  real- 
ly exciting  times  at  WPI." 


12 


Winter  1994 


Breaking  the  Mold 

How  do  you  convert  students  from  passive  observers  to  active  learners? 
WPI  seeks  the  answer  with  a  bold  experiment  in  cooperative  learning. 


By  Diane  Benison 


T 

urn  and  look  at  the  person  on 
X    your  right.  Now  look  at  the  per- 
son on  your  left.  Four  years  from  now, 
only  one  of  you  will  still  be  here." 

That  sobering  prediction  was  part  of  the  welcome 
many  freshmen  received  during  their  first  week  at 
WPI — and  at  many  other  colleges  of  engineering  and 
science — as  recently  as  25  years  ago,  says  Francis  C. 
Lutz,  dean  of  undergraduate  studies.  It  typified  the 
competitive  model  of  education  found  then  through- 
out much  of  higher  education — particularly  in  techni- 
cal disciplines. 

The  birth  of  the  WPI  Plan  in  the  early  1970s  created 
a  new  model.  The  Plan  reframed  student  responsibili- 
ties and  faculty  expectations.  Students  were  no  longer 


seen  as  passive  vessels  into  which  the  faculty  poured 
facts,  the  retention  of  which  was  measured  by  tests  and 
rewarded  with  grades  and,  ultimately,  graduation. 

The  Plan  required  each  student  to  complete  three 
projects — the  Humanities  Sufficiency,  the  Interactive 
Qualifying  Project  (IQP),  and  the  Major  Qualifying 
Project  (MQP).  These  graduation  requirements  sent  a 
powerful  message  to  students  about  the  importance 
of  integrating  and  applying  what  they  learned  in  the 
classroom  to  the  real  world. 

Less  explicit  in  the  project  experience  was  another 
message,  that  of  the  value  of  teamwork.  Completing 
the  IQP  and  MQP  in  teams  gives  students  a  preview  of 
life  as  a  professional,  since  no  matter  what  their  disci- 
plines, working  engineers,  scientists  and  managers 
(and,  for  that  matter,  social  scientists  and  humanists) 
must  invariably  work  together  with  others  to  design 
and  manufacture  products,  solve  problems,  and  tack- 
le unanswered  questions  about  the  universe. 


WPI  Journal 


13 


The  cooperative  model  was  a  significant  step  away 
from  the  prevailing  competitive  style  of  education. 
But  while  it  has  been  thoroughly  integrated  into  the 
Plan's  required  project  work,  it  has  been  slower  to 
find  its  way  into  the  Institute's  classrooms.  Since  most 
students  do  not  begin  work  on  the  IQP  and  MQP — the 
projects  that  are  usually  completed  in  teams — until 
their  junior  year,  their  early  experiences  at  WPI  often 
diverge  little  from  the  traditional  model,  Lutz  notes. 


"During  my  more  than  two  decades  at  WPI,  I've 
seen  us  spend  the  vast  majority  of  our  time  on  stu- 
dent experiences  in  the  upper  classes.  It's  now  time  to 
turn  our  attention  to  the  freshman  experience." 

Lutz  says  he  was  moved  by  a  statement  made  by 
Paul  Grey,  former  president  of  MIT,  who  chaired  the 
visiting  committee  of  the  New  England  Association  of 
Schools  and  Colleges  for  WPI's  1992  reaccreditation. 
"He  expressed  his  admiration  for  the  sense  of  colle- 
giality  that  the  projects  create  between  faculty  and 
students.  It's  our  intention  to  bring  that  collegiality 
into  the  freshman  year." 

A  major  experiment  aimed  at  accomplishing  just 
that  began  in  1992  with  the  aid  of  a  two-year,  $550,000 
grant  from  the  Davis  Educational  Foundation.  The 
grant  is  being  used  to  introduce  the  concepts  of  coop- 
erative learning  into  introductory  courses. 

Last  year  the  grant  funded  a  cooperative  learning 


trial  with  the  introductory  biology  sequence.  This 
year  it  is  supporting  pilot  programs  in  the  Civil 
Engineering,  Mathematical  Sciences  and  Computer 
Science  departments.  All  of  this  is  aimed  at  finding 
innovative  ways  to  both  improve  student  learning  and 
increase  faculty  productivity.  To  meet  these  two 
goals,  the  pilot  programs  make  teamwork  an  integral 
part  of  the  WPI  experience  right  from  the  start  of  a 
student's  academic  career. 

The  origins  of  the  program  funded  by  the  Davis 
Foundation  can  be  traced  to  a  project  started  in 
1988  by  Ronald  D.  Cheetham,  professor  of  biolo- 
gy and  biotechnology,  and  Judith  Miller,  associate 
professor  of  biology  and  biotechnology.  The  two  were 
assigned  the  seemingly  mundane  task  of  reorganizing 
the  introductory  courses  designed  for  biology  majors 
(Biology  I  and  If). 

Instead  of  simply  updating  the  content  of  the  two 
courses,  Miller  and  Cheetham  decided  to  use  the 
assignment  as  an  opportunity  to  move  away  from  the 
traditional  lecture  and  highly  structured  laboratory 
format  commonly  employed  in  introductory  science 
courses — the  "canned  lecture/cookbook  lab  format," 
as  they  would  later  dub  it  in  one  of  two  articles  they 
wrote  about  their  experiences  for  the  magazine 
BioScience. 

"Although  providing  breadth  of  coverage,  the  tra- 
ditional approach  allowed  for  little  or  no  in-depth 
investigation  of  single  topics,"  they  wrote.  "The  stu- 
dents memorized  buzzwords,  but  their  involvement  in 
the  course  was  minimal.  They  had  no  say  in  the  selec- 
tion of  topics  or  in  grading;  they  had  little  opportunity 
or  incentive  to  participate  in  discussions  or  to  inter- 
act with  faculty;  they  had  no  need  to  consult  primary 
research  literature;  and  they  were  usually  not  re- 
quired to  think  analytically  or  creatively  or  to  orga- 
nize their  thoughts  for  written  or  oral  presentation.  In 
summary,  students  in  the  traditional  introductory 
course  participated  passively,  and  consequently  there 
was  little  long-term  retention  of  course  material  and 
little  stimulation  of  student  interest." 

Cheetham  and  Miller  wanted  the  new  courses  to 
not  only  solve  these  problems,  but  to  more  effectively 
"convey  the  spirit  of  biology  as  an  investigative  sci- 
ence." To  do  that,  they  turned  to  the  techniques  of  ac- 
tive and  cooperative  learning. 

James  E.  Groccia,  director  of  WPI's  Center  for 
Curricular  Innovation  and  Educational  Development, 
says  "active  learning  requires  students  to  solve  prob- 
lems, ask  questions,  express  opinions  and  support 
those  opinions  with  reasons — in  short,  to  think  active- 
ly about  the  subject  being  discussed." 

Cooperative  learning  takes  that  a  step  further, 
Groccia  says,  by  having  students  work  in  groups. 
They  remain  responsible  for  their  own  learning,  but 
they  are  also  encouraged  to  help  others  in  their  group 
learn.  The  idea  is  that  by  cooperating  and  taking 
advantage  of  the  synergy  of  several  minds  working 
together,  everyone  will  learn  more. 

"In  its  simplest  form,  cooperative  learning  is  a 
group  of  people  working  together  to  understand  and 
solve  a  problem,"  Groccia  says.  "It  occurs  sponta- 


14 


Winter  1994 


neously  in  families,  in  social  and  political  organiza- 
tions, and  in  the  workplace." 

In  the  classroom,  cooperative  learning  can  take 
many  forms.  Generally,  students  work  together  to 
complete  a  common  task  suitable  for  group  work.  It 
can  be  a  highly  effective  way  for  students  to  master 
material  and  develop  higher-order  thinking  and  col- 
laborative skills,  while  still  holding  them  individually 
accountable  for  their  own  learning,  Groccia  says. 

Cooperative  learning  is  not  a  new  idea.  Increas- 
ingly, it  is  being  practiced  in  elementary  and  sec- 
ondary schools  across  the  country,  though  its  use  at 
colleges  and  universities  is  a  relatively  new  phenome- 
non. While  it  is  employed  in  many  ways,  cooperative 
learning  has  some  basic  requirements: 
— The  groups  must  have  positive  interdependence 

that  drives  all  members  to  want  to  learn. 
— Group  members  have  to  help  each  other  learn  by 
sharing,  providing  constructive  feedback,  and 
directly  supporting  and  encouraging  positive  prob- 
lem-solving activities. 
— Group  members  must  hold  each  other  accountable 

for  doing  their  fair  share  of  the  work. 
— Group  members  must  be  aware  of  and  able  to  use 
appropriate  interpersonal  skills  to  communicate 
and  solve  problems  within  the  group. 
— Groups  must  be  able  to  discuss  the  process  of 
learning  and  group  dynamics  to  assess  how  effec- 
tively group  members  are  functioning  together. 


M; 


'iller  and  Cheetham  taught  the  revised  Biology 
and  II  for  the  first  time  in  1989.  The  new 
.courses  had  no  lectures  or  traditional  lab 
experiments.  Instead,  students  learned  about  molecu- 
lar, cell,  organismal  and  environmental  biology  by 
working  as  teams  to  solve  problems — for  example, 
designing  a  unicellular  organism  to  colonize  the  ficti- 
tious planet  Xenon  or  a  closed  life-support  system  for 
long-term  space  flight. 

Since  the  new  courses  had  no  tests,  grades  were 
based  on  presentations  and  reports  completed  by 
groups  at  the  end  of  each  project,  as  well  as  a  self- 
grading  format  and  some  grading  of  students  by  their 
peers.  "Students  could  not  passively  participate  in 
these  courses,"  Miller  says. 

Because  there  were  no  textbooks  appropriate  for 
this  approach  to  biology,  Miller  and  Cheetham  wrote 
their  own  curriculum  materials.  (They  did  ask  stu- 
dents to  buy  a  standard  text  for  use  as  a  reference.) 
The  original  materials  included  a  core  of  project  mod- 
ules that  asked  questions  that  seemed  simple,  but 
which  could  only  be  answered  after  students  had 
acquired  a  broad  knowledge  about  biology.  And 
unlike  the  problems  typically  included  in  introductory- 
level  textbooks,  these  questions  had  more  than  one 
possible  solution. 

To  acquire  the  knowledge  they  needed,  students 
were  encouraged  to  gather  relevant  information  by 
reading  research  material  Miller  and  Cheetham 
reserved  at  the  library.  Students  had  to  evaluate  the 
meaning  of  the  research  and  its  relevance  to  their 
tasks,  and  then  work  together  to  synthesize  and  inte- 
grate it  into  coherent  solutions  to  the  problems  at 


hand.  Large-  and  small-group  in-class  discussions 
helped  students  digest  what  they  were  discovering. 

Student  reaction  to  the  trial  run  was  mixed.  Many 
students  were  unnerved  by  the  lack  of  structure  and 
by  the  open-ended  nature  of  the  problems.  Biology 
majors  worried  that  they  were  not  learning  enough 
facts  to  allow  them  to  take  advanced  courses. 

Miller  and  Cheetham  were  also  finding  that  active 
and  cooperative  learning  required  more  of  them  as 
teachers.  They  discovered  that  they  were  putting  in 
almost  twice  as  many  hours  per  week  into  teaching 
than  they  had  when  they  taught  the  courses  in  the  tra- 
ditional way.  And  with  far  more  student-teacher  inter- 
action than  in  a  lecture  course,  they  began  to  see  how 
different  cognitive  styles  affect  student  learning — 
especially  in  groups.  Managing  the  dynamics  within 
the  project  teams  became  a  time-intensive  task. 

To  address  student  anxieties,  Miller  and  Cheetham 
made  some  changes  to  the  courses  in  1990.  They 
added  some  brief  lectures  and  helped  the  teams 
break  the  problems  into  manageable  components. 
They  added  quizzes  to  assure  students  that  they 
were,  indeed,  learning  facts,  and  adjusted  the  peer- 
evaluation  part  of  the  grading  system  to  increase  the 
incentive  for  all  students  to  participate  substantially 
in  group  projects. 

To  find  out  how  well  their  new  approach  worked, 
Miller  and  Cheetham  secured  a  small  grant  from  WPl's 
Educational  Development  Council.  With  the  grant 
they  commissioned  Leonard  Goodwin,  now  professor 
emeritus  of  social  science  and  policy  studies,  to  com- 
pare the  attitudes  and  academic  performance  of  stu- 
dents in  the  1989  and  1990  sequence  with  those  of  stu- 
dents who  had  taken  the  sequence  in  1987  and  1988 
under  the  traditional  lecture  format. 

He  found  that  while  many  students  would  have 
preferred  traditional  lectures,  most  enjoyed  working 
in  project  groups  and  had  come  to  prefer  problems 
that  had  more  than  one  solution.  Another  survey  con- 
ducted a  year  after  students  completed  the  revised 
course  sequence  showed  that  those  who  went  on  to 
take  advanced  biology  courses  said  their  experience 
with  cooperative  and  active  learning  had  fired  their 
interest  in  biology. 

Goodwin's  assessment  also  showed  that  biology 
majors  who  took  the  revised  introductory  courses  did 
as  well  in  advanced  courses  as  students  who  had 
taken  the  traditional  introductory  sequence.  In  fact, 
instructors  of  the  advanced  courses  believed  they 
had  gained  an  important  edge  over  other  students. 

"They  were  less  likely  than  the  previous  year's 
group  to  expect  the  TAs  or  myself  to  tell  them  exactly 
what  to  do,"  one  instructor  said.  "The  students  relied 
on  themselves  and  each  other  much  more  than  on  the 
instructor.  I  got  few  complaints  about  the  difficulty  of 
the  homework." 

"This  year's  sophomore  class  [which  participated 
in  the  revised  courses]  is  less  afraid  to  ask  questions," 
another  said.  "They  seem  more  aggressive,  and  less 
likely  to  remain  silent  if  dissatisfied.  They  also  seem 
to  have  provided  more  highly  creative  answers  on 
their  essay  exams. ..more  alternative  explanations 
than  any  preceding  class  I  have  taught." 


Dissatisfied  with 
traditional  teaching 
methods,  Judith 
Miller  helped  inte- 
grate cooperative 
learning  into  an 
introductory  biology 
sequence. 


James  Groccia  says 
cooperative  learning 
improves  student 
comprehension — and 
faculty  productivity — 
by  encouraging  stu- 
dents to  help  each 
other  learn. 


WPI  Journal 


15 


Justin  H.  Marshall  '96 
presents  some  of 
his  team's  work  on 
one  of  the  weekly 
projects  completed 
by  students  in 
Fundamentals  of 
Civil  Engineering. 


Dalin  Tang  lectures 
to  students  in  Differ- 
ential Equations.  In 
addition  to  attending 
lectures,  students 
in  the  course  met 
regularly  in  small 
groups. 


Cheetham  and  Miller  say  they  also  noticed  that 
students  in  the  new  courses  developed  collegia!  rela- 
tionships with  each  other,  creating  a  camaraderie 
missing  in  students  from  the  traditional  lecture  class- 
es. As  they  continued  to  teach  the  new  Biology  I  and 
II,  they  worked  with  John  M.  Wilkes,  associate  profes- 
sor of  social  science  and  policy  studies,  to  study  how 
students'  cognitive  styles  impacted  student  satisfac- 
tion, group  formation  and  group  performance. 

By  the  end  of  1992,  though,  as  the  number  of  stu- 
dents electing  to  major  in  biology  and  biotechnology 
was  increasing,  Cheetham — concerned  that  the  gains 
in  student  learning  might  not  outweigh  the  significant- 
ly greater  time  investment  by  the  instructor — decided 
to  return  to  the  traditional  format.  Miller,  though  she 
also  worried  about  the  demands  of  the  approach, 
wanted  to  continue  using  the  cooperative  learning  for- 
mat. But  she  knew  she  couldn't  do  it  alone. 

Fortuitously,  at  around  this  time,  the  New  Eng- 
land-based Davis  Educational  Foundation  invit- 
ed WPI  to  submit  a  proposal.  Worried  about  the 
rising  costs  of  a  college  education,  the  foundation 
was  interested  in  exploring  ways  to  increase  faculty 
productivity  while  still  maintaining — and  quite  possi- 
bly improving — the  quality  of  education.  The  founda- 
tion, impressed  with  WPI's  innovative  approach  to 
undergraduate  technical  education,  chose  the 
Institute  to  design  a  novel  approach  to  the  problem 
that  might  serve  as  a  model  for  other  colleges  and 
universities. 

As  Miller  and  Cheetham  were  considering  the 
future  of  their  experiment  in  introductory  biology, 
Lutz,  Lance  Schachterle,  associate  dean  of  undergrad- 
uate studies,  and  Denise  R.  Rodino,  director  of  foun- 
dation relations,  were  meeting  with  individual  faculty 
members  and  faculty  groups,  trying  to  find  a  way  to 
meet  the  Davis  Foundation's  challenge.  Their  aim  was 
to  incorporate  the  project  experience  developed  so 
successfully  in  the  WPI  Plan  into  introductory  courses 
without  unduly  burdening  instructors  with  the  inten- 
sive faculty-student  contact  characteristic  of  projects. 

They  decided  that  one  solution  might  be  to  have 
paid  student  assistants  share  the  teaching  load.  The 
idea  would  be  for  these  assistants,  whom  they 
dubbed  Peer  Learning  Assistants  or  PLAs,  to  lead 
small  groups  of  students  in  solving  problems  and 
tackling  joint  projects. 

These  group  experiences  would  not  only  help  stu- 
dents understand  and  learn  the  course  material  bet- 
ter, but  reinforce  the  idea  that  they  share  a  major 
responsibility  for  their  own  learning.  And  just  as 
important,  by  managing  the  learning  process,  rather 
than  being  the  primary  deliverer  of  material,  a  faculty 
member  could  handle  more  students  in  the  same 
amount  of  time. 

Unlike  traditional  tutors,  PLAs  would  be  carefully 
trained  to  anticipate  and  manage  the  kinds  of  issues 
and  interpersonal  problems  that  arise  when  students 
work  in  groups.  Without  actually  showing  the  groups 
how  to  solve  the  problems  they've  been  assigned, 
PLAs  would  help  the  students  stay  on  track  and  get 
their  work  done. 


Seeing  a  promising  model  in  the  experience  of 
Miller  and  Cheetham,  Lutz,  Schachterle  and  Rodino 
formed  a  team  that  included  Miller,  Groccia  and 
Herbert  Beall,  professor  of  chemistry  (who  had  been 
working  on  innovative  ways  to  teach  introductory 
chemistry  courses),  to  combine  that  model  with  the 
idea  of  the  Peer  Learning  Assistants.  It  was  this  con- 
cept that  the  Davis  Foundation  agreed  to  support  with 
its  $550,000  grant. 

The  idea  of  increasing  faculty  productivity,  widely 
discussed  in  academic  circles  in  recent  years,  often 
sparks  controversy,  Miller  says.  "Some  people  view  it 
as  making  the  faculty  work  harder,  or  getting  rid  of 
some  of  them  and  making  the  rest  work  harder.  But 
the  idea  behind  the  Davis  grant  is  that,  because  insti- 
tutional resources  are  limited,  faculty  time  has  to  be 
spent  in  managing  the  learning  process  rather  than 
doing  all  the  nitty-gritty  of  it. 

"Higher  education  is  getting  more  and  more  expen- 
sive. Colleges  are  in  financial  trouble,  so  it  is  essential 
that  faculty  members  use  their  time  as  productively 
as  possible.  If  they  can  design  a  curriculum  that  incor- 
porates appropriate  learning  tasks  and  can  then  train 
a  lower-paid  staff  to  help  implement  it,  their  time  is 
better  spent  than  if  they  were  to  invest  40  hours  a 
week  working  one-on-one  with  students." 

Miller  is  quick  to  point  out  that  cooperative  learn- 
ing does  not  mean  simply  replacing  the  faculty  mem- 
ber in  the  classroom  with  a  teaching  assistant,  some- 
thing for  which  many  large  universities  have  been 
criticized.  "It  takes  a  faculty  member  who's  really  seri- 
ous about  and  good  at  teaching  to  design  a  coopera- 
tive learning  course,"  she  says.  "The  task  design  is 
critical  and  the  selection  and  training  of  the  support 
staff  are  critical.  It's  not  as  if  the  faculty  member  is 
backing  away  from  teaching.  He  or  she  should  be  the 
'guide  on  the  side,  rather  than  the  sage  on  the  stage,' 
as  cooperative  learning  proponents  put  it." 

The  Davis  Foundation  grant,  received  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1992,  provided  funds  for  pilot  programs 
aimed  at  extending  the  cooperative  learning, 
model  to  other  lower-level  courses  around  campus. 
But  the  first  step  was  to  test  the  PLA  concept  using 
the  introductory  biology  sequence  as  the  model. 

Miller  and  Groccia  carefully  selected  students  to 
serve  as  PLAs  for  the  courses.  They  picked  students 
who  had  already  taken  the  introductory  sequence 
under  the  cooperative  learning  format  and  done  well. 
The  PLAs,  who  were  to  be  paid  for  a  maximum  of  10 
hours  of  work  per  week,  were  given  an  intensive 
three-day  training  session  to  prepare  them  for  their 
role.  (One  of  those  PLAs,  Juliet  K.  Vescio  '93,  wrote  a 
manual  that  is  being  used  to  help  train  new  PLAs. 
Vescio  is  now  in  a  Ph.D.  program  in  biology  at  the 
University  of  Virginia.) 

The  PLAs  were  expected  to  work  with  project 
teams  and  to  meet  once  a  week  with  Miller,  Groccia 
and  Miller's  teaching  assistant.  At  those  weekly  meet- 
ings, the  group  discussed  the  students'  progress, 
talked  over  the  problems  the  groups  were  experienc- 
ing, and,  when  necessary,  brainstormed  to  find  ways 
to  deal  with  the  problems.  "They  had  done  this  small- 


16 


Winter  1994 


group  work  before,"  Miller  says,  "so  they  had 
learned — often  by  the  seat  of  their  pants— how  to  get 
along  in  a  group,  how  to  organize  the  group  process, 
what  tends  to  happen  in  group  dynamics,  and  how  to 
deal  with  it." 

To  help  students  understand  the  value  of  the 
active  and  cooperative  learning  techniques  they'd  be 
using  in  the  course,  Miller  started  the  first  class  peri- 
od with  a  simple  exercise.  She  told  each  student  to 
work  with  one  or  two  neighbors  and  make  a  list  of 
what  they  thought  an  employer  or  a  graduate  school 
might  look  for  in  a  new  graduate. 

"They  came  up  with  a  list  of  skills  that  has  little  to 
do  with  course  content  and  a  lot  to  do  with  personal 
skills— thinking,  problem-solving,  creativity,  ability 
to  work  well  with  others,  and  the  ability  to  present 
their  ideas  orally  and  in  writing,"  she  says.  "These  are 
remarkably  similar  to  the  skills  employers  are,  in  fact, 
seeking.  I  pointed  out  how  a  traditional  course,  where 
you  memorize  stuff  out  of  the  textbook  and  spit  it 
back  on  the  test,  is  not  going  to  teach  you  any  of 
these  things." 

The  pilot  program  in  introductory  biology  showed 
that  the  PLA  model  works,  Miller  says.  PLAs  provided 
the  help  the  small  groups  needed  and  reduced  the 
time  she  had  been  spending  on  that  task.  While  she 
says  it  still  took  more  time  to  teach  under  a  coopera- 
tive learning  format,  the  difference  was  only  about  90 
minutes  a  week,  instead  of  the  12  to  13  hours  when 
she  taught  the  course  without  PLAs. 

Proposals  were  solicited  from  every  academic 
department  and  reviewed  by  Beall,  Groccia  and 
Miller.  Three  initiatives  were  funded  for  the 
1993-94  academic  year.  A  second  round  of  funding  will 
soon  be  made  available  for  three  or  four  more  pilot 
programs  to  be  run  in  1994-95.  Here  is  a  look  at  those 
first  three  pilot  programs: 

Fundamentals  of  Civil  Engineering 

This  new  course,  taught  for  the  first  time  in  the  fall  of 
1993,  was  designed  as  a  cooperative  venture  for  the 
civil  engineering  faculty  as  well  as  the  students.  Nine 
faculty  members  taught  sections,  and  others  helped 
develop  the  curriculum,  textbook  and  course  materi- 
als. Frederick  L.  Hart,  associate  professor  of  civil  engi- 
neering, was  the  principal  investigator  for  the  pilot 
project,  while  Professor  Frank  D.  DeFalco,  Associate 
Professors  Robert  A.  D'Andrea,  Tahar  El-Korchi,  P. 
Jayachandran  and  Guillermo  Salazar,  Assistant 
Professors  Leonard  D.  Albano  and  Paul  P.  Mathisen, 
Visiting  Assistant  Professor  Cornelia  Demers,  and 
Adjunct  Associate  Professor  Norman  Wittels  made 
contributions. 

According  to  Hart,  the  course  was  intended  to 
achieve  three  primary  goals:  to  teach  students  to  use 
computers  to  solve  engineering  problems,  to  make 
professional  presentations,  and  to  generate  profes- 
sional engineering  reports;  to  introduce  students  to 
the  fundamentals  of  civil  engineering  and  to  introduce 
them  to  the  field's  various  subdisciplines;  and  to 
teach  students  to  solve  engineering  problems  within  a 
group  environment. 


Enrollment  in  the  first  offering  of  the  course  was 
12;  that  jumped  to  24 — the  maximum  number  of  stu- 
dents the  department's  computer  lab  can  support — 
for  the  second  offering  during  the  first  spring  term  of 
1994.  The  pilot  course  will  be  offered  one  more  time 
this  year.  "Beginning  next  year,"  Hart  says,  "all  civil 
engineering  students  will  be  encouraged  to  take  this 
course  as  the  first  step  in  their  major." 

After  a  week  spent  learning  the  various  software 
packages  they  will  need  for  their  projects,  students  go 
on  to  study  a  different  subdiscipline  of  civil  engineer- 


ing each  week.  These  modules,  which  cover  structural 
engineering,  environmental  engineering,  geotechnical 
or  soil  engineering,  foundations,  surveying,  construc- 
tion project  management,  and  engineering  economics, 
are  taught  by  faculty  members  who  specialize  in  these 
subdisciplines. 

Each  module  includes  a  problem  that  students 
must  solve  by  working  in  groups.  To  complete  these 
weekly  assignments,  students  have  to  spend  time  in 
the  computer  lab  analyzing  data  and  preparing 
reports  and  presentation  materials.  The  groups  share 
their  results  in  weekly  oral  presentations  and  written 
reports. 

The  lectures  also  have  a  group  learning  compo- 
nent, as  the  instructors  are  encouraged  to  use  what 
cooperative  learning  advocates  call  the  "bookend 


VVP1  Journal 


17 


approach."  After  presenting  information,  the  instruc- 
tor gives  the  class  a  small  problem  to  illustrate  the 
application  of  that  information.  The  students  attack 
the  problem  in  groups,  and  when  they  are  done  the 
instructor  resumes  the  lecture. 

The  bookend  approach  has  several  benefits,  Hart 
says.  Its  function  is  analogous  to  a  mental  seventh- 
inning  stretch.  The  students  focus  their  attention  and 
concentration  actively  on  the  material,  since  they  are 
not  passively  sitting  and  listening  to  a  long  lecture. 


"The  idea,"  he  notes,  "is  to  use  a  short,  thought-pro- 
voking problem  to  help  students  synthesize  and  rein- 
force what  is  being  passed  on  to  them." 

In  addition  to  the  three  primary  goals,  Hart  says 
the  faculty  hoped  the  course  and  the  weekly  projects 
would  help  students  understand  how  civil  engineers 
approach  real  problems  in  the  field  and  come  to  real- 
ize how  much  organization  engineers  require  to  tackle 
problems.  "When  they  first  started,  I  don't  think  they 
appreciated  that,"  Hart  says.  "They  didn't  understand 
how  much  preparation  is  needed  for  a  group  to  solve 
a  problem. 

"In  their  weekly  projects,  we  had  them  take  on  the 
roles  of  the  members  of  a  typical  engineering  team — 
field  project  manager,  chief  engineer,  engineer  and 
client.  They  then  had  to  assign  appropriate  tasks  to 
each  group  member  and  organize  themselves  to  work 


effectively  as  a  group.  They  learned  that  they  needed 
to  develop  a  strategic  approach  to  the  problem  before 
they  even  went  into  the  lab,  or  they  wouldn't  be  able 
to  make  good  use  of  their  time. 

"We  were  extremely  happy  with  the  way  the 
course  worked,"  Hart  adds.  "When  we  had  the  oral 
presentations  on  Fridays,  even  faculty  members  who 
weren't  teaching  that  week  would  attend.  By  the  end 
of  the  course,  as  many  as  six  or  seven  instructors 
were  coming  to  see  the  presentations  because  the  cal- 
iber of  the  student  work  was  so  high.  They  wanted  to 
see  what  their  colleagues  were  talking  about." 

The  caliber  of  the  weekly  project  presentations 
was  not  the  only  indicator  of  the  course's  success, 
Hart  says.  The  cooperative  learning  model  allows  fac- 
ulty to  expose  students  to  more  content  than  would 
be  possible  in  a  conventional  lecture  course.  "I  think 
it  would  be  nearly  impossible  to  ask  students  to  cover 
this  amount  of  material — or  material  this  complex — 
as  individuals,"  he  says. 

He  says  another  important  benefit  is  that  the 
course  whets  students'  appetite  to  learn  and  better 
understand  the  engineering  material.  "And,"  he  says, 
"even  if  students  don't  like  civil  engineering,  they  still 
benefit  by  having  a  chance — at  an  early  stage — to 
make  an  informed  choice  about  their  career." 

Differential  Equations 

This  Davis  Foundation  pilot  project  represents  one 
more  phase  in  a  10-year  evolution  of  the  way  differen- 
tial equations  is  taught  at  WPI.  With  their  grant,  Dalin 
Tang,  associate  professor  of  mathematical  sciences 
and  the  project's  principal  investigator,  and  Paul  W. 
Davis,  professor  of  mathematical  sciences,  decided  to 
use  cooperative  learning  to  enhance  the  changes  that 
have  already  taken  place. 

"Ten  years  ago  differential  equations  was  a  kind  of 
toolbox  course,"  Davis  says.  "It  gave  students  a  vari- 
ety of  tools  for  solving  specific  mathematical  prob- 
lems. But  the  tools  and  the  underlying  physical  prob- 
lems were  usually  disconnected.  The  evolution  over 
the  past  decade  has  been  to  teach  the  content 
through  mathematical  modeling — to  let  the  needs  for 
the  mathematics  evolve  from  a  physical  situation." 

By  modeling  real  problems — for  example,  trying  to 
determine  why  an  automobile  suspension  system 
oscillates  too  much  on  bumpy  roads — students  come 
to  better  understand  how  to  derive  differential  equa- 
tions and  to  appreciate  how  they  are  used.  Since 
many  of  these  problems  are  complex  and  open-ended, 
they  are  too  complicated  to  give  to  a  single  student 
for  a  homework  problem,  and  therefore  lend  them- 
selves well  to  group  projects. 

With  the  help  of  one  teaching  assistant  and  eight 
PLAs,  Tang,  who  taught  the  course  to  175  students  in 
the  second  fall  term,  and  Davis,  who  taught  150  stu- 
dents in  the  first  fall  term,  restructured  the  course. 
Under  the  new  format,  the  class  met  as  a  group  three 
times  a  week  in  an  auditorium  for  lectures  and  then 
gathered  twice  a  week  in  small  groups  with  the  PLAs 
to  review  course  material  and  homework  and  to  work 
on  three  major  projects  employing  mathematical 
modeling. 


18 


Winter  1994 


Tang  says  the  group  projects  were  designed  to 
give  students  practice  at  working  together  and  at 
using  the  group  format  to  improve  their  learning. 
Because  of  the  importance  of  the  activities  planned 
for  the  small  groups,  Tang  says  he  placed  a  great  deal 
of  emphasis  on  the  PLAs'  training. 

"I  visited  the  classes  of  all  the  PLAs  while  they 
were  teaching,"  he  says.  "I  exchanged  ideas  with  them 
on  an  individual  basis.  We  had  e-mail  discussions 
about  teaching  format  and  style,  what  a  typical  con- 
ference format  should  look  like,  and  so  on.  I  also 
asked  them  to  submit  their  class  notes  for  a  certain 
day  and  made  comments  on  them." 

While  most  students  rated  the  new  format  a  suc- 
cess, Tang  says  he  and  Davis  learned  ways  they  can 
improve  the  cooperative  learning  elements  to  make 
the  course  run  more  smoothly  in  the  future.  For  exam- 
ple, he  says  they  must  spend  more  time  at  the  start  of 
the  course  acclimating  students  to  group  learning. 

In  addition,  the  PLAs  need  more  guidance  from  the 
faculty  and  teaching  assistant  in  managing  student 
groups.  And,  he  says,  the  instructors  should  try  to 
build  more  group  activities  into  the  lectures.  "I  feel 
there  are  a  lot  of  things  we  can  do  to  improve  our 
model  before  we  can  claim  complete  victory." 

Tang  and  Davis  say  the  format  also  requires  some 
adjustment  on  the  part  of  the  faculty  members.  Since 
the  small-group  sections  were  handled  by  the  PLAs, 
the  instructors  encountered  students  only  in  the  lec- 
ture hall  and  during  regular  office  hours.  And  because 
students  had  many  of  their  questions  answered  in  the 
group  sessions,  they  didn't  see  students  as  often  in 
their  offices.  "That's  a  disappointment,"  Davis  says, 
"but  the  good  news  is  that  I  was  able  to  get  other 
things  done,  and  that's  really  what  we  were  after." 

Techniques  of  Programming 

Like  Davis  and  Tang,  Craig  E.  Wills,  assistant  profes- 
sor of  computer  science,  says  he  found  the  group 
component  of  cooperative  learning  to  be  an  ideal  way 
to  give  students  in  this  sophomore-level  course  for 
computer  science  majors  first-hand  experience,  not 
only  with  how  the  real  world  works,  but  with  complex 
problems  that  are  more  readily  solved  by  a  team. 

"1  think  the  students  learned  the  concepts  of  the 
course  by  working  with  each  other,"  he  says.  "As  a  by- 
product, they  learned  what  it  takes  to  build  a  large 
software  project — how  to  make  it  work  and  how  to 
deal  with  the  problems  that  can  occur." 

Wills,  who  was  assisted  by  two  teaching  assistants 
and  seven  PLAs,  divided  the  115  students  in  the  class 
into  28  groups.  He  lectured  to  the  entire  class  four 
times  a  week,  sometimes  giving  traditional  lectures 
and  sometimes  incorporating  cooperative  learning 
techniques  to  get  students  working  actively  together. 

The  groups  met  once  a  week  with  the  PLAs  in  a 
computer  lab.  Over  the  course  of  the  seven-week 
term,  the  groups,  with  the  help  of  the  PLAs,  each  com- 
pleted three  programming  projects.  While  the  stu- 
dents worked  on  the  projects  in  the  lab,  they  spent 
even  more  time  on  their  own — often  with  the  PLAs — 
in  between  lab  periods  tackling  the  assignments.  They 
also  routinely  used  electronic  mail  to  communicate 


with  each  other  and  with  the  PLAs  about  their  work. 

Wills  says  that  by  having  students  work  together 
on  their  projects,  he  was  able  to  assign  them  far  more 
complex  and  realistic  assignments  than  he  would 
have,  had  the  class  worked  on  projects  individually. 
For  example,  in  one  project,  students  wrote  a  pro- 
gram to  manage  an  airline  reservation  system,  a  major 
undertaking. 

Even  more,  he  says,  by  creating  software  as  a 
team,  students  had  to  come  to  grips  with  the  need  to 
carefully  plan  out  a  group  assignment  to  make  sure 
everyone  understands  his  or  her  part  and  to  be  sure 
that  the  finished  parts  will  work  together  to  make  a 
working  program. 

Successfully  completing  such  a  project  teaches 
students  as  much  about  human  nature  and  group 
dynamics  as  it  does  about  programing,  he  notes. 
"Using  cooperative  learning  gave  me  a  really  good 
idea  of  what  group  work  does  for  students,"  he  says. 
"It  makes  them  much  more  aware  of  others." 

Progress  reports  on  the  four  pilot  projects  (in- 
cluding the  introductory  biology  course)  were 
part  of  a  two-day  conference  on  cooperative 
learning  held  at  WPI  in  the  fall  of  1993.  The  meeting, 
funded  as  part  of  the  Davis  Foundation  grant,  attract- 
ed faculty  members  and  administrators  from  WPI  and 
more  than  30  colleges  and  universities  around  the 
region.  They  came  to  learn  how  to  adapt  cooperative 
learning  to  college  courses  and  to  see  how  WPI's 
experiment  was  progressing. 

One  of  the  points  speakers  at  the  conference  agreed 
on  was  that  cooperative  learning  can  help  reduce  the 
sense  of  isolation  students — particularly  freshmen  and 
sophomores — can  feel  in  large  lecture  courses.  As  a 
result,  students  are  more  likely  to  seek  help  with 
course  content  they  find  difficult  and  are,  therefore, 
less  likely  to  fall  behind.  That  simple  preventative  mea- 
sure can  increase  student  retention — not  only  within 
majors,  but  also  within  the  college,  Miller  says.  "And 
improved  retention  rates  add  another  measurable 
increase  in  teaching  productivity,"  she  notes. 

In  the  next  year  of  the  Davis  Foundation  grant, 
Miller  says  the  major  focus  will  be  on  evaluating  what 
was  learned  from  the  first  round  of  pilot  projects  in 
order  to  fine-tune  the  program.  Aiding  the  principal 
investigators  in  that  task  will  be  formal  assessments 
of  the  pilot  courses  conducted  by  Groccia  and  the 
instructors  themselves. 

Miller  says  that  in  many  ways,  the  program  has 
already  proved  the  value  of  the  cooperative  learning 
model  and  demonstrated  some  of  its  most  important 
tenets.  "Perhaps  most  important,"  she  says,  "coopera- 
tive learning  debunks  the  notion  that  only  teachers 
teach  and  only  students  learn.  It  puts  the  process  of 
learning  in  a  new  perspective  for  everyone.  Under- 
graduates come  away  from  the  experience  more  com- 
mitted to  taking  responsibility  for  their  learning  early 
in  their  college  careers." 

Benison,  a  freelance  writer  and  former  newspaper  editor, 
has  written  extensively  for  the  WPI  Journal.  Her  most 
recent  story  examined  WPI's  Global  Perspective  Program. 


From  left,  in  a  small- 
group  session  in 
Differential  Equa- 
tions, PLA  Michael 
Ferraris  '95  works 
with  Seann  Ives  '96, 
Benjamin  Bennett  '96 
and  Shaun 
Vickers  '96. 


Craig  Wills,  far  left, 
confers  with  mem- 
bers of  the  teaching 
team  for  Techniques 
of  Programming. 
From  left,  PLAs 
Joseph  Branciforte 
'94  and  Carla  Caputo 
'96  and  TA  Paul 
Maguire. 


WPI  Journal 


19 


The 

Power  to 

Change 


By  Diran  Apelian 


A  world  of  issues  and  opportunities 

is  facing  engineering  educators. 

How  they  respond  will  not  only  affect 

the  competitiveness  of  our  nation, 

but  the  hope  and  aspirations  of 

generations  of  students.  In  a  major 

address,  WPI's  provost  maps  out 

an  agenda  for  the  future. 


^W*  \ 

l§5^f 

^L   v  ' 

Hl   \*j\  \ 

Engineering  education  is  at  a  challenging  crossroads.  Some 
see  it  as  a  crisis;  others  as  an  opportunity  to  position  our 
community  and  our  society  for  the  21st  century.  It  would  be 
fair  to  say,  however,  that  no  one  is  satisfied  with  the  status 
quo  or  with  the  prospects  for  the  near  term. 

The  world  is  undergoing  unprecedented  change  that  is  affecting 
not  only  governments  and  national  boundaries,  but  institutions  of 
higher  education,  as  well.  Colleges  and  universities  that  specialize  in 
engineering  education,  in  particular,  face  many  threats. 

First,  our  product  is  too  costly — our  customers  simply  can't 
afford  it.  The  quantity  of  financial  aid  awarded  by  private  universi- 
ties is  staggering,  and  it  escalates  year  after  year.  Second,  the 
promise  of  security  and  a  good  job  has  become  less  certain.  Third, 
the  resources  once  available  to  carry  out  much  of  the  educational 
enterprise  have  shrunk  dramatically.  Fourth,  interest  among  our 
young  people  in  a  technological,  liberal  education  is  wavering. 

To  understand  these  issues,  it  is  necessary  to  first  examine  the 
historical  and  social  contexts  of  engineering  education. 

Historical  Context 

History  shows  that  our  roots  and  our  values  can  be  traced  to 
many  different  lands.  In  the  U.S.,  we  are  heirs  to  the  French 
and  British  cultures,  in  particular.  The  French  were  the  first  to 
view  engineering  as  an  elite  profession.  In  fact,  the  French  word 
ingenieur  stems  from  genie,  meaning  genius.  This  is  quite  different 
from  some  of  the  connotations  Americans  tend  to  associate  with 
engineering. 

Louis  XV  established  a  civilian  engineering  corps,  the  Corps  des 
Ponts  et  Chaussees,  to  oversee  the  design  and  construction  of 
bridges  and  roads.  In  1747  the  corps  created  a  school  to  train  its 
members — Ecole  des  Ponts  et  Chaussees,  the  world's  first  civil  engi- 
neering school.  This  led  to  the  founding  in  France  of  other  technical 
schools — the  Grand  Ecoles. 

The  French  recognized  early  on  that  engineering  is  a  noble  pro- 
fession that  prepares  future  statesmen  and  leaders.  The  mathemati- 
cian Laplace  wrote  that  the  Ecole  Polytechnique's  goal  was  to  pro- 
duce young  people  "destined  to  form  the  elite  of  the  nation  and  to 
occupy  high  posts  in  the  state."  Over  the  years  the  graduates  of  the 
Grand  Ecoles  have  proven  their  "power"  by  occupying  posts  in  the 
highest  economic  strata  of  French  society. 

The  evolution  of  engineering  in  Britain  took  a  quite  different 
path.  The  English  upper  class  believed  in  a  more  classical  educa- 
tion. There  was  no  meaningful  governmental  funding  of  higher  tech- 
nical education  during  the  Industrial  Revolution.  In  fact,  it  was  not 
until  the  early  1900s  that  both  Cambridge  and  Oxford  universities 
established  chairs  of  engineering  sciences.  Some  argue  that  Britain's 
decline  as  a  world  power  is  attributable  to  its  failure  to  appreciate 
the  importance  of  engineering  education. 

In  large  measure,  the  Industrial  Revolution  in  Britain  was  driven 
by  ingenuity  and  entrepreneurial  initiative.  Knowledge  was  gained 
pragmatically  in  workshops  and  on  construction  sites.  Young  men 
became  engineers  through  apprenticeships.  As  Sam  Florman  has 
characterized  it,  "In  France  engineering  became  associated  with  pro- 
fessional pride  and  public  esteem,  with  leadership  at  the  highest 
level.  Whereas  in  Britain,  engineering  was  considered  a  navvy  occu- 
pation— the  original  navvies  being  the  laborers  on  canal  construc- 
tion jobs." 

Both  of  these  cultures  permeate  the  roots  of  American  engineer- 
ing education.  During  its  early  days,  the  United  States  had  virtually 
no  engineers.  When  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal  began  in  1817, 
there  were  fewer  than  30  engineers  in  the  entire  nation.  We  had  no 


20 


Winter  1994 


The  British  apprenticeship  system  (left)  was  an  early  influence  on  American  engineering 
education.  In  1957,  Sputnik  (right)  helped  fuel  an  explosion  of  interest  in  engineering. 


choice  but  to  adopt  the  British  apprenticeship  model.  The  canals 
and  shops,  and  subsequently  the  railroads  and  manufacturing  facto- 
ries, became  the  institutions  where  surveyors  and  mechanics  devel- 
oped into  engineers.  During  the  same  period,  the  heritage  of  the 
French  polytechnicien  was  also  unfolding  in  America. 

West  Point  was  founded  in  1802  as  a  school  for  engineer  officers. 
Sylvanus  Thayer,  appointed  its  superintendent  in  1817,  visited  the 
Ecole  Polytechnique  and  emulated  much  of  what  he  learned  there. 
Similarly,  in  the  1840s  B.  Franklin  Green  visited  Ecole  Polytechnique 
and  assimilated  what  he  learned  into  the  philosophy  of  Rensselaer 
Polytechnic  Institute.  Norwich  University,  founded  in  Norwich.Vt., 
in  1819  on  the  principles  of 
the  citizen  soldier,  was  a 
hybrid  of  the  military  and 
the  polytechnicien.  Founder 
Alden  Partridge  believed  in 
the  importance  of  a  leader 
of  society  also  serving  the 
nation. 

Interestingly,  when  Thay- 
er, upon  his  retirement, 
endowed  an  engineering 
school  at  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege, he  conceived  of  a  two- 
year  graduate  program 
through  which  students 
would  become  professional 
engineers  only  after  com- 
pleting a  four-year  prepro- 
fessional  college  course. 
Thayer  believed  engineers 
should  be  "gentlemen"  before  embarking  on  a  professional  educa- 
tion. He  wanted  the  Thayer  School  to  prepare  engineers  for  the 
most  responsible  positions  and  the  most  difficult  service,  much  in 
accord  with  Laplace's  concept  of  the  Ecole  Polytechnique. 

In  the  1860s,  MIT  and  WPI  were  founded.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  WPI's  motto,  Lehr  and  Kunst,  "theory  and  practice,"  bridges  the 
principles  of  these  two  cultures.  In  that  same  decade,  America 
launched  a  new  era  of  higher  education  with  the  passage  of  the 
Morrill  Act,  better  known  as  the  Land  Grants  Act.  This  law  autho- 
rized the  federal  government  to  aid  the  states  in  establishing  col- 
leges of  agriculture  and  the  so-called  mechanic  arts,  thereby  provid- 
ing an  education  for  the  industrial  classes.  In  the  process,  engineer- 
ing became  linked  with  the  mechanical  arts  and  American  engineers 
lost  the  elitism  of  the  French  polytechniciens. 

Slowly,  the  values  of  the  profession  were  eroded.  In  time,  engi- 
neering education  was  set  apart  from — and  to  some  degree,  below — 
education  for  other  professions,  such  as  law,  medicine  and  science. 
The  enormous  growth  of  American  industry — during  and  after  the 
Industrial  Revolution — and  the  appetite  of  industry  for  engineering 
employees  led  to  engineers  being  placed  in  many  subprofessional 
jobs,  further  reducing  the  social  status  of  the  profession  in  America. 

During  World  War  II  we  saw  much  growth  in  the  technology  base 
of  our  nation.  After  the  war  the  masses  were  educated  via  the  GI  Bill. 
In  the  postwar  period,  Vannevar  Bush  and  others  were  instrumental 
in  establishing  the  National  Science  Foundation,  which  funded  the 
enormous  growth  in  the  infrastructure  of  our  research  universities. 
The  establishment  of  the  Department  of  Defense  and  the  growth  of 
the  military-industrial  complex  further  fueled  this  growth,  produc- 
ing engineering  graduates  who  specialized  in  fairly  narrow  fields. 

The  Grinter  Report  of  1955  was  a  significant  document  in  that  it 
provided  a  framework  for  American  engineering  education  and  influ- 
enced its  revitalization.  Its  authors  assumed  that  while  it  would  be 


difficult  for  colleges  to  incorporate  all  of  the  report's  recommenda- 
tions into  a  four-year  course  of  study,  somehow  it  could  all  be 
packed  in.  The  recommendations  did  not  leave  much  room  for  the 
liberal  side  of  education. 

In  1957  the  launch  of  Sputnik  and  the  establishment  of  NASA 
spurred  an  avalanche  of  interest  in  science,  technology  and  engi- 
neering. In  more  recent  years,  we  have  seen  the  end  of  the  Cold  War 
and  significant  shifts  in  the  nation's  demographics.  These  changes 
present  formidable  challenges  and  lead  us  to  question  whether  the 
educational  process  that  has  served  society  in  the  past  is  still  rele- 
vant today.  Will  it  serve  us  well  as  we  enter  the  third  millennium? 


Social  Context 


f 


rom  a  global  perspective,  it  is  crucial  that  America  remain  a 
major  competitor.  To  achieve  this,  we  will  need  a  world-class 
educational  infrastructure.  In  the  early  days  of  this  nation,  Noah 
Webster  claimed  that  democracy  will  succeed  only  if  the  people  have 
economic  hope  and  educational  hope.  They  are  closely  interlinked. 

The  Competitiveness  Policy  Council  recently  forwarded  to  the 
White  House  these  goals  for  the  nation: 

♦  Raise  national  productivity  growth  to  an  annual  average  of  2  per- 
cent from  the  0.7  percent  rate  of  1973-91 

♦  Achieve  annual  economic  growth  of  at  least  3  to  3.5  percent  and 
create  more  high-wage  jobs  to  restore  full  employment  and  a 
higher  standard  of  living 

♦  Eliminate  our  external  balance  of  trade  deficit  and  halt  the 
buildup  of  foreign  debt  that  has  turned  us  into  the  world's 
largest  debtor  nation 

The  council  included  the  following  recommendations  to  the  federal 
government  for  meeting  these  goals: 

♦  Through  various  tax  credits  and  their  "competitive  life"  depreci- 
ation allowance,  raise  private  investment  permanently  by  at  least 
5  percent  of  GNP 

♦  Develop  a  major  new  export  expansion  strategy  to  increase 
export  credits,  eliminate  export  controls,  and  maintain  competi- 
tive exchange  rates 

♦  Improve  the  education  and  training  of  the  work  force  through 
sweeping  reforms  throughout  the  educational  infrastructure 

K-12  Education 

The  K-12  education  system,  the  pipeline  to  our  institutions  of  higher 
learning,  has  some  shortcomings.  First,  consider  the  school  calen- 


WPI  Journal 


21 


"More  and  more,  we  are  coming  to 

realize  that  females  and  minorities  are 

not  being  tracked  into  science-  and 

math-oriented  curricula.  As  a  society, 

we  will  be  committing  suicide  if  we  do 

not  invest  in  the  technical  education  of 

all  the  members  of  our  society." 


"Test  scores  and  other  evaluations 

point  out  that  our  youth  fare  quite 

poorly  in  [technical  literacy]  (as  well 

as  in  basic  reading,  writing  and 

comprehension  skills)  when  compared 

with  their  counterparts  in  Europe  and 

the  Pacific  Rim.  This  is  not  acceptable; 

our  system  must  respond." 


Top  photo,  Nancy  Teasdale  '88  completed  an  IQP 
examining  solar-powered  water  pumping  systems  in 
Somalia.  Bottom  photo,  high  school  students  com- 
pete in  WPI's  annual  Invitational  Mathematics  Meet. 


dar.  The  three-month  summer  break  was  established  to  enable  boys 
and  girls  to  work  on  the  family  farm.  In  fact,  the  school  calendar  was 
designed  to  be  in  sync  with  the  agricultural  calendar. 

Second,  the  average  American  high  school  senior  has  about  one- 
third  fewer  school  hours  under  his  or  her  belt  at  graduation  than  his 
or  her  counterparts  around  the  world.  It's  not  a  great  surprise  that 
U.S.  test  scores  are  one-third  lower;  if  you  work  one-third  less,  you 
learn  one-third  less. 

Finally,  there  is  a  critically  important  disparity  in  what  students 
within  our  nation's  schools  learn.  More  and  more,  we  are  coming  to 
realize  that  females  and  minorities  are  not  being  tracked  into  sci- 
ence- and  math-oriented  curricula.  As  a  society,  we  will  be  commit- 
ting suicide  if  we  do  not  invest  in  the  technical  education  of  all  the 
members  of  our  society. 

Technical  Literacy 

The  technical  literacy  of  the  populace  is  another  serious  issue.  Test 
scores  and  other  evaluations  point  out  that  our  youth  fare  quite  poor- 
ly in  this  area  (as  well  as  in  basic  reading,  writing  and  comprehension 
skills)  when  compared  with  their  counterparts  in  Europe  and  the 
Pacific  Rim.  This  is  not  acceptable;  our  system  must  respond. 

Demographics 

As  we  look  at  the  demographics,  it  is  clear  that  we  in  engineering 
education  have  our  work  cut  out  for  us.  The  numbers  are  quite 
embarrassing  and  represent  a  major  loss  of  human  potential  in  our 
society.  For  example, 

♦  women,  who  make  up  51  percent  of  the  population  and  45  per- 
cent of  the  work  force,  made  up  only  7  percent  of  the  engineering 
graduates  between  1950  and  1989. 

♦  Asians,  who  represent  only  2  percent  of  the  population,  held  8.6 
percent  of  all  bachelor's  degrees  in  engineering  and  7  percent  of 
all  Ph.D.s  in  science  and  engineering. 

♦  at  8  percent,  Hispanics  represent  a  growing  sector  of  the  popula- 
tion, though  only  3  percent  of  graduates  with  bachelor's  degrees 
in  engineering  in  1989  were  Hispanic. 

♦  African-Americans,  who  make  up  12  percent  of  the  population, 
made  up  just  3.4  percent  of  the  bachelor's  degree  holders  in 
engineering  in  1988. 

Our  educational  institutions  must  provide  a  nurturing  environment 
for  all  students,  irrespective  of  color,  gender  or  race. 

Image  and  Professionalism 

The  image  of  engineering  must  change  to  reflect  the  concepts  of 
Thayer  and  Laplace.  I'd  like  to  share  with  you  a  story  told  to  me  by 
the  CEO  of  a  major  French  transnational  corporation.  This  CEO  was 
based  in  the  U.S  and  was  returning  from  France  with  his  senior 
American  staff.  As  they  were  going  through  U.S.  customs,  he  was 
stunned  to  see  that  while  he,  with  a  great  deal  of  pride,  listed  him- 
self as  an  engineer  on  the  customs  form,  his  staff  members,  many  of 
whom  were  engineers  of  high  distinction  with  Ph.D.s  from  some  of 
our  most  famous  research  universities,  had  written  in  "executive"  or 
"manager." 

Engineering  is  the  only  profession  that  does  not  require  univer- 
sal statutory  and  mandatory  licensing  as  a  measure  of  minimal  qual- 
ification to  practice.  Medicine,  law,  pharmacy,  architecture,  public 
school  teaching — they  all  require  licensing  in  addition  to  an  accred- 
ited education.  Either  we  must  present  a  clearly  defined,  unified 
image  to  the  public,  or  we  should  require  of  all  engineering  practi- 
tioners legally  defined  mandatory  qualifications. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  draw  a  parallel  between  engineering 
education  and  the  concept  of  the  teaching  hospital.  At  a  teaching 
hospital,  practitioners  teach  and  the  next  generation  learns  from 


22 


Winter  1994 


those  who  actually  practice  medicine.  However,  at  most  of  our  uni- 
versities, the  majority  of  the  engineering  professors  have  not  actual- 
ly practiced  engineering. 

Perhaps  we  should  consider  adopting  the  German  model,  where- 
in distinguished  engineers  from  the  industrial  sector  have  a  duty  to 
teach  a  course  at  a  university  as  part  of  their  normal  activity,  and 
academicians  have  close  ties  to  the  industrial  sector. 

Globalization 

In  constant  dollar  terms,  the  U.S.  accounted  for  half  of  the  $2  trillion 
Gross  Domestic  Product  of  the  world  economy  in  1970.  Twenty  years 
later,  our  share  of  the  world's  total  GDP,  now  $15.7  trillion,  had 
dropped  to  one-third,  a  reflection  of  the  ferocity  of  global  competition. 

Industrial  globalization  should  perhaps  be  measured  in  terms  of 
the  percentage  of  revenues  derived  from  outside  the  "home  coun- 
try." Ronald  Zarrella  71,  president  and  COO  of  Bausch  and  Lomb, 
has  addressed  this  issue  (see 
"Globalization:  The  Next  Big  Wave," 
Spring  1993  WPIJournaf). 

"For  America's  100  largest 
industrial  companies,"  Zarrella 
wrote,  "the  percentage  of  non-U.S. 
revenues  grew  from  14  percent  in 
1970  to  almost  40  percent  in  1990. 
For  Japan's  largest  companies,  the 
percentage  is  57  percent;  for  Ger- 
many's, it  is  69  percent.  Further- 
more, for  U.S.  companies,  those 
revenues  have  shifted  from  largely 
being  derived  from  exports  to 
being  derived  from  manufactured 
products  from  outside  the  country." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  we  have  a 
responsibility  to  ensure  that  our  future  engineers  can  function  in 
transnational  companies  and  can  work  in  a  global  economy.  Because 
corporations  manufacture  and  sell  globally,  future  engineers  must  be 
able  to  function  in  such  settings. 

Imperatives  for  Undergraduate  Education 

The  societal  and  historical  contexts  I've  outlined  lead  to  an 
inescapable  conclusion:  we  must  change.  Our  greatest  obstacle 
is  fear  of  change.  As  George  Bernard  Shaw  said,  "Progress  is 
impossible  without  change;  and  those  who  cannot  change  their 
minds  cannot  change  anything...." 

In  1962  Gordon  Brown,  then  dean  of  engineering  at  MIT,  wrote  a 
seminal  piece  titled  "New  Horizons  in  Engineering  Education." 
Questioning  the  lack  of  integration  in  engineering  education,  he 
wrote,  "Can  our  present  educational  structure  meet  the  test  of  the 
times?  If  we  assert  that  we  want  our  students  to  become  men  of 
breadth  and  vision,  able  to  integrate  knowledge,  we  would  ask  our- 
selves whether  we  are  giving  them  the  opportunity  to  see  knowl- 
edge in  its  totality.  I  believe  we  are  not...." 

Integration  and  synthesis  in  engineering  education  is  a  topical 
issue.  There  are  several  initiatives  at  various  universities  and  engi- 
neering colleges  addressing  this  challenge.  At  Drexel  University,  for 
example,  the  National  Science  Foundation  in  1989  funded  the 
Enhanced  Engineering  Education  Experience  (E4).  The  experimental 
curriculum  is  integrated  around  engineering  principles  and  provides 
students  a  fresh  perspective.  The  experiment  was  a  success,  and 
Drexel  recently  adopted  this  new  approach  throughout  its  College 
of  Engineering. 

The  motivation  for  the  creation  of  the  WPI  Plan,  the  Institute's 


Joseph  Bucciaglia  '91  did  his  IQP  on  science  edu 
cation  at  Worcester's  Elm  Park  School. 


innovative,  two-decade-old  undergraduate  program,  was  the 
acknowledgement  of  the  deficiencies  of  the  so-called  passive  learn- 
ing that  occurs  in  conventional  classrooms.  The  weaknesses  of  the 
conventional  program  are  many.  For  example, 

♦  by  their  nature,  conventional  courses  usually  present  knowledge 
in  long,  isolated  corridors,  but  professional  achievement 
requires  extensive  integration  and  application  of  knowledge. 

♦  a  rigid  academic  program  offers  few  opportunities  for  students 
to  assume  responsibility  for  defining  their  personal  objectives, 
but  students'  success  after  graduation  depends  on  this  ability. 

♦  classroom  experience  is  usually  passive,  but  career  development 
requires  self-activation. 

♦  formal  classes  usually  treat  students  as  isolated  learners,  but 
practice  involves  personal  interactions,  shared  experiences, 
mutual  understanding  and  effective  communications. 

The  philosophy  of  the  WPI  Plan  was  best  captured  by  one  of  the 

Plan's  founders.  Dean  Emeritus 
William  R.  Grogan  '46.  He  said, 
"Engineering  education  must  take 
much  more  seriously  those  compo- 
nents that  deal  with  the  human 
dimension:  communication  skills, 
management  abilities,  and  significant 
exposure  to  social  and  cultural  fields 
of  endeavor." 

Nurturing  the  development  of 
professional  values  requires  immers- 
ing students  in  real-world  issues,  as 
the  required  Plan  projects  do  so 
well.  At  WPI,  students  spend  a  full 
year  during  their  last  three  years 
engaged  in  project-based  learning. 
Project  work  not  only  requires  a 
mastery  of  the  technical  disciplines,  but  a  command  of  scheduling, 
teamwork  and  communication  skills.  In  addition,  the  project  experi- 
ence at  WPI  helps  students  build  self-confidence  and  promotes  the 
synthesis  of  fundamental  concepts. 

In  1988,  an  NSF  workshop  on  undergraduate  engineering  educa- 
tion noted  that  the  primary  goals  of  the  engineering  educational 
process  are  to  develop,  in  as  individualized  a  way  as  possible,  cer- 
tain capabilities  in  each  student.  They  are 

♦  integrative  capability,  or  the  ability  to  recognize  that  engineering 
is  an  integrative  process  in  which  analysis  and  synthesis  are  sup- 
ported by  sensitivity  to  societal  need  and  environmental  fragility. 

♦  analysis  capability,  the  critical  thinking  skills  that  underlie  prob- 
lem definition — these  derive  from  in-depth  understanding  of  the 
physical,  life  and  mathematical  sciences,  the  humanities,  and  the 
social  sciences. 

♦  innovation  and  synthesis  capability,  the  ability  to  create  and 
implement  useful  systems  and  products,  including  their  design 
and  manufacture. 

♦  contextual  understanding  capability,  the  appreciation  of  the  eco- 
nomic, industrial,  political  and  international  environment  in 
which  engineering  is  practiced,  and  the  ability  to  provide  soci- 
etal leadership  effectively. 

These  are  critical  issues  that  the  faculties  of  many  institutions  are 
addressing.  The  WPI  Plan  is  an  example  of  a  "re-engineered"  pro- 
gram that  works,  though  it  is  labor-intensive  and  requires  tremen- 
dous faculty  involvement.  The  underlying  theme  of  the  Plan  is  that, 
from  the  student's  perspective,  there  must  be  meaning  and  pur- 
pose. As  T.S.  Eliot  wrote,  "The  definition  of  Hell  is  a  place  where 
nothing  connects  with  nothing."  By  connecting  different  kinds  of 
knowledge,  the  Plan  provides  a  meaningful  educational  experience. 


WPI  Journal 


23 


"We  need  to  take  proactive  steps  to 

continuously  broadcast  the  value  of  a 

liberal  technical  education  in  preparing 

men  and  women  to  accept  leadership 

positions  in  a  society  that  is  becoming 

more  and  more  technological." 


i !  i r  ix  I 


ft. 


'H'^ 


"As  a  nation-and  as  a  profession- 

we  must  recognize  the  extraordinary 

opportunities  that  exist  in  global 

alliances.  We  must  teach  our  students 

to  appreciate  the  beauty  of  diverse 

cultures,  just  as  the  brilliance  of  a 

tapestry  comes  from  the  blending  of 

many  colors  of  thread." 


Top  photo,  Kenneth  James  '90,  left,  and  Ira  Nydick  '90 

did  an  IQP  evaluating  the  AIDS  drug  approval  process. 

Bottom  photo,  students  perform  a  ceremonial  dragon 

dance  at  WPI's  1993  Cultural  Festival. 


24 


Conclusions  and  Implications 


w 


here  do  we  go  from  here?  As  a  community  of  scholars,  we 
should  consider  these  recommendations: 


National  Purpose 

Americans  have  always  been  individualists,  but  we  have  also  had  a 
strong,  common  purpose  at  our  core.  We  have  relied  on  a  common  will 
and  a  shared  culture.  We  need  to  rejuvenate  and  strengthen  our  nation- 
al purpose  and  ensure  that  our  national  agenda  reflects  our  values. 

Ability  to  Respond 

Apathy  and  negativism  can  become  self-fulfilling  prophecies.  We 
need  to  respond  to  the  challenges  we  face  in  engineering  education 
in  an  organized  manner  and  with  excitement  and  vigor. 

Change  of  Culture 

As  educators,  we  are  privileged  to  be  members  of  a  noble  profes- 
sion. We  are  charged  with  opening  the  minds  of  our  students,  and 
challenging  and  stretching  their  imaginations.  We  must  not  be  afraid 
to  open  our  own  minds,  as  well,  and  we  certainly  should  not  be 
afraid  of  the  changes  we  need  to  undergo.  For  the  fact  is,  those 
changes  will  require  courage  and  a  sense  of  purpose. 

We  need  to  change  the  role  of  the  faculty  and  the  reward  system 
to  value  the  integration,  synthesis  and  application  of  knowledge,  as 
well  as  the  discovery  of  new  knowledge.  Alliances  need  to  be  estab- 
lished with  the  industrial  sector,  though  they  will  not  occur 
overnight. 

Change  in  Image 

We  need  to  take  proactive  steps  to  continuously  broadcast  the 
value  of  a  liberal  technical  education  in  preparing  men  and  women 
to  accept  leadership  positions  in  a  society  that  is  becoming  more 
and  more  technological.  And  we  must  be  sure  that  the  education  we 
offer  the  next  generation  emphasizes  the  importance  of  studying  the 
impact  of  technology  on  society. 

We  must  also  vigorously  seek  to  improve  our  societal  view  of 
engineering.  Recently,  when  a  light  bulb  in  my  hotel  room  needed  to 
be  changed,  I  called  housekeeping  and  was  told,  "Our  engineer  will 
be  there  right  away."  That  does  not  match  my  image  of  engineering. 

Celebrate  Diversity  of  Cultures 

As  a  nation — and  as  a  profession — we  must  recognize  the  extraordi- 
nary opportunities  that  exist  in  global  alliances.  We  must  teach  our 
students  to  appreciate  the  beauty  of  diverse  cultures,  just  as  the 
brilliance  of  a  tapestry  comes  from  the  blending  of  many  colors  of 
thread.  And  we  must  emphasize  the  importance  of  learning  lan- 
guages in  our  increasingly  global  economy. 


W; 


e  must  respond  to  these  exciting  challenges;  too  much  is  at 
stake  to  let  these  opportunities  pass.  We  need  to  pave  a  path 
for  the  next  generation,  giving  them  hope  and  high  aspirations.  The 
job  before  us  will  require  enormous  energy  and  leadership.  And 
there  is  no  time  to  lose.  As  the  Red  Queen  says  to  Alice  in  Through 
the  Looking  Glass,  "Now,  here,  you  see,  it  takes  all  the  running  you 
can  do  to  keep  in  the  same  place.  If  you  want  to  get  somewhere  else, 
you  must  run  at  least  twice  as  fast  as  that!" 

Apelian  is  provost  and  Howmet  Professor  at  WPl.  This  article  was  excerpt- 
ed from  his  Alpha  Sigma  Mu  Lecture,  presented  at  the  annual  conference 
of  the  American  Society  for  Metals  in  Pittsburgh  on  Oct.  18,  1993. 


Winter  1994 


It  was  an  accident  that 
got  mechanical 

engineering  professor 

Jack  Boyd  into  teaching, 

but  a  natural  talent  and  a 

deep-seated  love  for 

students  has  kept  him  at 

it  for  35  years.  Now,  on 
the  eve  of  his  retirement, 

he  shares  his  thoughts 

on  education  and  WPI. 

By  Raymond  R.  Bert  '93 


T 

he  description  on  my  schedule  sheet  for  the  spring  of  1990 
reads  simply — ES3001:  Stat.  Dev.  of  Class.  Thermo.;  Instructor: 

JL  Boyd,  J.M.  (ME).  Nowhere  on  the  sheet  is  there  any  hint  of  just 
how  different  this  class  will  be  from  all  the  others  I've  taken  or  will 
eventually  take. 

Enter  an  older  man.  perhaps  in  his  late  50s,  with  gray  hair,  glasses 
and  a  conservative  jacket  and  tie.  Speaking  in  a  clear  and  direct  style, 
but  with  an  inflection  that  reminds  one  of  a  storyteller,  he  outlines  the 
mechanics  of  the  course  and  distributes  the  hrst  of  many  typewritten 
handouts — complete  with  some  god-awful  handwriting. 

"There  will  be  no  exams  until  the  end  of  the  course, "  he  says  to  his 
mildly  stunned  audience.  "The  bulk  of  the  work  will  be  in  the  form  of 
group  projects  and  reports  on  those  projects.  The  emphasis  of  my  class 
is  on  gaining  functional  literacy.  I'm  not  concerned  that  you  remember 
everything  off  the  top  of  your  head,  but  I  am  concerned  that  you  know 
how  to  work  out  a  problem  from  start  to  hnish  and  understand  what 
you  've  done  along  the  way. " 

Halfway  through  my  sophomore  year,  I'm  just  beginning  to  get  com- 
fortable with  learning  the  blood  and  guts  of  mechanical  engineering. 
Now  I'm  going  to  learn  a  new  way  to  learn,  as  well.  Thus  am  I  intro- 
duced to  Jack  Boyd. 


WPI  Journal 


25 


Teaching,  and  showing  budding  engineers 
how  to  learn,  is  what  John  M.  Boyd  does 
best.  As  a  professor  of  mechanical  engineer- 
ing for  35  years,  the  last  28  at  WPI,  Boyd  has 
helped  guide  thousands  of  students  through 
the  learning  process.  He  is  widely  respected 
(if  often  disagreed  with)  for  his  teaching 
methods  and  for  his  honest  opinions  about 
education. 

Boyd  says  his  own  education  and  self-dis- 
covery during  his  college  years  were  instru- 
mental in  developing  the  philosophies  that 
have  shaped  and  guided  his  career.  He  took 
me  on  a  walking  tour  of  that  stage  of  his  life, 
pausing  frequently  to  make  note  of  curiosi- 
ties and  the  alternate  routes  he  took  along 
the  way. 

Born  and  raised  in  Youngstown,  Ohio,  a 
poor  steel  town,  Boyd  did  not  drift  naturally 
into  college  after  high  school.  "I  went  to 
work  for  the  Ford  Agency  as  an  apprentice 
mechanic,"  he  recalls.  "It  didn't  take  me  too 
long  to  realize  that  it  was  not  such  a  good 
idea.  I  decided  then  to  go  to  college.  At  $100 
a  year,  Ohio  State  was  the  only  place  I  could 
afford." 

Enrolling  initially  as  an  electrical  engi- 
neer at  the  25,000-student  university,  Boyd 
felt  a  bit  lost  in  the  hugeness  of  the  school. 
"Can  1  tell  you  a  story?"  he  asks.  "I  started 
out  my  first  semester  with  no  idea  what  I 
was  doing.  I  was  given  a  schedule  to  fill  in 
my  classes.  So  I  started  filling  them  in — one 
at  8  o'clock,  one  at  9,  one  at  10,  11,  a  break 
for  lunch,  12:30,  1:30 — eight  courses  in  all." 
He  laughs  at  the  memory  of  his  naivete. 

He  straightened  that  out,  but  eventually 
switched  out  of  electrical  engineering,  intim- 
idated by  what  he  saw  as  the  superior 
knowledge  of  many  of  his  peers,  who  had 
mastered  the  language  of  the  field.  "Looking 
back,"  Boyd  notes,  "that  was  probably  my 
first  encounter  with  the  notion  of  a  distinct 
difference  between  knowing  facts  and  jargon 
and  truly  understanding  concepts." 


Starting  an  example  problem  during 
a  lecture  in  his  thermodynamics 
class,  Boyd,  as  usual,  begins  with  a 
complete  statement  of  the  first  law 
of  thermodynamics.  After  detailing 
certain  specific  conditions  and 
assumptions,  he  reduces  the  lengthy 
expression  to  a  much  shorter  and 
simpler  equation. 

"This  expression, "  he  says,  "is 
also  called  the  Bernoulli  equation. 
Now  you'll  see  people  approach 
problems  all  the  time  by  starting  off 
with  this  equation,  because  these 
are  very  common  conditions.  But 
ask  someone  what  the  Bernoulli 
equation  is — its  essence,  where  it 


came  from — and  often  they  won 't 
know,  because  they  don 't  start  at 
the  beginning.  Make  a  slight  change 
in  the  assumptions  and  they  don 't 
know  what  to  do.  Now  you  know.  " 
Still  do. 


Electrical  power  systems'  loss  was  thermo- 
dynamics' gain,  as  Boyd  graduated  with  a 
bachelor's  degree  in  mechanical  engineering 
in  1952.  He  quickly  landed  a  job  with  General 
Electric  Co.;  as  before,  though,  his  gut  told 
him  it  wasn't  right. 


A  friend  of  his  at  the  University  of  Massa- 
chusetts wrote  to  Donald  Zwiep,  then  head 
of  WPI's  Mechanical  Engineering  Depart- 
ment (and  now  department  head  emeritus), 
telling  him  of  Boyd's  availability.  On  a  visit 
to  campus,  Boyd  also  met  a  few  other  young 
professors,  including  Hartley  Grandin  Jr.  and 
Raymond  Hagglund,  both  of  whom  are  still 
on  the  WPI  faculty.  Boyd  was  impressed 
enough  to  accept  a  position  as  an  associate 
professor  in  the  department.  But  that  is  not 
to  say  that  he  liked  everything  about  the 
program  as  it  was  then  run. 


"1  started  in  June,"  he  says,  "and  I  literally 
walked  in  the  door  and  knew.  I  quit  that 
same  August."  He  was  subsequently  drafted 
and  spent  two  years  in  the  U.S.  Army.  ("I 
reached  the  illustrious  rank  of  Pfc,"  he 
notes  wryly.)  Discovering  he  could  get  out  of 
the  service  a  little  early  to  go  back  to  school, 
Boyd  enrolled  at  Ohio  State,  this  time  as  a 
graduate  student. 

"I  was  hired  as  a  research  assistant  for  a 
heart  valve  project,  but  the  grant  was  pulled," 
he  says.  "So  instead,  I  became  a  teaching 
assistant  for  a  thermodynamics  class.  As  it 
turned  out — you  have  to  understand  my 
whole  career  has  been  based  on  a  series  of 
accidents — the  professor  had  a  heart  attack 
and  I  was  forced  to  teach  the  class." 

Thrown  in  cold,  Boyd  quickly  made  a 
major  discovery:  "I  loved  it.  I  was  terrified, 
but  I  loved  it."  Testimony  to  his  gift  for 
teaching  was  his  appointment  in  short  order 
to  a  position  as  a  full-time  instructor  while 
he  was  still  enrolled  in  graduate  school.  "Of 
course,"  he  adds,  "as  a  result  it  took  me  10 
years  to  finish  my  Ph.D." 

After  earning  his  doctorate  in  1962  and 
receiving  a  promotion  to  assistant  profes- 
sor, Boyd  married;  soon  after,  he  and  his 
wife  decided  to  move  nearer  the  East  Coast. 
"I  looked  at  several  schools,  but  had  never 
heard  of  WPI,"  he  says. 


Going  through  the  archives  of  New- 
speak,  WPI's  student  newspaper, 
one  day,  I  came  across  the  May  8, 
1984,  edition.  A  front-page  article 
headlined  "The  Great  Debate" 
described  a  debate  between  Boyd 
and  William  Grogan,  then  dean  of 
undergraduate  studies.  The  two 
held  opposing  views  on  the  direc- 
tion the  WPI  Plan  should  take. 

The  striking  part  is  not  the  arti- 
cle, but  the  accompanying  photo- 
graph of  the  combatants  (above). 
While  his  opponent  is  pictured  in  a 
fairly  neutral  posture,  Boyd,  leaning 
forward  and  jabbing  his  fingers 
toward  his  chest,  is  obviously  loudly 
voicing  a  point. 

The  picture  conveys  energy,  fire 
in  the  belly.  It  depicts  a  man  who 
cares  deeply,  a  man  who  is  commit- 
ted to  a  vision  of  excellence,  and  a 
man  who  will  fight  to  keep  it  from 
being  compromised.  Call  me 
biased,  but  I'll  bet  he  won. 


What  had  been  left  out  to  this  point  in  our 
conversation  was  a  major — perhaps  the 
major — turning  point  in  the  self-discovery  of 
Jack  Boyd.  This  kind  of  dramatic  revela- 


26 


Winter  1994 


tion — a  singular,  seemingly  innocuous  event 
that  forever  changes  a  person — is  supposed 
to  happen  only  in  the  movies.  Yet  here  he 
was  describing  one  vividly  as  he  pulled  a 
well-worn  book  from  a  shelf  next  to  his  desk. 
"During  my  graduate  student  days  at 
Ohio  State,  I  had  an  epiphany,"  he  says. 
"See,  I  had  made  good  grades  simply 
because  I  worked  my  tail  off.  But  I  had  little 
confidence  that  I  could  do  anything.  Then, 
wandering  around  a  bookstore  one 
Saturday,  I  came  across  this  book,  Lectures 
On  Physics  by  Richard  Feynman — a  Nobel 
Prize  winner,  incidentally.  On  the  very  first 
page  was  a  picture  of  Feynman  playing  the 
bongos.  I  found  it  utterly  fascinating  and 
bought  it. 


While  talking  to  Boyd  in  his  office 
one  day,  we  were  interrupted  by  a 
pair  of  students  knocking  on  his 
door.  As  they  posed  their  question 
about  the  latest  project  in  Boyd's 
thermodynamics  class,  it  occurred 
to  me  that  the  scene  unfolding 
before  my  eyes,  though  unremark- 
able, was  so  typical  of  the  man.  As 
he  conferred  with  the  students,  he 
displayed  the  same  air  of  stern 
sagacity  and  fatherly  kindness  that  I 
remembered  so  well. 

The  crux  of  the  students '  inquiry 
was  how  to  improve  their  initially 
rejected  report  to  a  level  of  accept- 


Boyd  talks  with  Philip  Muller  '94.  In 
his  teaching,  Boyd  aims  to  give  his 
students  a  "functional  literacy." 

"I  took  it  home  and  started  reading  it.  1 
thought,  'My  God,  I  can  understand  this!' 
That  same  morning  I  began  to  re-educate 
myself.  This  is  where  you  start,  these  are  the 
assumptions — that's  the  way  1  teach.  That's 
how  you  understand." 

That  is  the  experience  Boyd  brought 
with  him  to  WP1.  In  terms  of  education,  he'd 
seen  the  good  and  the  bad.  Now,  in  his  opin- 
ion, he  was  being  introduced  to  the  ugly. 
"Here  was  a  school  of  only  1,400  men  that 
was  highly  structured  and  rigid — even  more 
so  than  Ohio  State,"  he  says.  "1  became 
aware  rather  quickly  that  there  was  a  grow- 
ing dissatisfaction  with  the  rigidity — and 
even  sterility — of  the  curriculum." 

The  thrill  of  learning  and  understanding 
he  himself  had  felt  led  him  to  want  the  same 
for  his  students.  He  wanted  them  to  be 
swept  up  in  the  wonder  and  the  challenge  of 
it  all.  The  development  of  his  teaching  style 
was  born  of  that  experience. 


ability.  "What  do  we  do  to  fix  this?" 
they  asked.  Boyd  responded  simply, 
"Do  what  needs  to  be  done. " 

The  answer  was  so  simple,  so 
fundamental,  that  to  ask  for  clari- 
hcation  would  have  sounded  fool- 
ish. The  students  nodded  and  left. 
Surely  such  an  off-the-cuff  remark 
was  not  intended  to  say  as  much  as 
it  did,  but  in  six  words  Boyd  ex- 
plained much  of  the  learning 
process  as  he  professes  it.  Pro- 
fessors may  teach,  but  students 
must  actively  learn  to  think  for 
themselves. 


"I  was  unhappy  with  the  curriculum  here," 
Boyd  says  about  his  early  days  at  WPI.  "I 
shot  my  mouth  off  a  lot.  As  a  result,  I  joined 
a  group  appointed  by  then  President  Storke 
to  look  into  changes  in  the  way  we  educated 
engineers." 

The  committee's  efforts  were  to  lay  the 
groundwork  for  the  WPI  Plan.  Boyd  says  the 
members  went  back  to  the  faculty  and  asked 


to  be  elected  as  a  planning  committee  to 
make  it  clear  that  it  would  be  the  professors, 
not  the  administrators,  who  would  shape 
the  new  curriculum  that  the  faculty  would 
ultimately  have  to  implement.  Of  the  exhaus- 
tive work  of  this  committee  of  six,  Boyd  sim- 
ply exclaims,  "It  was  the  most  incredible 
experience  of  my  professional  life;  what  an 
adventure!" 

Debating  and  proposing  and  revising  for 
endless  hours,  the  committee  eventually 
conceptualized  the  Plan.  From  an  academic 
calendar  based  on  seven-week  terms,  to  the 
required  projects,  to  the  competency  exam, 
the  curriculum  underwent  radical  changes. 

"The  philosophy  we  set  forth  was  that 
the  minimum  amount  of  time  spent  doing 
projects  should  be  25  percent,"  Boyd  recalls. 
"The  idea  was  to  learn  all  about  learning  and 
about  your  discipline  before  undertaking  the 
Major  Qualifying  Project.  In  many  ways  we 
tried  to  emphasize  the  general  over  the  spe- 
cialized, to  ensure  that  everyone  had  a  prop- 
er grounding  in  the  fundamentals." 

With  the  Institute  adopting  an  education- 
al philosophy  much  closer  to  his  heart, 
Boyd  began  to  fashion  each  of  his  courses 
into  a  mini-Plan,  replete  with  independent 
reading,  group  projects  and  all-or-nothing 
competency  exams.  He  has  stuck  to  that 
form  to  this  day,  demanding  that  students 
leave  his  class  with  a  solid  understanding — 
a  functional  literacy — in  whatever  area  he 
was  teaching. 

"I'm  not  a  very  good  mechanical  engi- 
neer, in  the  traditional  design  sense,"  Boyd 
tells  me  one  day.  "No  kidding.  I'm  not  very 
bright.  But  that's  what  helps,  because  I've 
fallen  into  all  the  same  pits  my  students  do." 
He  is  proud  of  his  teaching,  a  fact  as  clear  as 
his  passion  for  it. 

That  passion  is  also  what  makes  him  a 
stickler  in  the  classroom.  There  are  no  C's  in 
Boyd's  courses.  You  must  pass  one  exam 
just  to  demonstrate  your  functional  literacy. 
For  that  you  earn  a  B.  Pass  another,  more 
difficult  exam,  and  you  earn  an  A.  And  when 
he  says  you  must  earn  a  B  on  that  first  exam, 
you  will  not  pass  the  course  until  you  do. 
Yes,  your  error  may  have  been  a  momentary 
oversight,  but  it  may  also  indicate  a  misun- 
derstanding of  a  basic  point.  But  you  may 
also  take  the  test  again;  in  fact,  you  may  take 
it  several  times,  if  you  need  to.  No  matter 
that  it's  two  terms  later  and  you  are  no 
longer  enrolled  in  the  course;  show  Boyd 
that  you  know  your  stuff  and  you'll  pass. 


By  the  end  of  Introductory  Fluid 
Mechanics  I  knew  Boyd  fairly  well, 
having  been  to  his  office  many 
times  to  talk  about  class  projects. 
He  always  managed  to  be  helpful 


WPI  Journal 


27 


without  shifting  the  burden  of  under- 
standing away  from  me — a  hne  line 
he  walked  with  apparent  ease. 

Having  already  passed  the  com- 
petency exam  for  my  B,  I  stopped 
by  to  pick  up  the  second  exam — the 
one  that  would  determine  if  I  would 
receive  an  A  in  the  course.  Pulling 
my  test  out  of  the  stack,  Boyd 
glanced  over  it  and  handed  it  to  me 
almost  apologetically.  He  explained 
that  though  most  of  my  analysis 
was  correct,  there  was  a  basic  error 
in  one  of  my  assumptions. 

"I  know  it  was  probably  inadver- 
tent, "  he  said  of  the  sign  I  had  re- 
versed, "and  I  wanted  to  overlook 


ations  filled  out  by  his  students  and  you  will 
see  that  he  is  held  in  high  esteem  by  the 
vast  majority. 

For  every  student  with  a  distaste  for  his 
style,  there  are  five  who  wildly  endorse  his 
methods,  which  kept  them  up  until  all  hours 
of  the  night,  because  people  learn  in  his 
classes.  Put  aside  Boyd's  own  protestations 
of  being  "not  too  bright,"  because  the  stu- 
dents know  the  real  story. 


Near  the  end  of  my  sophomore 
year,  having  nearly  completed  my 
second  course  in  the  Boydian 
method,  I  received  a  notice  request- 
ing nominations  for  WPI's  Trustees ' 
Award  for  Outstanding  Teaching. 


it,  but  it  involved  too  basic  a  princi- 
ple and  I  couldn  7.  "  Uncompro- 
mising. Fair.  Exactly  what  I  would 
expect  from  him.  I  had  made  a  sim- 
ilar error  in  the  "A  test"  for  the  ther- 
modynamics course.  So  my  record 
shows  two  B's  from  Jack  Boyd, 
which  represents  more  learning 
than  took  place  in  any  other  course 
I  took,  regardless  of  the  grades  I 
received. 


Boyd  is  not  liked  by  some  students  for  what 
they  see  as  his  unyielding  attitude.  And 
there  may  well  have  been  instances  where 
he  was  a  little  too  stubborn — too  dedicated 
to  his  cause.  But  glance  at  the  course  evalu- 


Knowing  several  other  students 
who  would  also  feel  that  Professor 
Boyd  deserved  the  honor,  I  began  to 
hll  out  the  form. 

It  was  then  that  I  noticed  that  the 
nomination  form  included  a  list  of 
past  winners  and  a  reminder  that 
those  winners  are  not  eligible  for 
future  awards.  There,  near  the  top 
of  the  list,  was:  "1976..  Jack  Boyd. " 
During  my  junior  year,  Boyd  was 
named  Best  Professor  in  the  first 
campuswide  poll  of  students  con- 
ducted by  the  student  newspaper.  It 
was  an  honor  he  would  capture 
again  the  following  year. 


Over  the  years,  Boyd's  passion  for  education 
and  for  WPI  have  led  him  to  repeatedly  ques- 
tion the  school's  commitment  to  the  ideals  of 
the  Plan.  He  raised  his  voice  against  the  elim- 
ination of  the  Competency  Exam  and  the 
return  to  more  standard  course  distribution 
requirements.  He  is  raising  it  again  as  WPI 
considers  what's  been  dubbed  "Plan  II." 

As  he  talks  about  these  battles,  some  of 
the  bitterness  born  of  years  of  knocking 
hard  against  the  administrative  wall  comes 
out.  "First  of  all,"  he  says,  "what  we  need  is 
for  the  faculty  to  come  together  and  be  fully 
invested  in  this  new  plan.  At  the  same  time 
that  the  original  Plan  was  being  formulated, 
we  put  together  a  faculty  governance  sys- 
tem. We  had,  at  that  time,  a  cohesive  faculty 
being.  We  do  not  have  that  now." 

In  an  annual  report  he  wrote  for  the 
provost  and  the  head  of  the  Mechanical  En- 
gineering Department,  Boyd  voiced  similar 
sentiments:  "We  desperately  need  an  educa- 
tional study  by  a  deeply  committed  elected 
faculty  committee — with  no  administrative 
members."  In  that  report,  Boyd  also  present- 
ed a  critique  of  the  current  system  and  a 
proposal  for  WPI  to  break  the  mold  again  in 
academic  innovation. 

Shaking  his  head,  Boyd  laments,  "It's 
gone.  The  excitement,  the  aspirations  to  be 
the  best.  The  Plan  was  originally  designed 
for  up  to  1,600  students,  but  it  was  used  as  a 
marketing  tool  to  nearly  double  the  school's 
population.  The  competency  exam  was 
abandoned  in  1986,  and  engineering  schools 
today  are  still  too  closely  linked  to  vocation. 
We  tend  to  train  technicians  rather  than 
educate  technologists." 

As  he  speaks  about  the  problems  he  sees 
WPI  facing  in  the  coming  years,  Boyd  seems 
tired.  He's  fought  this  fight  once  before,  and 
he's  not  prepared  to  do  it  again  two  decades, 
later.  Asked  hypothetically  if  he  would 
answer  a  call  to  help  shape  Plan  II,  he  says 
no.  Professor  Boyd  will  retire  at  the  end  of 
the  current  academic  year. 


Two  years  after  my  last  class  with 
Boyd,  we  met  in  the  hall  of  Higgins 
Laboratories.  We  hadn  't  spoken  in 
quite  a  while,  since  my  interest  in 
materials  science  had  taken  me 
away  from  his  held  of  expertise.  He 
inquired  as  to  the  progress  of  my 
studies,  and  I  told  him  that  I  had 
recently  decided  to  add  a  second 
major  in  English.  He  seemed  fasci- 
nated by  the  combination  and 
asked  if  he  could  see  my  major  pro- 
ject for  the  English  degree  when  it 
was  complete. 

It  was  a  brief  conversation,  but  it 
left  a  smile  on  my  face.  For  all  of 


28 


Winter  1994 


with  NCAIED.  He  says  Indians  come  to  the 
center  to  learn  about  business  from  success- 
ful Indian  businesspeople  in  the  company  of 
other  prospective  business  owners.  They 
can  participate  in  workshops  and  programs 
on  all  aspects  of  business  ownership — from 


identifying  a  need  to  establishing  an  employ- 
ees' credit  program. 

"They  stay  until  they  become  good 
enough  to  fly  on  their  own — up  to  two 
years,"  Wimmergren  says.  "During  my  seven 
months  at  the  center  I  worked  with  12 


Left,  Wimmergren  on  the  Navajo  res- 
ervation in  Arizona.  Below,  Navajo 
children  dressed  to  learn  about  tradi- 
tional tribal  dances. 

American  Indian  volunteers  who  had  experi- 
ence— and  often  college  degrees — in  mar- 
keting, human  relations,  finance  and  other 
disciplines." 

As  a  volunteer  at  the  center,  Wimmer- 
gren assisted  with  the  implementation  of 
aspects  of  its  mission  statement  by  working 
to  develop  and  increase  the  region's  Indian- 
owned  and  managed  businesses,  enlarge  the 
Indian  work  force,  and  help  those  on  the 
reservation  forge  a  more  secure  future  by 
establishing  business  relationships  between 
Indian  enterprises  and  private  industry.  He 
also  helped  set  up  an  incubator  system  for 
new  businesses  and  wrote  The  Entrepre- 
neur's Business  Development  Primer  for  Start- 
ing a  Small  Business  to  enable  Indian  people 
to  learn  at  their  own  pace  about  marketing, 
finances,  human  relations,  and  other  aspects 
of  business  ownership. 

"NCAIED's  ultimate  goal  is  to  help  tribes 
reduce  their  dependence  on  federal  and 
state  welfare  assistance  by  teaching  them 
to  organize  their  resources,  adopt  sound 
management  techniques,  and  become  eco- 
nomically viable  on  their  reservation,"  says 
Wimmergren,  who  notes  that  the  foundation 
for  success  already  exists. 

"Native  Americans  in  the  Southwest  own 
land  that  contains  valuable  resources. 
Coupled  with  the  tourist  industry  (which 
offers  opportunities  to  manufacture  and  sell 
Native  American  products)  and  the  tribes' 
own  need  to  provide  goods  and  services  for 
themselves,  the  Indians  have  the  potential 
to  achieve  a  self-sustaining  economy  and, 
ultimately,  a  higher  standard  of  living." 

The  problem,  he  says,  is  that  the  tribes 
often  live  in  isolated  areas  where  running 
water  and  electricity  aren't  available,  so 
they  don't  know  what  tourists  need  or  ex- 
pect. "They  have  to  be  eased  into  this 
awareness;  that's  one  of  the  functions  of  the 
center — to  introduce  Indians  to  the  world 
beyond  the  reservation,  the  world  from 
which  much  of  their  business  will  come." 

The  key  to  success  rests  with  individual 
members  of  the  tribe — not  outsiders,  says 
Wimmergren,  who  with  his  wife  will  contin- 
ue to  work  with  the  center  and  with  the  indi- 
viduals they've  gotten  to  know  in  the  com- 
munities it  serves.  "If  the  Indian  is  going  to 
be  better  off  it  will  be  because  of  Indian 
efforts  and  that  means  starting  their  own 
businesses.  We  want  to  help  them  as  much 
as  we  can." 


WPI  Journal 


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VOLUME  XCVII  NO.  2    SPRING  1994 


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FEATURES 

O  Pioneers! 

Joan  Killough-Miller  and  Bonnie  Gelbwasser 

After  more  than  a  century  as  a  single-sex  institution,  WPI  finally  opened  its  doors 
to  women  undergraduates  25  years  ago.  For  the  women  who've  enrolled  since 
then,  there  have  been  challenges,  triumphs — and  lots  of  memories. 

Unplugged 

Michael  Dorsey 

From  cordless  phones  to  wireless  office  networks  to  multibillion-dollar  satellite 
communication  systems,  technology  for  sending  information  without  wires 
promises  to  transform  our  lives.  WPI  is  playing  a  major  role  in  making  it  happen. 

On  the  Flash  Track  at  Foxwoods 

Ruth  Trask  and  Michael  Dorsey 

The  massive  Foxwoods  Casino  and  Resort  has  risen  nearly  overnight  from  the 
woods  of  southeastern  Connecticut.  Here  is  the  story  of  nine  WPI  alumni  who 
helped  bring  about  what  some  call  the  "Legend  in  Ledyard." 

DEPARTMENTS 


9  Advance  Word    Joan  Killough-Miller 
What  They  Dared  to  Do. 

A   Communique    Alfred  R.  Doig  Jr. 
First  Impressions. 

£   Investigations    Michael  Dorsey 

Decoding  Object  Recognition;  How  Trust  Saves  Money  in  the 
Construction  Industry;  The  Physics  of  Fiber-Optic  Amplifiers;  Casting 
Light  on  Lost-Foam  Casting. 

1Q  Explorations    Bonnie  Gelbwasser 

Fine-Tuning  New  Zealand's  Fire  Codes;  Saving  the  Urban  Forests; 
Helping  the  Sierra  Club  Save  the  Environment. 

QO   Final  Word    Michael  Dorsey 

Saved  by  Schindler,  Michael  Klein  Got  On  With  His  Life. 

Cover:  Images  from  the  first  25  years  of  women  undergraduates  at  WPI.  The  "firsts"  pictured  on 
the  front  cover  are,  clockwise  from  upper  left,  Denise  C.  Gorski  75,  first  woman  to  be  Student 
Government  president;  Jayne  Rossetti,  left,  and  Leslie  Small  Zorabedian  72,  the  first  two  women 
undergraduates;  Suzanne  Call  Margerum  '81,  the  first  woman  inducted  into  the  WPI  Athletic  Hall  of 
Fame;  and  Judy  Bagdis  Largesse  77,  the  first  woman  undergraduate  to  be  chosen  Homecoming 
Queen.  Photo  by  Janet  Woodcock.  Story  on  page  12.  Opposite:  "The  Rainmaker,"  a  12-foot  acrylic- 
sculpture  that  dominates  the  concourse  of  the  newest  casino  at  the  Mashantucket  Pequot's 
Foxwoods  Casino  and  Resort  in  Ledyard,  Conn.  Photo  by  Janet  Woodcock.  Story  on  page  28. 


Staff  of  the  WPI  Journal:  Editor.  Michael  W.  Dorsey  •  Contributing  Writers,  Bonnie  Gelbwasser,  Joan  Killough-Miller,  Neil  Norum  and  Ruth  Trask  •  Art  Director/Designer,  Michael  J.  Sherman  • 
Contributing  Designer  (pp.  2-3,  12-21),  Carol  Hoyle  Ballard  •  Photographer,  Janet  Woodcock.  Alumni  Publications  Committee:  Samuel  Mencow  '37,  chairman  •  Paul  J.  Cleary  71  •  James  S. 
Demetry  '58  •  Judith  Donahue  SIM  '82  •  William  J.  Firla  Jr.  '60  •  William  R.  Grogan  '46  •  Robert  C.  Labonte  '54  •  Roger  N.  Perry  Jr.  '45  •  Harlan  B.  Williams  '50  •  The  WPI  Journal  (ISSN  0148- 
6128)  is  published  quarterly  for  the  WPI  Alumni  Association  by  the  Office  of  University  Relations.  Second-class  postage  paid  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  additional  mailing  offices.  Printed  by  The  Lane 
Press,  Burlington,  Vt    Printed  in  the  U.S.A. 

Diverse  views  presented  in  this  magazine  do  not  necessarily  reflect  the  opinions  of  the  editors  or  officio/  WPI  policies.  We  welcome  letters  to  the  editor  Address  correspondence  to  the  Editor.  WPI  Journal. 
WPI.  100  Institute  Road.  Worcester.  MA  01609-2280.  Phone:  (508)  831-5609.  FAX:  (508)  831-5604.  Electronic  Mail  (Internet),  mwdorsey@wpi.wpi.edu.  Postmaster  If  undeliverable.  please  send  form  3579 
to  the  address  above.  Do  not  return  publication.  Entire  contents  ©  1994,  Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute 


ADVANCE  WORD 


What  They  Dared  to  Do 


By  Joan  Killough-Miller 


Editor's  Note:  Twenty-five  years  ago,  WPI 
became  a  coeducational  university.  In  cover- 
age beginning  on  page  12,  we  look  at  how  the 
college  made  that  transition  after  more  than  a 
century  as  an  all-male  institution  and  hear 
from  women  graduates  about  their  experi- 
ences during  the  past  quarter  century. 

The  25th  anniversary  of  the  arrival  of 
women  undergraduates  was  noted  on  April  16 
with  a  special  celebration  on  campus, 
"Women  at  WPI:  Challenges  and  Achieve- 
ments! Yesterday,  Today,  Tomorrow. "  We 
preface  our  coverage  of  this  important 
milestone  with  a  report  on  that  event. 


It  was  a  time  to  shine,  despite  the  pouring 
rain  that  soaked  alumnae,  students, 
faculty  and  staff  as  they  scurried  through 
cloudbursts  between  Alden  Memorial  and 
Riley  Commons,  reluctant  to  miss  a  word  of 
a  program  25  years  in  the  making.  The  gath- 
ering was  part  reunion  and  all  celebration. 

With  more  than  500  women  undergradu- 
ates currently  on  campus  and  142  "fresh- 
women"  expected  in  the  Class  of  1998,  the 
Institute  has  come  a  long  way  from  1968, 
when  the  first  two  female  undergraduates 
entered,  noted  Bernard  H.  Brown,  vice  presi- 


dent for  student  affairs.  Brown  praised  the 
first  women  to  integrate  WPI,  calling  them 
articulate  and  self-confident.  "They  quickly 
became  part  of  the  solution  to  everything 
that  faced  them  on  campus,"  he  said. 

Helen  Vassallo  '82  (M.B.A.),  head  of  the 
Management  Department,  moderated  a 
panel  discussion  titled  "Challenges  and 
Achievements — What  I  Dared  to  Do!"  She  set 
the  tone  with  poetry  and  quotations. 


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Blending  past  and  present, 
student,  professor  and  pro- 
fessional, the  panel  featured 
Holly  Keyes  Ault  74,  assis- 
tant professor  of  mechani- 
cal engineering,  Susan  and 
Karen  Daly  of  the  Class  of 
1994,  who  are  just  venturing 
out  into  the  world  of  gradu- 
ate school  and  jobs,  Patricia 
Graham  Flaherty  75,  owner 
of  Graham  Flaherty  Infor- 
mation Systems,  and  John 
van  Alstyne,  retired  mathe- 
matics professor  and  dean 
of  academic  advising. 

"I  hate  pedestals,"  de- 
clared van  Alstyne  as  he 
stepped  down  from  the 
podium  to  address  his  audience  on  a  level 
footing.  His  reminiscences  and  encourage- 
ment drew  a  standing  ovation  from  his  for- 
mer advisees,  who  looked  upon  him  as  a 
counselor,  father  figure,  and  unflagging 
source  of  support. 

Later  in  the  program,  "van 
A" — "a  special  name  for  a  spe- 
cial man,  full  of  fondness  and 
affection" — was  called  back  on 
stage  to  receive  the  1993 
William  R.  Grogan  Award  for 
exceptional  service  to  WPI, 
which  he  was  unable  to  accept 
in  person  last  year.  The  award 
is  named  for  his  colleague  and 
friend  Bill  Grogan,  dean  emeri- 
tus of  undergraduate  studies. 


Spring  1994 


CT£<?4 


Roundtable  discussions  on  such  topics 
as  "Breaking  Through  the  Glass  Ceiling"  and 
"Women's  Issues  at  WPI"  allowed  for  small- 
group  interaction  between  different  genders 
and  generations.  The  groups  discussed 
treatment  in  the  work- 
place, balancing  career, 
family  and  personal 
needs,  as  well  as  current 
campus  issues:  day  care, 
equal  opportunity  in  ath- 
letics, and  mentoring  and 
support  for  women,  who 
still  make  up  only  20  per- 
cent of  WPI's  student 
population. 

The  male-to-female 
ratio  at  WPI  was  seen  as 
good  preparation  for  the 
workplace,  where  women 
engineers  can  still  expect 
to  be  in  the  minority. 
"But  what  are  we  doing  to 
help  men  adjust?"  one 
alum  asked.  As  WPI  stu- 
dents, women  are  being 
prepared  to  deal  with 
men  and  let  sexist  treat- 
ment roll  off  their  backs,  participants 
agreed.  "Perhaps  we  are  overpreparing 
them,"  one  woman  commented,  speculating 
that  "WPI  desensitizes  us  to  comments  other 
women  may  see  as  harassment." 

During  lunch,  the  assembly  was 
addressed  by  WPI  President  Jon  C.  Strauss 
and  keynote  speaker  Jane  Shaw,  president 
and  COO  of  Alza  Corp.  and  a  1992  recipient 
of  an  honorary  doctorate  from  WPI.  Shaw, 
who  attributed  her  success  in  the  pharma- 


e  are  working 
against  our  condi- 
tioned instincts.  The  cur- 
rent shift  in  the  paradigm 
of  the  business  world 
provides  opportunities  for 
women  to  succeed  without 
having  to  adapt  to  playing 
the  game  by  men 's  rules. " 

— Jane  Shaw 


ceutical  industry  to  a  combination  of  luck 
and  vision,  charged  members  of  the  audi- 
ence to  be  true  to  their  value  systems  and 
remain  optimistic.  She  projected  a  busi- 
ness environment  in  which  women  could 
be  valued  for  their 
talent  for  teamwork 
and  their  tolerance 
for  diversity. 

The  program 
concluded  with  a 
videotaped  presen- 
tation by  Lora  Brueck, 
WPI  archivist  and  spe- 
cial collections  librar- 
ian, who  also  arranged 
a  display  of  photo- 
graphs and  news  clip- 
pings chronicling  the 
history  of  women  at 
WPI.  Her  tape  told  the 
story  through  inter- 
views and  press  cover- 
age from  the  early  days 
of  coeducation  to  the 
current  campus  scene. 
The  last  vestiges  o 
those  first  100  all-male 
years  will  soon  disappear,  Brown  said.  To 
hearty  laughter  and  applause  he  announced 
that  the  urinals  in  the  women's  bathrooms 
of  Sanford  Riley  Hall,  where  the  first  women 
undergraduates  were  housed,  will  be 
removed  when  the  building  is  renovated  in 
1995.  "They  were  home  to  flower  pots, 
Halloween  decorations,  art  deco  drawings 
and  many  memories,"  he  said.  "I  suggest  we 
have  one  bronzed,  appropriately  labeled  by 
our  women,  and  placed  in  the  archives." 


WPI  Journal 


COMMUNIQUE 


First  Impressions 


By  Alfred  R.  Doig  Jr., 
Vice  President  for 
University  Relations 

It  hardly  seems  possible  that 
it  has  been  almost  a  year 
since  I  joined  WP1.  The  mem- 
ory of  my  first  day  on  the 
job,  in  late  August  1993,  is  still 
fresh.  It  seemed  as  though  I  had 
hopped  aboard  a  speeding  train. 
The  academic  year  had  just  be- 
gun; with  it  came  the  rapid  pace 
of  seven-week  terms.  That  ca- 
dence was  more  than  matched 
by  the  energy  of  an  innovative 
and  ambitious  institution. 

In  the  ensuing  year,  as  I've 
taken  part  in  the  many  activi- 
ties, pageants  and  celebrations 
so  familiar  and  so  important  to 
WPI  alumni  and  friends,  things 
haven't  slowed  a  bit.  Still,  I've 
caught  my  breath  enough  to 
offer  you  my  initial  impressions 
of  WPI.  First,  let  me  back  up  to 
the  spring  of  1993  when  it  be- 
came clear  that  I  was  being  con- 
sidered for  the  post  of  vice 
president  for  university  relations.  To  secure 
the  job,  I  decided  I'd  better  make  a  full- 
speed-ahead,  frontal  assault  on  WPI. 

As  a  first  step,  I  thought  that  I  should 
visit  the  campus  and  learn  something  about 
the  institution  from  its  buildings  and  facili- 
ties. I  must  confess,  even  though  I  grew  up 
in  Massachusetts  and  had  been  to  Worces- 
ter many  times,  I  had  no  idea  where  WPI 
was.  But  with  a  city  map  in  hand,  I  made  my 
way  to  Salisbury  Street,  up  West  Street,  and 
into  the  visitors'  parking  area.  Now  I  was 
ready  to  fulfill  my  two  objectives:  to  walk 
through  some  academic  buildings  and  to 
secure  an  undergraduate  catalog. 

From  the  beauty  and  well-manicured 
appearance  of  the  campus  and  the  high 
quality  of  the  buildings  and  facilities,  I 
gained  a  positive  feeling  for  WPI's  values 
and  the  sense  of  pride  it  takes  in  itself.  The 
undergraduate  catalog  introduced  me  to  the 
WPI  Plan,  an  educational  concept  I  found 
immediately  attractive.  I  would  make  two 


Al  Doig  with  his  twin  sons,  Ian,  top,  and  Andrew. 

more  visits — one  with  spouse  and  children, 
and  another  to  Gordon  Library  to  bone  up 
for  my  first  interview. 

Yankee  baseball  great  Yogi  Berra  is  re- 
ported to  have  said,  "When  you  come  to  a 

"This  is  a  wonderful 

institution,  for  which  all 

graduates,  parents  and 

friends  can  be  justly  proud. " 

fork  in  the  road,  take  it."  By  the  end  of  that 
interview,  I  felt  I  had  arrived  at  a  fork;  I  knew 
this  was  where  I  wanted  to  work.  As  good 
fortune  would  have  it,  President  Strauss 
offered  me  the  chance  to  take  the  fork  and  I 
accepted  almost  immediately. 

Since  then,  I've  expanded  on  my  first 
impressions.  For  example,  I  can  tell  those  of 
you  who  have  not  been  back  to  campus  for 
some  time  to  rest  assured  that  your  alma 


mater  continues  to  be  an  out- 
standing institution  still  dedicat- 
ed to  helping  students  develop 
academically  and  in  other  dim- 
ensions. It  has  preserved  all  that 
is  valuable  in  the  private  higher 
education  system,  such  as  class- 
es taught  by  dedicated  faculty  in 
a  supportive  and  intellectually 
stimulating  environment. 

You  should  also  know  that 
the  WPI  Plan,  now  two  decades 
old,  is  still  a  model  for  others  to 
emulate.  Even  now,  this  unique 
pedagogical  approach  is  being 
studied  by  many  other  colleges 
and  universities,  including  that 
institution  on  the  Charles  River 
in  Cambridge  known  for  its  engi- 
neering program  (a  place  where 
1  worked  for  13  years,  by  the 
way).  With  its  emphasis  on  mix- 
ing practice  and  theory,  the 
Plan  is  a  more  centered  curricu- 
lum than  you  will  find  at  any 
|  other  university. 

Among  WPI's  faculty  and 
i|  staff,  the  people  responsible  for 
=  upholding  the  Institute's  tradi- 
tion of  excellence,  there  is  an 
undeniable  spirit  of  pragmatism  that  I  find 
quite  refreshing.  It  results  in  a  no-nonsense, 
"let's-get-the-job-done"  attitude.  I  think  this 
attitude — and  the  success  it  has  made  possi- 
ble— are  part  of  the  reason  WPI's  work  force 
is  so  amazingly  stable.  This  is  also  a  warm 
and  welcoming  community.  I've  been 
received  with  genuine  openness,  as  have  the 
ideas  I've  brought  with  me. 

My  experience  at  WPI  has  truly  exceeded 
my  expectations.  This  is  a  wonderful  institu- 
tion, for  which  all  graduates,  parents  and 
friends  can  be  justly  proud.  It's  an  institu- 
tion grounded  on  a  fine  tradition  of  academ- 
ic excellence  and  programmatic  innovation. 
I  guess  a  good  indication  of  how  I  feel 
about  WPI  is  that  I  know  I  would  have 
enjoyed  being  a  student  here.  But  perhaps 
an  even  more  telling  measure  of  my  belief  in 
the  programs  and  mission  of  this  institution 
is  how  pleased  and  proud  I  would  be  were 
either — or  both — of  my  sons  to  enroll  here 
in  the  Class  of  2012. 


Spring  1994 


INVESTIGA  TIONS 


Unlocking  the 
Puzzle  of  Object 
Recognition 


During  World  War  II,  gunners  on  Navy 
ships  were  given  cards  depicting  the 
silhouettes  of  allied  and  enemy  aircraft.  With 
these,  they  could  learn  to  quickly  distin- 
guish between  friend  and  foe  as  they 
watched  planes  fly  against  the  background 
of  a  bright  sky. 

The  science  of  object  recognition  has 
evolved  significantly  since  then,  driven  for- 
ward in  recent  decades  by  amazing  ad- 
vances in  the  power  and 
speed  of  computers.  But 
despite  all  that  progress,  in 
some  fundamental  ways  mod- 
ern object  recognition  pro- 
grams share  surprising  simi- 
larities to  the  system  used  by 
those  sailors  50  years  ago. 

In  most  of  the  systems 
now  in  use,  a  computer 
attempts  to  identify  an  object 
by  comparing  its  image  to  a 
collection  of  views  of  various 
objects  stored  in  its  memory 
in  the  form  of  computer  mod- 
els. Much  like  the  sailors 
scanning  the  aircraft  silhou- 
ettes, the  computer  must  sort 
through  all  of  the  models  in 
its  memory — and  all  of  the 
views  they  contain — looking 
for  the  one  view  that  most 
closely  resembles  the  image 
it  sees.  The  process  is  time 
consuming  and  requires  expensive  or  un- 
weildy  computers. 

To  make  their  object  recognition  pro- 
grams run  faster,  designers  often  limit  the 
number  of  views  through  which  the  system 
must  sort,  notes  David  Cyganski,  professor 
of  electrical  and  computer  engineering  at 
WP1.  "Most  people  recognize  the  impossibili- 
ty of  searching  through  all  possible  varia- 
tions," he  says,  "so  they  try  to  incorporate 
into  their  programs  some  reduction  in  the 
dimensionalities  of  the  search  required." 

But  the  simpler  the  search  becomes,  he 
adds,  the  higher  the  probability  that  the 
computer  will  make  an  incorrect  match.  If 
that  computer  is  part  of  a  missile  guidance 
system  or  a  targeting  system  on  board  a  tor- 
pedo, a  bad  match  could  have  disastrous 
consequences.  For  that  reason,  the  U.S.  mili- 


tary has  long  been  interested  in  developing 
faster  and  more  accurate  ways  to  get  a  com- 
puter to  recognize  objects. 

Toward  that  end,  the  federal  Advanced 
Research  Projects  Agency  (formerly  the 
Defense  Advanced  Research  Projects 
Agency)  is  supporting  research  by  Cyganski, 
Richard  Vaz,  assistant  professor  of  electrical 
and  computer  engineering,  and  John  Orr, 
head  of  the  Electrical  and  Computer 
Engineering  Department,  with  $435,000 
toward  what  is  ultimately  expected  to  be  a 
three-year,  $900,000  award.  With  the  ARPA 
funds,  the  researchers  will  develop  a  totally 
new  approach  to  object  recognition — an 
approach  that  could  be  used  in  applications 
as  diverse  as  navigation  systems  for  auton- 


security  in  sending  computer  messages,"  he 
notes.  "In  fact,  our  model-building  process  is 
really  an  attempt  to  create  a  decoding  algo- 
rithm." Much  like  a  traditional  object  recog- 
nition program,  the  process  begins  with  a 
series  of  views  of  an  object,  showing  it  from 
a  variety  of  angles.  But  instead  of  simply 

"There  is  a  parallel  between 
our  system  and  public  key 
encryption  systems. ...Our 
model-building  process  is 
really  an  attempt  to  create 
a  decoding  algorithm. " 


From  left,  Cyganski,  Orr  and  Vaz  are  teaching  computers  to  recognize  objects  in  real  time. 


omous  vehicles  and  devices  that  automati- 
cally identify  fingerprints. 

According  to  Cyganski,  the  new  system 
avoids  the  pitfalls  of  earlier  systems  by  elim- 
inating the  need  to  create  models  that  phys- 
ically represent  objects,  and  by  dividing  the 
process  of  object  recognition  into  two  dis- 
tinct phases. 

In  the  first  phase,  object  models  are  crea- 
ted. This  computationally  intensive  process 
is  done  off-line,  yielding  the  models  that  are 
then  used  to  identify  objects  in  real  time  in  a 
simple  and  quick  procedure  that  requires  lit- 
tle in  the  way  of  computer  power.  What 
makes  this  second  phase  so  fast,  Cyganski 
says,  is  the  novel  way  in  which  the  models 
are  created. 

"There  is  a  parallel  between  our  system 
and  public  key  encryption  systems  used  for 


recording  the  information  in  those  views, 
the  computer  mathematically  transforms 
the  data — in  a  sense,  boiling  the  object 
down  to  its  essence. 

That  mathematical  essence  is  an  equa- 
tion that  is  analogous  to  a  decoder.  "The 
largest  computers  built  in  the  early  days  of 
computing  were  created  to  break  enemy 
codes,"  Cyganski  says.  "It  took  a  tremendous 
amount  of  computer  power.  But  once  bro- 
ken, a  code  could  be  decoded  on  a  sheet  of 
paper.  Similarly,  we  expend  a  great  deal  of 
computer  time  off-line  to  'break  the  code' 
and  create  these  fairly  simple  models." 

If  the  models  are  decoders,  the  messages 
they  decode  are  the  images  of  unknown 
objects.  The  object  recognition  system 
processes  each  message  with  the  various 
object  models  in  its  memory.  One  of  those 


WPI  Journal 


models  will  include  the  right  code  and 
reveal  the  message.  "The  message,  simply,  is 
'here  is  what  1  am  and  this  is  how  1  am  ori- 
ented,'" Vaz  notes. 

In  fact,  Vaz  says,  the  actual  products  of 
the  processing  stage  are  two  quantities.  The 
first  is  a  measure  of  how  confident  the 
computer  is  that  the  object  it  has  selected  is 
the  right  one.  The  second  represents  the 
object's  orientation  in  space. 

Because  the  object  models  are  actually 
compact  analytical  representations,  rather 
than  collections  of  different  views  of  an 
object,  they  take  up  far  less  computer  mem- 
ory than  the  models  for  traditional  object 
recognition  systems.  In  fact,  the  models  for 
all  of  the  targets  a  particular  missile  tracking 
system  might  encounter  could  be  stored  on 
a  standard  CD  ROM  disc.  More  important,  a 
computer  can  process  images  with  the  mod- 
els in  a  fraction  of  the  time  most  object 
recognition  programs  need  to  identify  an 
object,  making  it  possible  to  recognize 
objects  in  real  time. 

The  system  that  Cyganski,  Vaz  and  Orr 
are  developing  differs  in  another  important 
respect  from  traditional  object  recognition 
systems,  Vaz  says.  "Most  such  systems  can 
process  only  a  certain  type  of  imagery,"  he 
says.  "For  example,  they  work  only  for  video 
images  or  sonar  data.  Our  system  will  work 
for  any  kind  of  real  or  complex  image  data — 
from  visible  light,  to  synthetic  aperture  ra- 
dar data,  to  thermal  signatures — or  for  any 
combination  of  these.  The  algorithm  doesn't 
change  at  all.  The  only  thing  that  changes  is 
the  nature  of  the  models." 

The  simplicity  and  versatility  of  the  new 
object  recognition  system  will  make  it  ideal 
for  a  wide  range  of  military  and  civilian 
applications,  the  researchers  say.  For  exam- 
ple, it  could  be  used  in  smart  sensors  that 
enable  a  missile  to  seek  out  specific  targets, 
in  weapons  systems  to  help  operators  iden- 
tify targets  at  night  or  in  low  visibility,  in 
medical  imaging  systems  to  help  doctors 
spot  indicators  of  specific  illnesses,  and  in 
parcel  inspection  systems  to  spot  weapons 
or  other  selected  objects  no  matter  what 
their  orientation. 

With  the  funding  from  ARPA,  which  is 
being  administered  by  the  U.S.  Army 
Research  Office  and  its  Night  Vision 
Laboratory,  the  research  team,  which  also 
includes  three  graduate  research  assistants, 
will  use  images  of  aircraft  and  military  ve- 
hicles obtained  by  the  Army  using  various 
imaging  systems  to  develop  the  computer 
models.  These  will  then  be  tested  to  see 
how  accurately  they  can  identify  objects  and 


determine  their  orientation,  even  when  clut- 
ter and  noise  are  present  in  the  images. 

At  the  same  time,  the  team  will  be  devel- 
oping a  standard  method  of  determining  the 
reliability  of  a  given  object  recognition  system 
under  optimum  conditions.  This  method  will 
enable  researchers  to  compare  the  potential 
performance  of  various  systems  and  the  confi- 
dence one  can  have  in  their  ability  to  identify 
objects.  "This  is  a  critical  part  of  machine 
vision  research,  but  at  the  moment  it  remains 
a  great  unknown,"  Orr  says. 


chase  various  types  of  construction  services 
and  the  contractors  that  provide  those 
services.  Through  special  task  forces  that 
conduct  research  and  action  groups  that 
implement  the  results  of  the  research,  the 
institute  works  to  improve  the  cost  effec- 
tiveness of  the  construction  industry. 

In  1989,  Salazar  was  asked  to  join  a  task 
force  formed  to  build  on  the  work  of  another 
group  that  studied  the  terms  and  conditions 
used  in  construction  contracts.  "We  looked 
at  what  they  had  done,"  he  says.  "While  it 


This  Research  Can 
Save  You  Money 
...Trust  Me 

In  his  1946  book  The  Bomb  and  the 
Opportunity,  Henry  Lewis  Stimson  wrote, 
"The  only  way  to  make  a  man  trustworthy  is 
to  trust  him;  and  the  surest  way  to  make  a 
man  untrustworthy  is  to  distrust  him  and 
show  your  distrust."  That  simple  axiom  has 
proved  true  in  all  sorts  of  human  interac- 
tions, from  marriages  to  nuclear  arms  nego- 
tiations. 

Now,  thanks  to  a  major  study  by  the 
Construction  Industry  Institute  ( C II),  it  has 
been  shown  to  apply  as  well  to  relationships 
between  parties  in  construction  projects,  a 
realm  where  trust  is  often  in  short  supply, 
says  Guillermo  F.  Salazar,  associate  profes- 
sor of  civil  engineering.  Salazar,  an  expert  on 
construction  engineering  and  management, 
was  a  principal  investigator  on  the  study. 

Founded  in  1983,  CII  is  made  up  of  a 
cross  section  of  large  companies  that  pur- 


was  a  good  piece  of  work  with  practical 
applications,  we  decided  it  was  not  funda- 
mental enough.  It  left  unchanged  the  adver- 
sarial relationship  that  typically  develops 
between  parties  in  construction  projects." 

Salazar  says  the  task  force  members 
decided  they  had  to  get  to  the  heart  of  that 
antagonism,  though  how  to  achieve  that 
goal  was  by  no  means  clear.  "We  spent  the 
better  part  of  a  year  spinning  our  wheels, 
knowing  that  the  problem  was  primarily  one 
of  attitude,  but  not  knowing  how  to  articu- 
late it.  Finally  in  early  1990  we  started  to  see 
the  light.  The  problem,  we  realized,  is  that 
we  don't  trust  each  other." 

At  one  time,  Salazar  says,  most  construc- 
tion agreements  between  owners  and  con- 
tractors were  sealed  with  a  handshake.  Now 
they  are  likely  to  be  outlined  in  lengthy  con- 
tracts that  are  aimed  as  much  at  protecting 
the  parties  from  the  others  as  they  are  at 
defining  each  party's  obligations  and  expec- 
tations. 

"Everyone  has  come  to  assume  that  the 
construction  industry  should  be  a  battle- 
field," Salazar  says.  "Everyone  on  the  task 
force  agreed  that  trust  was  the  missing  ele- 


SPRING  1994 


ment  in  many  construction  relationships, 
but  they  also  suspected  that  it  has  to  be  that 
way,  since  otherwise  you  might  lose  money 
by  exposing  yourself.  But  we  wondered,  'Is 
that  really  true?"' 

Upon  reflection,  the  task  force  agreed 
that  intuitively  the  cost  of  doing  business 
should  decrease  as  trust  increases,  since  by 
trusting  one  can  dispense  with  the  expense 
of  defending  oneself  from  the  damage  the 
other  parties  might  do  and  realize  the  bene- 
fits of  having  parties  working  together  con- 


I 


The  top  curve  shows  the  relationship 
Salazar  (opposite  page)  and  his  team 
expected  to  see  between  trust  and 
construction  project  cost.  The  study 
confirmed  the  hypothesis,  as  the 
bottom  curve  demonstrates. 

structively.  They  plotted  a  curve  to  illustrate 
this  hypothesis.  The  curve  shows  project 
cost  dropping  steadily  as  trust  increases — 
up  to  a  point  (see  above). 

That  point — the  optimum  project  cost — 
they  labeled  rational  trust.  "Beyond  that," 
Salazar  says,  "is  blind  trust.  If  you  are  too 
trusting  you  expose  yourself  too  much,  and 
if  the  other  party  takes  advantage  of  that 
trust,  it  can  cost  you  a  lot  of  money." 

Having  laid  out  a  hypothesis,  the  task 
force  set  out  to  determine  how  to  test  it.  The 
first  step  was  to  define  what  trust  means  for 
those  in  the  construction  industry.  The  defi- 
nition they  settled  on  is  "the  confidence  and 
reliance  one  party  has  in  the  professional 
competence  and  integrity  of  the  other  party 
to  successfully  execute  a  project  in  the  spirit 
of  open  communication  and  fairness." 

They  also  defined  a  set  of  15  indicators 


that  define  where  trust  between  parties  can 
be  observed  during  different  phases  of  a 
construction  relationship.  And  they  devel- 
oped a  methodology  for  measuring  the 
added  costs  (redundant  efforts,  cost  of  inde- 
cision, cost  of  defensive  procedures)  and 
avoided  costs  (money  not  spent  because  of 
the  willingness  of  the  parties  to  work  togeth- 
er rather  than  taking  defensive  postures) 
associated  with  different  levels  of  trust. 

After  a  successful  pilot  survey  in  the 
summer  of  1990,  CM  agreed  to  award  WPI's 

"The  problem,  we  realized,  is 
that  we  don't  trust  each  other. 
Everyone  has  come  to  assume 
that  the  construction  industry 
should  be  a  battlefield. " 

Civil  Engineering  Department  $176,000  to 
conduct  a  full-scale  study.  Salazar,  with 
members  of  the  task  force,  spent  most  of 
1991  developing,  testing  and  fine-tuning  a 
questionnaire.  Drawing  on  social  science 
research  on  trust,  on  multiattribute  utility 
theory,  and  on  the  considerable  experience 
of  the  task  force  members — and  with  the 
guidance  of  an  expert  in  questionnaire 
design — they  carefully  crafted  questions 
designed  to  elicit  the  data  they  needed  from 
CI1  members  and  several  non-members. 

To  distinguish  their  survey  from  the 
many  others  CII  members  receive  each  year 
from  various  task  forces — and  to  make  it 
more  fun  to  complete — they  computerized 
it.  And  in  another  effort  to  boost  the  return 
rate,  each  task  force  member  called  a  group 
of  targeted  individuals  asking  them  to  send 
it  back.  A  hot  line  was  established  at  WPI  for 
anyone  who  had  questions  about  using  the 
computerized  survey. 

As  a  result,  165  of  the  317  surveys  were 
returned,  an  unusually  high  response  rate, 
Salazar  says.  Since  several  respondees  repor- 
ted on  more  than  one  project,  the  returns 
included  262  projects.  The  results  were  ana- 
lyzed and  plotted,  and  the  resulting  graph 
agreed  remarkably  well  with  the  one  the 
task  force  had  drawn  two  years  before. 

"We  feel  the  results  of  the  research  will 
allow  people  to  move  beyond  the  intuitive 
concept,  with  which  most  people  would 
agree,  that  trust  can  lower  your  costs," 
Salazar  says.  "We've  also  developed  a  com- 
puter program  that  lets  people  see  where 
their  relationships  with  other  contracting 
parties  fall  on  the  trust  curve." 


Salazar  said  the  next  phase  of  the  effort 
includes  additional  research  on  measuring 
added  and  avoided  costs,  as  well  as  addi- 
tional studies  on  trust  in  different  cultural 
settings.  More  important,  it  includes  imple- 
mentation of  behavioral  changes  on  the  part 
of  owners  and  contractors  that  will  help 
them  trust  one  another.  These  efforts  are 
being  undertaken  by  researchers  at  WPI  and 
elsewhere  in  the  United  States  and  around 
the  world. 

Already,  Salazar  says,  he  sees  a  move- 
ment toward  greater  trust  in  construction 
relationships,  a  movement  reflected  in  the 
growing  tendency  of  owners  and  contrac- 
tors to  form  partnership  arrangements 
instead  of  traditional  construction  con- 
tracts. In  part,  he  says,  this  is  due  to  the  eco- 
nomic pressures  that  are  forcing  companies 
to  downsize  and  lay  off  technical  people 
whose  role  was  to  check  up  on  "the  other 
side."  But  he  says  there  is  also  a  growing 
recognition  that  trust  saves  money. 

"All  of  the  sudden  this  has  become  a 
philosophical  movement,"  he  says.  "Things 
are  changing,  and  people  are  saying,  'lets 
work  in  a  different  way.'  I  think  our  research 
has  had  an  impact  on  this  movement  by 
showing  people  that  while  trust  is  not  the 
only  variable  that  affects  cost,  it  impacts  all 
of  the  other  variables  that  can  help  them  be 
more  cost  effective." 

Understanding  the 
Physics  of  Fiber- 
optic Amplifiers 

Since  they  were  first  introduced  just  a 
few  decades  ago,  fiber-optic  cables 
have  become  the  dominant  technology  for 
delivering  voice  and  data  over  long  dis- 
tances. Cables  made  from  bundles  of  hair- 
thin  glass  fibers  can  carry  far  more  informa- 
tion than  metal  wires,  and  that  information 
can  travel  farther  without  amplification, 
making  fiber  optics  ideal  for  handling  the 
heavy  traffic  of  modern  telecommunications 
systems. 

Despite  their  advantages,  most  fiber- 
optic systems  have  a  weak  link  in  the  form 
of  electronic  amplifiers.  When  light  speeding 
through  an  optical  cable  reaches  an  elec- 
tronic amplifier,  it  must  be  converted  to 
electricity,  amplified,  and  then  reconverted 
to  light  before  it  can  continue  its  journey — 
an  inefficient  process  that  reduces  the  over- 
all transmission  speed  of  the  system. 


WPI  Journal 


In  addition,  electronic  amplifiers  can  han- 
dle only  one  signal  or  data  stream  at  a  time 
and  must  be  reprogrammed  each  time  the 
transmission  rate  of  the  cable  is  changed.  In 
contrast,  optical  amplifiers,  which  transmit 
light  in  the  same  way  as  optical  fibers,  can 
handle  multiple  signals  traveling  at  virtually 


Quimby  adjusts  equipment  he  uses 
to  study  the  properties  of  optical 
amplifiers  for  fiber-optic  systems. 

any  speed.  For  these  reasons,  along  with  the 
fact  that  they  require  less  maintenance  than 
their  electronic  cousins,  telecommunications 
companies  would  like  to  replace  all  of  their 
electronic  amplifiers  with  optical  devices. 

Through  a  quirk  of  nature,  scientists 
have  discovered  that  the  metallic  atom 
erbium  is  perfectly  suited  as  an  amplifier  for 
the  newer  1.5-micron  fiber  optics  being  used 
in  a  new  generation  of  transoceanic  tele- 
phone cables.  But  the  search  is  still  on  for 
amplifiers  for  the  older  1.3-micron  fiber 
optics  in  use  in  most  telephone  cables 
around  the  world. 


One  of  the  key  players  in  this  international 
quest  is  Corning  Inc.,  the  company  that  devel- 
oped the  first  low-loss  optical  fibers  that 
made  the  fiber-optic  communications  revolu- 
tion possible.  Corning  recently  enlisted 
Richard  S.  Quimby,  associate  professor  of 
physics  at  WP1,  in  the  search.  With  a  grant 
from  Corning,  Quimby  will  use 
several  new  techniques  he  has 
developed  in  optical  spec- 
troscopy to  test  new  materials 
produced  by  the  company. 

"One  physical  phenome- 
non we  will  be  looking  at  is 
called  clustering,"  Quimby 
says.  "To  make  an  optical 
amplifier,  you  first  add  select- 
ed ions  to  an  optical  fiber.  In 
some  glasses,  these  ions  have 
a  tendency  to  cluster  togeth- 
er. While  this  can  sometimes 
have  a  positive  effect,  usually 
it  tends  to  quench  the  ampli- 
fication." 

In  his  laboratory,  Quimby 
will  also  be  testing  the  new 
glasses  for  an  effect  called 
excited-state  absorption. 
"The  basic  mechanism  of 
optical  amplification  goes 
back  to  Einstein's  stimulated 
emission  hypothesis  of  1917," 
I    he  says. 

The  hypothesis  says  that 
if  a  photon  passes  near  an 
atom  that  is  in  an  excited 
state,  and  if  the  energy  of  the 
photon  exactly  equals  the  dif- 
ference between  the  atom's 
current  energy  state  and  a 
lower  energy  state,  the  pho- 
ton will  stimulate  the  atom 
to  drop  to  the  lower  energy 
state,  emitting  its  excess  en- 
ergy in  the  form  of  another  photon.  This  is 
the  same  phenomenon  behind  the  operation 
of  lasers. 

Interestingly,  Quimby  says,  the  photon 
that  the  atom  emits  is  always  identical  in 
wavelength  to  the  original  photon.  This  is 
the  reason  optical  amplifiers  can  handle 
multiple  signals,  as  long  as  each  signal  is 
assigned  a  different  wavelength. 

Excited-state  absorption  occurs  when  the 
energy  of  the  photon  matches  the  difference 
between  the  atom's  excited  energy  state  and  a 
higher  energy  level.  When  that  occurs,  the 
atom  will  absorb  the  photon.  A  material  that 
exhibits  excited-state  absorption  may  not 
work  as  an  amplifier,  Quimby  notes. 


To  test  for  these  phenomena,  Quimby 
exposes  samples  of  Coming's  new  materials 
to  light  from  a  laser  and  then  passes  the 
light  emitted  by  the  samples — called  fluores- 
cence— through  a  spectrometer.  He  also 
measures  how  long  the  samples  continue  to 
emit  light  after  the  laser  is  turned  off.  If  the 
fluorescence  dies  out  quickly,  it  may  indi- 
cate that  the  photons  emitted  by  atoms  in 
the  sample  are  being  dissipated  before  they 
can  exit  the  material. 

With  the  support  from  Corning,  Quimby 
will  be  able  to  purchase  needed  equipment 
and  provide  partial  support  for  a  graduate 
student.  He  says  that  in  addition  to  provid- 
ing useful  scientific  results  to  the  company, 
the  funded  work  will  enable  him  to  explore 
areas  of  physics  that  are  of  interest  to  him. 
"I  think  this  is  a  good  example  of  how  collab- 
oration between  universities  and  companies 
should  work,"  he  says.  "There  truly  should 
be  something  for  both  parties.  That's  espe- 
cially true  these  days,  as  companies  are 
coming  under  increasing  pressure  to  justify 
their  budgets." 

Casting  Light  on 
Lost-Foam  Casting 

e 

^^and  casting  is  an  age-old  technique  for 
%J  fashioning  parts  from  iron,  bronze,  alu- 
minum and  other  metals.  In  a  process  that 
has  changed  little  over  the  years,  sand 
mixed  with  binders  that  help  it  hold  its 
shape  is  packed  around  a  wooden  form.  The 
form  is  then  removed,  leaving  a  cavity  into 
which  liquid  metal  is  poured. 

During  the  last  decade,  a  new  casting 
technique  has  begun  to  give  this  traditional 
method  a  run  for  its  money.  Called  lost-foam 
casting,  it  replaces  the  wooden  form  with 
a  mold  made  from  expanded  polystyrene 
(EPS) — the  plastic  foam  used  to  make  coffee 
cups  and  coolers.  Sand — without  the 
binders — is  loosely  packed  around  the  plas- 
tic mold  and  the  hot  metal  is  poured  in, 
vaporizing  the  plastic  and  filling  in  the  void 
left  behind. 

Though  lost-foam  casting  was  invented  in 
the  late  1950s,  it  has  only  been  since  1981, 
when  the  patent  on  the  process  expired, 
that  it  has  taken  hold  in  industry.  So  far, 
automobile  companies  are  the  biggest  users 
(all  of  the  aluminum  castings  for  the  Saturn, 
for  example — including  the  entire  engine — 
are  made  with  lost-foam  casting),  but  the 
process  is  also  being  used  to  make  every- 
thing from  boat  engines  to  tractors.  It's  esti- 


8 


Spring  1994 


mated  that  40  percent  of  all  castings  will  be 
made  with  this  technique  within  the  next 
two  decades. 

There  are  several  good  reasons  (or  this, 
notes  Satya  Shivkumar,  associate  professor 
of  mechanical  engineering.  For  one,  it  is  easi- 
er to  make  plastic  patterns  with  injection 
molding  machines  than  to  fabricate  wooden 
patterns.  Because  the  molds  aren't  removed 
from  the  sand  before  the  metal  is  poured, 
the  process  is  easier  to  automate.  And  foam 
plastics  produce  fewer  potentially  danger- 


tation  at  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology, 
Shivkumar  has  been  at  work  gathering  the 
experimental  data  needed  to  fill  that  infor- 
mation gap. 

Much  of  this  work  has  been  supported, 
in  part,  by  awards  from  General  Motors — a 
major  user  of  lost-foam  casting — including  a 
recent  three-year,  $150,000  research  con- 
tract. The  research  has  focused  on  a  num- 
ber of  factors  that  affect  the  quality  of  cast- 
ings made  with  the  lost-foam  technique. 
These  include  everything  from  the  design  of 


how  well  they  work  and  whether  we  can 
improve  them  to  make  sure  that  the  contact 
time  between  the  degradation  products  and 
the  cooling  metal  is  as  short  as  possible." 
Also  under  investigation  are  alternatives  to 
the  silica  sand  now  used  in  lost-foam  casting 
and  other  types  of  foam  plastic  that  may 
vaporize  faster  and  produce  fewer  fumes. 

To  study  the  various  factors  that  affect 
the  success  of  lost-foam  casting,  Shivkumar 
employs  a  variety  of  techniques.  Ther- 
mocouples and  pressure  sensors  inserted 


ous  gases  when  they  are  heated  than  do  the 
binders  used  in  traditional  sand  casting. 

"You  can  also  cast  far  more  complex 
parts  in  one  piece  with  the  lost-foam  tech- 
nique," Shivkumar  says,  "giving  you  greater 
design  flexibility."  Plastic  molds  for  parts 
that  would  normally  be  bolted  together  after 
casting  can  be  glued  together  and  cast  all  at 
once,  he  says.  "At  one  company  they  can 
make  a  part  in  one  piece  that  was  formerly 
cast  in  10  different  pieces." 

For  these  reasons,  Shivkumar  says,  parts 
can  be  produced  20  to  40  percent  cheaper 
with  lost-foam  casting  than  with  traditional 
casting.  But  the  process  is  not  without  prob- 
lems. The  interaction  of  liquid  metal  and 
polymer  can  result  in  defects  unique  to  the 
lost-foam  process.  These  include  folds  that 
can  cause  leaks  and  adversely  affect  pres- 
sure tightness. 

Because  lost-foam  casting  is  a  relatively 
new  process,  scientists  do  not  yet  have  a 
good  understanding  of  why  these  defects 
arise  or  how  to  prevent  them.  For  more  than 
a  decade,  beginning  with  his  Ph.D.  disser- 


the  gating  systems  that  direct  the  molten 
metal  into  the  molds  to  the  shape  of  the  tiny 
beads  that  make  up  the  expanded  poly- 
styrene plastic. 

Much  of  the  work  has  focused  on  what 
happens  to  the  foam  plastic  as  it  meets  up 
with  the  liquid  metal,  Shivkumar  says.  "We've 
shown  that  the  polymer  is  the  key  to  the 
whole  process.  Most  of  the  plastic  does  not 
turn  immediately  to  a  gas.  Instead,  it  forms  a 
gooey,  viscous  residue.  We've  done  a  lot  of 
experimental  studies  and  have  created  com- 
puter models  to  better  understand  how  this 
and  other  degradation  products  form  and 
how  they  are  eliminated  into  the  sand." 

The  faster  these  products  are  eliminated, 
the  better  the  casting,  he  notes.  In  fact,  folds 
and  other  common  defects  most  likely  form 
when  the  viscous  plastic  comes  in  contact 
with  the  rapidly  cooling  metal.  A  thin  coat- 
ing of  a  ceramic  material  normally  applied  to 
the  plastic  may  absorb  some  of  the  molten 
plastic,  Shivkumar  says. 

"There  are  a  number  of  commercial  coat- 
ings in  use,"  he  says.  "We  want  to  find  out 


Shivkumar,  center,  watches  as 
Anthony  M.  Rodriguez  '94,  left,  and 
Joseph  E.  Laskowski  '94  pour  molten 
aluminum  into  a  foam  plastic  mold  in 
WPI's  Aluminum  Casting  Research 
Laboratory. 

into  a  mold  measure  how  the  liquid  metal 
solidifies.  Instruments  like  differential  scan- 
ning calorimeters  and  thermogravimetric 
analyzers  measure  the  physical  properties 
of  the  polymer.  Light  and  electron  micro- 
scopes are  used  to  study  the  characteristics 
of  the  finished  metal  parts.  By  placing  the 
plastic  pattern  against  a  glass  window,  one 
can  even  observe  what  happens  as  the  liq- 
uid metal  is  poured  into  the  mold. 

Shivkumar  says  he  hopes  that  his  re- 
search will  help  provide  the  answers  that 
will  make  the  lost-foam  technique  attractive 
to  a  broader  range  of  industries.  "A  lot  of 
people  are  hesitant  to  use  this  process — and 
to  make  a  major  investment  in  new  equip- 
ment— because  of  the  lack  of  information. 
We  hope  our  research  will  help  them  over- 
come that  reluctance." 

—Michael  Dorsey 


WPI  Journal 


EXPLORATIONS 


Fine-Tuning  New 
Zealand's  Fire 
Codes 


New  Zealand  consists  of  four  islands 
with  a  combined  area  about  the  size  of 
Colorado  and  a  population  of  more  than  3 
million.  This  nation,  where  people  live  in 
everything  from  huts  to  high-rise  apart- 
ments, is  a  world  leader  in  building  regula- 
tion. But  it  wasn't  always  so. 

Like  many  other  countries,  New  Zealand 
had  problems  with  its  building  codes;  at  one 
time  there  were  250  authorities  responsible 
for  implementing  myriad  bylaws  and  regula- 
tions that  varied  from  area  to  area.  The  per- 
ception was  that  the  codes  were  not  only 
costly,  but  inefficient. 

In  1983,  after  four  years  of  evaluation  and 
examination  by  educational  and  private 
agencies,  a  national  performance-based 
building  code  was  implemented  to  regulate 
and  standardize  building  construction  and 
maintenance  and  to  significantly  improve 
fire  safety.  In  1991  the  code  became  law. 

With  support  from  the  University  of 
Canterbury  in  Christchurch  and  the  New 
Zealand  Fire  Protection  Association,  Mark  E. 
Anderson  '94,  Andrew  T.  Cox  '95,  Peter  D. 
Irelan  '94  and  Theodore  D.  Woehnker  '95 
examined  New  Zealand's  building  codes  and 
identified  challenges  to  their  implementation. 
Paul  D.  Sullivan,  a  master's  degree  candidate 
in  fire  protection  engineering,  assisted  with 
the  project.  Jonathan  R.  Barnett,  professor 
of  fire  protection  engineering  at  WPI,  and 
Andrew  Buchanan  of  the  University  of 
Canterbury  were  the  co-advisors. 

In  the  spring  and  summer  of  1993,  the 
students  interviewed  representatives  of  New 
Zealand's  Building  Industry  Authority,  the 
New  Zealand  Fire  Service  and  territorial 
authorities,  as  well  as  fire  protection  engi- 
neers, architects,  designers,  contractors, 
insurers,  and  building  owners  and  man- 
agers. They  found  that  while  enactment  of 
the  code  has  enabled  New  Zealand  to  elimi- 
nate confusing  local  bylaws  yet  leave  the 
code  reactive  to  varying  geographical  needs, 
problems  arise  in  three  areas:  paperwork, 
code  compliance  and  liability. 

The  students  determined  that  education 
about  the  codes  would  be  significantly 
improved  by  implementing  a  national  train- 
ing program  and  by  standardizing  paper- 
work, among  other  improvements.  They  rec- 
ommended that  a  national  governing  body 


be  charged  with  creating  a  uniform  set  of 
national  procedures.  Government  officials 
would  train  representatives  from  each  local 
authority  who  would  then  educate  other 
individuals,  such  as  members  of  the  city 
council,  contractors,  designers  and  insur- 
ance personnel. 

They  also  recommended  that  paperwork 
be  standardized  at  the  national  level  and 
computerized,  that  individual  authorities 
create  site-specific  instructions  for  each  ter- 
ritory, that  a  peer-review  system  be  imple- 
mented to  assist  local  authorities  in  evaluat- 
ing innovative  designs  to  ensure  that  health 
and  safety  requirements  are  met,  and  that 
periodic  seminars  be  held  to  provide  prac- 


Saving  the  Urban 
Forests 


No  one  could  ever  accuse  Jose  F.  Fer- 
nandes  '95,  Daniel  D.  St.  Marie  '95  or 
Phillip  K.  Woo  '95  of  not  being  able  to  see 
the  forest  for  the  trees.  Last  fall  the  stu- 
dents, working  out  of  WPI's  Washington, 
D.C.,  Project  Center,  inventoried  and  evalu- 
ated all  public  and  privately  owned  trees 
within  three  demonstration  sites  in  the  city 
of  Frederick,  Md.  The  project  was  completed 
in  cooperation  with  Jill  Mahon  of  the  Amer- 


Above,  from  left,  Cox,  Anderson,  Pro- 
fessor Barnett,  Sullivan,  Woehnker 
and  Irelan  in  New  Zealand,  where 
they  evaluated  that  nation's  fire 
codes.  Opposite,  American  Forests' 
Jill  Mahon  with,  from  left,  Woo, 
St.  Marie  and  Fernandes. 

ticing  fire  protection  engineers  with  in-depth 
training  on  FPE  concepts. 

"New  Zealand  has  taken  a  great  step  for- 
ward and  committed  itself  to  a  new  era  of 
building  regulation,"  the  students  wrote.  "By 
implementing  a  performance-based  code, 
the  country  is  acting  as  a  world  leader  in 
building  controls." 

Their  project  won  for  Anderson,  Cox,  Ire- 
lan and  Woehnker  WPI's  1993  President's 
IQP  Award.  They  traveled  to  New  Zealand  as 
part  of  WPI's  Global  Perspective  Program 
(see  WPI  Journal,  Spring  1993). 


ican  Forests'  Urban  Forestry  staff  and  was 
advised  by  Kent  J.  Rissmiller,  assistant  pro- 
fessor of  social  science  and  policy  studies, 
and  Hossein  Hakim,  associate  professor  of 
electrical  and  computer  engineering  and 
WPI's  global  program  officer. 

Known  as  "urban  forests,"  trees  within 
cities  provide  wind  breaks  in  cold  weather 
and  cool  canopies  in  the  heat  of  summer. 
Unfortunately,  urban  forests  are  in  decline. 
The  result  is  an  "urban  heat  island  effect"  in 
which  cities  are,  on  average,  as  much  as  12 
degrees  warmer  than  the  surrounding  coun- 
tryside. The  higher  temperatures,  in  turn, 
result  in  greater  energy  consumption  to  cool 
buildings  and  in  an  increase  in  air  pollutants 
associated  with  generating  that  energy, 
among  other  problems. 

To  save  urban  trees,  the  federal  govern- 
ment has  instituted  the  Climate  Change 


10 


Spring  1994 


Action  Plan,  which  will  mandate  the  planting 
of  appropriate  trees.  The  plan  will  become 
law  in  the  year  2000.  In  anticipation  of  this 
plan,  American  Forests  and  the  Environ- 
mental Protection  Agency,  in  cooperation 
with  other  government  and  nongovernment 
agencies,  is  putting  into  effect  a  Cool  Com- 
munities program  at  eight  pilot  sites.  The 
program  is  designed  to  implement  strategic 
tree  planting  and  surface-color  lightening  in 
cities  and  monitor  the  effects  of  these 
changes  on  energy  consumption.  The  goal  is 
to  lower  urban  temperatures. 

Fernandes,  St.  Marie  and  Woo  analyzed 
the  condition  of  Frederick's  urban  forests 
and  evaluated  the  benefits  of  their  shade  to 


Helping  the  Sierra 
Club  Save  the 
Environment 

The  Sierra  Club  was  created  in  1892  by  a 
group  of  outdoorspeople  and  conserva- 
tionists to  protect  the  Sierra  Nevada  and 
other  West  Coast  mountain  ranges.  In  the 
1950s  the  nonprofit  agency  gained  national 
recognition  after  members  successfully 
defeated  a  plan  by  the  government  to  build 
two  dams  that  would  have  flooded  the 
Grand  Canyon. 


the  community.  "Their  work  was  instrumen- 
tal in  developing  mapping  and  evaluation 
techniques  for  the  Cool  Communities  pro- 
gram," says  Mahon.  "These  techniques  can 
also  be  used  for  future  regional  and  munici- 
pal planning." 

The  students  also  proposed  planting  new 
trees  to  maximize  the  benefits  of  urban 
forests,  evaluated  the  use  of  Geographic 
Information  Systems  and  aerial  mapping, 
and  created  a  public  awareness  campaign  to 
increase  support  for  the  Cool  Communities 
program. 

"These  students  were  able  to  learn  and 
apply  that  new  knowledge  each  day  on  the 
job,"  says  Rissmiller.  "And  in  applying  it, 
they  made  a  genuine  contribution  to  the 
Cool  Communities  program.  Their  work  will 
be  the  model  for  other  communities  working 
to  preserve  urban  forests." 


Today  it  has  500,000  members  nation- 
wide. With  more  than  $40  million  in  income, 
the  club  is  a  major  force  in  environmental 
activism  and  conservation.  But  like  many 
other  nonprofits,  it  has  seen  contributions 
decline  as  potential  donors'  incomes  and 
resources  have  decreased. 

In  the  first-ever  collaboration  between  a 
student  team  and  the  Sierra  Club,  Scott  P. 
Krause  '94,  Kevin  M.  McBride  '94  and  James 
H.  Phelps  '94  assessed  emerging  technolo- 
gies used  for  fund  raising  to  determine 
which  would  be  most  effective  and  efficient 
for  the  agency.  James  P.  Hanlan,  associate 
professor  of  history,  was  the  advisor.  The 
students  completed  their  IQP  at  the  club's 
San  Francisco  headquarters  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Kathryn  Morrelli,  head  of  fund  raising 
for  the  organization. 

As  a  result  of  their  research,  Krause, 


McBride  and  Phelps  recommended  that  the 
Sierra  Club  develop  a  computer  bulletin 
board  network  in  conjunction  with  its  chap- 
ters for  use  in  fund  raising,  activism  and 
communication  between  members.  The  net- 
work could  also  be  used  to  educate  the  pub- 
lic on  the  organization's  mission,  they  noted. 
The  system  could  facilitate  the  exchange  of 
alert  bulletins,  newsletters  and  electronic 
mail  at  a  fraction  of  the  cost  of  mailing  the 
information. 

The  students  also  recommended  that  the 
club  consider  establishing  a  network  that 
would  enable  the  organization  to  distribute 
promotional  computer  software  to  bolster 
its  fund-raising  efforts  and  allow  for  the  in- 
stitution of  electronic  funds  transfer  as  a 
donation  option.  And,  they  said,  the  club 
should  create  an  educational  videotape  that 
could  be  used  to  solicit  high-level  and  large- 
gift  donors. 

The  Sierra  Club  followed  virtually  all  of 
the  students'  recommendations.  It  has 
established  a  computer  bulletin  board  that 
lets  staff  and  volunteers  at  San  Francisco 
headquarters  access  up-to-the-minute  con- 
servation data,  media  releases,  club  activi- 
ties and  other  information.  The  club  is  inves- 
tigating the  feasibility  of  adding  bulletin 
boards  that  members  and  supporters  can 
access. 

A  new  Sierra  Club  screen  saver — soft- 
ware that  displays  graphics  on  a  computer 
screen  when  the  computer  is  not  in  use 
— was  developed  in  conjunction  with 
Microsoft  Corp.  It  displays  beautiful  natural 
scenery  and  includes  a  form  that  purchasers 
can  use  to  join  the  Sierra  Club.  And  the  club 
installed  a  new  computer  system  that  will 
make  their  personal  fund-raising  efforts 
more  efficient. 

"One  of  the  joys  of  working  with  this 
group  of  students  was  watching  their 
increased  appreciation  of  collegial  organiza- 
tions," says  Hanlan.  "Much  like  a  college  fac- 
ulty, the  Sierra  Club  functions  as  a  group  of 
colleagues  with  independent  expertise  in  a 
variety  of  specialized  areas.  Staff  members 
share  ideas,  cooperate  in  informing  one 
another,  and  appreciate  complexity  and 
diversity  of  views. 

"At  first,  our  students  found  this  frus- 
trating. They  wanted  a  hierarchical  organi- 
zation with  clear  lines  of  command.  As  they 
worked  on  the  project,  however,  they  came 
to  appreciate  the  strengths  of  mutual 
exchanges  of  expert  opinion.  They  saw  the 
way  in  which  a  seeming  lack  of  hierarchy 
can  foster  thought  and  creativity." 

—Bonnie  Gelbwasser 


WPI  Journal 


11 


For  more  than  100  years,  WPI  closed  its  doors  to  women  under- 
graduates. But  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  with  a  vote  of  the  Board 
Trustees,  all  that  changed.  Here  is  the  story  of  the  Institute's 
years  as  a  coed  university  and  of  the  experiences  of  the  pioneering  women 
who  forever  changed  this  institution. 
By  Joan  Killough-Miller  and  Bonnie  Gelbwasser 


e  have  been  receiving  an  increas- 
ing number  of  serious  inquiries 
from  scholastically  qualified  young  women  who 
could  benefit  from  the  quality  of  education 
Worcester  Tech  provides.  With  a  much  higher 
percentage  of  women  preparing  for  careers  in 
engineering  or  science,  it  was  inevitable  that  this 
college  would  open  its  doors  to  the  ladies.... 

"Worcester  Tech's  founder,  John  Boynton,  rec- 
ognized that  the  school  would  have  women  stu- 
dents someday  when  the  trustees  felt  the  time 
was  appropriate.  That  time  is  now. " 

— President  Harry  P.  Storke, 
Feb.  14, 1968  [quoted  in  Tech  News] 

With  those  words,  announcing  the  decision  reached 
by  the  Board  of  Trustees  four  days  earlier,  President 
Storke  set  the  stage  for  WPI's  first  25  years  as  a  coed 
institution.  At  the  same  time,  Storke  announced  the 
inauguration  of  new  academic  programs  with  cours- 
es in  chemistry,  physics  and  math  that  he  said 
"should  be  of  particular  interest  to  women." 


12 


Spring  1994 


Below,  a  1925  view  of  what  a  coed  WPI  might 
be  like.  Marietta  Fletcher,  opposite  page,  was 
one  of  two  women  on  WPI's  early  faculty.  The 
next  female  faculty  member,  Barbara  Murphy, 
above,  arrived  in  1967. 


Though  the  Institute  passed  its  first  100 
years  as  an  all-male  institution,  its  founding 
fathers  never  intended  to  rule  out 
or  ignore  women.  Ichabod  Washburn,  recog- 
nizing "the  impossibility  of  providing  for  the 


contingencies  in  the  future,"  gave 
the  original  trustees  the  power  to 
change  with  the  times.  In  his  1865 
letter  of  instruction,  John 
Boynton  described  a  school  for 
both  males  and  females,  but 
allowed  the  school  to  limit  the 
privilege  to  "males  only"  if  it 
found  it  to  be  "more  advanta- 
geous to  the  community." 

The  privilege  was  indeed  lim- 
ited from  the  start.  The  Worces- 
ter County  Free  Institute  of 
Industrial  Science  opened  on 
Nov.  II,  1868,  with  Charles  0. 
Thompson  as  its  principal. 
Although  the  opening-day  notice 
did  not  mention  gender,  stipu- 
lating only  that  pu  p  i  l  s  must 
be  between  the  ages  of  14  and 
21,  when  parents  asked  about 
enrolling  their  daughters, 
Thompson  pleaded  lack  of 
space.  "We  cannot  receive  any 
women  without  undertaking  to 
instruct  all  competent  women 
who  apply,"  he  said.  "This  we 

have  not  room  for  now.  It  is  our  purpose  to 

throw  the  school  open  to  youth  of  both 

sexes  as  soon  as  we  can." 

Ironically,  Thompson  didn't  close  the 

doors  to  female  instructors.  In  fact,  the 


Institute's  first  math  instructor  was  his  sis- 
ter-in-law, Harriet  Goodrich,  who  had  been 
his  assistant  when  he  was  principal  of 
Arlington  (Mass.)  High  School.  She  was  suc- 
ceeded the  following  year  by  Marietta  S. 
Fletcher,  who  taught  English,  French  and 
German  for  three  years.  After  Fletcher  left, 
the  faculty  remained  entirely  male  until  1967, 
when  Barbara  F.  Murphy  became  an  instruc- 
tor of  chemistry.  (A  number  of  women  did 
serve  prominently  in  the  administration 
through  the  years — see  story,  page  15.) 


hen  we  first  started  taking 
evening  classes  on  campus  I 
inquired  where  the  bathroom  for  women 
was  located.  It  wasn  't!  So  my  first  profes- 
sor made  up  a  sign  saying  "WOMEN, " 
which  I  put  on  the  door  of  the  men's 
room  when  I  used  it. 

"I  really  don 't  believe  WPI  knew  I  was 
a  woman  until  we  came  aboard  on  cam- 
pus. We  used  to  joke  that  WPI  thought  I 
was  'Aubrey,'  not  Audrey." 

—Audrey  Carlan  '57  (M.S.) 

Although  female  students  took  an  occasional 
course  or  two  at  WPI  through  the  years,  the 
Institute's  student  body  remained  steadfastly 
male  until  the  1950s.  It  was  then  that  a  small 
group  of  men  and  women  employees  of 
American  Optical  Co.  in  Southbridge,  Mass., 
eager  to  take  graduate  courses  in  physics, 
convinced  WPI  to  sponsor  the  classes,  which 
were  taught  at  American  Optical. 

Eventually  the  Institute  decided  to  create 
a  formal  graduate  program  in  physics  and 
the  courses  were  moved  to  the  WPI  campus. 
Of  the  original  students,  only  Audrey  M. 
Carlan,  a  mathematical  physicist  in  optical 
computing,  and  her  husband,  Alan,  contin- 
ued; in  1957  they  earned  the  first  two  gradu- 
ate degrees  in  physics  awarded  by  the 
Institute.  (By  the  end  of  the  1960s,  three 
more  women  would  earn  graduate  degrees 
at  WPI.) 

At  the  age  of  26,  Audrey  made  history — 
and  not  only  as  the  first  woman  to  receive  a 
WPI  degree  and  half  of  the  first  husband- 
and-wife  team  to  walk  across  the  stage  at 
Commencement.  She  was  also  WPI's  first 
pregnant  graduate,  giving  birth  to  her  first 
child  six  weeks  after  receiving  her  degree. 
Now  the  mother  of  three  children,  she  is 
professor  emerita  of  mathematics  at 
Southwest  College  in  Los  Angeles  and  cam- 
paign manager  for  her  husband's  bid  for 
California  state  assemblyman. 


WPI  Journal 


13 


(J/ he  girls  stated  that  they 
*_S  are  a  little  scared  and  ner- 
vous about  entering  a  school  that 
was  previously  all  male. ...The 
young  ladies  were  on  campus  for 
about  one  half  an  hour  last  week 
and  were  already  causing  com- 
motion. Any  student  that  went  by 
wanted  to  know,  'Who  are  the 
girls?'  This  appears  to  be  some- 
thing our  'co-eds'  will  just  have  to 

get  used  to. " 

Tech  News,  May  1,  1968 

Because  the  Board  of  Trustees' 
decision  to  admit  women  under- 
graduates came  so  late  in  the  1967- 
68  academic  year,  there  was  little 
time  to  recruit  female  students. 
Jayne  Rossetti  and  Lesley  E.  "Lee" 
Small,  the  only  two  women  accept- 
ed for  the  Class  of  1972,  hailed  from 
nearby  towns — Hopedale  and 
Spencer — where  each  was  No.  1  in 
her  high  school  graduating  class. 
They  would  live  off  campus  their 
first  year,  as  there  was  no  time  to  make  pro- 
visions for  them  in  the  residence  halls. 

Rossetti  says  she  and  her  classmate  got 
an  early  taste  of  how  they  would  be  accept- 
ed by  the  male  students.  "In  our  orientation 


packets  we  all  received  a  tiny  dictionary," 
she  says.  "Under  L  was  this  poem:  "'L'  is  for 
Lesley/and  also  for  Jayne/They'U  either 
leave  pregnant/or  else  go  insane."  She  says 
WPI's  just  barely  coed  status  that  year  even 
came  in  for  some  ribbing  from 
Janis  Joplin  during  a  campus 
concert. 

It  was  a  lonely  time  for  these 
pioneers,  who,  as  commuters, 
had  difficulty  integrating  into 
campus  life.  Although  she  had 
been  in  all-male  classes  in  high 
school,  Small,  now  a  database 
manager  for  Allen  Rodman,  P.C., 
in  Maiden,  Mass.,  told  the 
Journal  in  1988,  "I  was  shy,  and  I 
didn't  want  any  special  treat- 
ment. I  just  wanted  to  be  treated 
as  one  of  the  students." 

The  next  year  24  more 
women  enrolled.  Five  were  com- 
muters, but  the  rest — along  with 
Small  and  Rossetti — moved  into 
converted  quarters  on  the  first 
floor  of  Sanford  Riley  Hall. 
Amenities  such  as  shower  cur- 
tains, full-length  mirrors  and 
window  drapes  had  been  added. 
The  women's  wing  was  set  off 
from  the  rest  of  the  dorm  by  a 
pair  of  fire  doors  at  one  end 


Jayne  Rossetti,  left,  and 
Lesley  Small  in  1968. 
Below,  Audrey  and  Alan 
Carlan  in  1957. 


and — perhaps  more  formidable — 
"Ma  Riley"  (see  story,  page  18). 

"I  have  wonderful  memories  of 
those  early  years  with  this  very 
special  group  of  women  who  really 
broke  new  ground  and  some  early 
barriers  for  women  at  WPI,"  says 
Bernard  H.  Brown,  vice  president 
for  student  affairs  who  was  then 
assistant  dean  of  student  affairs. 
"They  were  our  resources  for  devel- 
oping our  first  residence  hall  regu- 
lations for  women — security  and 
safety  issues,  sign-in  policies,  bath- 
room issues  and  needs,  and  visiting 
hours." 

Even  with  the  influx,  the  ratio  of 
men  to  women  was  still  74  to  1. 
Jayne  Rossetti  left  the  Institute  for 
personal  reasons  before  gradua- 
tion. After  nine  years  as  a  weather 
forecaster  with  the  U.S.  Navy,  she 
earned  a  bachelor's  degree  in  com- 
puter science  at  Boston  University 
and  is  now  a  senior  engineer  at  Textron 
Defense  Systems  in  Wilmington,  Mass.  In 
1972,  Small  became  the  first  woman  to 
receive  a  B.S.  degree  from  WPI.  The  next 
year,  15  more  undergraduate  diplomas  were 
awarded  to  women. 

Female  enrollment  grew  slowly,  but 
women  students  were  still  a  visible  minority. 
They  went  to  the  dining  hall  in  pairs — or 
didn't  go  at  all  when  the  staring  became  too 
uncomfortable.  Some  wore  miniskirts  to 
class — though  usually  just  once.  And  they 
all  thought  a  lot  about  bathrooms — or  rath- 
er the  lack  of  bathrooms  for  women  around 
campus. 

"As  a  commuter  my  first  two  years,  1 
became  friendly  with  the  female  secretaries 
in  each  of  the  academic  buildings,"  remem- 
bers Mary  F.  Polanik  Sherman  76,  a  math- 
ematics teacher  at  Grafton  (Mass.)  High 
School.  "If  there  was  a  female  secretary,  that 
meant  there  was  a  ladies'  room  close  by." 

"I  spent  many  hours  in  WACCC  [the  old 
computer  center  in  the  lower  level  of  the 
library],"  says  Virginia  Z.  Ogozalek,  who 
received  her  master's  in  computer  science 
in  1985  and  is  now  a  computer  science  in- 
structor at  Worcester  State  College.  "There 
was  no  women's  bathroom  in  there.  Women 
were  supposed  to  walk  outside — even  in 
winter — and  up  about  a  million  steps  to  the 
bathroom  in  the  library." 

(Continued  on  page  16) 


14 


Spring  1994 


Keeping  the  Records  and  the  Books 


While  WPI  did  not  admit  its  first  women  undergraduates  until  1968,  women  have  played  central 
roles  in  the  administration  since  the  Institute  opened  its  doors  126  years  ago.  Two  adminis- 
trative offices,  in  particular,  have  been  occupied  by  women  for  most  of  the  Institute's  history. 


toward  a  Ph.D.  in  English  at  Radcliffe,  she 
worked  in  the  Radcliffe  Library.  In  1942,  she 
and  Lynn  were  hired  by  WPI,  he  as  acting 
head  of  the  Economics  Department  and  she 
as  librarian. 

At  the  time  of  Schoonover's  retirement  in 
1964,  the  library  was  scattered  among  six 
locations  and  consisted  of  54,000  volumes  — 
most  of  them  technical.  WPI  honored 
Schoonover  as  its  first  librarian  emerita. 

Albert  C.  Anderson,  the  lone  male  to 
steward  the  library,  followed  Schoonover 
and  was  involved  in  planning  the  $2.5  million 
George  C.  Gordon  Library,  which  was  com- 
pleted in  1968.  He  retired  in  1992,  and  Helen 
Shuster,  formerly  head  of  technical  services, 
was  appointed  head  librarian  in  1993. 

"It  is  no  longer  possible  to  contain  all  the 
knowledge  and  knowledge  sources  needed 
by  the  WPI  community  within  the  library 
building,"  Shuster  says.  "As  director  I  need 
to  understand  the  new  information  technol- 
ogy and  how  to  use  it  most  effectively  to 
meet  the  needs  of  the  WPI  community." 

The  Record  Keepers 

n  1896,  John  K.  Marshall  was  appoint- 
ed to  the  new  office  of  registrar.  He 
served  until  1910.  After  Marshall's  resigna- 
tion, the  Institute  was  without  the  services 
of  a  registrar  until  1916,  when  Josephine 
Frost  was  appointed.  She  was  followed  in 
1919  by  Gertrude  Rogers  Rugg. 

Born  in  Brattleboro,  Vt.,  Rugg  was  raised 
in  Princeton  and  Grafton,  Mass.,  and 
received  her  B.A.  from  Wellesley  College. 
From  1914  to  1919  she  was  a  part-time  secre- 
tary to  WPI  President  Ira  Hollis  and  also 
worked  in  the  Registrar's  Office. 

She  was  originally  hired  to  type  the  volu- 
minous records  of  committee  and  faculty 
meetings,  at  which  each  student's  progress 
was  discussed.  She  was  a  demon  at  the  keys, 
Mildred  Tymeson  wrote  in  Two  Towers, 
whose  "nimble  fingers  typed  the  records 
almost  as  fast  as  her  nimble  brain  could  sort 
them." 

Rugg's  role  extended  far  beyond  her  offi- 
cial duties.  She  edited  the  school  catalog  and 
organized  Commencement,  among  many 


Bonnie-Blanche  Schoonover 

The  "Bookkeepers" 

ith  one  exception,  women  have 
always  kept  the  books  at  WPI.  The 
books,  in  this  case,  are  in  the  library,  and 
two  of  those  "bookkeepers"  served  for  a 
total  of  62  years. 

Elizabeth  Francis  was  appointed  WPl's 
first  librarian  in  1896.  Mary  Liscomb  served 
in  the  job  from  1900  to  1902  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Cora  Smith,  who  stayed  for  just  a 
few  months.  The  college  then  selected  Emily 
Maud  Haynes,  sister  of  George  H.  Haynes, 
professor  of  economics  and  government. 
The  choice  proved  prudent,  for  she  spent 
the  next  four  decades  as  head  librarian. 

Haynes,  a  native  of  Sturbridge,  Mass., 
earned  a  certificate  from  the  Drexel  Institute 
Library  School.  She  maintained  the  expand- 
ing collections  and  moved  with  the  books 
and  periodicals  to  Alden  Memorial  when 
that  building  was  completed  in  1940.  She 
retired  two  years  later. 

Haynes'  successor,  Bonnie-Blanche 
Schoonover,  grew  up  in  Sioux  City,  Iowa.  She 
earned  a  bachelor's  degree  at  Morningside 
College  and  taught  in  the  first  junior  high 
school  in  that  part  of  the  Midwest.  She  mar- 
ried a  fellow  teacher,  Lynn  Schoonover. 

Ultimately,  she  and  Lynn  came  East  to 
continue  their  educations.  While  working 


other  tasks.  "Gertrude  was  amazing,"  says 
Carol  M.  (Katie)  Curran,  secretary  to  Dean  of 
Undergraduate  Studies  Emeritus  William  R. 
Grogan,  who  served  as  registrar  in  the  1970s. 
"Her  responsibilities  seemed  endless,  but 
she  seemed  to  thrive  on  her  work. 

"She  walked  with  a  regal  gait,"  Curran 
says.  "And  she  was  known  for  her  perfect 
penmanship — a  real  asset  in  those  days 
when  all  permanent  student  records  were 
handwritten  with  pen  and  ink." 

When  she  retired  in  1959,  Rugg  was  hon- 
ored as  registrar  emerita.  In  1959  she  was 
named  an  honorary  member  of  the  Alumni 
Association.  Athena  Pappas,  who  had  been 
Rugg's  assistant,  became  the  next  registrar. 
She  held  the  post  for  about  a  decade,  and  was 
followed  by  Curran,  who  served  until  1974. 


Gertrude  Rogers  Rugg 

Robert  Long  11  then  became  the  second 
man  to  hold  the  title  of  registrar.  Long,  asso- 
ciate professor  of  physics,  also  served  as 
head  of  the  Physics  Department  for  a  time 
while  occupying  the  registrar's  chair.  Joseph 
Mielinski  '63  took  over  for  Long  in  1985. 
Then  in  1987,  Paula  Delaney  '75  became  the 
first  alumna  to  become  registrar. 

Since  Delaney  stepped  down  in  1992,  four 
more  women  have  served  the  Institute  as 
registrar,  including  Jocelyn  Kent  Smyth,  a 
member  of  the  Class  of  1982,  and  Janet 
Battaglia,  both  of  whom  served  in  an  interim 
capacity.  Kari  Blinn  became  WPI's  current 
registrar  last  year. 

— Bonnie  Gelbwasser 


WPI  Journal 


15 


Especially  in  WPI's  early  years  as  a  coed  university,  women,  distinctly  in 
the  minority,  felt  conspicuous  in  class  and  on  campus. 


public  schools  and  a  PC  software  trainer. 

Lorrie  L.  Comeford  '84,  assistant  profes- 
sor of  chemistry  at  Salem  (Mass.)  State 
College,  says  she  laughed  when  asked  if  she 
was  ever  treated  differently  from  male 
students.  "Yes — all  the  time.  Every  day,"  she 
says.  "I  knew  there  was  no  official  intent  by 
the  administration  to  treat  women  students 
differently  or  make  them  feel  unwelcome, 
yet  this  was  the  atmosphere." 

The  1970s  was  a  decade  of  adjustment, 
as  some  women  reveled  in  the  attention  and 
the  surplus  of  male  companionship,  while 
others  cringed  at  the  "fishbowl"  atmos- 
phere. Many  of  the  early  women  undergrad- 
uates remember  being  photographed  as 
they  walked  across  campus  just  because  co- 
eds were  still  such  an  oddity.  Allison  J.  Huse 
Nunn  73,  now  a  critical  care  nurse  at  Holy 
Family  Hospital  in  Spokane,  Wash.,  says, 
"professors  called  on  us  a  lot.  They  knew 
our  names  and  faces  in  a  sea  of  males." 

Incidents  recalled  in  anecdotes  from  the 
classroom  and  laboratory  range  from  off- 
color  jokes  (and  the  even  more  embarrass- 
ing apologies  and  jokes  left  unfinished 
because  "There's  a  lady  present!")  to  conde- 
scending comments  and  even  outright 
harassment.  "I  was  sexually  harassed  by  a 
chemistry  graduate  student  in  my  junior 
year,"  wrote  a  1974  graduate.  "Unfortu- 
nately, at  the  time  I  did  not  recognize  it  as 
such  and  did  not  report  it.  Instead,  I  took  a 
C  because  I  spent  so  little  time  in  the  lab 
that  semester." 

Some  women  complained  that  they  were 

not  taken  seriously  ("What  do  you  care? 

(Continued  on  page  18) 


(Continued  from  page  14) 

The  gender  gap  was  a  constant  issue 
for  some  women,  and  nonexistent  for  oth- 
ers. "I  never  expected  to  be  treated  any  dif- 
ferently and  didn't  notice  (or  pay  atten- 
tion) to  any  differences,"  says  Elizabeth 
Hanlon  Wood  '78,  an  attorney  in  Hingham, 
Mass.  "I  cannot  remember  a  moment  when 
equality  did  not  prevail,"  says  Sandra 
Theros  '82,  a  teacher  in  the  Worcester 


Two  Voices  from  1 


Nancy  Wood  Popinchalk  '73 

Computer  Science  Student 

University  of  Hartford,  Hartford,  Conn. 


16 


was  inspired 

to  pursue  an 
engineering  career 
by  my  sister,  who  is 
15  years  older  than 
me.  She  hung 
around  our  Dad's 
automobile  repair 
shop  when  she  was 
growing  up  and  took 
mechanical  drawing 
and  shop  in  high 
school  instead  ofs 
home  ec.  When  she  s 

o 

was  old  enough  to  * 

drive,  she  bought  an  * 

old  car,  took  the  engine  apart,  and 

put  it  back  together  on  her  own.  Mind 

you,  this  was  in  the  mid-1950s. 

After  high  school  and  a  brief  stint 
in  art  school,  she  got  a  job  in  the 
engineering  department  at  a  local 
company  and  eventually  went  into 
management.  She  was  ahead  of  her 
time.  She  took  great  pride  in  doing 
the  unexpected;  she  loved  figuring 
things  out  and  encouraged  me  to  do 
the  same.  I  was  shy  and  probably 
would  have  become  a  kindergarten 
teacher  if  she  hadn't  been  there  to 
challenge  me.  ^ 

I  knew  I  would  pursue  some  kind 
of  math  or  science  major  in  college.  When  I 
found  out  that  WPI  was  accepting  women,  I 
knew  immediately  that  that  was  where  I  want- 
ed to  go.  The  fact  that  it  was  almost  exclu- 
sively male  was  more  of  a  challenge  than  a 
deterrent.  I  did  not  apply  anywhere  else. 

During  my  first  year,  1  was  one  of  26 
women  undergrads;  we  were  definitely 
noticed.  We  got  some  grief  from  other  stu- 
dents and  some  professors,  but  mostly  we 
were  welcomed.  1  think  the  administration 
wanted  us  to  succeed  and  in  many  ways 
supported  us  more  than  some  of  our  male 
classmates. 

I  had  opportunities  I  might  not  have  had 
were  I  not  a  woman.  For  example,  during  my 
freshman  year  I  was  invited  to  join  a  team 
participating  in  the  "Clean  Air  Car  Race"  from 
MIT  to  Cal  Tech.  What  an  experience!  I  think 
our  team  got  a  little  extra  attention  because  I 
was  a  woman — I  was  even  invited  to  appear 


Spring  1994 


ars 


on  the  Today  show  with  two  other  entrants 
(men)  from  MIT  and  Cal  Tech. 

In  those  earlier  years  women  had  innu- 
merable opportunities  to  be  pioneers.  At 
first  most  of  us  felt  we  had  to  prove  we 
could  make  it  at  WPI  the  way  it  was.  We 
didn't  focus  on  how  we  wanted  to  change 
the  university  to  fit  our  needs,  but  rather  on 
how  we  could  blend  in.  WPI  was  going 
through  other  profound  changes  at  the  time. 
1  worked  on  a  WPI  Plan  planning  committee 
that  was  the  beginning  of  the  metamorpho- 
sis that  led  to  the  university  becoming  the 
unique  place  it  is  today. 

Many  things  happened  during  those  first 
few  years  that  seem  insignificant  now,  but 
Nancy  Popinchalk  were  important  to 
today  and  with  her  those  of  us  who 
Clean  Air  Car  Race  were  there.  There 
teammates.  was  the  brief  peri- 

od when  Maryann 
Bagdis  [now 

Maryann  Bagdis 
Goebel]  served  as 
student  body  pres- 
ident when  the 
elected  president 
dropped  out;  and 
the  time  six  or 
seven  of  us  were 
invited  to  pledge  a 
fraternity;  and  the 
time  1  worked  with 
Dick  Olson,  math 
professor  and 
men's  crew  advi- 
sor, to  start  the  women's  crew  team  in  the 
spring  of  1972. 

One  of  the  pluses  1  got  from  WPI  was  the 
confidence  that  I  have  something  to  con- 
tribute. The  team  experiences  in  my  projects 
were  important  in  enabling  me  to  succeed  in 
predominantly  male  work  environments. 

The  career/family  balancing  act  has  been 
a  big  issue  for  me.  I  always  felt  pressure  to 
have  a  career  in  engineering — to  prove  that 
women  can  be  successful  and  that  my  four 
years  at  WPI  were  not  wasted.  When  my  first 
son  was  born  I  decided  I  was  not  willing  to 
pay  the  cost  of  having  it  all,  so  I  put  my 
career  on  hold  for  10  years.  [Nancy  and  her 
husband,  Paul  Popinchalk  71,  have  two 
sons,  Seth  and  Samuel.] 

The  liberation  of  women  in  this  country 
has  made  its  greatest  strides  since  the 
1960s,  when  1  was  a  teenager.  To  truly  be  lib- 
erated is  to  have  choices — to  be  freely  able 


to  choose,  for  example,  between  a  fast-track 
career  in  a  male-dominated  field  or  to  take 
time  for  parenting  and  feel  that  it  is  no  less 
valid.  I  feel  that  I  am  quite  liberated;  1  made 
the  choices  that  worked  for  me. 

Now  I  find  myself  trying  to  figure  out 
what  I  want  to  be  when  I  grow  up.  Having 
worked  on  two  nuclear  plant  construction 
projects  and  as  an  environmental  specialist, 
I  recently  passed  the  EIT  exam,  the  first  step 
in  going  for  my  Professional  Engineer's 
license.  And  I'm  pursuing  a 
computer  science  minor  at 
the  University  of  Hartford.  In 
many  ways  I  feel  I  am  start- 
ing all  over  again.  But  I  still 
feel,  after  all  these  years, 
that  I  have  a  lot  of  choices 
and  options  as  a  direct 
result  of  my  WPI  education. 

This  fall  Seth  will  enter 
WPI  as  a  freshman — 25  years 
after  I  did.  I'm  told  he  will  be 
the  first  student  whose  par- 
ents were  both  WPI  under- 
grads.  To  his  credit,  Seth's 
choice  of  college  resulted 
from  his  own  research,  not 
the  undue  influence  of  biased 
parents.  The  academic  excel- 
lence of  WPI  is  clear  to  him. 


place.  I  cancelled  an  appointment  at  UPenn 
and  made  an  appointment,  instead,  at  WPI.  I 
met  with  Kay  Dietrich,  director  of  admis- 
sions, for  about  two  hours  and  drove  away 
knowing  I  would  be  back  that  August. 

Now  as  an  alumna,  I  continue  to  believe 
that  WPI  is  a  special  institution.  It  is  unique 
in  so  many  ways,  from  the  WPI  Plan  to  the 
professors  to  the  administrators,  coaches 
and  students.  But  I  found  some  of  the  most 
remarkable  people  to  be  the  WPI  women. 


Deb  Sanna,  right,  with  her  sister  Jen. 


Deb  Sanna  '93 

Electrical  Engineer 
Knolls  Atomic  Power  Laboratory 
Martin  Marietta  Corporation 
Schenectady,  N.Y. 

Oy  t  was  June  1988.  My  junior  year  of  high 
*_y  school  had  ended  and  I  had  just  begun 
the  biggest  trip  of  my  life.  I  was  going  "out 
East"  to  look  at  colleges.  My  father  and  I  left 
Madison,  Wis.,  with  a  list  of  six  schools.  I  was 
looking  for  a  big,  exciting  university  with  a 
good  engineering  program,  though  I  did 
remind  myself  to  keep  an  open  mind  (which 
can  sometimes  be  hard  for  a  16-year-old). 

After  looking  at  several  schools  in 
upstate  New  York,  my  father  and  I  began  a 
scenic  Sunday  drive  to  Boston.  We  were  on 
Park  Avenue  in  Worcester  when  I  noticed 
WPI.  I  looked  it  up  in  my  college  guide;  I 
remember  reading  about  projects  and  more 
projects.  We  weren't  in  a  hurry  so  we  decid- 
ed to  stop  and  look  around. 

It  was  beautiful.  I  knew  this  was  a  special 


My  junior  year  at  WPI  was  very  special.  I 
got  to  share  the  WPI  experience  with  my  sis- 
ter, Jen  '95.  Jen  applied  to  WPI  with  some 
apprehension;  she  did  not  want  to  follow  in 
my  footsteps  and  be  known  as  Deb's  little 
sister.  But  she  knew  WPI  suited  her  charac- 
ter: enthusiastic,  outgoing,  hardworking  and 
unique.  Some  of  our  best  times  together 
were  spent  at  WPI.  The  WPI  environment 
helped  us  become  more  than  just  sisters — 
teammates,  sorority  sisters  and  best  friends. 

Like  all  WPI  students,  WPI  women  work 
extremely  hard  academically.  But  WPI 
women  also  balance  their  time  with  student 
government,  Greek  life,  SocComm,  athletics 
and  other  school  activities.  One  of  the  most 
memorable  experiences  I  had  at  WPI  was  the 
1992-93  varsity  swim  season,  when  my  sister 
and  I  and  19  other  women  did  what  no  other 
women's  swim  team  had  done — achieve  a 
winning  season  (9-6).  These  women  exhibit- 
ed enthusiasm,  energy  and  a  drive  for  excel- 
lence. But  that  attitude  is  not  specific  to  the 
women's  swim  team;  it  is  the  norm  for  the 
women  at  WPI. 


WPI  Journal 


17 


"Ma  Riley"  Remembers 


laine  S.  Kowalewski  71 
(M.S.)  didn't  expect  to 
become  a  mother  so  early  in 
life,  but  in  1969,  when  she 
accepted  the  post  as  dormi- 
tory counselor  for  the  first 
women  to  move  into  Sanford 
Riley  Hall,  "Ma  Riley"  she 
became. 

"I  was  responsible  for 
keeping  order  on  the  floor," 
Kowalewski  says.  "Not  in  the 
role  of  police  officer,  but  to 
be  available  with  help  and 
information  about  anything  I 
could  and  to  assist  with  the 
organization  of  dormitory 
functions  and  parties.  1  tried 
to  keep  my  door  open.  1  was 
really  very  fond  of  the  wom- 
en. Even  though  I  was  four  years  older,  we 
all  had  a  common  bond." 

Kowalewski,  who  is  currently  pursuing  a 
doctorate  in  mathematics  education  at 
Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  said 
she  came  to  WPI  on  the  recommendation  of 
her  advisor  at  Merrimac  College,  where  she 
earned  her  undergraduate  degree.  One  of 
the  few  women  to  enroll  at  the  Institute  as 
graduate  students  in  those  years,  she  was 
approached  by  the  administration  and 
asked  if  she  would  be  willing  to  take  the 
dorm  counselor  job.  "I  just  couldn't  pass  it 
up,"  she  says. 

Having  women  and  men  living  on  the 
same  floor  of  Sanford  Riley  presented  few 
problems,  Kowalewski  told  a  reporter 
for  the  (Worcester)  Evening  Gazette  in 
1969,  though  the  men  did  try  some  tricks 
for  getting  beyond  the  locked  doors 
that  separated  the  male  and  female  resi- 


Ma  Riley  stands  between  Gwynne  Peterson  '73 
and  John  Kaletski  '72,  who  are  now  married. 


dence  areas — such  as  taking  the  pins  out  of 
the  hinges. 

For  Kowalewski  and  the  other  women  a 
more  important  challenge  was  adjusting  to 
being  a  decided  minority  on  campus,  she 
says.  "Perhaps  we  were  all  accustomed  to 
being  in  the  minority,  in  some  sense.  If  we 
came  from  coeducational  schools  or  col- 
leges, there  were  probably  more  men 
than  women  excelling  in  mathematics  and 
the  sciences  and  looking  toward  careers  in 
these  disciplines. 

"I  think  one  reason  all  of  us  may  have 
shared  for  choosing  WPI  was  a  desire  to  do 
what  hadn't  been  done  before.  Perhaps  we 
wanted  to  grasp  the  opportunity  to  receive 
an  education  in  the  sciences  from  an  insti- 
tution with  an  excellent  reputation — 
one  that  had  previously  been  closed 
to  women." 

— Bonnie  Gelbwasser 


(Continued  from  page  16) 
You're  only  here  for  your  'M.R.S.',"  was  a 
common  taunt),  or  were  held  to  lower 
expectations  than  their  male  counterparts. 
Others  said  they  felt  the  need  to  prove 
themselves.  But  in  spite  of  some  negative 
incidents,  most  women  say  they  had  equal 
opportunities  academically,  found  support 
from  many  male  faculty  members  and 
administrators,  and  found  role  models 
among  the  growing  number  of  women  who 
were  joining  the  faculty  and  administration. 

Of  the  people  women  graduates  recall  as 
especially  helpful,  one  name  comes  up 
repeatedly:  John  van  Alstyne,  retired  profes- 
sor of  mathematics  and  dean  of  academic 
advising.  He's  remembered  as  a  supportive 
father  figure  to  many  WPI  women.  "Dean  van 
A  kept  me  in  school.  When  1  ran  into  financial 
trouble,  he  went  out  of  his  way  to  find  a  solu- 
tion so  that  1  could  stay  at  WPI,"  says  Leslie 
A.  Knepp  Azaret  '80,  an  engineering  supervi- 
sor for  AT&T  Bell  Labs.  "Professor  van  A 
helped  me  put  myself  together  and  gave  me 
the  confidence  to  succeed  and  go  after  every- 
thing I  wanted,"  says  another  alumna. 


e     hated     those     girls 
from  Becker!" 

—Eleanor  M.  (Cromwick)  Kelly  '81, 
Superintendent,  Turner  Construction  Co., 

Washington,  D.C. 

If  blending  in  academically  was  some- 
times difficult,  fitting  in  socially  was  even 
harder  on  a  campus  where  males  were  used 
to  traveling  to  mixers  at  Becker  Junior 
College  and  local  nursing  programs.  WPI 
women  had  to  transcend  stereotypes  of 
being  "eggheads"  and  "walking  computers." 
While  dancing  at  a  fraternity  party,  a  female 
student  was  asked  by  her  partner  if  she  was 
from  Becker.  When  she  told  him  she  went  to 
WPI,  "he  did  a  180  and  1  never  saw  him  the 
rest  of  the  night!" 

Relations  between  the  sexes  eased  up  as 
more  women  enrolled  and  men  saw  that 
these  "co-techs"  were  people,  too.  Dating 
progressed  to  marriage  proposals,  and 
today  the  Institute  has  many  alumna-alum- 
nus couples.  Lee  Small  and  classmate  John 
Zorabedian  Jr.  were  the  first.  Michelle  A.  Riel 
Lord  74  received  a  proposal  on  Earle 
Bridge.  Now  a  librarian  in  Southington, 
Conn.,  she  and  her  former  classmate  John 
Lord  will  celebrate  their  20th  anniversary 
this  year. 

Quickly,  the  women  infiltrated  previously 
all-male  institutions:  the  dormitories,  the 
student  newspaper — even  the  fraternities. 
Nora  Blum  73  became  the  first  female  editor 


18 


Spring  1994 


of  Tech  News  in  1969.  Three  women  from 
that  same  class — Joyce  (Caplovich)  Wilson, 
Diane  Gramer  Drew  and  Janet  Merrill  Mam- 
brino — joined  29  men  in  pledging  to  Alpha 
Epsilon  Pi  fraternity  in  1969,  though  they 
were  unable  to  join  the  national  fraternity. 

WPI  women  moved  into  positions  of  lead- 
ership in  activities  and  student  govern- 
ment— a  great  source  of  pride  for  their 


Mass.,  and  Betsy  Steigerwald  Yingling  '80,  a 
planning  engineer  with  Northeast  Ohio 
Regional  Sewer  District  in  Cleveland,  were 
among  those  who  helped  start  a  women's 
singing  group,  the  Women's  Chorale. 
Yingling  remembers,  "In  my  sophomore  year, 
we  were  bused  over  to  Anna  Maria  College  to 
sing  in  their  choir,  directed  by  Malama 
Robbins.  She  loved  us  and  we  thought  she 


Above,  early  members  of  WPI's  first  sorority,  Phi  Sigma  Sigma.  Below, 
Malama  Robbins,  seated,  at  right,  with  members  of  the  Women's  Chorale. 


peers.  And  they  founded  their  own  extracur- 
ricular activities  to  express  their  interests 
and  foster  companionship.  These  included 
the  first  sorority,  Phi  Sigma  Sigma,  estab- 
lished in  1977.  Two  others,  Alpha  Gamma 
Delta  and  Delta  Phi  Epsilon,  followed.  (Delta 
Phi  Epsilon  was  recently  closed  by  the 
sorority's  International  Executive  Council.) 

Cynthia  L.  Bruder  '81,  now  owner  and 
president  of  Factor  Designs  Inc.  in  Topsfield, 


was  wonderful.  We  convinced  WPI  to  hire 
her  and  start  a  real  women's  singing  group. 
And  so,  in  my  junior  year,  the  Women's 
Chorale  was  born,  and  has  since  flourished." 
Longing  for  the  opportunity  to  participate 
in  competitive  sports,  women  students,  led  by 
Patricia  Graham  Flaherty  '75,  created  a  wom- 
en's varsity  sports  program  (see  WPI  Journal, 
Summer  1990).  And  in  1975,  a  chapter  of  the 
Society  of  Women  Engineers  was  chartered. 


Mary  Hardell,  associate  professor  of  comput- 
er science,  was  the  group's  first  advisor.  She 
is  now  co-advisor  with  Holly  Keyes  Ault  74, 
assistant  professor  of  mechanical  engineering. 

CJ/he  year  of  our  graduation,  some- 
*_y  one  decided  women  would  wear 
pink  graduation  gowns.  There  was  a  huge 
protest,  and  the  decision  was  rescinded.  It 
was  too  late,  however,  for  those  of  us 
who  picked  up  our  gowns  early.  Several 
spectators  at  the  graduation  ceremony 
inquired  if  the  pink  gowns  signihed  high 
distinction.  Isn  't  it  odd  that  they  didn  't 
wonder  why  no  men  were  graduating 
with  this  distinction? — The  few,  the 
proud,  the  PINK!" 

— LindaLeigh  (Richert)  Aberdale  '88, 

Senior  Software  Engineer, 

Digital  Equipment  Corp.,  Palo  Alto,  Calif. 

Social  changes,  and  the  paths  blazed  by 
women  before  them,  may  make  life  even  eas- 
ier for  the  female  students  of  the  1990s. 
After  more  than  two  decades,  women  are 
now  part  of  the  norm  at  WPI.  Perhaps  just  as 
significant,  notes  Francis  C.  Lutz,  dean  of 
undergraduate  studies,  time  has  shown  that 
women  are  as  capable  as  men  of  succeed- 
ing— and  excelling — in  the  Institute's  de- 
manding academic  climate. 

"The  women  in  the  first  coed  classes 
tended  to  be  the  academic  superstars — the 
cream  of  the  crop  from  their  high  school 
classes,"  he  says.  "But  one  day  I  noticed  that 
the  female  students  in  my  classes  had  be- 
come average — no  better  or  worse  than 
their  male  counterparts  in  terms  of  perfor- 
mance on  examinations.  That  was  a  good 
day  for  WPI,  because  it  meant  we  had  ad- 
vanced significantly  in  our  ability  to  attract 
women  to  campus,  and  that  women  can  be 
the  equivalent,  academically,  of  men  and 
succeed." 

But  while  women  have  demonstrated 
their  parity  with  men  in  academic  perfor- 
mance, they  are  a  long  way  from  parity  in 
sheer  numbers.  Though  they  now  make  up 
about  20  percent  of  the  undergraduate  stu- 
dent body,  they  are  still  outnumbered. 

"I  remember  registering  at  orientation, 
looking  around  at  the  line  of  students,  and 
asking  my  parents  where  all  of  the  women 
were,"  says  Danielle  N.  LaMarre  '89,  now  an 
environmental  engineer  with  Camp,  Dresser 
&  McKee  in  Cambridge,  Mass.  "But  that  was 
the  only  time  I  was  ever  scared  that  I  would 
not  be  able  to  handle  being  in  the  minority." 


WPI  Journal 


19 


Sherri  L  Curria  '93,  who  works  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Technical  Assistance  Team  for  the 
U.S.  Environmental  Protection  Agency  in 
Burlington,  Mass.,  remembers  a  different  ini- 
tial reaction  to  the  lopsided  male-female 
ratio.  "I  looked  at  my  freshman  orientation 
group  and  saw  I  was  the  only  woman  among 
20  or  more  men.  My  reaction  then  (1  was  18 
and  boy-crazy)  was,  'Wow!  All  right!'"  But 
her  elation  wore  off  as  she  faced  the  difficul- 
ty of  finding  compatible  female  friends 
among  a  small  number  of  peers. 

"1  think  that's  why  I  embraced  the  sorori- 
ty rush  with  such  eagerness,"  she  says.  "I 
remember  walking  in  and  saying,  'Wow — 80 
women  in  one  room!'"  Tennis  and  student 
government  offered  other  opportunities  for 
Curria  to  receive  guidance  and  support  from 


Air  Patrol) — also  tend  to  attract  more  men 
than  women.  As  part  of  her  job,  Jayne 
Rossetti  once  went  to  sea  for  two  weeks  on 
an  aircraft  carrier  to  test  a  new  landing 
system.  "People  asked  me  if  I  was  nervous 
being  on  a  ship  with  all  those  sailors.  But 
after  being  one  of  two  women  in  a  class  with 
1,800  guys,  I  was  prepared  for  anything." 

Says  Teresa  B.  Tucchio  '88,  an  engineer 
with  the  Electric  Boat  Division  of  General 
Dynamics,  "1  was  sitting  at  a  meeting  at  work 
the  other  day  and  I  realized  that  I  was  one  of 
three  female  engineers  out  of  about  50  there. 
That  didn't  intimidate  me;  it  just  caused  me 
to  reflect." 

"In  my  profession,  the  majority  of  stu- 
dents are  now  female,"  notes  veterinarian 
Gail  A.  D'Amico  Mason  79,  who,  with  her 


other  women  students,  who  she  says  "went 
out  of  their  way  to  help  me  with  anything 
from  calculus  homework  to  informing  me  of 
which  fraternity  had  the  best-looking  men." 

Many  alumnae  say  being  outnumbered  at 
WP1  proved  to  be  excellent  preparation  for 
the  "real  world,"  as  graduates  found  them- 
selves facing  similar  situations  in  their  pro- 
fessional lives.  "When  I  first  started  at  WPI 
the  male-female  ratio  was  a  culture  shock," 
says  Marie  J.  Harriman  '86,  a  mechanical 
engineer  for  Pitney  Bowes  in  Stamford, 
Conn.  "During  my  four  years  at  the  Institute  I 
got  used  to  it.  Now,  working  in  a  male-domi- 
nated field,  I'm  glad  I  got  through  the 
acclimatization  process.  It  made  my  first  job 
that  much  easier,  compared  with  my  female 
colleagues  in  engineering." 

"Coping  with  men  at  WPI  will  prepare 
you  for  coping  with  men  in  the  workplace 
and  elsewhere,"  says  Jennifer  L.  Mellone  '86, 
a  systems  engineer  with  ESL  Inc.  in 
Sunnyvale,  Calif.,  who  notes  that  her  avoca- 
tions— scuba  diving  and  flying  (including  fly- 
ing search  and  rescue  missions  for  the  Civil 


husband,  purchased  Bath-Brunswick 
Veterinary  Associates  in  Brunswick,  Maine, 
in  1989.  "In  the  business/engineering  cli- 
mate, however,  males  predominate.  But  'pre- 
dominate' doesn't  mean  'dominate.'  I  think 
any  women  scientist  or  engineer  graduating 
from  WPI  is  fully  prepared  to  function  in  an 
aggressive,  fast-paced  technological  society 
with  women  or  men." 

The  ability  to  work  confidently  and  com- 
petently in  their  sometimes  male-dominated 
professions  is  just  one  of  the  qualities  WPl's 
alumnae  gain  in  their  years  on  campus, 
notes  Jeannine  M.  Machon  '85,  a  consultant 
with  Anderson  Consulting  in  Hartford,  Conn. 

"WPI  women  are  special,"  she  says.  "I 
came  to  WPI,  not  because  it  was  a  male- 
dominated  university,  but  because  it  was  a 
top-five  engineering  school.  One  of  the 
things  I've  noticed  about  myself  and  about 
other  WPI  women  is  our  ability  to  work 
through  a  problem  and  to  get  along  and 
work  with  all  other  team  members.  WPI 
women  are  always  team  players — willing  to 
roll  up  their  sleeves,  solve  problems,  dis- 


cuss issues,  and  not  stand  apart  from  men 
on  their  teams. 

"The  contribution  that  WPI  has  made  to 
my  being  is  the  added  strength  I  gained  in 
being  a  woman  at  WPI,  being  treated  as  an 
equal,  and  not  having  to  get  caught  up  in 
any  sexuality  games.  That  inner  strength  has 
carried  me  this  far  in  my  career,  and  hope- 
fully will  continue  to  carry  me  up  the  ladder 
of  success." 

"WPI  gave  me  the  tools  I  needed  to  solve 
problems,  work  in  teams,  and  provide  the 
leadership  I  needed  in  many  of  my  jobs,"  says 
Denise  C.  Gorski  75,  an  engineering  manager 
for  IBM  Corp.  in  Poughkeepsie,  N.Y.  "My  lead- 
ership strengths  developed  through  all  types 
of  opportunities  we  had,  being  one  of  the  first 
classes  with  women  on  campus.  I  had  the  op- 
portunity to  be  the  first  woman  student  body 
president,  which  gave  me  the  experience  of 
dealing  with  controversy  and  solving  problems 
for  a  large  group  of  diverse  people. 

"In  my  current  job  assignments  I  find 
myself  dealing  with  these  types  of  situations 
often  and  1  have  this  experience  to  fall  back 
on.  WPI  also  prepared  me  for  one  of  the 
toughest  assignments  I  have  had  so  far  in 
my  career — being  a  female  manager  manag- 
ing only  men." 


e  certainly  want  more  women; 

I  don 't  make  a  secret  of  that. 

But  first  we  have  to  have  a  real  switch 

in  women 's  patterns — a  shift  in  opening 

up  their  eyes  to  the  opportunities  that 

do  exist  for  them  in  engineering  and 

science. " 

— Kay  R.  Dietrich, 
WPl's  Director  of  Admissions 

Although  there  are  no  stated  goals  with 
regard  to  the  male-female  ratio  at  WPI,  the 
Admissions  Office  has  seen  a  steady  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  women  applying  to 
and  enrolling  at  the  Institute.  Still,  Dietrich 
says,  the  numbers  have  reached  something 
of  a  steady  state,  and  only  minor  changes 
are  possible  until  societal  barriers  to  femi- 
nine interest  in  engineering  and  other  non- 
traditional  fields  are  addressed. 

While  some  of  the  activities  coordinated 
by  the  Admissions  Office  are  designed 
specifically  to  reach  and  enroll  women, 
there  is  a  lot  of  overlap  with  the  overall  mar- 
keting effort,  Dietrich  says.  For  example, 
sorority  members  make  phone  calls  to 
female  applicants  who  express  an  interest  in 
sororities,  just  as  members  of  fraternities 
and  other  campus  groups  do. 

Another  successful  recruitment  strategy 


20 


Spring  1994 


Above,  Judith  Nitsch.  Opposite,  Leslie  Knepp  Azaret  and  former  dean  John 
van  Alstyne.  Azaret  says  van  Alstyne  helped  her  through  financial  troubles. 


has  been  a  woman-to-woman  "pen  pal"  pro- 
gram, in  which  current  students  write  to 
prospective  students  stressing  elements  of 
the  WPI  experience — both  academic  and 
social — that  have  been  found  to  appeal  to 
women,  for  example,  the  teamwork  common 
to  WPI's  required  projects,  and  the  explo- 
ration of  the  social  impacts  of  science  and 
technology  that  students  undertake  in  the 
Interactive  Qualifying  Project. 

Once  women  students  are  accepted  for 
admission,  they  receive  several  more  letters; 
one  comes  from  Judith  Nitsch  75,  who,  after 
a  successful  career  working  as  a  partner  in  a 
major  civil  engineering  firm,  founded  her 
own  company,  Judith  Nitsch  Engineering 
Inc.  A  recipient  of  WPI's  John  Boynton 
Young  Alumni  Award  for  distinguished  ser- 


vice to  WPI,  Nitsch  is  now  a  member  of  the 
WPI  Board  of  Trustees. 

The  Admissions  Office  is  also  planning 
new  initiatives,  such  as  an  overnight  pro- 
gram in  conjunction  with  the  Society  of 
Women  Engineers.  High  school  women  will 
be  invited  to  spend  a  day  on  campus  attend- 
ing classes  and  activities,  followed  by  a 
night's  stay  in  a  residence  hall. 

One  of  the  most  effective  recruitment 
tools  WPI  may  have,  though,  is  the  impres- 
sive record  of  achievement — on  campus  and 
after  graduation — of  the  women  who  have 
defied  the  odds  and  joined  fully  in  the  acade- 
mic and  social  life  of  WPI,  participating  as 
equals  in  activities,  sports  and  academics, 
and  earning  their  B.S.,  M.S.  and  Ph.D. 
degrees  at  this  once  all-male  institution. 


WPI  Journal 


Words  of  Advice 

LJ/he  University  Relations  and  Alumni 
*_y  offices  asked  women  graduates  what 
advice  they  would  offer  current  female  stu- 
dents about  coping  with  life  at  WPI  and  in  the 
workplace.  Here  are  some  of  their  answers: 


"Remember,  you  are  equal,  not  superior  or 
inferior.  Don 't  allow  anyone  to  treat  you  differ- 
ent from  male  co-workers  or  fellow  students. 
Also,  don't  expect  any  concessions — or  de- 
mand any— just  because  you  are  female. " 

Allison  J.  Huse  Nunn  73 

Critical  Care  Nurse, 

Holy  Family  Hospital, 

Spokane,  Wash. 

"Don 't  expect  to  be  treated  differently.  Do 

your  work  consistently  and  conscientiously  and 

you  will  be  appreciated  and  respected  for  it. " 

Elizabeth  Hanlon  Wood  78 

Attorney,  Hingham,  Mass. 

"Keep  your  options  open,  and  realize  that 
you  don 't  have  to  do  everything  at  once.  I 
worked  for  eight  years  and  have  been  home 
(very  happily)  with  my  children  for  seven 
years.  I  am  now  in  the  process  of  getting  an 
M.B.A.  and  doing  some  consulting.  I  feel  that 
by  keeping  my  options  open  and  being  flexi- 
ble I  have  been  able  to  accomplish  my  goals. " 
Beth  Driscoll  Kinney  79 
Homemaker,  Summit,  N.J. 

"Work  to  form  your  own  network  of  men- 
tors and  friends,  and  serve  in  the  same  capaci- 
ty to  new  women  engineers. " 

Denise  Johnston-Hafenbrack  '85 

Manufacturing  Engineer, 

Blount  Oregon  Cutting  Systems, 

Portland,  Ore. 

"Be  a  strong  female.  Always  ask  questions. 
Demand  to  be  doing  the  same  work  and  to 
have  the  same  responsibilities  as  your 
peers — whether  they  are  male  or  female.  If 
you  don 't  like  your  work  or  your  work  envi- 
ronment, don 't  be  afraid  to  change  jobs. " 

Danielle  N.  LaMarre  '89 

Environmental  Engineer, 

Camp  Dresser  &  McKee  Inc., 

Cambridge,  Mass. 

"Self-conhdence  is  the  key  in  male-domi- 
nated surroundings.  If  you  believe  in  your  abil- 
ities and  strengths,  others  will  too. " 

Theresa  A.  Schmidt  '92 

Technical  Coordinator, 

GE  Research  and  Development, 

Schenectady,  N.Y. 


21 


Unplugged 

By  Michael  Dorsey  t  |_  V    ^^  _  S 


/ 


Increasingly,  voice  and  data  transmissions  are  taldng 
to  the  airwaves  as  researchers  and  telecommu- 
nications companies  bring  about  a  bold  era 
of  wireless  information  networks. 

With  its  pioneering  work  in  the  field,  WPPs  Center 

for  Wireless  Information  Network  Studies  is  playing 

a  major  role  in  creating  a  new  wireless  world. 


It's  7  a.m.  You  board  a  New  Haven  Rai 
road  train  for  the  commute  to  you 
office  in  the  Big  Apple.  As  you  glance  a 
the  headlines  in  The  Wall  Street  Journal,  yoi 
remember  something  you  need  to  discus 
with  a  co-worker  before  an  8:15  meeting 
You  reach  into  your  jacket  pocket  for  you 
personal  communicator  and  tap  in  h 
phone  number,  catching  her  in  the  middle 
a  traffic  jam  on  the  Long  Island  Expressway 

Completing  the  call,  you  decide  you  nee 
a  new  graph  for  your  presentation  at  th 
meeting.  You  open  your  briefcase  an 
retrieve  your  personal  digital  assista 
(PDA) — a  battery-powered  device  about  t 
size  of  a  paperback  book — and  send  a  bri 
e-mail  message  over  the  airwaves  to  yo 
assistant,  asking  him  to  go  to  work  on  t 
graph  as  soon  as  he  gets  in. 

Turning  again  to  the  Journal,  you  re 
about  a  new  company  in  Switzerland  that 
might  compete  with  your  firm  in  the 
European  market.  With  your  PDA.  you  send 
a  wireless  fax  to  your  Bern  office,  takir 
advantage  of  a  global  communications  s 
vice  that  bounces  your  message  off  a  satel- 
lite. In  a  few  minutes,  your  small  digital 
friend  beeps  to  tell  you  a  report  from  your 
Swiss  colleagues  has  arrived. 


As  the  report  scrolls  across  the  screen, 
you  decide  you'd  better  bone  up  on  the 
financial  performance  of  your  European  sub- 
sidiary. With  a  few  keystrokes,  you  link  your 
tiny  computer — wirelessly — to  the  local  area 
network  in  your  office,  log  on  to  the  comput- 
er sitting  on  your  desk,  and  call  up  a  spread- 
sheet with  the  numbers  you  need. 

As  the  New  York  skyline  looms  in  the  dis- 
tance, you  remember  a  lunch  date  you've 
scheduled  for  today.  With  your  PDA,  you  tap 
into  the  Internet  to  read  some  observations 
from  other  computer  users  about  a  new 
Indian  restaurant  near  your  office.  It  sounds 
good,  so  you  grab  your  personal  communi- 
cator again  and  make  a  reservation  with  the 
restaurant's  voice-mail  system. 

As  the  train  pulls  into  Grand  Central, 
your  communicator  beeps  to  alert  you  to  an 
incoming  call.  It  turns  out  to  be  an  aluminum 
siding  salesman — one  of  the  disadvantages, 
you  think  as  you  rush  for  a  cab,  of  having 
your  phone  number  travel  with  you  every- 
where you  go. 

That  scenario,  communications  experts 
say,  may  be  realized  by  the  end  of  the  1990s 
— perhaps  sooner.  With  the  dawn  sometime 
this  decade  of  what  has  been  dubbed  per- 
sonal communications  service,  or  PCS,  the 


wireless  communications  industry  hopes  to 
unplug  our  telephones  and  computers,  let- 
ting us  stay  in  touch  with  other  people  and 
other  computers  no  matter  where  on  Earth 
we  roam. 

Already,  communications  systems  that 
use  radio  waves  instead  of  wires  are  making 
tremendous  inroads  into  the  business  and 
consumer  markets.  Cordless  telephones,  for 
example,  are  becoming  commonplace  in 
American  homes.  Some  17  million  were  sold 
in  the  U.S.  in  1992  alone — topping  sales  of 
traditional  wired  phones. 

Introduced  just  a  decade  ago,  cellular 
telephones  are  now  becoming  ubiquitous. 
There  are  more  than  12  million  cellular 
phones  in  the  U.S.  today  and  another  20  mil- 
lion worldwide,  a  number  that  may  well 
quintuple  over  the  next  decade.  In  some 
areas  of  the  world,  including  Eastern  Europe 
and  Asia,  engineers  are  turning  to  cellular 
systems  to  rapidly  expand  telephone  net- 
works without  the  expense  of  running  wires 
across  remote  countryside  or  replacing  anti- 
quated telephone  equipment. 

The  technology  needed  to  transmit  data 
with  radio  waves  has  also  been  evolving 
rapidly.  Wireless  local  area  networks  are 
showing  up  in  offices  with  increasing  fre- 


22 


Spring  1994 


quency  and  mobile  data  networks — which 
let  users  send  short  bursts  of  information  to 
distant  locations — are  becoming  more  wide- 
ly available  all  the  time.  All  of  this  adds  up  to 
a  $100  billion  industry  that  serves  some  60 
million  people  in  the  U.S.  alone. 

"The  whole  communications  industry  is 
in  the  process  of  migrating  from  wires  and 
wired  networks  and  services  to  wireless 
communications,"  says  Allen  Levesque  '59, 
senior  scientist  in  the  Wireless  and  Secure 
Systems  Laboratory  within  GTE  Labora- 
tories (see  story,  page  27).  "As  people,  par- 
ticularly in  the  business  world,  come  to  rec- 
ognize the  convenience  and  efficiency  you 
gain  by  accessing  wireless  networks,  the 
industry  will  grow  very,  very  rapidly." 

The  rapid  progress  of  the  wireless  indus- 
try has  depended  on  basic  research  aimed 
at  overcoming  the  significant  challenges 
involved  in  transmitting  information  with 
radio  waves.  Over  the  past  nine  years,  WP1 
has  become  a  leading  center  for  research  on 
wireless  information  systems. 

Under  the  direction  of  Kaveh  Pahlavan, 
Weston  Hadden  Professor  of  Electrical  and 
Computer  Engineering,  the  Center  for 
Wireless  Information  Network  Studies 
(CWINS)  has  developed  an  international  rep- 


utation for  its  fundamental  research  on  the 
characterization  of  indoor  radio  propaga- 
tion, analysis  of  high-speed  data  communi- 
cation alternatives,  and  studies  of  various 
wireless  access  methods. 

The  world  of  wireless  data  commu- 
nication is  really  two  worlds.  One, 
the  realm  of  mobile  data  services, 
lets  users  send  data  over  wide  areas.  The 
second,  the  province  of  wireless  local  area 
networks,  lets  computers  communicate  over 
the  airwaves  with  other  computers  and 
backbone  networks  inside  buildings. 

Mobile  data  systems  are  the  offspring  of 
the  highly  successful  paging  industry  and 
employ  the  same  high-power,  low-speed 
radio  transmissions  used  by  pocket  pagers. 
The  field  is  dominated  by  two  companies: 
Ardis,  a  joint  venture  of  IBM  and  Motorola, 
and  RAM  Mobile  Data,  created  by  RAM 
Broadcasting  and  BellSouth.  Both  let  busi- 
nesses stay  in  touch  with  field  technicians 
and  do  credit  card  verifications,  among 
other  applications;  mobile  data  networks 
are  also  used  by  portable  computer  users 
for  sending  electronic  mail. 

Mobile  data  systems  are  expected  to 
grow  significantly  in  the  years  ahead.  They 


currently  generate  $260  million  in  revenue 
and  serve  380,000  customers,  but  that  could 
jump  to  $2  billion  and  3.4  million  people  in 
just  four  years,  The  Wall  Street  Journal  repor- 
ted recently.  What  may  make  that  growth 
possible  is  the  introduction — already  under 
way — of  mobile  data  systems  that  use  cellu- 
lar telephones. 

While  it  is  now  possible  to  transmit  data 
with  a  cellular  phone,  slow  transmission 
speeds  and  less-than-perfect  signal  quality 
make  it  impractical.  The  introduction  of  digi- 
tal cellular  systems — the  trend  in  the  cellu- 
lar industry — may  eliminate  these  problems, 
lowering  the  cost  of  using  mobile  data  ser- 
vices and  making  them  available  to  more 
users  in  the  U.S. 

By  going  digital,  cellular  systems  will  also 
reduce  the  congestion  that  began  to  affect 
cellular  service  in  some  metropolitan  areas 
in  the  mid-1980s  as  more  and  more  users 
competed  for  the  same  frequencies. 
Information  transmitted  digitally  can  be 
compressed,  increasing  the  capacity  of  a 
system  several  times.  In  addition,  several 
schemes  have  been  developed  that  will  let 
more  users  share  the  frequencies  allocated 
to  mobile  radio  services. 

"There  are  two  basic  resources  for  wire- 


WPI  Journal 


23 


less  communications:  frequency  and  time," 
Pahlavan  says.  "And  there  are  three  ways  of 
using  those  resources  in  a  cellular  system." 
The  first  is  called  frequency  division  multi- 
ple access,  in  which  each  caller  is  assigned  a 
separate  frequency.  This  is  how  the  existing 
cellular  system  works. 

Time  division  multiple  access 
(TDMA)  places  multiple  users  on 
the  same  frequency  by  breaking 
each  signal  into  small  packets 
and  sending  them  out  at  precise 
intervals.  Phones  at  the  other  end 
look  for  packets  arriving  at  the 
proper  intervals  and  put  them 
back  together  to  recreate  the 
original  calls  (see  illustration). 

"With  code  division  multiple 
access,  or  CDMA,  a  technique 
developed  by  the  military,  you 
take  advantage  of  both  frequen- 
cy and  time,"  Pahlavan  says. 
"Callers  use  all  of  the  frequen- 
cies all  of  the  time,  unlike  FDMA, 
and  can  broadcast  continuously,  unlike 
TDMA." 

To  distinguish  callers  from  one  another, 
each  is  given  a  unique  computer-generated 
code  or  signature.  The  receiving  phones 
search  out  signals  that  have  the 
proper  code.  Because  it  diffuses 
every  signal  over  the  entire 
range  of  available  frequencies, 
this  technique  is  also  called 
spread  spectrum. 

The  standards  developed  for 
the  next  generation  of  digital  cel- 
lular service  using  TDMA  can 
increase  the  capacity  of  a  cellu- 
lar system  by  up  to  six  times, 
Pahlavan  says,  while  CDMA 
claims  a  more  than  tenfold 
increase  in  capacity.  "With 
CDMA,  however,  you  are  talking 
about  soft  capacity,"  he  notes. 
"Because  everyone  uses  the  frequencies  at 
the  same  time,  as  you  add  more  and  more 
users  the  quality  will  deteriorate." 

Beyond  digital  cellular  technology  lie 
communications  networks — still  on  the 
drawing  boards — that  will  zap  voice,  data 
and  fax  transmissions  to  virtually  any  spot 
on  the  globe  using  satellites.  One  system 
already  announced,  the  $3.4  billion  Iridium, 
will  be  built  by  Motorola  in  cooperation  with 
a  number  of  international  partners.  William 
Gates,  chairman  of  Microsoft,  and  Craig 
McCaw,  head  of  the  cellular  telephone  giant 
McCaw  Cellular  Communications  Inc., 
recently  announced  plans  to  raise  $9  billion 
to  build  an  even  larger  system  called 
Teledesic. 

Also  under  development  is  PCS.  In 


essence,  personal  communications  service 
will  be  an  extension  of  cordless  telephone 
technology  that  will  enable  callers  to  use 
their  portable  phones  just  about  anywhere 
they  go — not  just  within  their  own  homes. 
Still  in  development,  the  structure  of  PCS 
will  be  similar  to  that  of  cellular  systems. 


+  "TrT^  O0©0< 


+ 

mm 


Bottom,  Pahlavan  at  the  1992  PIMRC 
conference  in  Boston.  Top,  two  modes 
for  digital  cellular  systems:  TDMA 
(time  division  multiple  access)  and 
CDMA  (code  division  multiple  access). 
See  the  article  for  an  explanation. 


Cellular  networks  are  divided  into  large 
geographic  units  called  cells.  Cellular 
phones  transmit  to  large  antennae  in  the 
middle  of  each  cell  that  are,  in  turn,  connect- 
ed to  each  other  by  conventional  phone 
cables.  As  a  user  travels  along,  his  call  is 
handed  off  from  cell  to  cell,  allowing  the  call 
to  continue  uninterrupted. 

PCS  networks  will  be  broken  up  into 
much  smaller  cells — dubbed  microcells — 
served  by  small  antennae  located  on  the 
tops  of  buildings  or  telephone  poles. 
Because  they  won't  have  to  broadcast  very 
far,  PCS  devices  will  require  much  less 
power  than  cellular  phones.  That  means 
they  can  be  much  smaller,  lighter  and  less 
expensive.  "In  its  most  advanced  form,  a  PCS 
unit  will  resemble  Captain  Kirk's  communi- 


cator from  Star  Trek,"  Pahlavan  says.  "You'll 
just  open  it  up  wherever  you  are  and  start 
communicating." 

The  FCC  is  expected  to  auction  off  a 
generous  portion  of  the  ultrahigh  frequency 
section  of  the  electromagnetic  spectrum  for 
use  by  PCS.  There  should  be  enough  band- 
width to  enable  these  pocket- 
size  devices  to  send  everything 
from  text  to  video  to  multimedia 
files,  enabling  users  to  contact 
other  human  beings,  send  elec- 
tronic mail,  or  tap  into  global 
computer  networks  and  compu- 
ter databases. 

PCS-like  services  are  also 
envisioned  in  Europe  and  Japan, 
where  the  second  generation  of 
cordless  telephone  service  is 
already  in  operation. 

While  the  promise  of  all  PCS 
systems  is  great,  the  reality  is 
still  taking  shape,  Pahlavan  says. 
"PCS  is  like  the  unicorn.  You  can 
define  it,  but  you  can't  see  it.  There  are  still 
many  obstacles  to  overcome  before  it 
comes  about."  These  include  the  challenge 
of  getting  the  many  companies  interested  in 
investing  in  PCS  and  the  many  nations  that 
want  to  build  PCS  networks  to 
agree  on  standards,  a  problem 
that  already  plagues  the  devel- 
opment of  competing  digital  cel- 
lular systems,  he  notes. 

"Part  of  the  problem  with 
setting  standards,"  Levesque 
says,  "is  that  the  technology 
moves  so  fast  and  the  standard 
setting  process  is  comparative- 
ly slow.  It  takes  several  years  to 
make  a  commitment  to  a  stan- 
dard, and  in  the  meantime  sev- 
eral other  competing  standards 
may  come  along.  That  is  why 
the  standard-setting  bodies  in 
the  U.S.  have  decided,  in  effect,  to  let  the 
market  forces  prevail  with  digital  cellular." 

Just  as  the  mobile  data  industry  seems 
primed  for  explosive  growth,  the  com- 
panies that  make  wireless  local  area 
networks  (LANs)  are  forecasting  a 
bright  future  for  their  technology.  According 
to  Pahlavan,  wireless  LANs  have  several 
important  advantages  over  conventional 
wired  networks. 

First,  he  says,  they  are  much  easier — and 
less  expensive — to  install.  Running  wires 
through  walls  can  be  difficult  and  costly, 
unless  they  are  put  in  when  a  building  is  con- 
structed or  remodeled.  And  once  the  wiring  is 
in  place,  rearranging  and  relocating  offices 
can  become  an  expensive  undertaking. 


24 


Spring  1994 


Then  there  are  trade  shows,  temporary 
offices  like  political  campaign  headquarters, 
large,  open  work  spaces  like  factory  floors, 
buildings  made  largely  of  marble  or  stone, 
and  historic  buildings.  Wireless  networks 
are  often  the  preferred  way  to  link  com- 
puters together  in  such  places,  since  run- 
ning wires  doesn't  make 
sense,  is  too  costly,  or 
simply  isn't  allowed. 

While  they  have  ad- 
vantages, wireless  LANs 
also  have  an  important 
shortcoming,  Pahlavan 
says.  Wired  LANs  that 
transmit  at  10  million 
bytes  (10  megabytes)  per 
second  are  now  common 
and  100-megabyte  sys- 
tems are  on  the  market. 
The  next  generation  will 
operate  at  650  megabytes 
per  second,  a  speed  that 
will  make  it  possible  to 
send  interactive  TV  and 
multimedia  files. 

While  they  are  gaining 
speed  all  the  time,  wire- 
less LANs  that  use  radio 
(some  systems  transmit 
data  optically)  are  pokey 
by  comparison.  The  most 
advanced  systems  have 
reached  the  10-megabyte- 
per-second  mark,  but 
most  wireless  LANs  on 
the  market  are  considerably  slower.  Signif- 
icant research  is  going  on  to  speed  up  wire- 
less LANs  and  incorporate  them  into  more 
demanding  environments,  Pahlavan  says. 

The  speed  limitation,  and  the  reluctance 
of  companies  that  had  already  invested 
heavily  in  wired  LANs  to  switch  gears,  made 
the  growth  of  the  wireless  LAN  industry 
slow  for  much  of  the  1980s.  But  the  growing 
popularity  of  battery-powered  portable  com- 
puters— everything  from  laptops  to  personal 
digital  assistants  like  Apple  Computer's 
Newton — has  changed  all  that.  Now  that 
people  can  work  on  their  computers  far 
from  the  nearest  plug,  they  want  the  same 
freedom  when  they  tie  into  a  computer  net- 
work. Adding  a  wireless  system  to  an  exist- 
ing LAN  can  make  that  possible. 

Also  contributing  to  the  renewal  of  inter- 
est in  wireless  LANs  are  technological 
strides  that  have  lowered  the  cost  of  wire- 
less modems  and  shrunk  them  from  bulky 
boxes  that  required  a  lot  of  power  to  credit 
card-sized  devices  that  plug  into  a  portable 
computer.  As  a  result,  PC  World  recently 
noted,  the  number  of  wireless  nodes 
installed  in  the  U.S.  jumped  from  just  8,000 


in  1989  to  nearly  30,000  in  1992.  It  should  hit 
the  million  mark  in  two  years. 


w 


hen  Kaveh  Pahlavan  arrived  at 
WPI  in  1985,  the  field  of  wire- 
less data  communications  was 
still  in  its  infancy.  Soon  after  joining  the  elec- 


Pahlavan,  right,  and  Ph.D.  candidate  Ganning  Yang  in  WPI's  Center 
for  Wireless  Information  Network  Studies. 

trical  engineering  faculty,  Pahlavan,  who 
began  working  on  wireless  indoor  radio 
communications  as  a  consultant  to  GTE 
Laboratories  in  Waltham,  Mass.,  in  the  early 
1980s,  founded  the  Wireless  Information 
Network  Group.  Six  years  later,  the  group 
evolved  into  the  Center  for  Wireless 
Information  Network  Studies. 

"This  was  the  very  first  university 
research  program  on  wireless  indoor  data 
networks  in  the  U.S.,"  Pahlavan  says.  "Within 
a  year  or  two,  Rutgers  and  Virginia 
Polytechnic  universities  founded  similar 
centers.  For  many  years,  these  three  were 
known  as  the  major  programs  in  the  United 
States.  Now  many  people  in  the  telecommu- 
nications industry  identify  WPI  with  wireless 
activities.  We  started  at  just  the  right  time." 

Over  the  past  eight  years  the  center  has 
produced  six  Ph.D.s  specializing  in  wireless 
communications — more  than  any  other 
university,  Pahlavan  says — and  center 
researchers  have  published  more  than  100 
papers  and  conference  proceedings. 
Pahlavan  is  editor-in-chief  of  the  Inter- 
national Journal  of  Wireless  Information 
Networks,  which  published  its  inaugural 


issue  in  January,  and  is  currently  co-author- 
ing with  Allen  Levesque  a  book  that  will  pro- 
vide a  comprehensive  overview  of  the  field 
of  wireless  information  networks. 

Pahlavan  has  also  been  active  in  estab- 
lishing and  organizing  international  meet- 
ings of  researchers  who  specialize  in  wire- 
less communications.  In 
1990,  he  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  IEEE 
(Institute  of  Electrical 
and  Electronics  Engi- 
neers) International  Sym- 
posium on  Spread  Spec- 
trum Techniques  and 
Applications.  In  1991,  he 
was  founder,  organizer 
and  program  chairman  of 
the  IEEE  Workshop  on 
Wireless  Local  Area  Net- 
works, which  attracted  to 
the  WPI  campus  more 
than  200  scientists,  engi- 
neers and  managers  from 
10  nations  and  all  of  the 
major  manufacturers  of 
wireless  technology. 

That  same  year,  Pah- 
lavan was  one  of  the 
founders   of   the   IEEE 
International  Symposium 
on  Personal,  Indoor  and 
Mobile  Radio  Commu- 
nications (PIMRC),  the 
first  international  confer- 
ence on  wireless  commu- 
nications. The  meeting  was  held  at  Kings 
College  in  London,  where  Pahlavan  deliv- 
ered the  sole  tutorial.  Since  then  it  has  been 
held  again  in  London  (1991),  Boston  (1992) 
and  Yokohama  (1993).  This  year  it  will  move 
to  the  Netherlands. 

The  work  of  CWINS  has  garnered  the 
financial  support  of  many  of  the  key  players 
in  the  rapidly  expanding  wireless  communi- 
cations industry,  along  with  the  National 
Science  Foundation.  Major  supporters 
include  NYNEX  Corp.,  Comdisco  Software, 
Digital  Equipment  Corp.,  Apple  Computer, 
Motorola  Inc.,  GTE  and  Raytheon. 

A  major  thrust  of  the  research  conducted 
by  the  faculty  and  graduate  students  of 
CWINS  is  how  radio  waves  propagate,  partic- 
ularly through  wireless  LANs.  In  a  wired  net- 
work, signals  can  go  in  only  one  direction — 
down  the  cable — so  one  can  assume  that 
when  a  message  is  sent  from  one  computer 
to  another  on  the  same  network,  it  will  get 
there  and  be  understood  when  it  arrives. 

But  things  are  more  complex  with  wire- 
less systems.  Radio  waves  leaving  an  anten- 
na travel  in  many  directions  at  once.  In  an 
office,  those  signals  tend  to  bounce  off  the 


WPI  Journal 


25 


walls,  the  floor  and  the  ceiling — not  to  men- 
tion file  cabinets  and  furniture.  That  means 
each  bit  of  data  will  arrive  at  the  receiving 
computer  from  many  directions  and  with 
many  different  time  delays,  something  com- 
munications engineers  call  multipath  distor- 
tion. The  same  phenomenon  causes  ghost- 
ing on  TV  screens  in  weak  reception  areas. 

For  the  computer,  multipath  distortion  is 
like  being  a  confused  caller  to  a  radio  talk 
show  who  forgets  to  turn  down  the  volume 
on  his  radio.  He  hears  his  own  voice  first 
through  the  telephone  and  then  a  few  sec- 
onds later  through  the  radio.  The  confusion 
caused  by  data  arriving  from  many  direc- 
tions becomes  more  severe  as  the  rate  of 


been  recorded  in  offices  and  manufacturing 
facilities  operated  by  General  Motors, 
Norton  Co.  and  Infinite  Inc.  Some  of  this 
work  was  funded  by  a  major  grant  from  the 
National  Science  Foundation. 

In  a  1993  study  sponsored  by  NYNEX 
Inc.,  Jin-Fa  Lee,  assistant  professor  of  electri- 
cal and  computer  engineering  and  one  of 
several  faculty  members  in  the  Electrical 
and  Computer  Engineering  and  Computer 
Science  departments  affiliated  with  CWINS, 
conducted  a  study  of  radio  wave  propaga- 
tion in  and  around  office  buildings  in  New 
York  City.  "NYNEX's  primary  interest  was  in 
modeling  radio  propagation  in  the  streets  of 
New  York,"  Pahlavan  says.  "We  provided 


evaluate  a  system  before  they  build  it. 
"Implementing  a  wireless  system  can  be 
very  expensive,"  Pahlavan  says,  "so  you 
want  to  be  able  to  simulate  the  system  first 
to  see  how  well  it  will  work." 

One  type  of  simulation  software  creates  a 
multipath  profile  of  a  wireless  setup  by 
using  a  technique  called  ray  tracing  to  plot 
out  the  various  paths  radio  signals  might 
take  as  they  travel  from  transmitter  to 
receiver.  Another  useful  tool  for  wireless 
systems  is  based  on  block-oriented  soft- 
ware, which  lets  an  engineer  create  a  system 
on  a  computer  much  as  a  child  builds  struc- 
tures out  of  Tinkertoys,  Pahlavan  says. 

"The  various  components  of  a  communi- 


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Tlno(sec)  x  10"9 

Above,  from  left,  graduate  students  Andrew  Parker, 
Jimmy  Wang  and  Mohammadali  Ghazanfari  study  radio 
propagation  in  the  lab.  The  top  diagram  uses  a  technique 
called  ray  tracing  to  show  the  many  paths  radio  signals 
can  take  from  a  transmitter  to  a  receiver  inside  an  office. 
The  highest  peak  on  the  graph  represents  signals  arriv- 
ing through  a  direct  path.  The  remaining  peaks  are  sig- 
nals that  have  bounced  off  walls  and  objects.  The  time 
delays  cause  what  is  known  as  multipath  distortion. 


transmission  increases,  which  is  why  data 
rates  for  wireless  LANs  tend  to  be  consider- 
ably slower  than  those  for  wired  LANs.  In 
addition,  the  garbling  of  data  tends  to 
increase  as  the  distance  between  two  com- 
puters increases,  limiting  the  area  that  can 
be  covered  by  a  wireless  system. 

To  learn  more  about  the  problems  of 
multipath  distortion  and  how  to  solve  them, 
CWINS  has  developed  numerical  models  of 
radio  propagation.  "The  core  of  any  work  in 
this  area  is  a  good  radio  propagation  mod- 
el," Pahlavan  says.  "If  you  don't  have  a  good 
model,  you  are  in  trouble.  Most  of  our  work 
to  date  has  focused  on  radio  propagation. 
This  is  what  we  have  become  famous  for." 

The  models  CWINS  has  developed  are 
based,  in  large  part,  on  radio  propagation 
data  gathered  in  numerous  controlled  exper- 
iments in  the  center's  laboratory  in  Atwater 
Kent  Labs,  as  well  as  data  collected  in  the 
field.  For  example,  Pahlavan  says,  data  have 


them  with  the  measurements  and  created  a 
computer  model  of  three  city  blocks." 

CWINS  researchers  have  also  worked  on 
ways  to  combat  multipath  distortion  to 
overcome  the  data  rate  limitation.  These 
include  the  use  of  spread  spectrum  and 
adaptive  equalization,  a  technique  in  which 
a  radio  receiver  monitors  the  characteristics 
of  signals  arriving  from  various  directions 
and  attempts  to  compensate  for  the  frequen- 
cy shifts  and  time  delays. 

Another  promising  technology  is  the  sec- 
tored antenna,  which  receives  radio  signals 
from  many  narrow  "slices"  of  space  around 
the  receiver.  The  idea  is  to  isolate  each  pos- 
sible path  signals  might  take  and  "hear" 
each  signal  separately.  The  signals  from  the 
various  paths  are  then  added  together  to 
create  a  stronger,  more  reliable  signal. 

In  addition  to  these  basic  studies,  the 
center  is  also  at  work  on  software  tools  that 
designers  of  wireless  systems  can  use  to 


cations  system  are  represented  on  the 
screen  as  blocks,"  he  says.  "You  can  design 
a  system  or  add  to  an  existing  system  by 
pulling  together  the  proper  blocks.  The  soft- 
ware then  analyzes  the  performance  of  the 
system.  This  is  the  trend  in  tool  develop- 
ment— making  it  as  simple  as  possible  to 
create  and  test  systems." 

With  significant  work  already  completed 
on  modeling  and  software  tools,  Pahlavan 
says  he  would  like  the  center  to  turn  next  to 
the  development,  evaluation  and  installation 
of  actual  wireless  information  networks  for 
specific  applications,  such  as  wireless  class- 
rooms and  campuses.  But  he  notes  that  a 
never-ending  challenge  for  the  center  will  be 
to  keep  up  with  the  constantly  changing  na- 
ture of  the  field  of  wireless  communications. 

"Doing  research  in  this  area  is  like  run- 
ning on  hot  sand,"  he  says.  "You  can  never 
put  your  foot  down  for  long.  You  have  to 
keep  jumping  to  new  things  all  the  time." 


26 


Spring  1994 


F: 


or  most  of  his  more  than 
30-year  career  at  GTE  Corp., 
Allen  H.  Levesque  '59  has 
been  deeply  involved  with  research 
aimed  at  improving  the  accuracy  and 
efficiency  with  which  data  is  trans- 
mitted from  one  location  to  another 
without  the  aid  of  wires.  Today,  with 
wireless  data  networks  poised  to  be- 
come one  of  the  most  important  tech- 
nologies of  the  early  21st  century, 
Levesque  is  helping  guide  his  compa- 
ny— and  the  world — into  this  bold 
new  era  of  communications. 

Levesque,  now  senior  scientist 
reporting  to  the  director  of  the  Wire- 
less and  Secure  Systems  Laboratory 
within  GTE  Laboratories  in  Waltham, 
Mass.,  began  his  career  at  what  was 
then  the  Sylvania  Applied  Research 
Laboratory  after  earning  a  master's 
degree  in  electrical  engineering  at 
Yale  University  in  1960. 

After  doing  part-time  graduate 
work  at  Harvard  and  MIT,  he  re- 
turned to  Yale  in  1962  to  earn  a  Ph.D. 
in  electrical  engineering,  and  then 
returned  to  the  Sylvania  Lab.  When 
GTE,  which  had  purchased  Sylvania 
in  1959,  moved  its  laboratories  from 
Bayside,  N.Y.,  to  Waltham  in  1969, 
Levesque  and  many  of  the  other 
Sylvania  researchers  were  invited  to 
join  the  GTE  operation. 

He  remained  with  GTE  Labs  until 
1974,  when  he  joined  GTE  Govern- 
ment Systems  Corporation,  located  just  a 
few  blocks  away,  where  he  managed  a  wide 
variety  of  projects  in  digital  communications 
and  was  named  to  head  a  research  and 
development  group  within  the  business  unit. 
In  1988,  when  GTE  formed  the  Electronic 
Defense  Communications  Division  within 
GTE  Government  Systems,  Levesque  was 
named  senior  scientist  reporting  to  the  gen- 
eral manager. 

Much  of  the  work  he  has  done  over  the 
years  has  been  in  the  area  of  advanced  digital 
radio  communications.  For  several  years  he 
was  involved  with  research  aimed  at  develop- 
ing reliable  radio  systems  for  communicating 
with  the  U.S.  Navy's  submarine  fleet.  He  also 
managed  a  research  and  development  group 
that  developed  advanced  high-speed  modems 
for  transmitting  data  over  high-frequency  mili- 
tary communication  bands. 

"My  own  individual  work  in  this  area 
included  a  lot  of  research  on  what  is  called 
error-control  coding,"  Levesque  says.  "This 
is  basically  sets  of  techniques  for  encoding 
data  so  it  can  withstand  the  vagaries  of 
radio  communications  media."  Levesque  is 


Al  Levesque 
Is  Helping 
Shape  a  World 
Without  Wires 

rat 


co-author  of  Error  Control  Techniques  for 
Digital  Communication,  published  in  1985  by 
Wiley-Interscience.  He  is  also  the  author  of  a 
number  of  papers  on  digital  communication 
and  once  served  as  associate  editor  for  IEEE 
Transactions  on  Communications. 

While  he  did  not  know  it  at  the  time,  the 
work  he  and  other  scientists  were  doing  to 
improve  data  communications  for  the  mili- 
tary was  setting  the  stage  for  today's  revolu- 
tion in  wireless  communications.  "A  lot  of 
the  technology  being  employed  in  these  new 
wireless  communications  systems  originat- 
ed in  the  military  communications  environ- 
ment," he  says.  "So  many  of  the  techniques  I 
am  dealing  with  today  I've  actually  been 
working  with  for  a  number  of  years." 

In  recent  years,  Levesque  says,  his  work 
has  turned  more  and  more  to  issues  facing 
the  commercial  wireless  communications 
industry,  including  the  challenges  of  over- 
laying wireless  data  services  onto  existing 
wired  and  wireless  voice  networks.  "I've 
dealt  with  a  number  of  these  issues,  as  well 
as  with  the  problems  of  translating  different 
communications  protocols  when  you  con- 


nect wired  and  wireless  systems,"  he 
explains. 

With  its  acquisition  in  1990  of 
Contel  Corp.,  GTE  became  the  second 
largest  provider  of  cellular  telephone 
service  in  the  U.S.  The  Wireless  and 
Secure  Systems  Laboratory  was  creat- 
ed at  that  time  to  become  the  focal 
point  for  the  company's  efforts  to  con- 
tinue to  be  a  major  player  in  the  evolv- 
ing world  of  wireless  communications. 
In  April,  Levesque  joined  the  new 
lab,  where  he  will  coordinate  the  work 
under  way  there  in  the  area  of  data 
communications.  "I  will  also  serve  as  a 
technical  liaison  across  projects  and 
across  departments  at  GTE  Labs,"  he 
says.  "And  I  will  be  the  primary  tech- 
nical interface  with  the  rest  of  the 
company — including  the  operating 
divisions  that  will  actually  provide 
these  services — in  the  area  of  wireless 
data  communications." 

Levesque  has  also  been  active  in 
digital  and  wireless  data  communi- 
cations outside  of  GTE.  Until  a  few 
years  ago,  he  taught  digital  commu- 
nications as  an  adjunct  professor  at 
Northeastern  University,  where  he 
also  advised  graduate  students.  He 
has  for  several  years  served  on  tele- 
communications industry  subcom- 
mittees working  to  set  standards  for 
such  new  technologies  as  digital  cel- 
lular networks  and  personal  commu- 
nications service  (see  main  story). 
At  WPI,  he  is  a  member  of  an  advisory 
board  for  the  Center  for  Wireless  Infor- 
mation Network  Studies  and  has  been  a 
longtime  member  of  the  Electrical  and  Com- 
puter Engineering  Advisory  Committee,  a 
board  made  up  of  distinguished  members  of 
the  electrical  engineering  profession  who 
provide  advice  and  guidance  to  the  faculty 
of  the  Electrical  and  Computer  Engineering 
Department.  Levesque  has  also  been  active 
with  the  WPI  Alumni  Association,  having 
served  previously  as  chairman  of  the  Alumni 
Fund  Board  and  currently  as  a  member  of 
the  association's  Executive  Committee. 

"Through  my  collaboration  with  CWINS 
and  the  ECE  Advisory  Committee,"  Levesque 
says,  "I  hope  to  be  able  to  provide  some 
insights  to  WPI  on  the  evolution  of  the  wire- 
less center  and  also  to  try  to  influence 
research  directions  and  the  development  of 
the  ECE  curriculum.  Wireless  is  one  of  the 
most  exciting  sectors  of  the  telecommunica- 
tions industry,  and  I  believe  the  program  at 
WPI  will  evolve  to  prepare  students  well  for 
the  challenges  of  the  field." 

— MD 


WPI  Journal 


27 


mmm 


TJMCh 


Two  years  ago  it  was 
rolling  Connecticut 
woodland.  Now  its  the  site 
ol  the  largest  gambling 
casino  in  the  Western 
Hemisphere.  Among  the 
many  people  who  helped 
bring  this  project  into 
being  almost  overnight 
are  nine  WPI  graduates. 

By  Ruth  Trask  and 
Michael  Dorsey 


In  The  Wizard  of  Oz, 
Dorothy  and  her  newfound  friends 
come  upon  the  Emerald  City  rising 
dramatically  from  the  edge  of  a  field  of 
poppies.  That  story  comes  to  mind  as  one 
drives  along  Route  2  in  southeastern  Con- 
necticut these  days.  After  passing  a  series  of 
small  towns  and  speeding  through  a  rural 
landscape  of  farms  and  forests,  drivers  are 
often  startled  to  see  a  massive  green,  violet 
and  white  edifice  looming  just  ahead 
through  the  trees. 

The  building  is  part  of  the  rapidly  grow- 
ing Foxwoods  Casino  and  Resort  in  Ledyard, 
Conn.,  reportedly  the  largest  gambling  casi- 
no in  the  Western  Hemisphere.  Owned  by 
the  more  than  300  members  of  the  Mashan- 
tucket  Pequot  Tribe,  the  complex  of  casinos, 
bingo  halls  and  hotels  has  become  a  popular 
destination  for  gamblers  and  vacationers 
from  all  over  the  Northeast,  and  has  provid- 
ed a  much-needed  shot  in  the  arm  for  the 
Connecticut  economy. 

The  Foxwoods  story  began  in  1982  when 
an  act  of  Congress  gave  the  Pequots  the 
funds  they  needed  to  buy  back  about  800 
acres  of  their  ancestral  land  in  Connecticut 
and  place  it  in  trust  as  a  reservation,  free  of 
federal  and  state  laws.  To  provide  jobs  for 


tribal  members,  the  Pequots  secured  a  fed- 
erally guaranteed  loan  to  build  a  bingo  hall, 
which  opened  in  1986. 

The  hall,  built  by  local  contractor  C.R. 
Klewin  Inc.,  was  highly  successful,  leading 
the  Pequots  to  consider  an  expansion.  The 
incentive  to  move  forward  arrived  with  the 
passage  of  the  Indian  Gaming  Regulations 
Act  of  1988,  which  authorized  Native  Amer- 
icans to  build  casinos  on  their  own  land  in 
states — including  Connecticut — where  some 
form  of  gambling  (even  charitable  "Las 
Vegas  Nights")  is  legal. 

Foxwoods  Phase  II,  an  expansion  of  the 
bingo  hall,  was  built  next  and  in  the  spring 
of  1991  work  started  on  Phase  III— a  250,000- 
square-foot  casino.  Fearing  the  state  of 
Connecticut  might  act  to  block  the  casino, 
the  Pequots  asked  that  it  be  finished  in  just 
over  200  days.  Thus  began  a  construction 
project  so  fast  the  term  "fast-track"  was 
inadequate  to  capture  it.  Instead,  a  new  term 
was  invented:  "flash-track." 

Phase  IV — a  second  casino  with  a  312- 
room  hotel  and  a  1,600-vehicle,  four-level 
parking  garage — was  open  by  Labor  Day  in 
1993.  Another  hotel,  the  Two  Trees  Inn,  was 
built  around  the  same  time.  Phase  V,  a  new, 


60,000  square-foot  bingo  and  exhibition  hall, 
was  completed  in  April  and  Phase  VI — an 
expansion  to  the  parking  garage — was  slated 
for  completion  by  Memorial  Day.  Along  the 
way,  the  tribe  has  also  built  a  state-of-the- 
art,  one-million-gallon-a-day  wastewater 
treatment  plant,  a  community  center,  hous: 
ing  for  tribal  members,  emergency  services, 
and  roads  and  other  utilities. 

In  essence,  a  small  city — one  complete 
with  139,000  square  feet  of  gaming  space,  a 
shopping  concourse,  restaurants,  and  a 
modern  theater  complex — has  grown  up  in 
the  Connecticut  woods  in  just  two  years. 
And  this  huge  construction  project  is  not 
finished.  In  the  planning  stages  are  an  Asian 
theme  park  complete  with  a  replica  of  the 
Great  Wall  of  China  and  a  305,000-square- 
foot  museum  and  research  center  on  North 
American  Indians.  And,  there  is  the  possi- 
bility of  further  expansion  of  the  casino 
complex. 

The  mammoth  casino  and  resort  project 
was  designed  chiefly  by  New  England  Design 
Inc.,  in  collaboration  with  architects  Jeter, 
Cook  &  Jepson.  Overseen  by  C.R.  Klewin,  the 
construction  has  involved  the  efforts  of 
dozens  of  specialty  contractors,  engineers 


28 


Spring  1994 


1TFOXWO01JS 


- 


and  craftsmen  who  worked — sometimes 
around  the  clock — to  keep  up  with  the  flash- 
track  construction  schedule. 

Prominent  among  these  companies  are 
four  firms  owned  or  headed  by  WPI  alumni, 
as  well  as  a  pump  supplier  that  includes  WPI 
graduates  among  its  senior  officers.  In  all, 
nine  alumni  working  for  these  five  firms 
have  made  their  mark  bringing  to  fruition 
what  has  been  called  the  most  exciting  con- 
struction project  in  New  England  in  many 
decades. 

Among  those  who  have  been  on  the 
Foxwoods  site  since  nearly  the  start  is 
Raymond  Cherenzia  73CE,  the  owner 
and  president  of  Cherenzia  &  Associates 
Ltd.  in  Westerly,  R.I.  Cherenzia's  firm  has 
done  civil  engineering,  site  engineering, 
land-use  planning  and  environmental  work 
for  various  parts  of  the  project.  Ray  works 
closely  with  his  brother,  Salvatore  "Sam" 
Cherenzia,  the  president  of  Cherenzia 
Excavation,  a  longtime  family  business  co- 
owned  by  Ray.  Sam  is  also  the  father  of 
Joseph  Cherenzia  '94. 

Among  the  early  work  the  Cherenzia 
brothers  undertook  for  the  Pequots  were 
parking  lots  for  casino  patrons  and  em- 
ployees— Ray  did  the  site  engineering  and 
layouts  while  Sam  did  the  excavation  and 
construction.  Ray  says  the  work  provided  a 
crash  course  in  flash-track  construction. 
"Things  moved  so  fast,"  he  says.  "On  the 
first  employee  lot,  we  had  our  guys  out 
there  around  the  clock  shooting  elevations 
to  keep  up  with  the  pace.  They  set  up  lights 
so  we  could  work  at  night." 

Cherenzia  &  Associates  has  also  done 
layouts  and  as-built  plans  for  other  parking 
lots  and  for  the  water-line  systems.  Layouts 
show  the  builder  every  detail  of  a  building 
site — from  required  grading  to  the  location 
of  structures,  parking  spaces,  catch  basins, 
lighting  and  signs;  as-builts  record  every- 
thing about  how  a  project  was  actually  con- 
structed for  those  who  may  need  to  dig  or 
do  other  work  at  the  site.  The  firm  also  did 
the  surveying,  site  plans,  layouts  and  as- 
builts  for  the  community  center,  road  sys- 
tem and  tribal  housing. 

Ray  Cherenzia,  who  is  a  registered  pro- 
fessional engineer  in  Rhode  Island,  Con- 
necticut, Massachusetts  and  Maine,  and  a 
licensed  land  surveyor  in  Rhode  Island  and 


Connecticut,  worked  for  Seaboard 
Engineering,  Northeast  Constructors,  and 
Metcalf  &  Eddy.,  and  was  town  engineer  in 
Westerly,  R.I.,  before  founding  Cherenzia  & 
Associates  in  1981. 

He  says  the  firm  has  managed  a  kaleid- 
oscope of  projects,  including  work  for  such 
diverse  organizations  and  companies  as  the 
town  of  Stonington,  Conn.,  M.A.N.  Roland, 
the  Mystic  Marinelife  Aquarium,  the  Wash- 
ington Trust  Company 
Inc.,  and  the  A&P  Tea 
Company.  But  he  says  his 
work  at  Foxwoods  has 
been  the  most  challeng- 
ing and  rewarding  of  his 
career. 

Walking  through  the 
courtyard  of  the  Two 
Trees  Inn,  for  which  his 
company  did  the  site  lay- 
out and  as-builts,  Cher- 
enzia speaks  with  pride 
about  seeing  the  prod- 
ucts of  his  firm's  efforts 
everywhere  he  looks  at 
Foxwoods.  "It's  hard  to 
believe  that  just  a  few 
short  years  ago  there 
was  nothing  out  here 
but  that  original  bingo 
hall,"  he  says.  "It's 
nice  to  have  been  a 
part  of  it." 


casino  complex.  As  the  structural  engineer 
of  record,  he  was  responsible  for  working 
with  the  architect,  Friar  Associates  Inc.,  in 
preparing  the  structural  design  and  con- 
struction documents  showing  how  the  struc- 
ture would  actually  be  built — often  including 
what  materials  and  details  would  be  used. 

On  a  150,000-square-foot,  three-story 
building,  that  process  would  normally  be  a 
challenging  enough  assignment.  At  Fox- 


"We  had  our  guys  out  there  around  the  clock 

shooting  elevations  to  keep  up  with  the  pace.' 

Ray  Cherenzia 


The  Two  Trees 
Inn  was  also  a  major  focus  of  the  work 
that  Carl  S.  Cianci  '82CE  did  at  Fox- 
woods. He  is  a  partner  in  Cianci  &  Cianci, 
consulting  structural  engineers  in  Hartford, 
Conn.  His  firm  was  founded  in  1973  as  Mayo 
and  Cianci,  P.C.,  by  his  father,  Paul  S.  Cianci, 
and  Glendon  R.  Mayo.  Carl  joined  the  com- 
pany in  1983  and  became  a  partner  in  1985, 
when  the  firm  took  on  its  current  name.  It  is 
registered  to  practice  structural  engineering 
in  seven  states  and  provides  services  to 
architects  and  owners  for  building  designs 
and  to  contractors  for  design/build  projects. 
Within  the  last  10  years  the  firm  has  also 
provided  extensive  forensic  engineering  ser- 
vices to  the  insurance  industry. 

Cianci  did  the  structural  engineering  for 
the  $20  million,  282-room  Two  Trees  Inn, 
which  was  built  a  short  distance  from  the 


^•^^■^^^■■■■■■■■■■i 


woods,  the  job  was  made  even  more  difficult 
by  the  accelerated  schedule.  Conceived  in 
January  1993  and  started  in  mid-March,  the 
hotel  had  to  be  partially  open  by  the  July 
4th  weekend. 

"It  was  the  speediest  project  I've  ever 
worked  on — maybe  one  of  the  speediest 
projects  ever  built,"  Cianci  says.  "The  pace 
was  unbelievable.  We  literally  had  to  do  the 
structural  design  for  the  foundation  before 
the  design  of  the  hotel  was  complete.  We  did 
the  design  for  the  hotel  while  the  foundation 
was  being  poured." 

The  only  way  to  build  a  hotel  that  fast, 
Cianci  says,  was  to  make  it  a  modular  build- 
ing. A  factory  in  Pennsylvania  manufactured 
large  boxes,  each  of  which  consisted  of  two 
hotel  rooms  and  a  section  of  hallway 
between  them.  The  boxes,  complete  with 


WPI  Journal 


29 


wiring  and  plumbing,  were  hoisted 
into  position  and  fastened  together 
on  site. 

Because  the  building  was  built  on 
Pequot  land  that  is  not  part  of  the 
reservation,  it  had  to  meet  all  of 
Connecticut's  building  codes,  includ- 
ing seismic  requirements  passed  in 
1989.  "As  far  as  I  know,"  Cianci  says, 
"no  one  had  ever  done  the  structural 
engineering  for  a  three-story  modular 
building  that  had  to  meet  wind  and 
earthquake  requirements." 

Cianci  also  did  the  structural  en- 
gineering for  the  community  center, 
a  beautiful  92,000-square-foot  build- 
ing that  provides  recreational  and  meeting 
facilities  for  members  of  the  tribe.  The  steel- 
frame  building  is  shaped  like  a  bird;  its 
wings  house  a  pool  and  a  gymnasium.  "In 
these  areas,"  Cianci  says,  "there  are  90-foot 


"One  day  the  fire  marshal  told  them  they  had  just 
four  days  to  get  a  fire  pump  in  every  building  or 
he  would  shut  the  project  down." 
-Robert  Simonds 


Above,  Jack  Fitzgibbons,  left,  and  James  Carr  of  H.  Carr  &  Sons  in  the  Phase 
V  bingo  hall.  Center,  the  shopping  concourse  under  construction  in  1993. 


clear  spans  bridged  by  'glu-lam'  trusses. 
The  steel  plates  connecting  the  wooden 
trusses  are  shaped  like  arrowheads.  Those 
spans  presented  some  unique  challenges." 

Cianci  says  another  memorable  part  of 
his  involvement  with  Foxwoods  was  working 
with  the  Pequots,  who  have  been  insistent 
that  all  of  the  buildings — including  the  casi- 
nos— harmonize  well  with  their  natural  sur- 
roundings and  impact  the  land  as  little  as 
possible. 

"On  the  first  day  of  the  community  cen- 
ter project,  all  of  the  members  of  the  project 
team  came  to  look  at  the  site  with  the  tribal 
chairman,"  Cianci  says.  "He  explained  his 
ideas  and  said  that  the  tribe  was  very  con- 
cerned about  not  cutting  down  any  more 
trees  than  necessary.  Finally  he  said,  'Let's 
go  for  a  walk  in  the  woods.'  We  were  all  in 
our  suits,  so  we  thought  he  was  kidding.  But 
he  wasn't.  So  we  went  for  a  walk  in  the 
woods." 

Working  with  the  Pequots  was  also  an 
interesting  experience  for  Hayes  Pump 


in  West  Concord,  Mass.,  a  distributor  for 
pump  manufacturers,  notes  Robert  L. 
Simonds  '69ME,  vice  president  of  the  compa- 
ny. Hayes  sup- 
plied the  major- 
ity of  the  pumps 
used  at  Foxwoods, 
more  than  $750,000 
worth. 

While  much  of 
the  direct  contact 
with  the  Foxwoods 
contractors  was  han- 
dled by  the  firm's  Glastonbury,  Conn.,  office, 
both  Simonds  and  Gerry  D.  Nye  '87MSM,  a 
manager  at  Hayes,  helped  direct  the  contin- 
ual flow  of  water,  fuel  oil,  heating  and  fire 
pumps,  as  well  as  complete  sewage  lift  sta- 
tions, to  the  site. 

Simonds  says  the  requests  for  pumps 
were  spaced  out  over  the  course  of  the  con- 
struction, though  Hayes  did  have  to  meet 
one  particularly  large  order.  "They  were 
using  more  and  more  water  at  the  site  as  the 
buildings  went  up,"  Simonds  says.  "One  day 
the  fire  marshal  told  them  they  had  just  four 
days  to  get  a  fire  pump  in  every  building  or 
he  would  shut  the  project  down.  It  was  a 
challenge,  but  we  rounded  up  the  pumps 
they  needed  to  meet  the  deadline." 


F 


|oxwoods  is  not  a  typical  casino.  Instead 
of  the  neon  and  glitz  one  normally  asso- 
ciates with  Las  Vegas-style  gambling 
palaces,  the  buildings  at  the  Ledyard  resort 
are  decorated  in  an  understated  but  elegant 
style  that  reflects  the  Pequots'  respect  for 


nature  and  draws  heavily  on  the  tribe's  tra- 
ditional patterns  and  colors. 

Large  expanses  of  glass  let  visitors  see 
the  surrounding  woods  and  hillsides,  while 
waterfalls,  rocks  and  acres  of  greenery  bring 
a  bit  of  nature  indoors.  Decorative  panels  on 
the  building  exteriors  are  based  on  the 
weave  used  in  splint  baskets  made  by  the 
tribe  for  generations.  And  the  purple  and 
white  dominating  the  color  scheme  mimic 
the  colors  of  the  wampum  the  Pequots  once 
made  from  sea  shells. 

Two  firms,  H.  Carr  &  Sons,  an  interior 
contracting  firm  with  offices  in  Providence 
and  Boston,  and  Jesmac  Inc.,  a  Providence 
contracting  firm,  have  played  major  roles  in 
bringing  the  interiors  and  exteriors  of 
Foxwoods  to  life.  James  Carr  '74CE  is  presi- 
dent of  H.  Carr;  Jack  Fitzgibbons  '75CE  is 
vice  president.  The  president  of  Jesmac  is 
Rick  Rudis  '76CE.  The  three  became  friends 
while  they  were  fraternity  brothers  at  WPI. 

H.  Carr  &  Sons,  which  was  established  as 
a  family-owned  plastering  operation  in  1930, 
currently  offers  a  variety  of  state-of-the-art 
construction  methods,  including  metal-stud 
partitioning  and  acoustical  ceiling  instal- 
lation, Carr  says.  The  firm  has  participated 
in  more  than  3,000  projects,  not  the  least  of 
which  was  Copley  Place,  the  elegant  up- 
scale shopping  and  office  complex  in  the 
heart  of  Boston. 

To  satisfy  the  architect's  unique  design 
for  that  600,000-square-foot  project,  H.  Carr 
developed  a  new  type  of  plaster  application 
that  ultimately  reduced  the  cost  to  the  pro- 
ject's owner.  Similar  specialty  interior  con- 


30 


Spring  1994 


M**» 


The  distinctive  and  colorful  bas- 
ket-weave patterns  that  can  be  seen 
on  the  exteriors  of  the  buildings  in 
the  main  Foxwoods  complex  also 
reflect  Jesmac's  efforts.  "We  in- 
stalled the  exterior  skin,"  Rudis  says, 
"which  is  made  up  of  plastic  panels. 
We  also  installed  a  variety  of  other 
exterior  finishings  throughout  the 
complex." 


A 


Above,  from  left,  Tom  Pureed,  Jim  Granger  and  Rick  Rudis  of  Jesmac  Inc. 
In  the  background  are  some  of  the  plastic  panels  the  company  installed. 


struction  methods  were  used  at  Foxwoods 
throughout  the  concourses,  towering  atri- 
ums and  spacious  rooms,  where  the  Sheet- 
rock,  drywall,  decorative  fiberglass  column 
coverings  and  other  interior  finishes  also 
bear  the  Carr  stamp. 

A  particularly  distinctive  section  of  the 
main  concourse  in  the  Phase  IV  casino  is  also 
a  Carr  product.  One  side  of  the  concourse  is 
lined  with  a  long  row  of  Colonial  storefronts 
highlighted  with  pastel  entrances,  small- 
paned  windows  and  fancy  soffits.  "We 
designed  and  built  the  storefronts  using  foam 
and  fiberglass  backup  for  the  simulated  plas- 
ter cornices  and  moldings,"  Carr  says. 

Similar  work  went  into  creating  the 
streetscapes  and  interiors  for  Cinetropolis,  a 
high-tech  theme  park  inside  the  new  casino. 
The  entertainment  complex  includes  a 
games  arcade;  a  theater  where  viewers  are 
taken  on  simulated  flights  on  a  jet  fighter, 
among  other  adventures;  a  360-degree  the- 
ater that  can  be  converted  to  a  nightclub; 
and  another  hall  that  can  be  set  up  as  either 
a  300-seat,  giant-screen  theater  or  a  1,400- 
seat  arena. 

H.  Carr  &  Sons  and  Jesmac,  on  the 
Foxwoods  site  since  1991,  have  often 
worked  around  the  clock,  seven  days  a 
week,  to  stay  on  schedule  as  the  project 
moved  quickly  from  phase  to  phase.  They 
have  managed  to  stay  on  schedule — even 
ahead  of  it,  at  times — despite  the  flash-track 
pace  and  the  vagaries  of  New  England 
weather.  "This  was  an  especially  tough  win- 
ter," James  Carr  says.  "There  was  lots  of 
snow  and  for  days  at  a  time  the  temperature 


didn't  reach  double  digits.  Hard  working 
conditions. 

"We  are  currently  running  two  eight-hour 
shifts  a  day,"  Carr  says  on  a  cool  spring  day 
as  his  crews  and  those  of  Jesmac  busily 
work  on  the  bingo  hall  and  parking  lot 
expansion  of  Phases  V  and  VI.  "We  usually 
have  a  basic  staff  of  10 — five  site  engineers 
and  five  superintendents.  We  also  employ 
about  200  tradesmen." 

Jesmac,  which  specializes  in  interior 
construction  finishes,  exterior  wall  finish 
systems  and  sprayed  fireproofing,  has 
become  a  major  subcontractor 
in  the  New  England  area  since 
its  founding  five  years  ago. 
The  company  has  done 
work  on  the  Pfizer  Organic 
Synthesis  Project  and  the 
Polaroid   11-X  facility, 
among  other  projects, 
and  has  seen  its  annual 
sales  volume  top  $20 
million. 

Also  representing 
Jesmac  on  site  are 

Tom  Purcell  '92MG  and  Jim  Granger  '86CE. 
Purcell  was  assigned  to  the  project  from  the 
start  to  finish  of  Phases  III  and  IV;  Granger 
joined  the  project  team  in  the  summer  of 
1993.  They've  helped  the  firm  complete  a 
wide  range  of  interior  construction  work  at 
Foxwoods,  including  wall  systems,  sprayed 
fireproofing,  light-gauge  metal  stud  walls, 
gypsum  wall  systems  and  acoustical  treat- 
ments. The  company  also  did  the  interior 
work  for  the  community  center. 


s  the  latest  phases  of  the  Fox- 
woods project  move  toward 
completion  at  their  typically 
dizzying  pace,  the  complex  remains 
a  study  in  contrasts.  Outside,  the  air 
is  filled  with  noise  and  dust  as  cranes  swing 
steel  beams  and  pallets  loaded  with  con- 
struction supplies  over  the  unfinished  park- 
ing garage;  front-end  loaders  fill  dump 
trucks  with  earth;  power  tools  roar  as  work- 
ers apply  the  finishing  touches  to  the  new 
buildings;  and  trucks  and  jeeps  hurry  from 
one  construction  site  to  another. 

Inside,  there  is  noise  of  a  different  sort  as 
patrons  place  their  bets  at  more  than  300 
gaming  tables,  set  some  3,000  slot  machines 
spinning,  and  wander  through  the  bustling 
concourses,  restaurants  and  hotels,  seem- 
ingly unaware  of  the  frenetic  construction 
activity  just  beyond  the  walls. 


'This  was  an  especially  tough  winter. 
There  was  lots  of  snow  and  for  days  at  a 
time  the  temperature  didnt  reach  double 
digits.  Hard  working  conditions." 
-James  Carr 


These  visitors,  who  arrive  by  the  thou- 
sands each  day  in  cars,  limousines  and 
buses,  may  never  realize  as  they  take  in  the 
grandeur  of  the  complex  and  its  surround- 
ings that  they  are  witnessing  the  products  of 
a  small  miracle  of  modern  construction.  But 
for  the  people  who  made  it  all  happen, 
including  nine  graduates  of  WPI,  Foxwoods 
will  always  be  a  monument  to  their  talent, 
craftsmanship,  hard  work,  and  willingness 
to  do  whatever  it  took  to  get  the  job  done. 


WPI  Journal 


31 


FINAL  WORD 


By  Michael  Dorsey 

It  took  more  than  four  decades  for 
Michael  W.  Klein,  professor  of  physics,  to 
feel  ready  to  talk  in  public  about  his 
experiences  as  a  prisoner  in  Nazi  concen- 
tration camps  during  World  War  II  and 
about  Oskar  Schindler,  the  man  to  whom  he 
owes  his  life.  Since  the  release  of  Steven 
Spielberg's  Oscar-winning  film  about  the 
German  businessman,  Klein  has  been  talking 
about  it  a  good  deal  as  local  groups  ask  him 
to  come  and  tell,  yet  again,  his  compelling 
tale  of  horror,  tragedy  and  survival. 

Klein's  journey  into  the  Holocaust  began 
in  Janoshalma,  Hungary,  not  long  after  his 
13th  birthday,  when  the  Germans  occupied 
his  native  country.  Like  all  Hungarian  Jews, 
Klein's  family,  including  his  father  (a  rabbi), 
his  mother,  and  his  10  brothers  and  sisters, 
were  ordered  into  the  overcrowded  ghetto 
of  Baczalmas.  For  about  six  weeks  they 
endured  hardship  and  hunger. 

The  men  were  eventually  sent  to  work 
with  a  Hungarian  forced  labor  battalion. 
Then  one  morning  the  women  and  children 
were  lined  up  and  marched  three  miles  to 
waiting  cattle  cars.  Without  water  and  with 
only  the  meager  food  they  had  carried  with 
them,  they  rode  for  five  days.  "Conditions  in 
the  cars  were  horrible,"  Klein  says.  "It  was 
June  24th  when  they  loaded  us  in  and  it  was 
very  hot.  But  the  worst  part  was  that  there 
was  no  fresh  air — there  were  just  two  small 
openings  at  the  ends  of  the  car." 

On  the  fifth  day  the  train  stopped.  The 
doors  of  the  cars  were  opened  in  unison  as 
capos  (prisoners  who  worked  for  the 
Germans)  jumped  aboard.  With  cries  of 
"Raus!  Raus!"  ("Out!  Out!"),  they  swung  clubs 
with  brutal  force,  beating  the  prisoners  and 
driving  them  from  the  cars.  This  was  the 
"welcome"  all  prisoners  received  to  Bir- 
kenau,  part  of  the  infamous  German  concen- 
tration and  annihilation  camp  in  Auschwitz, 
Poland. 

"The  German  SS  were  all  around  with 
dogs  and  machine  guns,"  Klein  says.  "They 
said  old  people  and  women  with  children 
should  go  to  the  right  and  women  without 
children  and  men  should  go  to  the  left.  We 
marched  down  a  10-yard  path  made  by  the 
train  on  which  we  had  arrived  on  the  right- 
hand  side  and  high-voltage  barbed  wire  on 
the  left-hand  side." 

Being  tall  for  his  age,  Klein  went  with  the 
men.  He  noticed  that  his  younger  brother, 
David,  was  walking  beside  him.  Remem- 
bering the  SS  officer's  instructions,  he  sent 


him  back  to  find  their  mother.  Only  later  did 
he  learn  that  in  doing  so  he  had  sent  his 
brother  to  his  death,  for,  not  fit  for  hard 
labor,  the  children  and  their  mothers  were 
taken  immediatly  to  the  gas  chambers. 

Klein  was  assigned  to  Barracks  16 — the 
children's  block — where  a  thousand  children, 
their  heads  shaved,  were  crowded  together, 
sleeping  on  the  concrete  floor  and  subsisting 
on  a  starvation  diet.  After  seven  weeks,  Klein's 
father  also  arrived  at  Auschwitz  and  was 
assigned  to  the  same  camp  as 
Klein.  Auschwitz  provided  labor 
for  nearby  German  factories  and 
two  days  after  his  arrival  the  elder 
Klein  was  selected  to  go  to  work  in 
the  cement  factory  at  Golleschau. 

"I  cried  very  hard,"  Klein  says, 
"that  just  two  days  after  I  met  up 
with  him  again  he  was  going 
away.  He  said,  'I  am  not  saying 
goodbye  to  you.  We'll  see  what 
we  can  do.' 

"The  Germans  wrote  down 
the  names  of  the  people  they 
selected — we  didn't  yet  have  our 
numbers  tattooed  on  our  arms.  I 
went  around  and  asked  every 
prisoner  if  they  wanted  to  change 
with  me.  There  was  a  prisoner 
who  had  a  brother  in  Auschwitz  and  wanted 
to  stay  with  him.  So  I  took  his  name — Gold- 
berger,  Arnold."  [Klein  says  he  appears  on 
Oskar  Schindler's  list  under  this  name.] 

In  leaving  with  his  father,  Klein  escaped 
certain  death,  for  the  occupants  of  the  chil- 
dren's block  were  gassed  on  Rosh  Hasha- 
nah.  But  survival  was  by  no  means  certain  at 
Golleschau,  which  was  a  work-annihilation 
camp.  Half  of  the  workers  died,  were  killed 
or  were  taken  back  to  the  gas  chambers  at 
Birkenau  every  three  months.  Klein's  father 
would  not  survive  his  time  at  the  camp  and 
Klein  worked  with  a  broken  hip  to  avoid 
being  killed. 

At  Golleschau,  rocks  were  mined  from  a 
mountain  for  use  in  the  cement  factory. 
Klein  and  his  father,  working  side  by  side, 
helped  build  a  cable  cart  line  that  was  to  be 
used  to  carry  the  stones  to  the  factory.  Not 
long  after  his  father  was  taken  back  to 
Birkenau,  Klein  was  injured  when  a  lorry  ran 
over  his  foot.  He  ended  up  in  the  camp  hos- 
pital— in  reality  a  room  with  no  medical 
equipment  or  supplies  where  injured  and 
sick  prisoners  were  held. 

Normally  the  hospital  was  a  temporary 


way  station  for  prisoners  destined  for  the 
gas  chambers.  But  by  late  December  1944 
the  Germans,  preparing  to  evacuate 
Auschwitz  in  advance  of  the  arrival  of 
Russian  troops,  stopped  using  the  cham- 
bers. In  January  1945  everyone  in  Klein's 
camp  was  evacuated — except  for  the  94  pris- 
oners in  the  hospital. 

"We  were  hoping  that  the  Germans  had 
all  left  and  that  we  were  free,"  Klein  says. 
"But  that  same  afternoon  SS  guards  with 


Saved  by 

Schindler, 

Michael  Klein 

Got  on  With 

His  Life 


machine  guns  walked  in,  so  we  knew  our 
hopes  were  dashed." 

Two  days  later  the  prisoners  were  load- 
ed into  cattle  cars.  The  train  moved  intermit- 
tently for  about  three  days.  Then  the  loco- 
motive was  unhitched  and  the  cars  were 
abandoned  on  an  isolated  siding.  A  capo 
beat  the  other  prisoners  and  forced  them  to 
scream  for  help  every  half  hour.  Several 
more  days  passed  before  a  railway  worker 
heard  their  cries  and  informed  Oskar  Schin- 
dler's brother-in-law,  who  worked  for  the 
German  railway. 

The  brother-in-law  notified  Schindler  and 
the  next  day  a  locomotive  pulled  the  cars  to 
the  village  where  Schindler  had  his  factory. 
Prisoners  working  for  Schindler  used  blow 
torches  to  unfreeze  the  locks  on  the  cattle 
cars.  When  the  doors  were  opened,  the  34 
prisoners  who  had  survived  were  fed  hot 
farina.  "Apparently  Schindler  knew  that  if  we 
ate  regular  food  we  would  die  from  diarrhea, 
because  we  had  not  eaten  in  eight  days." 

Hot  farina  arrived  again  the  next  morning 
and  then  the  prisoners  were  led  or  carried 
to  Schindler's  camp.  Klein  threw  off  his  filthy 
prison  clothes  and  jumped  into  the  hot 


32 


Spring  1994 


showers  Schindler  provided.  "I  just  enjoyed 
tremendously  the  sensation  of  hot  water 
flowing  over  my  face  and  over  my  body," 
Klein  says. 

The  new  prisoners  were  quarantined  for 
three  weeks.  Still  weak,  Klein  went  to  work 
in  Schindler's  factory  making  bullet  casings. 
Klein  says  Schindler's  "was  the  heaven  of  all 
camps."  Workers  were  not  beaten  and  were 
fed  adequately.  Each  prisoner  had  his  or  her 
own  bunk.  But  there  were  no  medical  facili- 
ties and  most  of  the  Jews  who'd  survived 
the  trip  with  Klein  to  Schindler's  camp  ulti- 
mately died. 

By  spring,  it  was  becoming  clear  that  the 
war  was  winding  down.  On  May  8  Schindler 
gathered  everyone  together  to  tell  them  it 
was  finally  over.  "We  were  all  standing  on 
the  machines  trying  to  see  him,"  Klein  says. 


"He  said,  'I  know  what  was  done  to  you.  And 
1  know  what  you  went  through  you  will 
never  forget.  But  I  hope  you  remember  that 
this  German  did  what  he  could." 

The  next  day  the  Russians  came  and  the 
prisoners  were  on  their  own.  Klein  devel- 
oped a  fever  of  103,  which  he  would  endure 
for  two  years.  He  traveled  in  the  back  of  a 
horse-drawn  cart  to  Brno,  Czechoslovakia, 
where  he  was  hospitalized.  He  learned  there 
that  he  had  contracted  tuberculosis. 

Because  he  was  Hungarian,  he  wasn't 
allowed  to  stay  in  the  Czech  hospital.  With 
great  difficulty,  he  worked  his  way  back  to 
Hungary,  where  he  learned  that  two  of  his 
sisters  had  also  survived  the  war.  His  older 
sister  took  him  to  the  American  Zone  in 
Germany;  he  would  remain  there  in  a  hos- 
pital for  five  years. 


After  two  years,  his  temperature  was  low 
enough  for  him  to  begin  to  read.  "I  concen- 
trated all  my  energies  on  trying  to  educate 
myself,"  he  says.  "I  taught  myself  German, 
which  became  my  best  language.  1  got  books 
on  math  and  physics  and  taught  myself  frac- 
tions and  algebra." 

When  he  was  well  enough,  Klein  came  to 
the  United  States.  The  Korean  War  had  start- 
ed and  many  colleges  were  admitting  as  spe- 
cial students  qualified  young  men  and 
women  who  had  not  completed  high  school. 
Klein  earned  a  bachelor's  degree  in  engi- 
neering physics  at  the  University  of  Colo- 
rado, graduating  at  the  top  of  his  class,  and 
went  on  to  earn  a  Ph.D.  in  theoretical  phys- 
ics at  Cornell. 

While  at  Cornell  he  met  another  Holo- 
caust survivor,  who  would  become  his  wife; 
today  they  have  two  children  and  eight 
grandchildren.  A  professor  at  WPI  since 
1979,  he  has  also  developed  an  international 
reputation  for  his  work  in  theoretical 
physics,  especially  his  pioneering  work  on 
explaining  certain  anomalous  low-tempera- 
ture properties  of  glasses. 

"I  have  taken  on  as  my  motto,  'Never  Look 
Back,'"  he  says.  "I  have  looked  forward  and 
tried  to  establish  for  myself  a  normal  life.  It  is 
this  attitude  that  has  helped  my  wife  and  me 
become  active  and  useful  members  of  society, 
rather  than  crying  over  the  past." 

But  Klein  has  looked  back,  too.  In  addition 
to  his  talks,  he  has  written  several  articles 
about  his  experiences  at  Auschwitz  and  is  at 
work  on  a  book  about  his  life.  To  verify  his 
memories,  he  has  taken  trips  back  to  Poland 
and  Hungary.  On  a  visit  to  the  cement  factory 
with  his  oldest  son,  he  found  it  unchanged 
after  nearly  50  years.  "I  could  close  my  eyes 
and  take  him  from  place  to  place,"  he  says.  "I 
remembered  every  detail  so  well.  These  are 
things  that  are  engraved  in  one's  mind." 

Since  Schindler's  List  opened,  Klein  says  he 
has  been  frequently  asked  his  opinion  of  its 
central  character.  "He  clearly  started  out  as 
someone  trying  to  profit  from  the  Jews  by 
using  their  money  to  enrich  himself,"  he  says. 
"But  as  time  went  on  he  became  more  and 
more  dedicated  to  saving  the  Jews  who 
worked  for  him.  He  did  that  by  drinking  and 
womanizing  with  the  SS — with  the  murderers. 

"People  ask  me,  'Did  this  make  him  a 
good  man  or  a  bad  man?'  I  say  if  he  hadn't 
done  what  he  did  he  couldn't  have  saved 
anyone,  so  it  doesn't  really  matter.  1  think  he 
was  a  great  man." 


WPI  Journal 


INSTITUTE 


SUMMER  1994 


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Cover:  Cut-paper  illustration  by 
Laura  Tedeschi.  Story  on  page  8. 
This  page:  In  the  spring,  work 
began  on  the  new  20,000-square-foot 
addition  to  Higgins  Laboratories. 
This  view  shows  the  addition's  second  V 
floor  shortly  after  the  steel  frame 
was  completed.  The  outer  wall  of  the 
original  building  can  be  seen  at  left. 
Photo  by  Janet  Woodcock. 
Back  Cover:  The  lush  green  of 
summer  surrounds  the  entrance  to 
Atwater  Kent  Laboratories.  Photo  by 
Janet  Woodcock. 


WH  Journal 


VOLUME  XCVII  NO.  3    SUMMER  1994 


8 


17 
20 
24 
26 

28 


2 
3 
4 
5 

32 


FEATURES 

Net  Assets 

Michael  W.  Dorsey 

The  Internet  is  disorganized,  hard  to  use,  and  easy  to  get  lost  in.  But  it's  also  a 
powerful  way  to  communicate,  meet  new  people,  answer  questions — even  get  a  job. 
Here's  a  look  at  this  "network  of  networks." 

The  Entrepreneurial  Spirit:  New  Order  in  an  Old  Industry 

Joan  Killough-Miller 

Under  Paul  Kennedy  '67,  Kennedy  Die  Castings  remade  itself  to  survive  the  recession  and 

foreign  competition.  Now  it's  a  model  for  other  small  manufacturing  companies  to  emulate. 

Getting  a  Job:  A  New  Decade  Brings  New  Realities 

Diane  Benison 

Today's  graduates  are  facing  a  tougher,  more  competitive  job  market.  To  get  employed, 

they  need  a  lot  more  than  knowledge. 

All  the  Stops  Along  the  Way 

Ruth  Trask 

The  Career  Development  Center  helps  students  make  career  planning  an  integral  part 

of  their  four  years  at  the  Institute. 

A  Workplace  Survival  Kit  for  Technical  Professionals 

Barbara  Veal 

Once  you've  found  a  job,  how  do  you  keep  it?  And  what  can  you  do  to  keep  moving 

up  and  growing  personally?  Here  are  some  pointers. 

The  Return  of  the  Golden  One 

Joan  Killough-Miller 

As  a  child,  he  survived  the  Khmer  Rouge,  the  jungle  and  a  refugee  camp  in  Thailand. 
Now  an  American  citizen,  Lee  Kenseth  Abel  journeys  back  to  Cambodia  to  find  out 
what — and  who — he  left  behind. 

DEPARTMENTS 

Advance  Word    Michael  Dorsey 
Wanted:  A  Helping  Hand. 

Letters 

This  Dog  Won't  Hunt;  Boyd  Taught  Students  How  to  Think. 

Input    Morton  S.  Fine  '37 

Academia  is  Shortchanging  New  Engineers. 

Investigations    Michael  Dorsey 

Light  at  the  End  of  the  Tunnel  for  CNG-Fueled  Vehicles;  Tapping  Into  Clean 

Water  at  a  Reasonable  Cost;  Where  the  Rubber  Meets  the  Road. 

Final  Word    Joan  Killough-Miller 
"Shy  Inventor"  Kept  Byrd  on  Course. 


Staff  of  the  WPI  Journal:  Editor,  Michael  W.  Dorsey  •  Contributing  Writers,  Bonnie  Gelbwasser,  Joan  Killough-Miller,  Neil  Norum  and  Ruth  Trask  •  Art  Director/Designer,  Michael  J.  Sherman  • 
Photographer.  Janet  Woodcock.  Alumni  Publications  Committee:  Samuel  Mencow  '37,  chairman  •  Paul  J.  Cleary  71  •  James  S.  Demetry  '58  •  Judith  Donahue  SIM  '82  •  William  J.  Firla  Jr.  '60  • 
William  R  Grogan  '46  •  Robert  C.  Labonte  '54  •  Roger  N.  Perry  Jr.  '45  •  Harlan  B.  Williams  '50  •  The  WPI  Journal  (ISSN  0148-6128)  is  published  quarterly  for  the  WPI  Alumni  Association  by  the 
Office  of  University  Relations.  Second-class  postage  paid  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  additional  mailing  offices.  Printed  by  The  Lane  Press,  Burlington,  Vt.  Printed  in  the  U.S.A. 

Diverse  views  presented  in  Ms  magazine  do  not  necessarily  reflect  the  opinions  of  the  editors  or  official  WPI  policies.  We  welcome  letters  to  the  editor  Address  correspondence  to  the  Editor,  WPI  Journal, 
WPI  100  Institute  Road,  Worcester.  MA  01609-2280  Phone:  (508)  831-5609,  Fax  (508)  831-5604,  Electronic  Mail  (Internet),  mwdorsey@wpi.wpi.edu.  Postmaster  If  undelwerable.  please  send  Form  3579 
to  the  address  above.  Do  not  return  publication.  Entire  contents  ©  1994.  Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute. 


ADVANCE  WORD 


Wanted: 

A  Helping  Hand 


The  Spring  1994  WPI  Wire  included  a 
story  on  the  vital  role  that  alumni, 
as  members  of  the  Alumni  Admis- 
sions Program,  play  in  attracting 
and  admitting  new  WPI  students. 
Alumni,  of  course,  can  also  help  by  letting 
the  Admissions  Office  know  about  talented 
high  school  students  who  might  be  interest- 
ed in  what  WPI  has  to  offer  and  by  talking  to 
high  school  students,  teachers  and  guidance 
counselors  about  the  Institute.  WPI  can  also 
use  the  help  of  alumni  when  it  comes  time  to 
help  students  plan  and  launch  their  careers. 
As  this  issue  of  the  WPI  Journal  goes  to 
press,  about  a  third  of  the  Class  of  1994  is 
still  looking  for  work.  With  corporate  down- 
sizings  and  realignments,  and  the  continuing 
economic  shocks  of  the  recent  recession, 
starting  a  career  has  become  a  far  more 
challenging  and  uncertain  task  for  graduates 
of  engineering  and  science  programs.  The 
changing  economy  has  also  left  many  other 
WPI  graduates  seeking  new  jobs  or  rethink- 
ing their  career  plans. 

We  thought  this  would  be  a  good  time  to 
look  at  the  changing  employment  picture  for 
our  graduates  and  at  how  the  Institute  is 


responding  to  that  shifting  landscape.  Our 
coverage  begins  on  page  20.  As  you'll  see, 
WPI's  Career  Development  Center,  once  pri- 
marily a  placement  service,  now  offers  a 
wide  range  of  career  planning  services. 

It  also  begins  working  with  students  long 
before  they  graduate — and  continues  long 
after  they  graduate.  In  fact,  the  center  offers 
alumni  many  of  the  same  services  available  to 
undergraduates,  including  access  to  job  post- 
ings and  a  jobs  hot  line,  a  resume  referral  ser- 
vice, a  library  of  literature  and  videotapes  on 
corporations,  and  one-on-one  counseling. 

This  changing  focus  began  about  seven 
years  ago  when  the  WPI  Alumni  Association 
launched  a  new  initiative  called  Career 
Connections.  The  program  was  designed  to 
fill  a  real  need  among  students  and  gradu- 
ates for  sound  advice  on  career  planning 
and  other  career-related  issues. 

The  association  also  recognized  that 
WPI's  alumni  body  represents  a  tremendous 
resource,  constituting  20,000  men  and 
women  with  personal  experience  in  career 
planning,  many  thousands  of  employers 
with  jobs  to  fill,  thousands  of  potential 
clients  and  associates,  and  thousands  of 


professionals  with  valuable  contacts. 

To  bring  these  alumni  together  with  each 
other  and  with  current  students,  Career 
Connections,  in  conjunction  with  several 
WPI  offices,  created  and  funded  the  highly 
successful  Career  Day,  an  annual  event  that 
featured  workshops,  seminars,  panel  discus- 
sions and  lectures  on  career-related  topics. 
Other  Career  Connections  initiatives  includ- 
ed workshops  and  panels  for  alumni  in  spe- 
cific disciplines  and  a  program  that  helps 
underclassmen  choose  a  major. 

The  programs  were  great  successes, 
notes  Sharon  Davis,  director  of  alumni  pro- 
grams. Each  garnered  a  high  turnout  and 
enthusiastic  comments  from  participants. 
Many  of  those  initiatives  have  been  incorpo- 
rated into  the  programs  of  the  Career 
Development  Center,  but  that  doesn't  mean 
that  the  Alumni  Association  has  set  aside  its 
interest  in  career  planning. 

"Quite  the  contrary,"  Davis  says.  "In  fact, 
the  first  goal  of  the  association's  new  Master 
Plan  is  to  continue  to  help  undergraduates 
and  alumni  in  developing  lifelong  career- 
related  skills  and  to  continue  to  develop 
career-related  services." 

The  association  has  two  new  initiatives. 
It  will  fund  the  installation  of  a  computer  at 
the  CDC  for  use  by  alumni.  The  computer 
will  let  users  tap  into  CDC  services,  such  as 
Resume  Expert  Plus  (see  page  24),  and  pre- 
pare cover  letters  and  other  correspon- 
dence to  prospective  employers. 

The  second  initiative  is  a  new  database 
program  that  will  match  alumni  with  other 
alumni  and  undergraduates  who  are  seeking 
information  on  careers  or  companies.  This 
new  Alumni  Network  will  be  made  possible 
by  the  energy  and  talents  of  a  host  of  alumni 
volunteers,  Davis  says.  Those  volunteers 
were  identified  through  the  survey  done  as 
part  of  the  publication  of  the  new  Alumni 
Directory.  The  survey  asked  alumni  if  they 
would  be  willing  to  volunteer  to  help  out 
with  the  Institute's  career  services.  "We 
were  pleasantly  surprised  to  get  1,200  posi- 
tive responses,"  she  says. 

Also  pleased  was  Yvonne  Harrison, 
director  of  the  Career  Development  Center. 
Harrison  says  her  office  is  keen  to  involve  as 
many  alumni  as  possible,  and  says  the 
Alumni  Network  will  help.  For  example, 
alumni  can  let  the  CDC  know  when  they 
learn  of  new  job  openings.  Through  a  pro- 
gram called  Professionals  in  Action,  they  can 
help  recent  graduates  learn  more  about 
their  disciplines. 

"This  is  a  program  for  underclassmen 
who  want  to  know  more  about  particular 


Summer  1994 


LETTERS 


careers,"  she  says.  "They  spend  a  day  or 
two  with  an  alum  to  see  what  his  or  her 
work  is  really  like.  Alumni  can  also  make 
themselves  available  for  informational 
interviews,  which  let  students  ask  about 
their  work,  about  how  they've  managed 
their  careers,  and  about  the  kinds  of 
opportunities  available  in  their  fields." 

Harrison  says  she  also  hopes  to  start  a 
mentoring  program  that  will  match  up 
alumni  with  specific  underclassmen.  "The 
alumni  would  meet  with  the  students  once 
or  twice  each  year  to  make  sure  they  are 
taking  the  steps  that  will  make  them  more 
marketable  to  employers  when  they  reach 
graduation."  Also  under  consideration  is  a 
host  program,  in  which  alumni  living  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country  would  talk  to 
students  doing  job  searches  or  interview- 
ing in  those  areas  about  the  quality  of  life, 
employment  opportunities,  and  so  on. 

The  CDC  also  needs  help  from  alumni 
in  setting  up  summer  work  opportunities, 
co-op  assignments  and  internships. 
"About  a  third  of  each  class  applies  to  do 
a  co-op,  but  we  simply  don't  have  enough 
opportunities  in  most  fields.  We  need  to 
expand  our  undergraduate  work  pro- 
grams, and  we're  appealing  to  our  alumni 
for  help  in  doing  so." 

Alumni  can  also  play  an  important  role 
in  helping  graduates  find  permanent 
employment — especially  within  their  own 
companies.  That  not  only  means  hiring 
WPI  graduates  for  open  positions,  but 
making  sure  that  others  within  their  orga- 
nizations understand  the  value  added  by 
a  WPI  education. 

"Alumni  should  be  our  most  important 
recruiting  source,  because  they  already 
know  what  our  program  is  all  about," 
Harrison  says.  "They  understand  it,  and 
they  can  sell  it  internally  to  their  counter- 
parts and  peers.  This  is  especially  impor- 
tant at  organizations  that  aren't  familiar 
with  us  or  haven't  had  as  much  exposure 
to  our  graduates. 

"Our  alumni  know  the  value  of  their 
own  education.  They  know  that  WPI  grad- 
uates possess  the  qualities  their  compa- 
nies are  looking  for — things  like  a  team 
orientation  and  global  experience.  They 
can  do  a  good  job  of  raising  WPI's  visi- 
bility within  their  organizations.  And  this 
can  have  a  great  return.  After  all,  when 
you  are  looking  to  build  yourself  up  in  an 
organization,  you  have  to  also  build  up 
your  background,  and  that  includes  your 
university." 

—Michael  Dorsey 


This  Dog 
Won't  Hunt 

To  the  Editor: 

Re:  "To  Alma  Mater,  Good  and  True" 
(Winter  1994).  Let  me  say  right  off  the 
bat,  1  think  the  present  WPI  alma 
mater  is  a  dog. 

The  whole  thing  is  too  long  and  cum- 
bersome, the  music  is  difficult  to  remem- 
ber, and  the  words  are  even  more  difficult 
to  remember  and  are  at  odds  with  the  char- 
acter of  the  school  today. 

Just  look  at  the  photograph  that  accom- 
panied the  article  (reprinted  here).  The 
WPI  Student  Alumni  Society  is  singing  the 
Alma  Mater,  and  see  how  many  of  them  are 
having  to  refer  to  the  words.  Would  this 


happen  at  Dartmouth  or  Princeton  or 
Cornell?  No  way. 

Although  our  class  was  drilled  in  the 
singing  of  this  nightmare,  I  doubt  if  many 
remember  the  tune  and  the  words.  1  don't 
myself,  but  I  can  sing  the  Princeton  and 
Cornell  alma  maters  by  heart.  Their 
words  and  music  are  uncomplicated  and 
memorable. 

Take  a  poll  of  the  total  WPI  alumni  and 
see  how  many  could  sing  our  alma  mater  by 


heart.  I  attended  the  50th  Reunion  of  my 
class  in  June  and  almost  all  of  the  graduates 
at  the  Reunion  Luncheon  had  to  read  the 
words  in  the  program  to  cope.  In  fact,  Alex 
Papianou  '57  announced  that  he  would  lead 
the  singing  since  he  was  probably  one  of 
only  two  alumni  there  who  knew  the  tune! 

The  present  alma  mater  is  an  Edsel  and 
should  be  given  an  honorable  retirement.  A 
new  one  should  be  chosen  that  would  have 
no  more  than  eight  lines  and  an  uncompli- 
cated melody  that  lends  itself  to  harmony. 

Let's  have  a  competition  for  a  decent 
alma  mater  that  can  be  presented  to  the 
student  body,  the  faculty,  the  administra- 
tion and  the  alumni  for  their  approval — not 
just  to  a  committee. 

— Erling  Lagerholm  '44 
Carmel,  Calif. 

Boyd  Taught 
Students  How 
to  Think 

To  the  Editor: 


M: 


y  husband  and  1  are  both  members  of 
the  Class  of  1989.  We  were  so  pleased 
,  to  see  such  an  eloquent  chronicle  on 
Professor  Jack  Boyd  ("The  Privilege  of 
Teaching,"  Winter  1994).  1  am  truly  sad- 
dened that  Professor  Boyd  will  not  be  a  key 
player  in  the  development  of  "Plan  II."  His 
was  the  class  that  taught  students  how  to 
think.  His  enthusiasm  and  commitment  are 
catching  even  today.  Professor  Boyd  is  the 
epitome  of  everything  I  valued  at  WPI. 

Many  WPI  students  could  have  attend- 
ed schools  like  MIT,  but  they  wanted  a 
school  with  excellent  teachers,  not  re- 
searchers who  were  inaccessible  to  them.  I 
sincerely  hope  that  the  ongoing  push  at 
WPI  for  advanced  research  will  not  be  at 
the  expense  of  superior  teachers. 

Undergraduates  need  mentors  and  pro- 
fessors who  allow — and  encourage — stu- 
dents to  go  to  them  with  problems,  to  free- 
ly ask  questions,  and  to  even  share  a  joke 
with.  Professor  Boyd  is  that  type  of  men- 
tor. His  humility  and  caring  for  his  students 
is  real.  I  never  once  went  to  his  office  with- 
out feeling  better  when  I  left. 

I  am  disappointed  that  WPI  will  no  longer 
be  home  for  Professor  Boyd.  I  wish  him  all 
the  happiness  in  the  world  and  thank  him  for 
the  part  he  played  in  my  total  education. 
WPI  will  never  be  the  same  without  him. 

—Kathleen  (Murray)  King  '89 
Stow,  Mass. 


WPI  Journal 


INPUT 


Academia  is  Shortchanging 
New  Engineers 


By  Morton  S.  Fine  '37  P.E. 

As  a  result  of  a  long  and  intense 
involvement  with  engineering  regis- 
tration, I  have  reached  the  conclu- 
sion that,  year  after  year,  new  crops 
of  engineering  graduates  are  being 
shortchanged  by  the  profession  and  by 
academia.  These  students  are  not  being 
given  the  knowledge  they  need  about  engi- 
neering licensure  and  its  processes,  with  the 
result  that  comparatively  few  take  the  first 
step  toward  their  professional  registration. 
That's  unfortunate  for  the  students  and  for 
the  stature  of  the  engineering  profession. 

It  is  ironic  that  only  about  one  in  four 
highly  qualified  engineers  in  this  country 
may  write  the  letters  "P.E."  (professional 
engineer)  after  their  names.  In  sharp  con- 
trast, virtually  all  physicians  may  use  the 
title  "M.D."  (medical  doctor),  and  they  do  so 
with  pride.  The  title  is  prestigious  and  com- 
mands the  respect  of  the  public. 

Persons  who  have  earned  a  doctorate  in 
medicine  may  use  their  professional  title 
whether  or  not  a  state  subsequently  licenses 
them  to  practice.  But  while  the  engineering 
profession,  through  the  Accreditation  Board 
for  Engineering  and  Technology  (ABET), 
sets  the  requirements  for  the  baccalaureate 
engineering  degree,  the  right  to  use  the  title 
P.E.  is  determined  by  the  states. 

States  grant  professional  engineering 
licenses  to  those  who  may  offer  services  to 
the  public.  But  thousands  of  thoroughly 
qualified  engineers  have  no  need  for  such  a 
license.  They  are  professional  engineers  in 
the  best  sense  of  the  term,  but  they  have  lit- 
tle incentive  to  pursue  the  prestigious  P.E. 
title  and  the  strong  identification  with  the 
profession  that  the  title  bestows.  They  also 
cannot  qualify  for  the  full-member  status  of 
their  professional  societies. 

The  states'  role  in  licensing  engineers 
began  in  Wyoming  in  1907.  Officials  needed  to 
identify  people  who  were  qualified  to  write 
descriptions  of  water  rights,  but  what  began 
as  an  effort  to  regulate  land  surveyors  blos- 
somed into  regulation  of  the  entire  engineer- 
ing profession.  As  other  states  embraced  the 
Wyoming  concept,  each  wrote  its  own  legisla- 


tion, created  state  boards  with  the  necessary 
jurisdiction,  and  adopted  various  rules  and 
regulations.  By  the  close  of  the  1950s,  every 
state  had  an  engineering  statute. 

The  registration  process  that  emerged 
does  its  job.  It  enables  the  states  to  deter- 
mine whether  persons  possess  the  minimal 
competence  to  offer  engineering  services  to 
the  public,  whether  that  means  designing  or 
building  dams,  bridges,  power  stations, 
ships,  planes,  trains  or  skyscrapers.  But  it 
also  creates  a  narrow  definition  of  Profes- 
sional Engineer  that  excludes  most  people  in 
the  profession. 

Today,  most  engineers  who  seek  state  reg- 
istration are  graduates  of  college  and  universi- 
ty engineering  curricula  accredited  by  ABET. 
They  begin  the  process  of  seeking  profession- 
al recognition  by  taking  the  F.E.  (Funda- 
mentals of  Engineering)  examination,  the  first 
of  two  rigorous  exams  typically  encountered 
on  the  road  to  professional  status. 

The  F.E.  exam  is  considerably  more  diffi- 
cult than  the  Professional  Engineer  exam, 
which  is  normally  taken  only  after  an  engi- 
neer has  had  a  minimum  of  four  years  of 
qualifying  work  experience.  Because  the  F.E. 
exam  covers  a  broad  range  of  principles  that 
undergird  our  profession,  it  is  best  to  take  it 
at  or  near  the  end  of  the  senior  year  in  col- 
lege. Passing  the  exam  becomes  increasingly 
difficult  as  one's  college  years  recede.  This 
fact  alone  discourages  most  engineers  from 
taking  it  when  more  than  a  few  years  have 
elapsed  since  graduation. 

Because  the  best  time  to  take  the  F.E. 
exam  is  in  college,  ABET  is  in  a  commanding 
position  to  facilitate  the  process  leading  to 
the  P.E.  title.  ABET  should  mandate,  as  a  con- 
dition of  accreditation,  that  engineering 
schools  require  all  senior  engineering  majors 
to  take  the  F.E.  exam — take,  not  necessarily 
pass.  Most  seniors  will  pass  the  exam,  but 
everyone  should  be  required  to  take  it. 

This  requirement  will  start  all  ABET- 
accredited  graduates  on  the  road  to  becom- 
ing P.E.s.  It  will  also  be  an  acknowledgment 
by  ABET  that  becoming  a  P.E.  is  one  of  the 
major  goals  of  an  engineering  education,  just 


as  a  major  goal  of  an  education  in  law  is  the 
attainment  of  the  J.D.  degree  and  the  title 
"attorney,"  and  of  an  education  in  medicine 
the  M.D.  degree  and  the  title  "doctor." 

There  will  be  resistance  to  this  new 
requirement.  Most  people — including  many 
engineering  faculty  members — think  of  the 
F.E.  exam  only  in  connection  with  registra- 
tion and  private  practice.  Since  most  such 
educators  in  this  country  don't  need  regis- 
tration and  do  not  themselves  possess  the 
P.E.  title,  they  are  little  motivated  to  encour- 
age seniors  to  take  the  exam. 

Furthermore,  to  most  seniors  the  need 
for  registration  seems  remote.  Most  are  far 
from  certain,  at  this  stage  in  their  still-matur- 
ing careers,  whether  they  will  have  a  need 
for  a  license.  They  naturally  see  registration 
as  a  bridge  they  can  cross  if  they  come  to  it. 
Thus  they  must  be  required  by  the  more 
experienced  of  us  to  get  the  F.E.  exam  out  of 
the  way  while  still  in  college. 

This  accreditation  requirement  by  ABET 
would  do  more  than  any  other  single  action 
our  profession  could  take  to  facilitate  the 
achievement  of — and  thereby  broad  use  of — 
the  P.E.  title.  It  is  a  step  wholly  within  our  pro- 
fession's jurisdiction  to  take.  We  can  take  it 
without  worrying  about  state  regulations  and 
the  related  complexities  of  politics.  Truly, 
such  a  step  would  symbolize  the  determina- 
tion of  our  profession  to  make  professional 
status  more  available  to  all  engineers  and  to 
bring  to  our  profession  the  unity  and  the 
recognition  it  needs  and  deserves. 

— Fine  spent  20  years  on  the  National  Council 
of  Examiners  for  Engineers  and  Surveyors, 
the  organization  that  prepares  and  manages 
the  F.E.  and  P.E.  exams  on  behalf  of  state 
boards  of  registration.  He  was  president  of  the 
council  from  1974  to  1975  and  executive 
director  from  1976  to  1982.  In  the  1960s  and 
1970s,  he  served  12  years  on  the  Connecticut 
State  Board  of  Registration  for  Professional 
Engineers  and  Land  Surveyors.  This  article  is 
an  excerpt  from  a  larger  work  by  Fine.  The 
entire  work  can  be  obtained  by  writing  to  him 
at  P.O.  Box  551,  Bloom  field,  CT,  06002. 


Summer  1994 


INVESTIGA  TIONS 


Light  at  the  End  of 
the  Tunnel  for  CNG- 
Fueled  Vehicles 


The  federal  Clean  Air  Act  of  1990  and  the 
Energy  Policy  Act  of  1992  have  put 
pressure  on  cities  like  Boston  to  find 
ways  to  reduce  air  pollution  caused  by  the 
millions  of  vehicles  that  use  their  roads, 
bridges  and  tunnels.  One  attractive  solution 
to  this  problem  is  to  convert  a  healthy  share 
of  those  vehicles  to  cleaner-burning  fuels 
like  natural  gas. 

In  Boston,  however,  efforts  to  convince 
owners  of  fleets  of  vehicles  to  convert  their 
cars,  vans  and  buses  to  cleaner  fuels  have 
come  up  against  a  serious  roadblock — restric- 
tions on  travel  through  the  city's  longer 
underpasses  and  tunnels,  including  the  tun- 
nels that  provide  the  primary  access  under 
Boston  Harbor  to  Logan  International  Airport. 

The  restrictions,  imposed  by  the  Boston 
Fire  Department,  grew  from  concerns  about 
the  potential  danger  of  fire  and  explosion 
posed  by  accidental  releases  of  gaseous 
fuels  within  the  tunnels.  Now,  thanks  to  a 
yearlong  study  by  researchers  in  WPI's  Cen- 
ter for  Firesafety  Studies,  concerns  about 
one  such  fuel — compressed  natural  gas 
(CNG) — have  been  allayed. 

Comparing  the  relative  hazards  posed  by 
accidental  fuel  releases  from  vehicles  pow- 
ered by  CNG  and  gasoline,  the  study  conclud- 
ed that  gasoline  spills  pose  a  more  significant 
fire  and  explosion  hazard  in  ventilated  tun- 
nels. As  a  result,  the  Boston  Fire  Department 
is  removing  its  objection  to  CNG-fueled  vehi- 
cles for  all  tunnels  and  underpasses  that  have 
effective  mechanical  ventilation. 

The  WP1  study  was  funded  by  a  two-year, 
$88,400  award  from  the  Massachusetts 
Highway  Department,  which  is  being  admin- 
istered by  Bechtel/Parsons  Brinckerhoff 
(B/PB),  the  prime  contractors  for  a  major 
project  to  place  Boston's  Central  Artery 
underground  and  build  a  third  tunnel  under 
Boston  Harbor.  Robert  G.  Zalosh,  professor 
of  fire  protection  engineering,  is  the  study's 
principal  investigator. 

The  results  were  reviewed  by  a  steering 
committee  made  up  of  representatives  of 
the  Boston  Fire  Department,  the  State  Fire 
Marshal,  and  the  Massachusetts  Division  of 
Energy  Resources,  Executive  Office  of 
Environmental  Affairs,  Highway  Department 
and  Turnpike  Authority.  It  was  the  steering 
committee's  recommendation  that  led  to  the 
Fire  Department's  decision. 


In  the  next  phase  of  the  WPI  study,  the 
research  team  will  review  the  potential  haz- 
ards posed  by  vehicles  fueled  by  liquefied 
petroleum  gas  (LPG)  and  liquefied  natural 
gas  (LNG). 

"Each  fuel  has  unique  characteristics,  so 
it  is  important  that  we  assess  each  individu- 
ally," Zalosh  says.  "For  example,  unlike  CNG, 
LPG  is  heavier  than  air  and  won't  disperse 
the  same  way  in  a  tunnel.  LNG  is  stored  at 
cryogenic  temperatures;  when  it  spills  onto 
the  road  surface,  it  boils  rapidly  into  a 
vapor.  A  key  part  of  the  study  involves  cal- 
culating the  vaporization  rates  and  vapor 
release  rates  for  these  fuels  in  simulated 
incidents,  such  as  a  ruptured  fuel  line." 


ized  tank  as  a  result  of  a  break  in  the  fuel  line 
near  the  tank,  and  how  fast  gasoline  would 
spill  and  spread  across  the  floor  of  a  tunnel 
after  a  fuel-line  break.  These  were  chosen  as 
the  most  serious  types  of  releases  likely  to 
occur  as  a  result  of  a  traffic  incident. 

Knowing  the  release  rates  for  the  two 
types  of  fuel,  Zalosh  and  his  students  used 
computational  fluid  dynamics  software  to 
determine  the  size  and  duration  of  the  vapor 
cloud  that  would  result  from  each  type  of 
spill.  They  determined  that,  under  most  con- 
ditions, the  vapor  cloud  from  a  CNG  acci- 
dent would  be  smaller  and  would  dissipate 
far  more  quickly  than  that  from  a  gasoline 
spill  from  a  comparable  vehicle. 


In  recent  years,  studies  of  CNG-fueled 
vehicles  have  also  been  sponsored  by  the 
cities  of  Baltimore,  New  York  and  Toronto; 
like  the  WPI  study,  these  concluded  that 
CNG  restrictions  should  be  relaxed  or 
removed,  Zalosh  says.  "What  makes  our 
study  unique  is  that  we  have  done  a  one-to- 
one  comparison  of  gasoline  and  CNG  using  a 
consistent  methodology  and  employing  the 
same  criteria  for  each  fuel.  We  use  the  size 
and  duration  of  the  vapor  cloud  resulting 
from  a  gasoline  spill  as  a  benchmark  mea- 
sure of  the  existing  hazard  posed  by  conven- 
tional-fueled vehicles." 

In  the  study,  Zalosh  and  two  graduate  stu- 
dents developed  computer  models  for  a  vari- 
ety of  accident  scenarios  involving  fuel  leaks 
in  tunnels  of  different  sizes  and  with  different 
ventilation  configurations.  The  models  were 
used  to  compute  how  quickly  natural  gas 
would  be  expelled  from  a  standard  pressur- 


In  fact,  they  found  that  the  vapor  cloud 
from  a  CNG-fueled  van  would  not  extend 
much  beyond  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
van,  or  a  few  feet  from  the  ceiling  of  the  tun- 
nel, depending  on  how  the  tunnel  is  ventilat- 
ed. A  leak  from  a  bus  would  produce  a  larger 
vapor  cloud,  but  the  cloud  would  disperse 
completely  within  about  five  minutes.  A 
gasoline  spill,  on  the  other  hand,  would  pro- 
duce a  vapor  cloud  over  a  much  larger  area 
and  the  cloud  would  persist  for  much  longer 
than  the  natural  gas  cloud.  Making  matters 
worse,  Zalosh  notes,  gasoline  vapor  remains 
flammable  at  lower  concentrations  than 
natural  gas  vapors  and  therefore  must  be 
diluted  to  a  lower  concentration  before  it 
becomes  safe. 

Zalosh  says  the  study  demonstrated  that 
the  transverse  ventilation  configuration 
used  in  most  tunnels,  including  the  major 
traffic  tunnels  in  Boston,  aids  in  the  disper- 


WPI  Journal 


sal  of  a  natural  gas  vapor  cloud  while  actual- 
ly enhancing  the  formation  of  a  gasoline 
vapor  cloud.  He  says  natural  ventilation  and 
the  horizontal  air  movement  caused  by  traf- 
fic are  also  effective  in  rapidly  diluting  any 
natural  gas  released  into  a  tunnel.  In  a  sep- 
arately funded  follow-on  study,  the  WPI 
researchers  will  measure  the  air  flows  in  cer- 
tain unventilated  tunnels  and  underpasses 
to  help  determine  whether  they  may  also  be 
opened  to  CNG-fueled  vehicles. 

Tapping  Into  Clean 
Water  at  a 
Reasonable  Cost 


When  someone  turns  on  the  faucet  in 
the  Boston  area,  the  water  that  comes 
out  probably  originated  far  away  in  a 
system  of  reservoirs  that  starts  with  the  mas- 
sive Quabbin  some  60  miles  to  the  west  of  the 
city.  Through  careful  watershed  manage- 
ment, the  Massachusetts  Water  Resources 
Authority  (MWRA)  and  the  Metropolitan 
District  Commission  have  been  able  to  sup- 
ply clean  water  to  their  customers  in  Eastern 
Massachusetts  from  this  surface  water  sys- 
tem without  the  need  for  expensive  treat- 
ment plants.  But  that  could  change. 

Under  new  amendments  to  the  federal 
Safe  Drinking  Water  Act,  communities  that 
get  their  water  from  reservoirs  will  have  to 
build  filtration  plants  over  the  next  few 
years  unless  their  water  meets  several 
"avoidance  criteria."  They  also  require  im- 
proved disinfection  and  corrosion  control 
for  water  systems.  In  Massachusetts,  the 
total  cost  of  building  new  treatment  plants  is 
estimated  at  $1.1  billion.  For  the  MWRA,  the 
cost  is  $400  million. 

During  the  past  few  years,  the  MWRA  has 
been  looking  at  various  treatment  options 
for  the  Wachusett  Reservoir,  a  major  link  in 
the  chain  of  reservoirs  that  supplies  Boston. 
It  is  simultaneously  pursuing  a  dual  track  for 
treatment  consisting  of  filtration  and  water- 
shed management  plus  nonfiltration  op- 
tions. The  agency  has  launched  a  study  that 
compares  treatment  options  that  use  filtra- 
tion with  an  option  that  involves  just  dis- 
infection to  kill  bacteria  (water  from  the 
Wachusett  does  not  meet  the  avoidance  cri- 
teria for  coliform  bacteria)  and  corrosion 
control.  The  goal  of  the  study  is  to  find  a 
way  to  meet  the  federal  requirements  at  the 
most  reasonable  cost. 

As  part  of  this  study,  Camp  Dresser  & 
McKee  has  awarded  WPI  a  one-year,  $82,000 


contract  to  conduct  a  water-quality  analysis 
of  the  reservoir  and  to  help  run  a  demon- 
stration water  treatment  plant  that  will  be 
used  to  evaluate  various  treatment  schemes. 
Frederick  L  Hart,  associate  professor  of  civil 
engineering,  is  the  principal  investigator  for 
the  study.  Graduate  students  Peter  J. 
Grabowski  and  Gregg  Giasson  will  take  and 
analyze  the  water  samples  and  operate  the 
demonstration  plant. 

Hart  says  the  students  will  collect  water 
samples  monthly  at  various  locations  in  the 
reservoir  to  see  how  water  quality  varies 
with  the  seasons.  The  students  will  also 
obtain  samples  under  a  number  of  specific 
conditions,  such  as  high  storm  runoff.  The 
samples  will  be  analyzed  for  a  variety  of  fac- 
tors, such  as  bacteria,  organic  and  inorganic 
particles  and  dissolved  matter,  nutrients, 
and  color. 

In  the  second  phase  of  the  study,  Gra- 
bowski and  Giasson  will  spend  16  hours  a 
day,  five  days  a  week,  at  the  reservoir  oper- 
ating the  demonstration  water  treatment 
plant,  which  contains  a  number  of  treatment 
units  that  can  be  connected  in  various  com- 
binations. This  will  allow  the  students  to  cre- 
ate four  different  treatment  trains,  ranging  in 
complexity  from  one  that  includes  oxida- 
tion, mixing  and  coagulation,  flocculation, 
clarification,  disinfection,  and  filtration,  to  a 
simple  scheme  employing  just  disinfection, 
oxidation  and  adsorption.  (Hart  says  studies 
have  shown  that  oxidation  often  enhances 
filtration.) 

In  addition  to  operating  the  equipment, 
the  students  will  collect  data  on  the  plant's 
operation  and  the  quality  of  the  water  at  var- 
ious stages  in  the  treatment  trains.  They  will 
then  analyze  and  interpret  the  data,  which 


From  left,  Professor  Fred  Hart  and 
graduate  students  Peter  Grabowski 
and  Gregg  Giasson  in  the  demon- 
stration water  treatment  plant  at 
Wachusett  Reservoir. 

they,  Hart,  and  Camp  Dresser  &  McKee  will 
use  to  make  recommendations  to  the  MWRA 
about  the  best  course  of  treatment  for  the 
Wachusett.  "The  whole  idea,"  Hart  says,  "is 
that  from  this  work  they  will  find  out  the 
quality  of  the  raw  water,  the  treatment 
options  that  best  match  that  quality,  and  the 
costs  involved  in  those  options.  They  can 
then  go  ahead  with  a  preliminary  design  for 
a  water  treatment  plant." 

Where  the  Rubber 
Meets  the  Road 

On  the  surface,  an  asphalt  runway  might 
seem  to  have  little  in  common  with  a 
high-tech  space  mirror.  But  to  a  re- 
search team  at  WPI,  the  surfaces  of  these 
disparate  materials  present  an  identical 
challenge — how  to  engineer  things  that  are 
smooth  and  rough  at  the  same  time. 

The  team,  Christopher  A.  Brown,  associ- 
ate professor  of  mechanical  engineering, 
and  graduate  students  William  A.  Johnsen 
(runway  project)  and  E.  Michael  Shipulski 
(mirror  project),  is  looking  for  solutions  to 
this  problem  with  two  grants  from  NASA:  a 
$77,000  award  toward  what  is  expected  to 
be  a  three-year,  $194,000  grant  from  NASA's 
Langley  Research  Center  to  study  runway 
topography;  and  $44,000  toward  what  is  pro- 
jected to  be  a  three-year,  $66,000  grant  from 
NASA  headquarters  to  help  engineer  a  col- 
lapsible parabolic  mirror  NASA  plans  to  use 


Summer  1994 


to  create  high  temperatures  in  space  by  con- 
centrating solar  energy. 

"With  the  runway,  you  want  a  surface 
that  is  smooth  to  minimize  wear  on  airplane 
tires,"  Brown  says,  "but  rough  to  maximize 
friction,  which  keeps  planes  from  skidding 
off  into  harbors.  Tire  wear  is  a  problem  for 
aircraft;  some  military  planes  get  fewer  than 
20  landings  on  a  set  of  tires.  But  a  runway 
that's  too  smooth  might  cause  planes  to 
hydroplane  when  it  rains. 

"The  mirror  will  be  made  from 
metal  coated  with  a  polymer  to 
protect  it  when  the  whole  thing  is 
folded  up.  The  interface  between 
the  polymer  and  the  mirror  is 
where  the  light  will  be  reflected. 
This  region  must  be  smooth  to 
reflect  light  cleanly  without  scat- 
tering. But  it  must  also  be  rough 
so  the  metal  and  the  polymer  can 
be  glued  together." 

The  key  to  pulling  off  this 
trick,  Brown  says,  is  the  fact  that 
the  same  material  may  appear 
smooth  or  rough  depending  upon 
the  scale  at  which  things  interact 
with  it.  A  runway  may  seem 
smooth  to  a  wheel  rolling  down 
its  surface,  but  rough  to  the  tread 
on  the  tire.  A  mirror  may  be 
smooth  at  the  scale  of  light 
waves,  but  rough  at  the  scale  of 
the  glue  molecules  that  bind  the 
metal  and  polymer  together. 

To  better  understand  this  rela- 
tionship between  topography  and 
behavior,  Brown  has  turned  to 
fractal  analysis,  a  type  of  non- 
euclidean  geometry.  Fractals  are  complex 
shapes  that  can  be  divided  into  smaller  and 
smaller  parts,  each  of  which  is  similar  in 
appearance  to  the  part  from  which  it  was 
taken — much  as  a  leaf  of  a  fern  is  virtually 
identical  in  appearance  to  the  whole  fern. 
This  is  called  self-similarity. 

Fractals  have  proven  useful  in  describing 
natural  phenomena  like  clouds,  coastlines 
and  mountains  that  are  not  composed  of 
simple  geometric  shapes  and  which  exhibit 
self-similarity.  For  example,  seen  from  a 
short  distance  away,  a  mountain  appears  to 
be  a  collection  of  small  hills  on  a  larger  hill. 
As  one  moves  closer,  each  of  the  smaller 
hills  turns  out  to  have  still  smaller  hills, 
which  in  turn  have  still  smaller  hills. 

Brown  first  began  to  consider  the  appli- 
cation of  fractals  to  the  engineering  of  mate- 
rials in  the  late  1980s,  when  he  was  head  of 
the  Mechanical  Surface  Treatment  Group  at 


the  Swiss  Federal  Institute  of  Technology. 
"In  manufacturing  surfaces  we  see  similar 
phenomena,"  he  says.  "On  a  ground  surface, 
for  example,  you  might  see  little  scratches 
on  big  scratches.  Fractals  began  to  look  like 
an  answer  searching  for  a  question. 

"Fractal  analysis  is  a  way  of  deriving 
order  out  of  chaos.  The  geometry  of  a  run- 
way, for  example,  is  a  jumble.  If  you  tried  to 
apply  euclidean  geometry  to  it,  you'd  have  a 
difficult  time.  Like  mountains,  runways  also 


Bottom,  graduate  student  William 
Johnsen  gathers  data  on  the  topogra- 
phy of  a  runway  sample  with  a  laser 
profilometer.  Using  "fractal  recipes," 
one  can  analyze  the  data  to  see  how 
the  apparent  smoothness  or  rough- 
ness of  a  surface  changes  as  the 
scale  at  which  one  interacts  with  it 
changes  (top). 

exhibit  self-similarity.  If  you  get  close 
enough,  you  can't  tell  if  you're  looking  at  a 
runway  or  the  Himalayas." 

To  apply  fractal  analysis  to  a  surface,  one 
must  first  collect  detailed  information  about 
its  topography.  To  gather  information  about 
runway  surfaces,  Brown  and  Johnsen  are 
using  a  laser  profilometer  built  by  Mark  W. 
Mattei  '94  and  Matthew  S.  Mercer  '94  as 
their  Major  Qualifying  Project.  The  device 
bounces  a  narrowly  focused  laser  beam  off 
of  the  sample  to  measure  the  height  of  up  to 
a  million  points  on  the  surface  of  a  sample 


roughly  6  inches  on  a  side.  Data  on  the  mir- 
ror surface  is  collected  with  an  atomic  force 
microscope,  a  device  capable  of  resolving 
individual  atoms. 

The  data  is  fed  into  a  computer  and  fractal 
"recipes"  are  applied  to  it  using  patented  soft- 
ware developed  by  Brown  and  Pat  D.  Charles 
'92,  now  a  hardware  engineer  at  Digital 
Fquipment  Corp.  (further  work  on  the  pro- 
gram is  being  done  by  Bruce  Meacham  '96). 
The  analysis  enables  the  researchers  to  ob- 
serve how  the  apparent  smooth- 
ness or  roughness  of  the  material 
changes  as  the  scale  at  which  one 
interacts  with  it  changes.  For 
example,  as  one  moves  closer  to  a 
surface,  its  apparent  area  seems  to 
grow,  just  as  the  apparent  length 
of  a  coastline  seems  to  increase  as 
one  moves  closer  and  increasingly 
smaller  inlets  and  projections 
become  visible. 

Brown  says  that  if  one  plots  the 
apparent  area  versus  the  scale  of 
interaction,  the  resulting  curve 
rises  steadily  for  a  time,  and  then 
takes  a  sharp  upward  turn.  This, 
he  says,  is  the  point  where  a  sur- 
face seems  to  change  from  a 
smooth  to  a  rough  texture.  He  says 
the  next  step  will  be  designing  run- 
ways and  mirrors  so  that  this 
smooth/rough  crossover  falls 
between  the  two  scales  of  interac- 
tion— between  the  scales  of 
£  wheels  and  tire  tread,  and  between 
1  the  scales  of  light  waves  and  glue 
I  molecules. 

But  first,  Brown  says,  the 
researchers  will  need  to  more  precisely  iden- 
tify those  individual  scales.  For  runways, 
Brown  and  Johnsen  will  compare  the  informa- 
tion they  gather  about  the  topography  of  dif- 
ferent types  of  runways  with  information  in  a 
NASA  database  on  tire  wear  and  friction  on 
those  same  surfaces.  For  the  mirror,  Brown 
and  Shipulski  will  compare  their  data  to  mea- 
surements of  how  well  various  combinations 
of  metal  and  polymer,  made  with  a  variety  of 
manufacturing  techniques,  reflect  light.  To 
make  these  measurements  they  will  use  a 
laser  apparatus  built  by  Andrew  R.  Watzke  '95 
and  Jason  Truscott  '94  as  their  MQP. 

"With  our  measurement  techniques,  we 
are  going  to  be  able  to  understand  more 
about  the  topography  of  these  materials — 
and  at  finer  scales — than  has  ever  been  pos- 
sible before,"  Brown  says.  "We  feel  that  this 
understanding  will  lead  to  some  real  ad- 
vances in  materials  engineering." 


WPI  Journal 


BY  MICHAEL  W.  DORSEY  (mwdorsey@wpi.wpi.edu) 

Unless  you  live  in  an  isolated  corner  of  the  globe  or  rarely  pick 
up  a  newspaper  or  magazine,  you've  probably  heard  of  the 
Internet.  You  may  even  be  one  of  the  more  than  30  million 
people  around  the  world  who  have  stepped  over  the  elec- 
tronic threshold  into  cyberspace.  But  if  you've  not  yet  made  the  leap, 
you  might  be  wondering  what  all  the  fuss  is  about.  Or  perhaps  youve 
decided  to  try  the  Net  on  for  size,  but  don't  know  where  to  start  or  what 
to  do  once  you  get  connected. 

In  the  pages  that  follow,  you  will  learn  about  the  experiences  of  a  few 
WP1  students,  faculty  members  and  administrators  who  have  used  the 
vast  resources  of  the  Internet  in  a  variety  of  ways-some  typical  and 
some  quite  innovative.  These  glimpses  of  life  on  the  Net  are  intended  to 
demonstrate,  in  a  small  way,  what  all  the  fuss  is  about.  You  will  also  find 
a  brief  look  at  what's  out  there  and  a  beginner's  guide  to  how  to  get  at  it. 
Before  we  begin,  though,  a  caveat:  the  Internet  is  many  things  to 
many  people,  but  one  thing  it  is  not  is  user  friendly.  In  this  brief  article, 
we  can't  begin  to  tell  you  all  you'll  need  to  know  to  join  the  ranks  of  cy- 
bernauts.  To  top  it  all  off,  the  Net  is  a  work  in  progress.  Things  move, 
disappear  and  change-all  the  time.  You'll  need  a  good  guide-prefer- 
ably a  friend  who's  had  some  Internet  experience.  A  good  book  is  also 
essential  (see  page  15  for  some  recommendations).  But  most  of  all,  you  11 
need  patience  and  flexibility.  But  don't  let  this  cautionary  note  discour- 
age you  from  joining  the  Net  community.  The  learning  curve  is  a  little 
steep  at  first,  but  the  rewards  are  worth  it. 

The  first  question  most  people  ask  about  the 
Internet  is,  "What  is  it?"  The  answer  depends  on  your 
point  of  view.  Physically,  the  Net  is  the  world's  larg- 
est computer  network— actually,  it's  a  network  of  ^ 
networks.  It  links  computer  networks  at  universities, 
corporations,  government  laboratories  and  agencies, 
nonprofit  organizations,  commercial  services,  and 
Internet  service  providers  all  over  the  world. 

Historically,  the  Internet  was  the  U.S.  government's 
answer  to  how  to  communicate  after  a  nuclear  war.  In 
1969  the  Department  of  Defense  created  ARPANET  as  an 
experiment  to  link  the  DOD  with  companies  and  universities 
doing  military  research.  The  network  was  based  on  dynamic  rerout- 
ing- if  one  part  of  the  network  went  down,  information  could  be  routed 
around  it  Also,  unlike  most  networks  of  the  late  1960s,  ARPANET  had  no 
central  computer  to  process  messages.  Instead,  through  a  process 
called  packet  switching,  every  computer  was  capable  of  send- 
ing messages  to  every  other  computer.  ^ 

"  In  the  1980s,  ARPANET  and  a  number  of  other 
government  and  academic  networks  be- 
came linked  into  a  giant  intercon- 
nected internetwork  (Internet  for 
short).  Today  the  Net  reaches 
every  continent  (there's 
even  a  connection  at 
the  South  Pole). 


8 


The  Internet  is  a  sprawling,  disorganized  and  seemingly  chaotic 
global  "network  of  networks."  But  for  those  willing  to  learn  new 
tools  and  a  new  language,  it  offers  rewards  beyond  measure. 


l 


Technically,  the  Internet  is  a  collection  of  computer  hardware  of 
every  make  and  persuasion  linked  by  a  common  communications  proto- 
col. TCP/IP  (Transport  Control  Protocol/  Internet  Protocol)  is  the  lan- 
guage that  lets  all  of  these  diverse  machines  talk  to  one  other. 

The  Net  is  big  and  growing  bigger  all  the  time.  There  are  at  least  3  mil- 
lion machines  connected  to  it  with  high-speed  links,  with  another  100,000 
to  200,000  hooking  up  monthly.  But  that  doesn't  include  all  of  the  comput- 
ers that  share  a  single  host  (hundreds  of  thousands)  or  the  people  who 
connect  their  PCs  and  Macs  to  the  Net  through  service  providers. 

WPI's  1,900  computers  are  linked  to  the  Net  by  NEARnet,  a  service 
provider.  (That  number  will  grow  this  fall  when  full  Internet  connectivity 
is  extended  to  all  residence  halls.)  Keeping  this  vital  connection  open  is 
the  job  of  the  Campus  Computer  Center,  notes  Allan 
Johannesen,  manager  of  academic  time- 
sharing. "We  try  to  provide  an  uninterrupted 
flow  of  information,"  he  says,  "since  electronic 
communications  with  colleagues  at  other  insti- 
tutions is  becoming  increasingly  important  to  the 
WP1  community." 
There  is  also  a  human  dimension  to  the  Internet. 
The  Net  brings  people  (at  least  people  with  comput- 
ers and  access  to  the  Internet)  together  in  a  way  that 
no  other  communications  medium  can,  creating  the 
kind  of  global  village  Marshall  McLuhan  envisioned 
more  than  25  years  ago.  The  Internet  makes  accessible 
to  those  people  a  vast  array  of  information— the  kind  contained  in  elec- 
tronic databases  and  the  variety  stored  only  in  the  brains  of  those  mil- 
lions of  Internet  users. 

This  spring,  Jerry  Breecher,  an  engineer  at  Stratus  Computer  and  an 
adjunct  professor  of  computer  science  at  WPI,  dipped  into  this  informa- 
tion well.  Breecher  has  a  teenage  daughter  with  an  interest  in  cows.  He 
decided  that  making  a  sculpture  of  a  cow  might  be  a  nice  father-daughter 
project.  Not  being  an  artist,  he  was  worried  about  getting  the  propor- 
tions right.  What  he  needed  was  an  analytical  description  of  a  cow. 

Breecher  sent  a  message  about  his  project  to  a  newsgroup  (a  sort  of 
electronic  bulletin  board)  that  specializes  in  algorithms  for  computer 
graphics.  Almost  immediately,  replies  began  arriving  from  all  over  the 
U.S.  and  from  Canada,  England,  Germany,  Israel,  the  Netherlands  and 
New  Zealand.  They  ranged  from  the  serious  to  the  "udderly  ridiculous" 
("1.  Obtain  a  cow  of  the  desired  shape  and  size;  2.  Slice  the  cow  into 
cross  sections....").  In  the  end,  Breecher  took  a  suggestion  to  download  a 
computer  model  from  a  Navy  database  that  included  x,  y  and  z  coordi- 
nates for  a  cow. 

The  Internet  gives  users  a  variety  of  ways  to  get  in  touch  with  each 
other.  The  simplest  and  by  far  the  most  widely  used  is  electronic  mail.  E- 
mail  has  important  advantages  over  the  telephone  and  regular  mail 
("snail  mail").  For  one,  it  costs  very  little.  Even  if  you  pay  for 
your  own  Internet  connection,  your  monthly  fee  proba- 
bly lets  you  send  and  receive  an  unlimited  number 
of  messages.  It's  also  far  faster  than  the  postal 
service  and  you  don't  need  to  worry 
about  whether  the  recipient  is  there 
when  you  send  your  message. 


E-mail  has  become  a  common  means  of  communica- 
tion at  WPI.  Students  routinely  use  e-mail  to  talk  to  their 
professors,  even  using  the  network  to  exchange  drafts  of 
papers  and  project  reports.  Many  departments  set  up 
electronic  mailing  lists  for  each  class,  so  professors  can 


How  to  Talk  Like  a  Net  Insider 
(and  Avoid  the  Flamethrowers) 

First-time  users  of  Usenet  and  e-mail  are  often  puzzled  by  strange  acronyms  that  appear  in  messages.  These  are 
just  shorthand  for  commonly  used  terms  (among  Net  users,  anyway).  The  two  most  frequent  are  IMHO  (in  my  humble 
opinion)  and  BTW  (by  the  way).  Use  these  in  your  messages,  and  everyone  will  think  you're  a  Net  veteran. 

Expressing  humor  on  the  Net  is  tricky.  Assume  readers  will  take  your  messages  far  more  seriously  than  you  do 
and  will  reply  accordingly.  People  who  take  what  you  write  the  wrong  way  may  "flame"  you 
A  flame  is  an  angry  message.  One  flame  often  begets  others  and  soon 


s 


_r 


you  have  a  full-scale  "flame  war"  on  your  hands. 

If  you  must  attempt  sarcasm,  make  it  obvious  by 
appending  a  smiley.  Smilies  are  combinations  of  characters 
that,  when  looked  at  sideways,  form  faces.  They  are  a  way 
of  saying,  "hey,  just  kidding."  Here  are  some  examples: 

: )   basic  smiling  face,  :  - )   same  face  with  nose,        ^ 
8)   person  with  glasses,  8  (  same  person  frowning, 
;-)   person  winking,  :-o  surprised  person 

Finally,  don't  believe  everything  you  read.  While 

the  Internet  is  awash  with  information,  not  all 

of  it  is  useful  or  even  accurate.  For  example,  Craig 

Shergold  is  no  longer  dying  and  doesn't  want  any  more  greeting  cards,  thank  you. 

And  it's  best  to  ignore  any  message  marked  "chain  letter"  or  "make  money  quick." 


easily  send  out  messages  to  all  class  members  at  once. 
And,  for  all  members  of  the  campus  community,  electronic 
messages  frequently  take  the  place  of  phone  calls  or  notes 
sent  through  campus  mail. 

The  Internet  lets  faculty  members  and  students  who  go 
off  campus  to  do  research  and  project  work  stay  in  touch 
with  colleagues  on  campus.  In  fact,  e-mail  has  become  a 
vital  link  between  faculty  members  and  students  who  trav- 
el overseas  to  work  at  international  project  centers  and 
programs. 

Over  the  last  decade,  electronic  mail  has  become  a 
standard  tool  for  college  professors.  With  e-mail,  faculty 
members  stay  in  touch  with  colleagues  at  other  institu- 
tions, exchange  articles  (often  yet  unpublished),  reports 
and  data,  notify  interested  parties  about  conferences  and 
workshops,  and  conduct  a  wide  range  of  other  academic 
and  scholarly  business  they  once  did  by  phone  or  mail. 

David  Brown,  professor  of  computer  science,  has 
found  ways  to  do  much  of  his  professional  communicating 
over  the  Internet.  He  wrote  a  book  with  his  dissertation 
advisor  at  Ohio  State  University  via  e-mail  and  uses  the 
Net  regularly  to  review  papers  for  conferences  and  work- 
shops. And  he's  had  a  yearlong  collaboration  with  a  fellow 
researcher  in  artificial  intelligence  at  the  University  of 
Michigan  in  the  form  of  an  e-mail  dialogue. 

Brown  also  used  his  network  connection  to  organize  an 


10 


international  conference  that  attracted  people  from  eight 
countries.  "I  organized  it  all  from  my  office  here,"  he  says. 
"For  the  most  part,  we  didn't  use  any  paper  in  setting  it 
up.  Using  the  phone  or  the  mail  to  communicate  with  peo- 
ple in  all  of  those  countries  would  have  made  things  much 
more  difficult." 

Finding  financial  support  for  one's 
scholarly  activities  is  another  important 
element  of  faculty  life  that  has  entered  the 
realm  of  the  Internet.  In  addition  to  using 
the  Net  to  search  for  information  on  fund- 
ing sources  (the  National  Science  Foun- 
dation, for  example,  maintains  a  site  where 
researchers  can  find  out  about  its  various 
grant  programs),  it  is  now  possible  to  apply 
for  grants  by  e-mail. 

Paramasivam  Jayachandran,  associate 
professor  of  civil  engineering,  is  one  of 
three  principal  investigators  on  a  research 
project  on  computer  technologies  in  design 
and  construction  that  includes  researchers 
at  WPI,  MIT,  and  Stanford  and  Columbia 
universities.  The  team  recently  submitted  a 
grant  proposal  to  the  NSF  using  only  e-mail. 
Faculty  members  are  also  concerned 
with  publishing  the  results  of  their  schol- 
arship. Increasingly,  forums  are  becoming 
available  for  doing  so  on-line.  Electronic 
journals  and  newsletters  allow  findings  and 
new  ideas  to  reach  other  researchers  far 
more  quickly  than  do  conventional  paper 
journals.  Mohammad  Noori,  head  of  the 
mechanical  engineering  department,  says 
he  is  a  subscriber  to  the  Hysteresis  E-Letter, 
an  electronic  journal  that  reaches  more  than  600 
researchers. 

"Through  this  journal,  I  learned  of  the  work  of  a 
researcher  at  the  University  of  Maryland,"  he  says.  "Al- 
though we  are  in  totally  different  fields — mechanical 
engineering  and  mathematical  sciences — we  have  been 
working  on  a  similar  problem:  the  modeling  of  general 
hysteresis  behavior.  Now  we  plan  to  explore  possible 
collaborations." 

E-mail  can  be  used  for  more  than  carrying  on  academic 
business,  of  course.  The  WPI  Social  Committee,  which 
organizes  a  variety  of  entertainment  and  social  events  for 
students  during  the  year,  found  an  innovative  way  to  do 
its  job — and  save  money — with  e-mail.  According  to  Soc- 
Comm  president  Christopher  Dagdigian  '95,  the  group 
booked  a  campus  date  for  the  popular  band  They  Might 
Be  Giants  using  the  Net. 

"We  got  the  manager's  e-mail  address  from  WPI  stu- 
dents who  saw  it  on  a  mailing  list  devoted  to  fans  of  the 
band,"  he  says.  "Most  of  the  details  for  the  $30,000  produc- 
tion were  worked  out  with  e-mail  before  we  eventually 
switched  to  phone  calls  and  faxes.  By  booking  the  show 
directly,  we  avoided  the  10  to  15  percent  fee  we  would 
otherwise  have  had  to  pay  an  agent." 

Dagdigian  says  SocComm  also  uses  e-mail  to  stay  up- 
to-date  on  what  campus  programming  groups  at  other 

Summer  1994 


schools  are  doing.  And  it  advertises  its  events  on  a  variety 
of  specialized  Internet  mailing  lists  and  news  groups.  For 
on-campus  advertising,  the  group  maintains  a  calendar  of 
events  on  the  WPI  Gopher  (see  page  14). 

For  Internet  users  who  miss  the  real-time,  two-way  con- 
versations that  telephones  make  possible,  there  is  a  pro- 
gram called  Talk.  This  Unix  utility  lets  you  "ring  up"  another 
user  and  chat  by  typing  your  side  of  the  conversation  and 
watching  what  the  person  on  the  other  end  of  the  line  types 
back.  If  you  are  the  ringee,  you  can  refuse  the  connection  if 
you  don't  recognize  the  caller  (or  even  if  you  do).  But  even 
when  you  think  you  know  what  you're  getting  into,  there  can 
be  surprises,  as  Jason  Macierowski  '96  found  out. 

"When  I  was  a  freshman,  I  got  a  random  Talk  request 
from  someone  at  Mt.  Holyoke  College,"  he  says.  "I  respon- 
ded, thinking  it  was  someone  I  knew.  It  turned  out  to  be  a 
student  who  just  liked  my  username.  We  talked  for  a  cou- 
ple of  hours  that  night  and  continued  our  conversation 
over  the  next  couple  of  nights.  We  wound  up  going  out  for 
three  months  and  still  talk  often  on  the  Internet." 

Talk  links  just  two  people  at  a  time.  To  reach  a  broad- 
er audience,  many  WPI  students  turn  to  a  service  called 
IRC  or  Internet  Relay  Chat.  IRC  is  like  a  computerized  CB 
radio.  You  choose  a  channel,  give  yourself  a  "handle"  and 
then  join  in  the  running  conversation.  Ray  Adams  '94,  now 
a  graduate  student  in  applied  mathematics,  has  used  IRC 
extensively  since  he  came  to  WPI.  On  Jan.  16,  1991,  Adams 
was  on  an  IRC  channel  with  a  group  of 
other  college  students,  including  a  student 
at  a  college  not  far  from  Kuwait.  "He 
informed  us  he  heard  explosions  in  the  dis- 
tance a  full  half  hour  before  the  news  media 
announced  the  beginning  of  the  Gulf  War," 
he  says. 

After  he  left  his  hometown  of  Manchester, 
N.H.,  to  come  to  WPI,  Thomas  Guyette  '95 
used  IRC  to  stay  in  touch  with  friends  from 
high  school  without  the  "sinful"  expense  of 
long-distance  phone  calls.  "It  eased  me 
through  the  transition,"  he  says.  "It  also  let 
me  build  friendships  with  people  I  wouldn't 
ordinarily  have  met." 


Like  network  news,  mailing  lists  bring  together  people 
with  common  interests.  The  big  difference  is  that  you  have 
to  subscribe  to  a  list — you  can't  just  drop  in  for  a  quick 
visit  every  once  in  awhile.  Once  you've  joined,  the  mes- 
sages are  sent  to  you  by  e-mail  and  you  send  in  your  mis- 
sives the  same  way. 

Dave  Brown  uses  Usenet  and  mailing  lists  to  communi- 
cate with  fellow  researchers  in  artificial  intelligence  all 
over  the  world.  "The  news  groups  and  mailing  lists  are 
vital  means  of  keeping  up  with  current  issues  in  my 
research  area,"  he  says.  "For  example,  there  is  an  AI  news- 
group where  conference  and  workshop  announcements 
are  regularly  posted.  I  now  see  more  announcements  that 
way  than  on  paper.  I  also  have  an  interest  in  audio  equip- 
ment and  have  made  some  significant  purchases  based  on 
information  I  got  from  newsgroups." 

Karen  Lemone,  associate  professor  of  computer  sci- 
ence, belongs  to  a  mailing  list  called  Systers,  whose  mem- 
bers are  women  who  work  in  various  areas  of  computer 
science.  "Thousands  of  women  worldwide  belong  to  Sys- 
ters," she  says.  "When  I  post  a  request,  I  receive  volumes 
of  replies.  Recently  I  was  looking  for  a  video  1  vaguely 
remembered,  which  I  wanted  to  use  in  a  class  this  sum- 
mer. Many  people  remembered  the  name;  many  people 
knew  how  I  could  get  it.  More  than  one  woman  offered  to 
loan  me  her  copy." 

Two  years  ago,  David  Messier,  WPI's  environmental 


The  Internet:  A  Brief 
Travel  Guide 


Usenet  and  mailing  lists  are  other 
tools  to  which  Net  users  turn  to 
stay  in  touch  with  other  people 
who  share  common  interests  and 
occupations,  and  to  get  answers  to  even 
the  most  esoteric  questions.  Usenet  (also 
called  network  news)  is  a  vast  collection  of 
special-interest  bulletin  boards  covering  all 
manner  of  topics,  disciplines  and  subdisciplines. 

By  organizing  the  millions  of  Net  users  into  narrow  cat- 
egories, Usenet  has  become  a  subject-oriented  oracle. 
Can't  get  your  new  software  to  work  with  your  Windows 
PC?  Post  a  question  to  comp.os.ms-windows.apps.  Strug- 
gling to  remember  the  words  to  a  Bob  Dylan  song  you 
haven't  heard  for  years?  Ask  rec. music. dylan.  Want  to 
know  where  to  get  Indonesian  food  in  Toronto?  Fire  off  a 
query  to  rec. travel. usa<anada. 

WPI  Journal 


Once  you've  mastered  a  few  Internet 
tools,  it's  time  to  get  out  on  the 
information  highway.  Mere  are 
some  interesting  roadside 
attractions: 

E-mail  Tell  the  administration  what  you  think. 

Write  to  president@whitehouse  .  gov 
Or  vice-president@whitehouse . gov 

Telnet  Peruse  the  card  catalogs  of  most  of  the 
Boston-area  libraries  on  the  Boston  Library  Consortium 
Gateway.  Telnet  to  tulips .  lib .  tufts .  edu 
Type  BLC  at  the  username  prompt. 

Anonymous  FTP  Get  the  Yanoff  list  of  Internet 
resources.  FTP  to  csd4  .  csd .  uwm .  edu ;  it's  in  the 
pub  directory  and  is  called  inet.services.txt. 


Gopher  Explore  the  Library  of  Congress  Gopher, 
which  has  links  to  bushels  of  interesting  information, 
including  the  federal  budget,  electronic  books  and 
magazines,  and  information  on  health  and  medicine. 
Gopher  to    marvel .  loc .  gov 

World  Wide  Web  Look  at  paintings  from  the 
collection  of  the  Louvre.  Point  your  web  software  to 

http : //mistral . enst . f r/ 
~pioch/ louvre/ 


health  and  safety  officer,  joined  a  list  called  SAFETY. 
Administered  by  the  University  of  Vermont,  the  list  goes 
out  to  900  people — from  Ph.D.s  to  undergraduates — con- 
cerned about  safety  issues  at  colleges  and  universities, 
industries  and  government  agencies  around  the  world. 

"SAFETY  operates  as  a  cooperative  community  of  peo- 
ple with  overlapping  technical  interests  and  expertise  in 
the  wide-ranging  field  of  environmental  safety  and  health," 
Messier  says.  "We  all  have  a  genuine  interest  in  helping 


11 


Getting  Started/ 
Getting  Out  There 


\ 


\     I 


/ 


/ 


Getting  onto  the  Internet  is  be- 
coming easier  all  the  time,  as 
more  companies  and  organi- 
zations get  hookups  and  as 
more  fee-based  Internet  providers  pop  up 
across  the  map.  The  first  step  is  to  see  if 
your  employer  has  a  local  computer  net- 
work or  e-mail  system.  If  so,  it  may  have  an 
Internet  gateway.  If  you  can  send  e-mail  to 
people  outside  of  your  organization,  that's 
a  good  sign.  Ask  your  local  computer  guru 
for  help. 

If  you  belong  to  one  of  the  major  on-line 
information  services,  like  CompuServe, 
Genie,  Prodigy  or  America  On-Line,  you 
already  have  access  to  Internet  e-mail  and 
may  soon  be  able  to  take  advantage  of 
other  Internet  services.  Users  of  Delphi 
already  have  full  Internet  access.  In  addi- 
tion, some  computer  bulletin  boards  offer 
Internet  services,  like  e-mail  and  Usenet. 

If  none  of  these  routes  is  available  to 
you,  you  can  pay  a  fee  to  an  Internet  pro- 
vider (you'll  need  a  fast  modem  and  the 
proper  modem  software).  Many  offer  the 
full  run  of  the  Net  for  as  little  as  $20  per 
month.  You'll  want  a  provider  you  can 
reach  with  a  local  call,  if  possible.  The  best 
way  to  find  a  provider  is  to  check  the  lists 
in  the  books  on  page  15  or  similar  books. 

Once  you're  connected,  what  do  you 
do?  Here  is  a  brief  guide  to  some  Net  tools. 
The  books  on  page  15  can  tell  you  how  to 
use  them.  See  page  11  for  a  list  of  a  few 
places  they  can  take  you. 
E-mail:  To  send  an  e-mail  message, 
you'll  need  to  know  the  recipient's  Internet 
address.  (You'll  also  need  to  learn  about 
your  system's  e-mail  software.)  Internet 
addresses  look  like  this:  mwdorsey@jake. 
wpi.edu.  That's  pronounced  mwdorsey  at 
jake  dot  wpi  dot  edu. 

If  you  don't  know  someone's  address, 
you  can  use  tools  like  finger,  whois  and 
netfind  to  try  to  find  it.  There  is  no  all-encom- 
passing Internet  directory,  so  searching  for 
an  address  can  be  frustrating.  Many  Internet 
sites  have  an  address  called  postmaster 
(WPI's  is  postmaster@wpi.wpi.edu).  If  you 
know  someone  uses  a  particular  site  but  you 
can't  find  the  exact  address  in  any  other 
way,  a  note  to  the  postmaster  should  get  it 
for  you. 

Internet  Relay  Chat:  The  electronic 
equivalent  of  a  party  line.  Type  IRC  and 
once  you're  in,  type  /list  to  see  the  avail- 
able groups,  called  channels.  Join  by  typing 
/join  and  the  name  of  the  channel.  Many 
are  dedicated  to  special  interests,  although 
the  conversation  on  most  tends  toward 
small  talk. 


12 


Summer  1994 


Multi-User  Domains:  Imaginary 
worlds  where  you  take  on  a  character 
and  wander  around  environments  like 
underground  caverns  or  houses  inter- 
acting with  other  players.  Some 
MUDs  are  friendly;  some  pit 
users  against  one  another. 
Usenet:  A  constantly  grow- 
ing collection  of  bulletin 
boards — well  over  5,000  at 
last  count.  There  is  one  for 
virtually  every  special  interest 
(if  you  can't  find  yours,  just  wait — 
several  new  groups  are  added 
every  day). 

Many  newsgroups  have  FAQs  (lists 
of  Frequently  Asked  Questions).  These 
will  help  you  learn  about  a  group's 
focus  and  tell  you  what  has  already 
been  discussed.  Most  groups  post  the 
FAQ  once  a  month.  You  can  also  get 
them  by  anonymous  FTP  (see  below) 
from  rtfm.mit.edu.  They're  in  the  directo- 
ries pub/usenet-by-group  and 
pub/usenet-by-hierarchy. 

To  read  news,  you'll  need  a  news 
reader;  two  popular  ones  are  rn  and  trn. 
The  software  will  also  let  you  post  your 
own  messages.  The  books  on  page  15 
will  prepare  you  for  the  realities  of  net- 
work news.  For  example,  while  some 
newsgroups  are  moderated,  meaning 
someone  filters  out  inappropriate  or 
offensive  material,  most  are  not.  You 
can  probably  guess  whether  groups  like 
alt.sex.fetishes  or  althumor.tasteless  are 
for  you,  but  even  seemingly  benign 
groups  attract  the  occasional  rude  or 
immature  posting. 

Also,  reading  news 
can  be  addictive  and 
time-consuming — espe- 
cially for  the  newbie 
(Net  neophyte).  About 
20,000  new  messages  are  posted 
daily;  some  popular  groups  get 
hundreds  of  new  posts  every  day. 
Mailing  Lists:  These 
also  focus  on  a  wide  range 
of  specialized  topics  and  pro- 
fessions. You  subscribe  to  a  mailing  list 
by  sending  a  properly  worded  e-mail 
message  to  a  mail  server.  Messages  that 
you  and  other  subscribers  send  to  the 
list  are  bounced  to  the  e-mail  boxes  of 
all  other  subscribers.  See  page  10  for 
some  guidelines  on  sending  messages 
to  mailing  lists  or  Usenet  groups. 
Telnet  and  FTP:  One  of  the  great- 
est benefits  of  the  Internet  is  the  vast 
amount  of  information  stored  away  on 


. 


the  millions  of  computers  connected  to 
it.  Not  all  of  it  is  freely  available,  of 
course,  but  a  great  many  organizations 
have  put  some  truly  interesting  and 
useful  things — library 
//^e=^C  catalogs,  weather 
4-£^/  reports,  books  and 
^  magazine  articles,  data- 
bases, pictures  and  much, 
much  more — where  you  can 
get  at  them. 

To  access  some  informa- 
tion, you'll  use  telnet  to  log  in 
=bb=  to  another  computer.  Make 
sure  you  know  the  right  username 
and  (if  needed)  password.  To  retrieve 
information  from  other  computers  you 
can  use  FTP  (file  transfer  protocol). 
Many  computers  have  special  directo- 
ries for  publicly  accessible  files  and  soft- 
ware. You  use  FTP  to  reach  the  comput- 
er and  log  in  as  anonymous;  you  give 
your  e-mail  address  as  a  password. 
Before  you  FTP,  you  should  know  what 
you  are  looking  for  and  which  directory 
it  is  in.  Most  sites  have  a  file  called 
.index.  Download  this  first  to  c°°  *^ 
where  everything  is. 
Archie:  How  do  you  fin 
what's  available  for  FTP- 
ing  and  where  it  is?  That 
question  led  to  the  cre- 
ation of  Archie,  which 
lets  you  search  through 
all  the  anonymous  ftp 
sites  in  the  world 
(which  contain,  by  the 
way,  more  than  a  million  files  and  pro- 
grams). You  generally  telnet  to  an 
Archie  server  near  you.  The  servers 
tend  to  be  busy;  if  you're  not  in  a 
hurry,  you  can  e-mail  your  request 
to  the  site. 

Gopher:  A  much  simpler  way 
to  travel  and  search 
ir    the  Net.  Gopher  orga- 
V  nizes  everything  into 
menus.  You  start  at  a 
*>^n^"  ^y^-_      root  menu  and  choose 
^^  numbered  items  that 

lead  you  to  other  menus  or  to  actual 
files.  Many  organizations  maintain  their 
own  gophers  on  which  they  keep  spe- 
cialized information  (see  page  14  to  find 
out  about  WPI's  Gopher).  Most  Gophers 
have  a  menu  item  that  will  lead  you  to 
all  the  other  Gophers. 

You  will  often  find  the  same  files  and 
directories  on  more  than  one  gopher.  In 
reality,  these  are  links  (called  pointers)  to 
the  same  file,  probably  located  on  yet 


— -      ^  — «-gg 


Wi 


another  Gopher.  Gopher  has  one  highly 
useful  feature.  If  you  find  a  file  you'd  like 
to  keep,  you  can  mail  it  to  yourself.  From 
within  the  file  just  type  m  A  window  will 
open  up.  Type  in  your  e-mail  address,  hit 
return  and  the  file  will  be  on  its  way. 
Veronica:  Most  Gopher  root  menus 
have  an  item  labeled  "Search  Gopher- 
space  with  Veronica."  Like  Archie,  Ver- 
onica is  a  search  tool.  (Supposedly,  the 
fact  that  Archie  and  Veronica  are  char- 
acters in  the  same  comic  strip  is  merely 
coincidental.)  Select  a  Veronica  server 
and  a  little  window  pops  up  on  your 
screen.  Type  in  a  word  or  phase  and 
Veronica  goes  to  work.  After  a  few  min- 
utes you  should  see  a  list  of  files  and 
directories  that  contain  your  keyword. 
One  caution:  once  you've  started  a 
search,  you  can't  stop  it.  If  the  server 
has  trouble  completing  the  search,  you 
may  wait  helplessly  for  several  minutes 
just  to  come  up  empty-handed. 
WAIS:  A  powerful,  though  not  user 
friendly,  way  of  searching  for  informa- 
tion in  specific  databases  on  the  Net.  If 
don't  have  a  WAIS  client  on 
your  computer,  you'll  have  to  tel- 
net to  a  computer  that  has 
one.  WAIS  gives  you  a  choice 
of  many  databases.  You  se- 
lect the  ones  you  think  might 
have  what  you  need,  type  in 
some  keywords,  and  wait. 
You  get  back  a  list  of  files 
?-»^  rated  as  to  their  prob- 
able relevance  to  your 
search.  The  program  will  then  grab 
those  files  for  you. 

The  World  Wide  Web:  Cross 
Gopher  with  a  Macintosh  computer  and 
mix  in  a  liberal  dose  of  MTV,  and  you'll 
get  something  like  the  World  Wide  Web 
(WWW).  To  get  the  most  out  of  the 
Web,  you'll  need  a  software  package 
called  Mosaic,  created  by  the  National 
Center  for  Supercomputer  Applications. 
You  can  get  it  by  anonymous  FTP  from 
ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu.  The  MS  Windows  ver- 
sion is  in  the  directory  /PC/Mosaic;  the 
Macintosh  version  is  in  /Mac/Mosaic. 

Mosaic  uses  hypermedia  links  to 
connect  you  to  information — documents, 
pictures,  maps  and  even  bits  of  video. 
Web  servers  can  also  tap  into  Gopher 
sites,  send  and  read  e-mail,  do  WAIS 
searches,  and  retrieve  files  by  FTP — all 
by  pointing  and  clicking.  It  may  just  be 
the  Internet  tool  to  replace  all  other 
Internet  tools. 

— MD 


WPI  Journal 


13 


other  people  solve  safety  problems  and  concerns  and  in 
learning  more  about  other  people's  solutions." 

Patrick  Dunn,  associate  professor  of  history,  says  he 
has  gotten  useful  information  from  mailing  lists  that  cater 
to  historians  and  to  people  who  have  an  interest  in  Third 
World  development.  "I  had  a  student  whose  IQP  was  con- 
structing a  water  filter  for  developing  nations,"  he  says.  "It 
consisted  of  a  PVC  pipe  filled  with  sand.  He  wanted  to 
know  how  small  he  could  make  it.  Two  people  on  the  list 
had  experience  with  these  filters  and  sent  the  student 
their  scholarly  analysis.  They  also  suggested  a  further  IQP 
to  test  various  ways  to  extend  the  life  of  the  filter." 

On  campus,  a  new  mailing  list  is  credited  with  substan- 
tially increasing  the  number  of  faculty  members  who  use 
e-mail  on  a  regular  basis.  Called  simply  wpijaculty,  the  list 
circulates  only  to  faculty  members  and  has  become  an 
active  forum  for  discussing  important  campus  issues. 

The  Internet  is  not  just  useful  for  talking  to  friends 
and  colleagues,  of  course.  It  is  also  a  formidable 
research  resource.  But  unlike  libraries  or  well- 
organized  electronic  databases,  the  depths  of  the 
Net  are  not  always  easy  to  plumb.  Like  an  explorer  cutting 
through  an  uncharted  jungle,  a  first-time  Internet  user 
needs  a  good  guide.  That,  notes  Helen  Shuster,  WPI's 
library  director,  is  why  many  libraries  are  gearing  up  to 
help  patrons  tap  into  the  huge  volumes  of  information 
available  on-line. 

"The  role  of  the  library  is  changing," 
Shuster  says.  "Traditionally,  academic  li- 
braries helped  their  patrons  locate  and  use 
materials  within  the  library  building.  But  the 
library  of  the  future  will  help  users  find  the 
information  they  need,  no  matter  where  it  is. 
Libraries  will  no  longer  be  judged  by  the 
number  of  volumes  and  periodicals  they 
bold,  but  by  their  ability  to  provide  access 
to  and  speedy  delivery  of  information.  More 
and  more,  that  information  will  be  accessi- 
ble through  the  Internet." 

In  the  preliminary  planning  stages  is  a  ren- 
ovation of  the  Gordon  Library  that  will  pro- 
vide more  room  for  the  modern  computer 
workstations  patrons  will  need  to  access  elec- 
tronic information  and  for  training  rooms 
where  they  can  learn  the  skills  they  need  to 
conduct  their  own  searches.  In  addition, 
Shuster  says,  learning  about  the  Net  is  a  high 
priority  for  everyone  on  the  library  staff. 

Donald  Richardson,  reference  and  com- 
puter and  bibliographic  services  librarian, 
has  already  seen  the  Internet  change  the 
way  he  works  with  library  patrons.  He  began 
to  see  the  potential  of  the  Net  a  few  years 
ago  when  a  graduate  student  requested  a 
copy  of  a  dissertation  completed  at  Technion — Israel 
Institute  of  Technology.  "Foreign  dissertations  are  hard  to 
track  down,"  he  says.  "It  may  take  weeks  just  to  obtain 
ordering  information. 


"That's  where  the  Internet  came  in.  I  remembered  seeing 
the  name  of  a  librarian  at  the  university  on  a  Usenet  news- 
group. I  found  her  e-mail  address  and  sent  her  a  message 
asking  for  help  on  how  to  obtain  a  copy  of  the  dissertation. 
She  replied  with  the  ordering  and  cost  information  and  we 
were  able  to  order  a  copy  without  delay." 

More  recently,  Richardson  received  an  e-mail  message 
from  a  student  working  on  his  Interactive  Qualifying 
Project  at  the  London  Project  Center.  He  had  used  the  Net 
to  access  the  library's  computer  system  and  search  a 
database  for  magazine  articles  on  his  project  topic.  Now 
he  needed  the  library's  help  in  obtaining  copies  of  the  arti- 
cles. "Internet  access  let  the  student  and  the  library  work 
together  in  a  way  that,  while  it  might  not  have  been  impos- 
sible before,  would  not  have  been  as  fast  or  efficient." 

In  recent  years,  Circulation  Librarian  Margaret  Riley 
has  earned  a  reputation  as  an  Internet  resource  for  the 
campus.  She  has  helped  introduce  many  students,  faculty 
members  and  administrators  to  the  Net  and  its  assets,  has 
tackled  wide  ranging  requests  for  specific  types  of  infor- 
mation, and  has  run  seminars  on  the  Internet. 

Riley  says  her  role  as  an  Internet  guru  began  when  she 
started  using  e-mail  to  forward  interesting  bits  of  informa- 
tion she  discovered  on  her  own  electronic  sojourns  to  peo- 
ple on  campus  she  thought  might  find  them  useful.  Not  long 
after  that,  the  College  Computer  Center  created  a  special 
Usenet  newsgroup  on  which  she  now  posts  descriptions  of 
new  and  potentially  valuable  information  sources. 


How  to  Reach  Us  Via  the  Internet 

If  you  look  closely  at  the  mastheads  of  the  WPI  Journal  and  the  WPI 
Wire,  you  will  find  Internet  addresses.  Here 
they  are  again,  in  somewhat  larger  type: 
For  the  WPI  Journal— 

mwdorsey@wpi . wpi . edu 

For  the  WPI  Wire  news  section — 

nlnorum@wpi . wpi . edu 

For  the  WPI  Wire  Class  Notes  section — 

jkmiller@  jake . wpi . edu 

We  encourage  you  to  use  these  addresses  to 

send  us  correspondence,  address  changes,  class  notes  and  story  ideas.  Joan  Killough-Miller,  who  compiles  the 
Class  Notes  section  of  the  Wire,  says  using  electronic  mail  makes  submitting  class  notes  a  breeze,  and  it  also  makes 
it  easier  for  her  to  reply  and  request  additional  information. 

WPI's  news  and  publications  offices  are  also  represented  on  the  Institute's  gopher.  To  reach  the  WPI  gopher,  type 
gopher  bigboote .  wpi .  edu  The  main  menu  will  lead  you  to  a  variety  of  WPI  information  and 
documents,  including  the  undergraduate  and  graduate  catalogs.  Check  out  the  item  called  "WPI  News"  for  current 
news  releases  and  the  complete  text  of  Journal  ana1  Wire  articles. 

Our  World  Wide  Web  server  can  take  you  to  the  WPI  Gopher  and  other  useful  information.  To  reach  our  front 
door,  point  your  Web  software  to  http :  //www .  wpi .  edu :  8080/ 


"I  always  tell  people  the  Internet  is  a  great  resource, 
but  it's  undisciplined,  disorganized  and  unevaluated,"  she 
says.  "You  have  to  know  how  to  find  it,  how  to  assess  its 
quality,  and  how  to  determine  if  it's  what  you  really  need. 


You  need  someone  to  mediate.  That  has  always  been  the 
role  of  the  librarian." 

To  retrieve  information,  one  uses  tools  like  FTP  (file 
transfer  protocol),  a  program  that  lets  a  user  log  on  to 
another  computer  and  retrieve  a  file  or  software  program 
located  there.  To  use  FTP,  though,  you  first 
have  to  know  what's  out  there  and  which 
computer  has  it.  A  powerful  tool  called  Archie 
(see  page  12)  lets  users  search  all  of  the  infor- 
mation located  in  public  FTP  sites  for  files  and 
programs  that  contain  specific  keywords. 

Users  who  do  a  search  on  the  word 
"acoustics"  are  likely  to  learn  about  an  FTP 
site  at  WPI  managed  by  Richard  Campbell, 
adjunct  professor  of  electrical  and  computer 
engineering.  The  site  includes  information  and 
data  on  the  acoustics  of  concert  halls  around 
the  country. 

Riley  says  many  people  are  now  developing 
lists  and  indexes  of  information  located  on  the 
Internet.  One  of  the  best  known  is  the  Yanoff 
List,  created  and  constantly  updated  by  Scott 
Yanoff  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin  (see  page 
11  to  find  out  how  to  get  it).  The  University  of 
Michigan  maintains  a  clearinghouse  for  indexes 
of  information  on  specific  topics. 

Riley  is  well-acquainted  with  one  of  those 
indexes.  It's  a  guide  to  finding  job  hunting 
resources  on  the  Net,  which  she  created  and 
continues  to  expand.  The  list  is  the  outgrowth 
of  a  campus  seminar  Riley  conducted  last  year. 

The  list  tells  users  about  Usenet  groups, 
Gopher  sites  and  other  places  where  jobs  in 
various  disciplines  or  geographic  regions  are 
advertised  and  where  users  can  put  their 
resumes  on  display.  There  are  also  places  that  have  infor- 
mation about  career-planning  and  job-hunting  strategies 
and  places  where  people  discuss  their  job  hunting  experi- 
ences and  tips. 

Riley's  has  become  the  most  popular  list  on  the  Univer- 
sity of  Michigan  Gopher.  Each  month,  it  is  accessed  more 
than  4,000  times.  The  list  may  also  soon  be  available  at 
bookstores  and  libraries;  Riley  says  a  publisher  has  ex- 
pressed an  interest  in  printing  all  of  the  lists  in  book  form. 
(To  find  Riley's  list,  Gopher  to  una.hh.lib.umich.edu  and 
choose  the  menu  item  "Inetdirs."  At  the  next  menu  select 
"All  Guides."  The  guide  is  called  Employment  Opportunities 
and  Job  Resources.) 

While  lists  like  Riley's  make  navigating  the  Internet  more 
rewarding,  they  still  leave  users  to  deal  with  programs  like 
telnet  and  FTP,  which,  while  not  overly  complicated,  are  far 
from  elegant.  To  make  getting  around  on  the  Net  simpler 
(and  more  fun),  computer  scientists  at  the  University  of 
Minnesota  invented  Gopher.  With  Gopher,  getting  at  infor- 
mation is  as  simple  as  choosing  a  number  on  a  menu. 

Most  Gopher  sites  include  a  program  called  Veronica, 
which  does  for  Gopher  sites  what  Archie  does  for  FTP 
sites  (see  page  12).  Depending  on  what  you're  searching 
for,  the  list  that  Veronica  assembles  can  include  just  a  few 


items  or  several  thousand.  For  those  who  search  regularly 
for  information  on  popular  topics,  trying  to  distinguish 
new  items  from  those  they've  seen  many  times  before  can 
be  frustrating. 

In  an  attempt  to  rectify  this  problem,  computer  science 


When  All  Else  Fails,  Read  the  Book 

When  it  comes  to  books  about  the  Internet,  Gordon  Library  Circulation  Librarian  Margaret  Riley  has  read  them  all. 
She's  even  reviewed  a  few  for  an  Internet  mailing  list  read  by  librarians.  Here  is  her  recommended  reading  list: 

•  The  Internet  for  Dummies  by  John  R.  Levine  and  Carol  Baroudi.  IDG  Books.  1 993.  Part  of  the  popular  "Dummies" 
series  of  computer  books,  this  may  be  the  best  (and  funniest)  guide  for  beginners. 

•  Riding  the  Internet  Highway  by  Sharon  Fisher.  New  Riders  Publishers.  1 993.  Another  excellent  guide  for  newcomers. 

•  The  Whole  Internet:  A  User's  Guide  and  Catalog  by  Ed  Kroll.  O'Reilly  &  Associates.  1 994.  This  was  the  first  big  book 
on  the  Internet  and  remains  an  excellent  resource,  especially  for  those  » 
who've  already  gotten  their  feet  wet.                                          —    jM^^ 

•  The  Internet  Complete  Reference  by  Harley  Hahn. 
Osbourne  McGraw-Hill.  1994.  Another  good  book  for  those 
who've  graduated  from  newbie  to  cadet  cybernaut. 

To  learn  more  about  services  available  on  the  Net,  try:  v     ^\        H  n 

•  The  Internet  Yellow  Pages  by  Harley  Hahn.  Osbourne 
McGraw-Hill.  1994. 

•  The  New  Riders'  Offidal  Internet  Yellow  Pages  by  Christine 
Maxwell.  New  Riders  Publishers.  1993. 

•  Net  Guide  by  Peter  Rutten,  Albert  F.  Bayers  III  and 
Kelly  Maloni.  Random  House  Flectronic 
Publishing.  1 994.  (This  is  also  a  guide  to 
on-line  services  like  CompuServe  and  Prodigy.) 


,7.- 


majors  Christopher  Kmiec  '94  and  Gregory  Snyder  '94, 
with  the  assistance  of  their  advisor,  Craig  Wills,  assistant 
professor  of  computer  science,  developed  as  their  Major 
Qualifying  Project  a  new  program  called  PIRANA  (Per- 
sistent Information  Retrieval  and  Network  Access).  A  user 
registers  his  or  her  interests  with  PIRANA,  then  the  pro- 
gram, at  intervals,  completes  a  Veronica  search  and  com- 
pares its  findings  with  the  results  of  previous  searches. 
When  new  items  are  identified,  PIRANA  sends  an  e-mail 
message  to  the  user. 

Because  the  program  requires  considerable  disk  space, 
it  was  placed  on  the  WPI  academic  computer  system  for 
only  a  short  time  as  an  experiment.  In  their  project  report, 
the  students  said  that  users  at  WPI  and  elsewhere  who 
tried  PIRANA  found  it  quite  useful. 

Gopher,  Veronica  and  PIRANA  all  take  the  inherent  disor- 
der of  the  Internet  and  organize  it  in  a  more  logical  and  man- 
ageable form.  But  the  application  that  truly  elevates  the  Net 
into  the  world  of  entertainment  is  the  World  Wide  Web.  The 
creation  of  scientists  at  CERN,  the  high-energy  physics  lab  in 
Geneva,  the  Web,  in  concert  with  Mosaic,  a  program  created 
by  the  National  Center  for  Supercomputer  Applications, 
jazzes  up  the  usual  text-based  Internet  interfaces  with  graph- 
ics, colors,  pictures  and  sounds. 


WPI  Journal 


15 


The  World  Wide  Web  makes  use  of  hypertext.  Instead 
of  a  typical  computer  screen,  the  user  sees  a  colorful 
"page"  with  pictures,  graphics  and  words  set  in  attractive 
typefaces.  Some  of  the  words  are  highlighted  or  appear  in 
a  different  color.  These  are  hypertext  links  that,  when 
clicked  with  a  mouse,  transport  the  user  to  another  page, 
a  photo,  a  map  or  other  type  of  information  located  any- 
where in  the  world.  Web  software  can  also  connect  to  FTP, 
Gopher  and  Telnet  sites,  making  the  World  Wide  Web  the 
Internet's  version  of  one-stop  shopping. 

WPI's  "webmaster"  is  Joseph  Provo  '94,  a  technical  writ- 
ing major  who  got  interested  in  the  Web  in  1993  and  ob- 
tained a  copy  of  Mosaic  to  try  out.  As  part  of  a  project  he  did 
last  year  for  an  experimental  course  called  "Writing  in  the 
Information  Age,"  Provo  set  up  a  Web  server  on  a  Computer 
Science  Department  computer  and  eventually  obtained  per- 
mission to  move  it  to  WPI's  academic  computing  system. 

Provo  now  serves  as  the  administrator  for  the  Insti- 
tute's Web  server.  In  that  role,  he  created  WPI's  front  door 
and  the  links  that  take  users  to  other  places  at  WPI,  includ- 
ing Web  pages  maintained  by  the  Computer  Science 
Department  that  have  information  on  department  faculty 
members  and  educational  and  research  programs,  an 
interactive  map  of  the  campus  (still  in  development),  and 
"home  pages"  created  by  students. 

Provo  says  the  software  used  to  create  home  pages 
makes  it  easy  to  bring  together  words  and  graphics  and  to 
add  links  to  one's  favorite  Web  locations,  encouraging  stu- 
dents to  express  their  creative  urges.  "Creating  a  page  for 
the  Web  can  be  as  complicated  or  as  simple  as  you  want," 
he  says.  "On  my  own  home  page,  for  example,  I've  incor- 
porated a  strip  from  a  contact  sheet  that  has  some  photos 
of  me.  I  use  a  slice  of  a  fractal  image  to  separate  sections." 
Provo  also  created  a  page  that  compiles  interesting  infor- 
mation and  quotes  about  coffee. 

Pat  Dunn  says  he  has  seen  firsthand  the  power  of  the 
World  Wide  Web.  An  expert  on  Russian  and  Soviet  history, 
Dunn  connects  regularly  to  several  Web  servers  in  Russia 
and  to  a  server  in  North  Carolina  called  "Friends  and 
Partners,"  to  which  computer  users  in  the  U.S.  and  Russia 
contribute.  The  servers  contain  information  on  both 
nations'  science,  food,  medicine  and  economics,  among 
other  topics.  A  new  feature  is  a  visual  and  textual  history 
of  the  U.S.  and  Russian  space  programs. 

"This  is  a  wonderful  example  of  Russians  and  Ameri- 
cans working  together,"  Dunn  says.  "They  are  accumulat- 
ing very  significant  information  that  I  think  will  be  quite 
valuable  in  the  future." 

Dunn  says  the  information  that  is  becoming  available 
in  the  former  Soviet  Union  at  Web  sites  and  on  Gophers 
and  Usenet  newsgroups  will  likely  make  his  work  as  a 
scholar  easier.  "Right  now,  there  is  a  limited  amount  of 
information  that  I  can  use,  although  that  is  changing. 
The  flow  of  information  out  of  Russia  has  gone  up  by  a 
factor  of  a  hundred  in  just  a  few  years." 

Russian  scholars  have  limited  technology, 
time  and  money  to  create  information 
archives,  he  adds.  Still,  Dunn  says  he  is 
already  using  some  of  the  information 


now  available — for  example,  a  collection  of  high-quality 
photos  of  Moscow  and  a  daily  news  summary  gathered 
from  Russian  sources  by  Radio  Liberty — in  his  teaching. 

Dunn  says  Russia  came  late  to  the  Internet,  only 
acquiring  e-mail  connections  with  the  rest  of  the  world 
about  a  decade  ago.  Little  in  the  way  of  useful  information 
exchange  took  place  until  researchers  in  Russia  discov- 
ered a  Usenet  newsgroup  called  talk. politics. soviet  and 
began  joining  in  discussions  with  computer  users  in  other 
countries.  In  1992,  that  newsgroup  became  a  conduit  for 
information  on  the  Soviet  coup  attempt.  "All  of  a  sudden 
one  morning,  messages  began  appearing  saying  tanks 
were  in  the  street  in  front  of  the  White  House.  I  had  the 
radio  on,  and  the  eyewitness  reports  were  always  about  a 
half  hour  ahead  of  the  media." 

Like  much  of  the  information  posted  on  the  Net,  the 
reports  of  the  coup  were  biased,  coming  primarily  from 
academics  who  were  against  the  coup  because  they  were 
benefiting  from  Glasnost,  Dunn  says.  "We  learned  very  lit- 
tle about  the  common  person's  opinions,"  he  says.  "We 
later  found  out  that  500  yards  from  the  White  House,  peo- 
ple went  about  their  business  and  didn't  really  care.  You 
have  to  be  careful  not  to  mistake  the  world  of  the  informa- 
tion elite  for  the  real  world." 

Despite  the  unevenness  of  the  information  now  on-line, 
the  fact  that  it  is  there  at  all  is  amazing  to  Dunn.  "I  just  type 
a  few  commands  and  away  we  go  to  Russia,"  he  says 
connecting  his  computer  to  a  Russian  Gopher.  "That  just 
blows  my  mind.  If  anyone  had  told  me  even  five  years  ago 
that  I  could  connect  to  an  information  site  in  Russia  just 
like  that,  or  that  we'd  be  seeing  the  free  exchange  of  infor- 
mation between  our  countries,  I  would  have  just  laughed — 
I  would  have  said  they  were  nuts.  But  there,  we  just  did  it." 


A 


vthor's  Note:  Much  of  the  research  for  this 
article  was  conducted  using  the  Internet.  With 
FTP  and  Gopher,  I  retrieved  articles  and  fact 
Lsheets  on  the  Internet  and  its  many  services 
and  information  sources.  I  posted  a  message  on  campus 
computer  bulletin  boards  asking  members  of  the  WPI  com- 
munity to  send  me  stories  about  how  they  use  the  Net  and 
got  back  many  replies  via  e-mail.  These  are  the  stories  fea- 
tured in  the  article.  And  I  got  many  hours  of  firsthand  expe- 
rience with  all  of  the  tools  described  in  this  article 
and   the   accompanying  ^^^^^^— 

sidebars. 


The  Entrepreneurial  Spirit:  Fourteenth  in  a  Series 


By  Joan  Killough-Miller 


ONCE 
UPON 
A  TIME 


the  American  manufacturing 
economy  was  ruled  by  auto- 
cratic multinational  corpora- 
tions that  controlled  prices, 
dictated  design  specs,  and 
hoarded  large  quantities  of  the 
parts  they  required. 

Lowly  suppliers  cast  their 
wares  and  humbly  brought 
them  before  these  despots,  seeking  favor.  If  a  supplier  dis- 
pleased a  corporate  giant,  the  supplier  was  easily  replaced. 
Wily  executives  would  play  competing  suppliers  against  each 
other  to  get  lower  prices.  Sometimes,  when  it  was  to  the  cor- 
poration's advantage,  they  would  swallow  a  supplier  whole 
by  acquisition,  or  by  bringing  its  capabilities  in-house. 

Times  have  changed,  and  the  balance  of  power  has 
shifted.  Over  the  last  two  decades,  the  corporate  order  has 
undergone  a  great  transformation.  Goliath  is  not  so  big  and 
mighty,  thanks  to  the  new  David,  who  might  look  a  little  bit 
like  Paul  Kennedy  '67.  A  graduate  of  WPI's  Management 
Department,  he  is  president  of  Kennedy  Die  Castings,  a  fam- 
ily-run manufacturer  and  supplier  of  metal  parts  headquar- 
tered in  Worcester. 

The  company  has  seen  radical  changes  since  Paul's  late 
father,  Francis  Kennedy,  who  earned  a  degree  in  electrical 
engineering  at  WP1  in  1930,  bought  his  first  die  casting 
machine  18  years  later.  The  elder  Kennedy  set  up  shop  on 


Exchange  Street  in  downtown  Worcester,  and  moved  the 
company  to  Harding  Street  a  few  years  later.  Kennedy  Die 
Castings  built  a  solid  reputation  with  its  steady  customers, 
including  Norton  Co.,  which  ordered  cast  flanges  for  its 
abrasive  products,  and  Chevrolet,  which  needed  metal 
ends  for  its  brake  lines. 

The  company  grew  slowly.  By  the  end  of  the  1950s,  it 
had  60  employees.  Two  of  Francis'  sons,  Robert,  a  Holy 
Cross  graduate  who  is  now  vice  president  and  treasurer, 
and  Paul,  who  went  straight  from  WPI  into  the  army,  joined 
the  family  firm  in  the  late  1960s.  "I  wasn't  smart  enough  to 
go  anywhere  else,  so  my  father  had  to  take  me  in,"  Paul 
jokes.  His  older  brothers  also  followed  their  father  to  WPI, 
but  didn't  join  the  company.  Francis  Jr.  '63  teaches 
mechanical  engineering  at  Dartmouth;  Richard  '65  works 
for  Norton. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  1980s,  the  recession  had  hit  the 
Northeast  manufacturing  economy  hard,  and  the  Kennedys 
doubted  that  their  business  would  survive.  Competition 
from  foreign  parts  manufacturers  was  intense,  and  Paul, 
who  was  made  a  partner  in  1982,  knew  that  it  would  take 
more  than  just  courting  new  clients  to  keep  Kennedy  Die 
Castings  afloat. 

The  company  not  only  survived  the  recession,  but  has 
grown  sixfold  over  the  past  12  years.  Today  it  has  130 
employees  and  sales  of  more  than  $12  million.  In  1986,  it 
moved  to  a  specially  designed  48,000-square-foot  facility  at 


WPI  Journal 


17 


The  Entrepreneurial  Spirit 


the  Worcester  Airport  Industrial  Park.  The  Kennedys  are  on  the  verge 
of  adding  another  30,000  square  feet  to  the  building  to  meet  the  grow- 
ing demand  for  their  products.  Also  on  the  horizon  are  an  assembly 
operation  in  Clinton,  Mass.,  a  joint  venture  in  Mexico,  and  a  new  plant 
to  open  in  the  South  this  year.  In  August,  Kennedy  Die  Castings  was 
expected  to  become  the  first  fully  certified  ISO  9002  die  casting  compa- 
ny in  North  America.  (ISO  9002  is  an  international  quality  standard 
important  to  businesses  that  compete  in  the  global  marketplace.) 

The  saga  of  how  the  Kennedys  turned  their  company  around  is 
more  than  just  a  local  success  story.  It  is  a  case  study  of  the  funda- 
mental revolution  that  has  transformed  the  American  economy.  It 
was  for  this  reason  that  magazine  writer  John  Case  chose  the  story 
of  Kennedy  Die  Castings  to  illustrate  a  story  he  wrote  for  Inc.  on  the 
shift  in  the  relationship  between  supplier  and  corporation. 

Case  came  to  Worcester  to  write  an  article  about  Kennedy  Die 
Castings  and  wound  up  with  a  full-length  book.  From  the  Ground  Up: 
The  Resurgence  of  American  Entrepreneurship  (Simon  &  Schuster, 
1992)  chronicles  the  evolution  of  American  business  from  Kenneth 
Galbraith's  model  of  a  handful  of  powerful  multinational  corpora- 
tions to  a  galaxy  of  upstart  small  companies  like  the  Kennedys'. 

The  way  Paul  Kennedy  sees  it,  the  once-autocratic  large  corpora- 
tions are  becoming  more  dependent  on  suppliers.  As  a  result,  a  new 
support  economy  is  coming  together.  "1  see  these  multinational 
companies  as  big  mother  ships  that  float  around  the  world,  doing 
what  they  do,"  he  says.  "They  need  things,  and  they  send  down 
umbilical  cords  to  suppliers  like  us.  My  job  is  to  decide  who  we'll 
send  goods  up  to — who  will  efficiently  use  our  capital.  When  one  of 
them  doesn't  look  like  a  viable  endgame,  we  cut  that  one  loose  and 
bring  in  another.  

"These  companies  are  getting 
thinner  and  thinner,  and  that  just 
leaves  room  for  us  to  grow.  They're 
doing  less  and  less  of  the  opera- 
tions. For  instance,  GM  is  trying  to 
become  a  'car  assembler' — a  pur- 
veyor and  assembler  of  parts.  They 
design  the  product,  but  they  no 
longer  want  to  be  a  vertically  inte- 
grated manufacturer  that  starts 
from  the  bottom." 

In  Francis  Kennedy's  day,  Chevrolet  would  expect  him  to  ship 
out  orders  for  brake  cable  ends,  casting  so  many  thousand  to  the 
exact  specifications  supplied  by  the  automaker.  Now,  a  car  compa- 
ny is  more  apt  to  purchase  a  complete  brake  subassembly,  and  may 
even  ask  the  supplier  to  design,  machine-finish  and  assemble  it. 
Kennedy  Die  Castings  employs  three  design  engineers  trained  in 
computer-aided  design,  and  markets  its  engineering  services  along 
with  its  expanded  finishing  capabilities  and  its  just-in-time  inventory 
delivery. 

Growth  to  Paul  Kennedy  means  more  than  just  more  machines 
stamping  out  more  parts.  He  has  scoured  the  world  and  brought 
home  the  best  possible  technology  for  his  Worcester  plant.  He  is 
especially  proud  of  a  German  vacuum  extractor  that  sucks  air  from 
the  molds  as  the  molten  metal  is  shot  in.  The  end  product  has  fewer 
air  bubbles,  making  it  stronger.  That  means  that  parts  can  be  thin- 
ner and  lighter.  His  travels  to  Japan  have  convinced  him  that  the 
Japanese  actually  do  more  with  a  lower  level  of  technology  than  the 
U.S.  "The  Japanese  know  how  to  use  a  piece  of  capital  more  effi- 


"I  see  these  multinational  companies  as 
big  mother  ships  that  float  around  the 
world,  doing  what  they  do.  They  need 
things,  and  they  send  down  umbilical 
cords  to  suppliers  like  us.  My  job  is  to 
decide  who  we'll  send  goods  up  to. yi 


Paul  Kennedy,  right,  looks  over 
the  design  for  a  die-cast  part  his 
company  will  make  with  Vasee- 
karan  S.  Rayan,  a  manufacturing 
engineer  at  Kennedy  Die  Cast- 
ings. Rayan,  who  received  a 
master's  degree  in  manufactur- 
ing engineering  from  WPI  in 
1993,  is  one  of  three  design  engi- 
neers at  the  company  trained  in 
computer-aided  design. 

ciently,"  he  says.  "Whatever  they  do, 
they  do  it  once — right." 

Not  all  of  the  new  technology  the 
company  uses  comes  from  abroad.  In 
conjunction  with  WPI's  Aluminum 
Casting  Research  Laboratory,  Kennedy 
is  experimenting  with  metal  matrix 
composites  to  achieve  casting  proper- 
ties not  possible  with  the  traditional 
zinc  and  aluminum  alloys.  Molten 
metal  solidifies  rapidly,  making  it  diffi- 
cult to  fill  molds  with  long,  narrow 
channels.  Kennedy  Die  Castings  has 
been  working  to  develop  a  line  of  die- 
cast  thermal-management  products,  or  heat  sinks,  that  will  eventual- 
ly utilize  the  composite  materials.  The  first  applications  to  go  to 
market  will  be  cooling  systems  for  Intel's  new  Pentium  microproces- 
sor and  for  another,  yet-to-be-announced  high-speed,  64-bit  micro- 

processor. 

WPI  students  have  made  their 
mark  on  the  Kennedys'  die  casting 
plant  while  being  given  the  oppor- 
tunity to  solve  real-life  industrial 
problems.  The  plant's  central  water 
cooling  and  recycling  system  was 
designed  by  a  team  of  students  as 
part  of  a  Major  Qualifying  Project 
(MQP)  that  Paul  Kennedy  spon-" 
sored. 

But  Kennedy  doesn't  just  invest 
in  better  equipment  and  the  latest  technology.  He  is  constantly  up- 
grading his  employees,  who  spend  an  average  of  two  hours  a  week 
at  "Kennedy  U,"  the  in-plant  classroom  where  workers  receive  ongo- 
ing job  training  and  instruction  that  helps  them  improve  their  basic 
skills.  Kennedy  Die  Castings  has  a  full-time  trainer  on  staff,  and 
sends  workers,  many  of  whom  are  Southeast  Asian  and  Hispanic 
immigrants,  to  Quinsigamond  Community  College  in  Worcester  to 
improve  their  English  and  math  skills. 

"We're  not  trying  to  be  the  Worcester  school  system,"  he  says, 
"but  one  of  the  difficulties  the  U.S.  has,  vis-a-vis  Japan  or  Germany, 
is  that  the  educational  level  of  our  entry-level  worker  is  relatively 
poor.  You  can't  let  your  systems  degenerate  to  the  lowest  common 
denominator  just  because  of  a  lack  of — I  hate  to  use  the  word — feed- 
stock. We  can't  cull  out  most  of  the  employee  base  and  just  deal 
with  the  elite.  We're  not  an  elite  business. 

"That's  the  economic  analysis,"  he  concludes.  "The  humanitarian 
analysis  is,  we  just  think  it's  right." 

Total  quality  management,  worker  involvement  and  quality  cir- 


18 


Summer  1994 


cles  are  more  than  just  buzzwords  here.  Quality  control  operations 
occupy  a  whole  room  of  the  plant,  and  cost  and  production  data  are 
posted  daily.  Profit  sharing  links  performance  to  rewards,  and  work- 
er teams  are  charged  with  improving  their  own  output.  One  team 

reduced  rejects  from  10  percent  to    

less  than  1  percent.  It's  not  unusual 
for  workers  to  halt  the  production 
lines  and  fix  a  problem  instead  of 
waiting  for  management  to  come  to 
the  rescue,  or  to  stop  a  faulty  order 
before  it  goes  out  the  door. 

"We're  not  doing  this  because 
we're  so  smart  or  because  we're  so 
visionary,"  says  Kennedy.  "We're 
doing  this  because  not  doing  it  was 
wearing  me  out.  I  was  getting  tired 

of  being  a  one-man  band. ..a  two-man  band  with  my  brother.  Under 
the  old  system,  every  problem  eventually  rose  up  to  the  level  where 
I  handled  it,  or  Bob  handled  it,  or  our  general  manager,  Joe  Deliso, 
handled  it. 

"Seven  or  eight  years  ago,  we  were  killing  ourselves — seven  days 
a  week.  One  day  we  sat  down  in  this  office  and  said,  'This  is  killing 
us.  Life  isn't  worth  living  if  we're  going  to  do  this  to  ourselves.  Let's 
either  get  the  other  people  involved  or  get  rid  of  the  damn  thing!' " 

With  a  stable  product  base  of  Stanley  Tool  components  (Ken- 
nedy Die  Castings  makes  80  percent  of  the  die-cast  metal  parts  for 
the  Stanley  Tool  Division,  including  seven  to  eight  million  handles 
for  Stanley's  retractable-blade  utility  knives  each  year),  castings  for 
traffic  lights  (about  50  percent  of  the  U.S.  municipal  market)  and 
housings  for  Bose  speakers,  Kennedy  can  afford  to  scout  out  new 
markets  and  explore  more  high-tech  endeavors.  He  predicts  that 
products  utilizing  the  technology  resulting  from  the  aluminum 
matrix  composite  experiments  now  taking  place  at  WPI  could  even- 
tually double  the  worth  of  his  company,  although  he  does  not  want 


to  divulge  specific  applications. 

Access  to  the  technological  resources  of  WPI  and  other  Mas- 
sachusetts institutions  are  just  one  advantage  of  doing  business  in 
Worcester,  he  says.  Although  he  intends  to  open  production  plants 
abroad  and  in  other  regions  of  the  U.S.  to  stay  close  to  clients  who 
relocate,  Kennedy  says  the  nerve  center  of  his  operations  will 
always  be  Worcester. 

"New  England  is  highly  underrated  as  a  manufacturing  center," 
he  insists.  "It  has  a  lot  of  advantages,  and  one  of  them  is  WPI." 
Although  energy  costs  and  labor  costs  are  high  in  the  Northeast,  he 
says  it  is  cheaper  for  him  to  make  parts  in  Worcester  than  in  the 
South  or  in  Mexico,  because  his  Worcester  plant  is  so  highly  auto- 
mated. 

Kennedy's  favorite  story  points  up  an  invisible  advantage  to 
doing  business  in  the  U.S.  Years  ago,  he  was  talking  to  a  colleague  in 
Mexico.  This  was  in  the  pre-Salinas  era,  before  the  dawn  of  NAFTA 
and  other  trade  agreements.  The  Mexican  die  caster  was  paying  his 
workers  25  cents  an  hour.  "Why  shouldn't  I  just  move  my  whole 
plant  down  here?"  Kennedy  exclaimed. 

The  Mexican  die  caster  posed  a  simple  question.  "If  you  have  a 
valve  break,  how  long  does  it  take  you  to  fix  it?"  "An  hour — two 
hours  if  we  don't  have  the  part  in  our  plant,  because  we  have  to  go 
into  town  to  buy  it  from  a  supply  house,  or  borrow  it  from  another 
company,"  Kennedy  answered. 

His  colleague  said,  "If  I  have  that  same  valve  break,  I  have  to  first 
find  international  funds.  Then  I  have  to  go  find  a  vendor.  Then  I  have 
to  buy  it  and  get  it  to  the  border,  then  I  probably  have  to  send  some- 
body to  pay  some  sort  of  bribe  to  get  it  across  the  border,  and  get  it 
to  my  plant  and  have  it  assem- 
bled. So  the  net  downtime 
would  be  something  like  two 
months." 

The  Mexican  businessman 
looked  at  Kennedy  and  said, 
"You  must  understand — differ- 
ent societies  tax  you  in  different 
ways.  Your  job  is  to  understand 
what  the  taxes  are." 

Here  at  home,  high  taxes 
and  insurance  rates,  bad  weath- 
er, and  government  regulation  are  barriers,  but  Kennedy  says, 
"There  are  also  advantages  to  Massachusetts,  or  Massachusetts 
would  cease  to  exist.  There's  a  premium  for  living  here,  but  people 
continue  to  pay  it.  Well,  why  do  they  pay  it?  The  point  is  to  under- 
stand the  premium  and  the  counterbalances." 

He  points  out  that  although  certain  regional  industries,  such  as 
shoe  manufacturing,  have  foundered,  the  knowledge  that  supported 
them  is  still  here,  and  can  be  translated  into  other  ventures.  "Really, 
the  bottom  line  is  the  human  capital.  That's  our  future,  our  vision." 

Paul  Kennedy  is  plainspoken  and  down-to-earth.  He  is  also  sur- 
prisingly calm  for  someone  presiding  over  the  opening  of  two  new 
plants,  $1.5  million  worth  of  expansion  at  home,  and  uncharted  new 
ventures.  Perhaps  his  tranquillity  comes  from  running  regularly 
with  a  group  of  WPI  faculty  members  and  playing  tennis  with  his 
wife,  Joan. 

Still,  he  admits  that  he  is  sometimes  motivated  by  blind  fear. 
"We're  not  out  there  alone,"  he  says.  "We've  got  to  continually  get 
better,  or  somebody  is  going  to  catch  us.  That's  the  driver." 


"Seven  or  eight  years  ago,  we  were  killing  our- 
selves— seven  days  a  week.  One  day  we  sat 
down  in  this  office  and  said,  (This  is  killing 
us.  Life  isn't  worth  living  if  we're  going  to  do 
this  to  ourselves.  Let's  either  get  the  other  peo- 
ple involved  or  get  rid  of  the  damn  thing!' 


» 


WPI  Journal 


19 


By  Diane  Benison 


re  companies  that  hire 
college  seniors  looking 
for  the  same  set  of 
qualifications  they've 


always  sought?  Are  college 
seniors  looking  for  the  same 
things  from  employers  as  their 
counterparts  of  a  decade  or  two 
ago?  In  short,  are  we  witnessing  a 
fundamental  change  in  the  social 
contract  of  the  workplace? 

The  answers  to  those  ques- 
tions vary  greatly  depending  on 
the  character  and  size  of  the 
employers  you  talk  to.  The  WPl 
Journal    spoke    with    Yvonne 
Harrison,  director  of  WPI's  Career 
Development  Center,  and  with 
executives  at  four  companies 
ranging  in  size  from  a  25-person 
start-up  to  a  Fortune  500  manufac- 
turer. All  of  these  executives  are 
involved  in  some  way  with  hiring 
new  college  graduates,  including  young  men 
and  women  earning  their  degrees  at  WPl. 
While  their  views  on  the  realities  of  the  mar- 
ket— and  on  whether  those  realities  are  real- 
ly changing — differed,  they  agreed  on  some 
fundamental  points  about  what  employers 
today  want  to  see  in  their  new  hires: 

•  Good  Grades.  These  are  no  longer  just 
desirable — they  are  a  must.  Without  good 
grades,  a  senior  won't  get  invited  to  a  first 
interview  with  many  companies. 

•  Communication  and  Teamwork  Skills. 
Superior  communication  skills  (written  and 
oral)  and  the  ability  to  work  effectively  as 
part  of  a  team  are  also  absolute  musts.  In 
the  minds  of  most  employers,  communica- 
tion and  teamwork  are  linked:  good  com- 
munication means  not  just  the  ability  to 
convey  information  clearly,  but  to  deal  with 
the  interpersonal  issues  that  inevitably 
arise  when  people  work  together. 

•  Self-Knowledge.  A  graduating  senior  who 
knows  what  kind  of  work  he  wants  to  do, 
the  kind  of  company  he  wants  to  work  for, 
and  why,  is  light-years  ahead  of  the  senior 
who  just  wants  a  job.. .any  job. 

•  Real-World  Work  Experience.  This  is  not 
a  catch-22.  What  employers  want  are  grad- 
uates who  have  gained  some  work  experi- 
ence, either  through  a  co-op  assignment  or 
internship,  or,  in  the  case  of  WPl  students, 
through  a  Major  Qualifying  Project  at  a 
corporate  site.  Experience,  however  limit- 
ed, is  a  significant  favorable  differentiator. 

Companies,  of  course,  also  want  skills 
and  interests  that  are  a  good  fit  with  their 


Getting 
a  Job: 


A  New 

Decade 

Brings  New 

Realities 


own  workplaces.  All  of  the  execu- 
tives we  talked  to  say  they  come 
to  WPl  looking  for  students  who 
have  taken  the  courses  or  ma- 
jored in  the  disciplines  that  make  ^^^^ 
the  best  match  with  the  technical  require- 
ments of  the  job.  In  today's  rapidly  changing 
technical  world,  the  type  of  technical  exper- 
tise WPl  imparts  is  a  valuable  asset,  they 
agree.  Here's  what  else  they  said. 


T 

■  ti 


he  job  market  has  changed,  there's  lit- 
tle doubt  about  that,"  says  Yvonne  Har- 
rison. "Corporations  are  no  longer  just  look- 
ing for  technical  expertise.  Technical  exper- 
tise is  something  they  can  find  without  too 
much  trouble  at  most  universities. 

"What  they  want  are  the  'softer'  things 
WPl  has  incorporated  into  its  curriculum — a 
team  orientation,  the  ability  to  communicate 
well,  a  knowledge  of  the  humanities,  famil- 
iarity with  other  languages,  and  exposure  to 
other  cultures.  These  are  things  we  once 
might  have  associated  with  a  liberal  arts 
major.  But  now  corporations  are  looking  for 
these  things,  in  addition  to  technical  exper- 
tise, in  new  scientists  and  engineers." 

Another  important  change,  Harrison 
says,  is  that  employers  who  recruit  at  WPl 
are  no  longer  content  with  the  "novice" 
graduate.  "That's  the  person  who  has  done 
well  academically  and,  perhaps,  done  a  tech- 
nical project,  but  who  has  not  had  any  expo- 
sure to  corporate  America.  Corporations 
want  people  who  know  what  it  means  to  go 


to  a  9-to-5  job  and  who  have  been  exposed 
to  working  in  an  environment  beyond  the 
seclusion  of  a  university." 

That  means  that  students  who  have  done 
internships  and  co-op  assignments  have  a 
significant  edge,  she  says.  "As  a  matter  of 
fact,  companies  like  General  Electric  and 
IBM  have  focused  a  lot  of  their  recruitment 
on  summer  and  co-op  hires.  The  tail-end  hir- 
ing— the  four-year  program  hiring — is  for 
those  positions  they  haven't  already  filled 
from  co-ops  and  internships." 

Harrison  says  students  today  should  also 
be  prepared  to  start  their  careers  at  small 
companies,  which  are  doing  the  majority  of 
the  hiring  of  new  engineers  and  scientists. 
"This  puts  the  focus  on  a  different  set  of  job 
skills,"  she  says.  "At  a  large  corporation,  you 
can  be  a  specialist,  but  at  a  smaller  company 
you  have  to  do  more  and  be  more  familiar 
with  a  wider  range  of  things. 

"It  also  means  that  your  growth  potential 
will  not  necessarily  be  upward,  but  outward. 
You  may  not  move  up  in  the  company,  but 
you  will  take  on  more  responsibility  and 
have  more  to  offer  your  next  employer." 

For  most  new  graduates,  she  adds,  there 
will,  indeed,  be  a  next  employer. ..and  a  next. 
"Today's  students  are  not  looking  to  stay  at 
one  company  for  15  or  20  years.  They  expect 
to  move  around  more.  They  are  more  likely 


20 


Summer  1994 


to  think,  'I  am  the  expertise.  I  can  move  from 
one  company  to  another,  and  as  I  grow  I'll 
get  more  money  and  I'll  get  a  better  quality 
of  life.' " 

Quality  of  life,  she  adds,  is  an  important 
consideration  for  today's  students.  "They 
want  their  employer  to  feed  their  need  to 
expand  their  technical  knowledge  and  capa- 
bilities. They  want  flexible  time  to  raise  their 
families,  the  ability  to  share  jobs,  day  care. 
They  saw  their  parents  sacrifice  their  fami- 
lies for  their  careers,  and  they  don't  want  to 
do  that.  They  don't  want  their  lives  to  be 
totally  summed  up  in  a  company." 

PAUL  B.  GRAUTSKI  '84,  a  pro- 
ject engineer  with  Gillette  Co.  in  Bos- 
ton, doesn't  do  the  actual  hiring  for  his  divi- 
sion, but  he  plays  an  influential  role  in  decid- 
ing which  WPI  graduates  are  offered  jobs. 
Once  a  year,  Grautski  recruits  at  the  Insti- 
tute for  Gillette's  Tech  Ops  program.  Only 
one  or  two  of  the  WPI  seniors  he  talks  to  will 
be  recommended  for  a  second  interview  in 
any  given  year. 

Grautski  is  one  of  the  first  gatekeepers 
on  the  path  to  getting  employed  by  Gillette. 
A  product  of  the  Tech  Ops  program  himself, 
he  says  he  takes  care  in  making  his  recom- 
mendations because  he's  proud  of  the  repu- 


Today's  college 
graduates  are  facing 
a  different — and  more 
demanding — employ- 
ment landscape  than 
their  counterparts  of 
just  a  decade  ago.  It 
takes  more  than  a  solid 
education  to  land  a  job. 
Companies  are  seeking 
high  achievers,  team 
players  and  people  who 
know  what  they  want. 
And  it  doesn't  hurt  to 
have  some  experience. 


tation  of  Tech  Ops  veterans  and 
of  the  recruits  he's  recommend- 
ed. Tech  Ops,  begun  11  years 
ago,  is  shorthand  for  Technical 
Operations,  which  is  also  the 
name  of  the  Gillette  division  where  people 
who  complete  the  program  go  to  work.  The 
program  hires  only  mechanical  and  electri- 
cal engineers. 

Grautski,  who  has  worked  at  Gillette 
since  he  graduated  from  WPI,  focuses  on 
process  optimization  in  his  day-to-day 
assignments.  His  job  involves  seeking  out 
and  assessing  cutting-edge  technology  and 
looking  for  ways  Gillette  can  use  it  to  manu- 
facture higher-quality,  lower-cost  products. 

He  says  the  company  designs  and  builds 
most  of  the  equipment  it  uses  in  its  highly 
automated,  high-speed  manufacturing 
processes.  Computer  technology,  high-speed 
camera  systems,  lasers,  and  sensors  that  mea- 
sure and  observe  the  manufacturing  process 
are  all  important  components  of  those 
processes.  Grautski  also  helps  install,  debug 
and  maintain  this  modern  technology. 

In  his  role  as  a  hiring  gatekeeper,  Graut- 
ski is  part  of  a  team  that  recruits  top  stu- 
dents from  a  targeted  group  of  universities 
and  colleges  that  historically  have  produced 
the  kinds  of  graduates  Gillette  seeks.  The 
company  sends  graduates  of  those  institu- 
tions back  to  campus  to  represent  it  in  the 
recruiting  process.  Target  schools  currently 
include  MIT,  Northeastern  University,  RPI, 
Tufts  University,  the  University  of  Massa- 
chusetts at  Amherst  and  Lowell,  and  WPI. 


Grautski  prescreens  the  res- 
umes of  WPI  seniors  who  express 
an  interest  in  Gillette  and  chooses 
about  a  dozen  he  will  actually  inter- 
view. As  he  looks  over  the  pool  of 
applicants,  he  has  a  general  profile 
in  mind.  High  on  his  list  of  qualifica- 
tions is  technical  literacy. 

Because  Gillette  places  consid- 
erable emphasis  on  the  need  to 
continuously  improve  its  manu- 
facturing processes,  Grautski 
looks  for  men  and  women  inter- 
ested in  and  knowledgeable  about 
leading-edge  technology.  While 
Gillette,  like  many  companies 
today,  looks  for  students  who 
have  had  some  work  experience, 
it  is  far  more  important  for  gradu- 
ates to  be  familiar  with  the  most 
up-to-date  engineering  tools — 
especially  things  like  computer 
modeling,  computational  tech- 
niques and  computer-aided  design. 

"We're  not  necessarily  looking  for  some- 
one who  has  straight  A's,"  he  says,  "but  it  is 
important  to  have  good  grades.  If  someone 
doesn't  have  strong  grades  it  may  indicate 
that  their  understanding  of  the  material  is 
shallow." 

He  says  he  also  considers  the  courses  a 
student  has  taken,  which  tells  him  something 
about  a  person's  focus.  "If  they're  applying 
for  a  job  where  they'll  be  doing  machine 
design,  but  they  didn't  take  courses  appro- 
priate to  that  area,  it  makes  me  wonder  how 
much  they  want  the  job,"  he  says.  "We  don't 
want  people  who  just  want  a  job.  We  want 
people  who  want  the  job  we're  offering." 

Personality  and  communications  skills 
are  also  critical,  he  notes.  In  today's  work- 
place, it  is  much  more  important  to  be  able 
to  work  as  part  of  a  team  than  to  be  an 
individual  shining  star.  He  says  he  tries  to 
assess  a  student's  team  orientation  by  ask- 
ing open-ended  questions  like,  "How  do  you 
feel  about  working  in  teams?"  and  "Tell  me 
about  your  experiences  with  teamwork." 

"I  also  ask  WPI  students  about  their  pro- 
ject work,"  he  says.  "If  someone  doesn't 
have  the  necessary  communications  skills  to 
describe  to  me  in  some  detail  what  they've 
spent  two  or  three  terms  doing,  that's  a  ma- 
jor problem.  1  sometimes  interview  students 
who've  worked  together  on  an  MQP.  The  dif- 
ferences in  the  way  they  each  explain  it  tells 
me  who  has  the  better  communication  skills 
and  whether  one  of  them  might  have  just 
gone  along  for  the  ride." 


WPI  Journal 


21 


"If  they're  applying  for  a  job 
where  they'll  be  doing  machine 
design,  but  they  didn't  take 
courses  appropriate  to  that 
area,  it  makes  me  wonder  how 
much  they  want  the  job.  We 
don't  want  people  who  just 
want  a  job.  We  want  people  who 
want  the  job  we're  offering. 

—Paul  Grautski '84 


)! 


Gillette's  Tech  Op  program  also  seeks 
people  who  have  a  practical  side,  Grautski 
says.  "We  ask  them  about  their  hobbies.  We 
want  a  hands-on  person,  rather  than  some- 
one who  is  totally  theoretical.  We  try  to  get 
a  sense  of  the  things  they've  done  with  their 
hands.  If  someone  wants  to  be  a  machine 
designer  and  has  built  a  dune  buggy  or 
works  on  cars,  we  know  he  or  she  has  a 
practical,  hands-on  side. 

"We  also  look  for  computer  design  expe- 
rience and  familiarity  with  drafting  stan- 
dards. Nothing  an  engineer  conceives  is  any 
good  if  it  exists  only  in  his  or  her  mind.  An 
engineer  has  to  be  able  to  translate  designs 
onto  paper  or  into  the  computer  so  some- 
one else  can  build  them.  That  ability  is  rare, 
but  when  we  find  it,  it's  a  big  plus." 

RICHARD  P.  WELCH  '82  is  direc- 
tor of  customer  support  and  quality 
assurance  at  Parametric  Technologies  in 
Waltham,  Mass.,  a  company  that  provides 
mechanical  engineering  software  design 
solutions.  Welch's  department  provides  cus- 
tomer support  over  the  phone.  When  he 
recruits  new  employees,  he  says  he  looks  for 
people  with  a  degree  in  mechanical  engi- 
neering and  some  background  in  computer- 
assisted  design  software,  preferably  in  a 


Unix  environment.  While  it  isn't  necessary 
to  have  experience  with  Pro/ENGINEER,  a 
Parametric  product,  it  is  an  asset,  he  says. 
Welch  says  he  looks  first  for  bright  stu- 
dents and  places  almost  equal  emphasis 
on  good  grades  and  good  communications 
skills.  "We  also  want  someone  who  likes  to 
tinker  and  play  with  software  in  a  logical 
and  methodical  manner,"  he  says.  "The 
main  goal  of  quality  assurance  is  to  make 
the  product  fail  so  development  people 
can  fix  it  before  it  gets  into  the  market- 
place." 

New  hires  in  Welch's  department  go 
through  a  three-month  training  program  and 
then  begin  to  provide  technical  support  to 
customers  under  carefully  controlled  condi- 
tions. After  they've  gained  experience  with 
customers  and  with  the  company's  prod- 
ucts, they  begin  answering  calls  directly. 

Parametric  Technologies  had  60  employ- 
ees when  Welch  joined  it  five  years  ago. 
Since  then,  it  has  grown  into  a  1,200-person, 
mid-size  company,  and  it  is  still  expanding 
rapidly,  he  says.  The  company  is  actively 
hiring.  Welch  says  Parametric  tends  to 
attract  new  graduates  who  have  firm  ideas 
about  what  they  want  to  do  with  their  ca- 
reers. Many  want  to  go  into  consulting,  but 
don't  yet  have  the  background  or  exper- 
ience for  it.  He  says  he  shows  them  that  cus- 
tomer support  is  a  good  way  to  get  that 
background  and  experience. 

Marty  P.  Ferguson  '84,  who 
recently  started  a  new  job  with  An- 
dersen Consulting  in  Boston,  spent  the  first 
nine  years  of  his  career  at  General  Electric 
Co.,  before  his  division  was  acquired  by 
Martin  Marietta.  The  new  owner  decided  to 
retain  a  version  of  GE's  Manufacturing 
Management  Program  (MMP),  a  highly  com- 
petitive training  program  for  new  hires. 
MMP  is  recognized  inside  and  outside  the 
company  for  its  role  in  producing  out- 
standing leaders.  In  addition  to  his  opera- 
tional responsibilities,  Ferguson,  an  MMP 
graduate,  has  been  a  recruiter  for  the  pro- 
gram for  several  years. 

MMP  seeks  primarily  electrical  and 
mechanical  engineers  who  have  good  ana- 
lytical and  problem-solving  skills, 
Ferguson  says.  In  recent  years,  the  pro- 
gram has  raised  its  expectations  for  poten- 
tial hires.  It  is  no  longer  enough  to  have 
outstanding  scholastic  qualifications, 
Ferguson  says.  The  program  annually 
recruits  120  to  130  new  graduates.  Typ- 
ically, WPI  students  garner  between  6  and 


10  of  those  positions. 

"Over  the  last  10  years,  there  has  been  a 
clear  shift  in  what  we  expect  of  students,"  he 
notes.  "We  don't  have  as  many  management 
jobs  as  we  used  to. 

"We  need  people  who  can  lead  across 
organizations  and  not  play  the  traditional 
managerial  role,  which  implies  hierarchy 
and  bounds,"  says  Ferguson.  "We  want  peo- 
ple who  can  identify  goals,  assemble  cross- 
functional  teams,  set  priorities,  and  lead 
those  teams  to  fulfill  the  goals. 

"The  MMP  program  gives  new  employees 
the  broadest  base  of  experience  with  a 
diverse  range  of  products  and  practices.  It 
also  gives  young  people  a  high  degree  of 
responsibility  early  in  their  careers.  This 
program  sets  apart  the  people  who  come 
into  it  by  offering  diverse  working  environ- 
ments augmented  by  formal  and  informal 
training.  It  also  offers  them  tremendous  net- 
working opportunities.  At  the  conclusion, 
the  graduates  are  quite  marketable  within 
the  company,  so  it  puts  them  on  the  fast 
track.  The  program  is  well  known  outside 
the  company,  as  well." 

What  does  Ferguson  look  for  in  the  25 
minutes  he  typically  gets  to  spend  with  a 


"We  need  people  who  can  lead 
across  organizations  and  not 
play  the  traditional  managerial 
role,  which  implies  hierarchy 
and  bounds.  We  want  people 
who  can  identify  goals,  assem- 
ble cross-functional  teams,  set 
priorities,  and  lead  those  teams 
to  fulfill  the  goals." 

—Marty  Ferguson  '84 


22 


student?  What  distinguishes  the  student 
who  gets  a  job  offer  from  the  one  who 
does  not?  Good  grades  are  certainly  near 
the  top  of  the  list,  he  says,  but  candidates 
must  also  have  excellent  leadership,  inter- 
personal and  teamwork  skills. 

But  before  he  even  sits  down  with  stu- 
dents, Ferguson  says  he  already  has  a 
good  handle  on  which  students  have  the 
best  chance  of  acceptance  into  the  MMP. 

Before  talking  to  candidates,  he  says  he 
does  some  informal  networking  on  cam- 
pus, talking  to  faculty  members  and  admin- 
istrators who  may  know  the  students.  "I 
try  to  get  to  know  the  candidates  before  the 
interview  comes  along,"  he  says.  As  a  result 
of  this  groundwork,  he  is  able  to  preselect 
many  of  the  best  students  before  the  inter- 
view date.  "In  the  interview  I  want  to  find 
those  who  have  demonstrated  leadership 
ability  and  are  able  to  articulate  the  good 
news  that's  on  the  resume." 

From  Ferguson's  perspective,  that  "good 
news"  should  include  work  experience. 
More  and  more,  he  says,  employers  are  plac- 
ing a  premium  on  students  who  gain  expo- 
sure to  the  workplace  before  they  graduate. 
In  particular,  students  who  have  completed 
a  co-op  have  an  advantage.  "We  want  people 
who  have  experience  in  a  team-oriented, 
hands-on  environment." 

Are  today's  new  hires  different  from  those 
of  a  decade  ago?  "Their  horizon  is  shorter," 
Ferguson  says.  "Today's  graduates  recognize 
that  their  career  paths  could  lead  them  to 
other  companies  as  soon  as  three  to  five 
years.  Also,  change  globally  is  so  rapid  that 
switching  career  paths  is  often  required  to 
stay  competitive  in  the  workplace." 

FANNY  I.  MLINARSKY  is  not  a  WPI 
graduate,  but  she  has  hired  six  grad- 
uates over  the  last  two  years,  a  number  that 
equals  25  percent  of  her  company's  work 
force.  Mlinarsky  is  vice  president  of  engi- 
neering for  Scope  Communications  Inc.  in 
Northborough,  Mass.,  which  makes  equip- 
ment used  in  the  installation  and  mainte- 
nance of  local  area  networks.  Scope  started 
as  a  four-person  company  spun  off  from 
Star-Tek  Inc.  when  that  company  was  ac- 
quired by  3Com  Corp. 

When  she  interviews  college  seniors, 
Mlinarsky  looks  for  the  brightest  people  she 
can  find.  In  fact,  she  says,  the  company 
screens  out  students  with  grade  point  aver- 
ages less  than  3.5.  Scope  also  asks  students 
to  take  a  paper-and-pencil  test  that  assesses 
their  technical  knowledge.  "It  gives  us  a 


Scope  is  different  from  Digital 
Equipment  Corp.  or  IBM.  At 
large  companies,  people  tend 
to  develop  narrow  specializa- 
tions. At  Scope,  the  design 
projects  call  for  very  talented 
engineers  capable  of  develop- 
ing a  broad  base  of  technical 
expertise." 

— Fanny  Mlinarsky 


good  indication  of  their  strengths  and  weak- 
nesses, and  of  how  they  approach  prob- 
lems," she  says. 

Students  who  have  previous  work  experi- 
ence and  those  who  have  a  clear  under- 
standing of  what  type  of  design  work  they 
want  to  do  are  especially  attractive,  Mlinar- 
sky says.  And  as  the  company  grows,  it  is  re- 
cruiting not  only  graduates  interested  in 
designing  and  making  products,  but  those 
well-suited  to  sales  and  marketing.  "We  want 
our  products  sold  by  people  who  under- 
stand them  and  can  explain  their  purpose 
and  operation,"  she  says. 

One  of  the  most  important  qualities  a 
prospective  Scope  employee  can  have,  she 
says,  is  the  ability  to  work  in  the  fluid  envi- 
ronment typically  found  at  small  companies. 
"Scope  is  different  from  Digital  Equipment 
Corp.  or  IBM,"  she  notes.  "At  large  compa- 
nies, people  tend  to  develop  narrow  special- 
izations. At  Scope,  the  design  projects  call 
for  very  talented  engineers  capable  of  devel- 
oping a  broad  base  of  technical  expertise. 

"We  are  looking  for  people  with  a  'small- 
company  mentality'  who  enjoy  a  challenge. 
We  expect  our  engineers  to  make  significant 
individual  contributions  to  new-product 
development.  Those  who  contribute  to  the 
company's  bottom  line  are  rewarded 
accordingly." 


In  talking  to  students,  she  stresses  the 
advantages  of  working  for  a  small  firm. 
One  of  the  most  important,  she  says,  is 
the  primary  role  even  new  hires  can  play 
in  shaping  the  company's  new  technolo- 
gy. "Scope  Communications  offers  its 
engineers  a  chance  to  enter  the  fastest 
growing  segment  of  high  technology — 
local  area  networks,"  she  says.  "We  have 
developed  some  very  impressive  technol- 
ogy and  have  achieved  a  high  degree  of 
miniaturization  in  the  area  of  LAN  test 
instrumentation." 

For  the  most  part,  the  qualities  that  are 
most  likely  to  appeal  to  a  corporate 
recruiter,  according  to  the  people  inter- 
viewed for  this  article,  must  already  be  set 
in  stone  by  the  time  a  student  enters  his  or 
her  senior  year.  By  that  time,  three  years  of 
grades  will  already  be  recorded  on  a  stu- 
dent's transcript.  There  will  be  little  time 
left  to  accumulate  work  experience  if  the 
student  doesn't  already  have  it.  And  the 
course  of  an  MQP  is  largely  set  by  the  time  a 
corporate  interview  takes  place. 

But  there  are  a  few  areas  that  students 
can  still  work  on  as  the  time  for  job  hunting 
approaches.  For  example,  students  can 
increase  their  chances  of  getting  hired  by 
developing  the  ability  to  assess  and  de- 
scribe their  achievements  and  accomplish- 
ments in  college,  and  to  tell  a  prospective 
employer  exactly  why  they  want  a  particular 
job  at  a  particular  company. 

As  Mlinarsky  says,  students  need  to  do 
more  soul-searching  before  they  arrive  at  an 
interview.  She  urges  students  to  figure  out 
what  they  want  to  do  with  their  careers 
before  they  approach  a  company.  And  when 
they  get  to  the  interview,  her  advice  is  to  ask 
lots  of  questions — about  the  job  and  about 
the  company. 

Making  decisions  that  affect  the  course 
of  one's  life  is  never  easy,  Harrison  adds. 
Figuring  out  the  kind  of  work  one  wants  to 
do  can  take  introspection  and  reflection,  and 
taking  the  right  steps  over  the  course  of  a 
four-year  college  career  to  increase  one's 
marketability  to  employers  can  take  a  great 
deal  of  planning  and  time.  "But  in  today's 
job-hunting  climate,  it  will  be  time  well 
spent,"  she  adds.  "Because  more  and  more, 
this  kind  of  planning  and  reflection  is 
becoming  more  than  the  icing  on  the  cake 
for  job  hunters.  It's  the  cake  itself." 

— Benison  is  a  free-lance  writer  and  editor 
who  writes  frequently  for  the  WPI  Journal. 


WPI  Journal 


23 


All  the 
Stops 
Along 
the  Way 


To  Make  Sure  Students 
Are  Ready  to  Find  Jobs 
When  They're  Seniors, 
the  Career  Development 
Center  Helps  Them 
Start  Planning  When 
They're  Freshmen 

By  Ruth  Trask 

4  s  the  job  market  changes,  so  must 
WPI's  Career  Development  Cen- 
ter, says  center  director  Yvonne 
Harrison.  For  one,  it  has  had  to 
become  more  aggressive  in  making  contact 
with  potential  employers  and  letting  them 
know  how  WPI  graduates  can  fill  their 
employment  needs.  But  more  important,  it 
has  had  to  reach  out  to  students  and  help 
them  begin  thinking  about  their  future — and 
how  they  are  going  to  prepare  for  it — from 
the  moment  they  start  their  college  careers. 
"Once  upon  a  time,  this  was  a  placement 
office,"  Harrison  says.  "Our  contact  with  stu- 
dents began  late  in  their  college  careers.  But 
now  our  focus  is  on  career  development, 
because  so  much  of  students'  success  in  the 
job  market  depends  on  specific  steps  they 
should  be  taking  throughout  their  four  years 
at  WPI.  It's  important  to  have  a  career  plan 
right  from  the  start." 

During  their  first  term  as  freshmen,  stu- 
dents are  encouraged  to  take  advantage  of 
the  CDC's  Major  Selection  Program.  The  pro- 
gram makes  available  such  services  as  peer 
counselors,  assessment  surveys  and  semi- 
nars. These  help  students  identify  their 
interests  and  learn  about  career  areas — and 
majors — that  match  those  interests. 
Harrison  says  the  program  helps  students 
avoid  the  potential  loss  of  time  and  credit 


that  can  be  associated  with  changing  majors 
well  into  their  academic  careers. 

The  CDC  also  offers  students  some  ways 
to  see  what  professionals  in  their  chosen 
careers  actually  do.  Through  the  Profes- 
sionals-in-Action  Program,  1,200  alumni  have 
volunteered  to  serve  as  resources  to  stu- 
dents, who  can  ask  them  questions  about 
their  jobs  and  even  spend  a  day  "shadow- 
ing" them  at  their  job  sites. 

Once  a  student  has  thought  about  his  or 
her  future  career,  the  next  step  is  getting 
some  real-world  experience.  "More  and 
more,  employers  are  telling  us  they  want 
students  who  have  work  experience," 
Harrison  says.  "If  they  don't  have  this  expe- 
rience, they  will  be  less  marketable  and  have 
a  more  difficult  time  getting  a  job." 

To  help  students  gain  that  real-world 
experience,  the  CDC  can  direct  them  into 
part-time  jobs  and  summer  internships. 
Students  can  also  arrange  to  spend  extend- 
ed periods  of  time  in  professional-level  posi- 
tions through  the  Cooperative  Education 
Program,  which  places  students  in  paid 
positions  with  leading  companies  for  up  to 
two  eight-month  assignments. 

Since  it  began  in  1976,  the  Co-op  Program 
has  placed  more  than  1,500  students  at  more 
than  200  companies,  including  Hewlett- 
Packard,  Pratt  &  Whitney  and  Raytheon. 
Although  taking  part  in  a  co-op  experience 
can  extend  the  time  required  to  earn  a  bach- 
elor's degree  (students  do  not  receive  acad- 
emic credit  for  their  work  experience  and 
may  not  enroll  in  any  courses  while  on  an 
assignment),  most  students  claim  the  expe- 
rience gained  is  invaluable  to  their  future  as 
professionals,  notes  Mary  Beth  Harrity, 
associate  director  of  the  CDC  and  coordina- 
tor of  WPI's  Cooperative  Education  Program. 

"The  co-op  experience  helps  students 
demonstrate  their  abilities  to  possible  future 
employers,"  she  says.  "It  helps  them  make 
wise  career-related  decisions  and  allows  them 
to  test  classroom  learning  in  the  laboratory  of 
the  real  world."  The  money  participants  earn 
on  their  co-op  assignments  (about  $1,900  a 
month)  can  pay  a  significant  portion  of  their 
college  expenses.  But  it  is  the  experience 
gained  that  proves  to  be  the  biggest  benefit  of 
the  program,  Harrity  notes. 

Statements  from  alumni  underscore  the 
value  of  this  experience.  Says  Gerald  Burns 
'91,  a  systems  test  engineer  with  Stratus 
Computer  Inc.,  "If  I  had  to  pick  one  aspect  of 
WPI  that  makes  it  stand  out  from  other 
schools,  it  would  be  the  many  opportunities 
that  we  had  to  perform  as  young  profession- 
als before  graduation.  This  experience  pro- 


vides a  distinct  advantage  to  WPI  graduates 
in  the  minds  of  recruiters." 

As  the  time  to  begin  the  job  hunt  ap- 
proaches, students  can  tap  into  other  CDC 
services.  Resume  Expert  Plus,  for  example, 
is  a  computer  system  that  offers  a  tutorial 
on  preparing  a  resume  and  then  lets  stu- 
dents create  their  own  professional-looking 


The  staff  of  the  CDC:  clockwise  from 
far  left,  Brad  Groves,  administrative 
secretary  Martha  DeMare,  Yvonne 
Harrison,  administrative  secretary 
Pamela  Riley,  Karl  vanLeer,  John 
Litster,  recruiting  coordinator  Dor- 
othy Campaniello  and  William  Trask. 
Mary  Beth  Harrity  is  not  pictured. 

resumes  right  on  the  screen.  If  they  choose, 
they  can  store  their  resume  in  a  CDC  data- 
base. When  employers  contact  the  CDC 
looking  for  students  with  specific  qualifica- 
tions, a  staff  member  can  search  through 
the  resumes  on  file  and  send  the  employer 
those  that  match  its  requirements. 

The  CDC  also  coordinates  the  traditional 
October-to-April  recruitment  program,  which 
attracts  about  250  corporations  to  campus. 
Another  computer  system,  Campus  Recruit- 
ing Information  Module  or  CRIM,  lets  students 
log  in  from  the  campus  network  and  find  out 
which  companies  have  scheduled  interviews. 


24 


Summer  1994 


They  can  then  sign  up  for  an  interview  over 
the  network  24  hours  a  day. 

Until  just  a  few  years  ago,  Harrison  says, 
most  seniors  could  expect  to  be  recruited 
right  on  campus.  But  many  of  the  larger 
companies  that  have  traditionally  recruited 
at  WPI  are  hiring  fewer  students — or  not 
recruiting  at  all.  Today,  students  are  more 


is  just  part  of  the  CDC's  responsibilities, 
says  Harrison,  who  notes  that  it  is  also 
important  to  educate  potential  employers 
about  WPI  and  about  the  quality  of  its  gradu- 
ates. For  example,  to  raise  the  Institute's 
profile  among  companies  that  may  not  be 
familiar  with  the  college,  the  CDC  is  planning 
a  series  of  business  breakfasts  at  which 


likely  to  find  jobs  with  smaller  companies, 
many  of  which  do  not  send  recruiters  to 
WPI.  That  means  students  must  be  more 
aggressive  in  seeking  out  job  leads. 

To  help,  the  center  now  maintains  a  tele- 
phone hot  line  that  lets  employers  list  posi- 
tions they  are  currently  trying  to  fill;  callers 
respond  directly  to  the  employers.  "The  hot- 
line method  is  quick  and  convenient  for  the 
job  seeker,  and  is  more  cost  effective  for 
smaller  businesses  that  don't  have  recruit- 
ing staffs,"  Harrison  says. 

The  CDC,  in  cooperation  with  Circula- 
tion Librarian  Margaret  Riley  (see  story, 
page  8),  also  offers  seminars  on  searching 
out  job  opportunities  through  the  Internet. 
"Today,  students  have  to  go  out  fishing  for 
jobs,"  Harrison  says.  "Our  role  once  was  to 
give  them  the  fish,  but  now  we  have  to  teach 
them  to  fish  for  themselves." 

Offering  services  to  students  and  alumni 


department  heads  will  explain  to  employers 
how  WPI  graduates  can  fill  their  needs. 

A  faculty-employer  consortium  will  bring 
faculty  members  interested  in  advancing 
WPl's  career  programs  together  with  repre- 
sentatives from  a  broad  range  of  compa- 
nies— including  smaller  companies  that 
don't  recruit  at  the  Institute — to  talk  about 
WPI's  educational  programs  and  about  what 
employers  seek  in  its  graduates. 

Showcase  of  Colleges,  a  program  devel- 
oped by  career  development  officers  at  the 
colleges  of  the  Worcester  Consortium  for 
Higher  Education,  is  aimed  at  reaching 
smaller  employers  in  the  Worcester  area. 
Through  the  program,  administrators  from 
the  10  consortium  colleges  explain  to  these 
prospective  employers  what  their  graduates 
have  to  offer  the  job  market.  "We're  opening 
up  a  valuable  new  dialogue  with  this  pro- 
gram," Harrison  says. 


Keeping  WPI  in  the  eye  of  industry  is  a 
constant  concern  for  the  CDC.  Harrison  is 
active  as  diversity  advancement  chairman 
and  member  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
Mid-Atlantic  Placement  Association,  a  group 
that  includes  college  and  university  place- 
ment officers  and  corporate  recruiters.  She 
and  William  Trask,  alumni  counselor  and  for- 
mer director  of  the  Office  of  Graduate  and 
Career  Plans  (now  CDC),  are  also  active  in 
the  Eastern  College  Employer  Network.  Both 
organizations  are  subsets  of  the  National 
College  Placement  Council. 

Mary  Beth  Harrity  works  with  more  than 
100  industries  to  place  undergraduate  stu- 
dents in  work  assignments.  Brad  Groves, 
assistant  CDC  director,  Karl  vanLeer,  employ- 
ment counselor,  and  John  Litster,  job  devel- 
opment coordinator,  also  keep  in  contact  with 
industry.  Litster,  for  example,  is  active  in  the 
Greater  Worcester  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

"Being  part  of  these  business-oriented 
organizations  is  important  to  WPI,"  Harrison 
notes.  "It's  a  two-way  street.  We  talk  to  em- 
ployers about  our  needs  and  they  talk  to  us 
about  theirs." 

One  of  the  CDC's  most  pressing  current 
needs  is  for  a  new  home.  Located  in  the  for- 
mer library  and  chapel  on  the  third  floor  of 
Boynton  Hall,  the  CDC  has  the  advantage  of 
being  surrounded  by  the  beautiful  stained- 
glass  windows  designed  by  Percy  "Pete" 
Marsaw  '30.  But  the  room  has  grown  too 
small  for  the  expanding  CDC  operation  and 
the  cubicles  in  which  recruiters  meet  with 
students  do  not  afford  much  privacy. 

To  rectify  these  problems,  the  center  will 
move  into  newly  renovated  quarters  in  the 
first  floor  and  lower  level  of  Sanford  Riley 
Hall  in  September  1995.  The  Admissions 
Office  will  move  to  Sanford  Riley  at  the  same 
time.  On  the  first  floor,  the  CDC  will  have  a 
reception  area,  staff  offices  and  a  print  and 
video  library.  Eight  private  interviewing 
rooms  will  be  constructed  on  the  lower 
level.  "The  new  office  should  add  greatly  to 
the  confidence  of  students  and  the  conve- 
nience of  interviewers,"  Harrison  says. 

She  also  notes  that  the  CDC  is  looking  at 
how  new  and  evolving  computer  and  com- 
munications technologies  can  expand  stu- 
dents' job-hunting  horizons.  Already,  her 
office  is  gearing  up  to  use  teleconferencing 
equipment  owned  by  WPI  to  begin  offering 
video  telephone  interviewing,  which  will 
enable  employers  to  interview  students 
from  a  distance.  "Before  long,"  Harrison 
says,  "we  may  see  a  student  and  an  inter- 
viewer talking  face  to  face  even  though  one 
is  in  Worcester  and  the  other  in  Cincinnati." 


WPI  Journal 


25 


Gone  are  the  days  when  scien- 
tists donned  fresh  white  lab 
coats  and  spent  the  day  with- 
out human  contact,  except  per- 
haps with  other  lab  personnel  or  the  sub- 
jects of  their  experiments.  And  engineers 
no  longer  have  the  luxury  of  living  their 
professional  lives  in  a  vacuum,  having  the 
computer  as  their  only  connection  to  the 
outside  world.  Technical  professionals 
today  must  learn  modern  survival  tech- 
niques. 

Most  technical  people  consider  "poli- 
tics" a  negative  word.  They'd  rather  avoid 
having  to  deal  with  such  issues.  But  if  they 
don't  learn  to  successfully  participate  in 
the  political  environment  of  today's 
workplace,  they  may  not  be  around  to 
help  create  tomorrow's  new  reality.  To 
make  sure  they  will  have  the  time  and 
resources  they  need  to  think  and  cre- 
ate, they  must  develop  political  savvy. 

Political  savvy  is  the  ability  to  real- 
istically size  up  a  situation — what  are 
the  relationships  between  the  players 
and  what  is  at  stake  (someone's  repu- 
tation, a  new  job,  a  career,  etc.)?  It  also 
means  understanding  who  has  the 
power,  who  controls  the  finances,  and 
what  are  each  player's  motives.  It's 
important  to  evaluate  the  players' 
ethics.  An  unethical  person  reacts 
to  political  situations  in  a  different 
manner  than  someone  with  his  or 
her  ethics  in  place.  Sizing  up  all 
the  nuances  of  a  situation  can  be  a 
tricky  task. 

Political  savvy  has  many  bene- 
fits, the  most  important  being 
improved  job  security.  Employees 
who  appreciate  their  political 
environment  are  better  able  to 
survive  the  cuts,  slices  and 
stabs  of  the  system.  And 
gaining  insight  into  the 
motives  and  ethics  of 
those    who     have 
power  over  your 
career  puts  you 
in     a     better 
position   to 


A  Workplace 
Survival  Kit 
for  Technical 
Professionals 


predict  their  behavior.  Your  potential  for 
promotion  also  grows  as  you  become  more 
politically  astute. 

It's  also  important  to  be  aware  of  the 
career  tracks  that  a  company  or  other  em- 
ployer offers.  In  that  way,  you  can  realistical- 
ly evaluate  if  an  employer  is  a  good  match 
with  your  needs,  talents  and  professional 
goals.  Historically,  most  employers  have 
encouraged  their  employees  to  worry  more 
about  meeting  the  employer's  goals  than 
their  own.  But  in  today's  more  employee- 
oriented  climate,  professionals  have  more 
freedom  to  work  on  their  own  goals,  as  well. 
The  result  is  usually  more  productivity  and 
better  results — for  employer  and  employee 
alike. 

Keeping  Pace 

Change  is  another  issue  all  employees  face 
today.  On  the  global  scale,  change  means 
right-sizing,  reorganizations,  corporate 
acquisitions  and  spin-offs.  Changes  like 
these  inevitably  affect  all  employees — even 
those  who  retain  their  jobs.  On  a  more  per- 
sonal scale,  change  can  mean  making  a  hori- 
zontal move  within  a  company,  getting  new 
management  as  a  result  of  a  reorganization, 
or  moving  to  a  new  employer. 

Employees  must  have  a  high  level  of  flexi- 
bility to  survive  and  function  in  a  changing 
environment  without  losing  perspective.  They 
must  also  stay  alert  to  and  keep  pace  with  the 
changing  political  climate  to  come  out  with 
the  position — and  the  career — they  want. 

Keeping  Sharp 

Keeping  your  technical  skills  at  their  peak 
can  be  a  time-consuming  task.  Current 
research  suggests  that  you  spend  a  mini- 
mum of  one  hour  a  day  reading,  studying 
and  learning  new  information  about  your 
professional  field.  That  may  sound  like  a  lot 
of  time,  but  it  amounts  to  just  seven  hours  a 
week.  Study  time  must  be  a  priority,  or  it  will 
inevitably  lose  out  to  something  that  seems 
more  urgent  or  important  at  the  time. 

There  are  dozens  of  professional  pub- 
lications in  any  field.  The  best  way  to 
the  massive  amount  of 
ion  available  in  your 
to  visit  the  library  and 
a  group  of  four  to  six 
ell-written  publications 
that  contain  informa- 
tion of  interest  and 
which  seem  to 
keep  abreast 


of  industry  trends.  It  may  take  several  trips 
to  the  library  to  choose  the  best  reading 
materials,  but  the  time  will  be  well  spent. 

Another  good  way  to  keep  up  with  indus- 
try trends  is  to  attend  professional  confer- 
ences and  trade  shows,  which  can  provide 
you  with  a  wealth  of  new  information.  The 
newsgroups,  mailing  lists  and  information 
databases  located  on  the  Internet  (see  page  8) 
and  similar  services  provided  by  on-line 
sources  like  CompuServe  and  America  Online 
can  also  be  invaluable  resources  for  those 
who  have  the  equipment  to  tap  into  them. 

Representing  your  company  or  institution 
at  a  professional  organization,  such  as  IEEE 
(Institute  of  Electrical  and  Electronics  Engi- 
neers) or  ANSI  (American  National  Standards 
Institute),  can  be  an  invaluable  learning  expe- 
rience that  will  also  benefit  your  employer 
immensely.  It  is  an  opportunity  to  gain  expo- 
sure to  the  industry's  best  minds  and  to  share 
your  own  viewpoints  to  help  shape  future 
technology  and  technical  trends. 

Managing  Expectations 

Another  important  but  often  overlooked 
skill  that  can  help  pave  the  way  for  a  more 
successful  career  is  the  art  of  managing 
expectations.  It's  also  a  skill  that  saves  time, 
effort  and  expense  in  the  long  run.  Since 
co-workers  and  supervisors  are  not  mind- 
readers,  the  easiest  way  to  manage  your 
professional  and  personal  relationship  is  to 
verbalize  the  expectations  you  have  of  oth- 
ers: expectations  about  their  performance, 
about  how  you  want  them  to  interact  with 
you,  about  the  roles  and  tasks  for  which 
they're  responsible,  and  so  on. 

Talking  about  as  many  workplace  issues 
as  possible  will  increase  the  potential  suc- 
cess of  any  project  and  make  for  smoother 
working  relationships.  A  good  way  to  be  cer- 
tain of  what  you've  worked  out  is  to  put  it  in 
writing  and  have  the  other  parties  confirm 
that  they  see  things  the  same  way.  Everyone 
wants  to  do  a  great  job,  but  unless  you  know 
in  advance  what  is  expected  of  you,  you're 
at  a  disadvantage  and  you're  likely  to  end  up 
being  frustrated. 

Managing  Time 

Perhaps  the  most  valuable  skill  you  can  learn 
in  your  career  is  the  ability  to  manage  time 
and  prioritize  tasks.  Everyone  has  to  deal 
with  unscheduled  crises  and  interruptions. 
You  need  to  learn  to  handle  them  without 
neglecting  your  priorities  and  without  losing 
your  ability  to  concentrate  on  what  is  really 
important.  The  key  is  respecting  the  value  of 


your  time  by  not  permitting  it  to  be  used  up 
with  petty  time  sinks. 

There  are  many  good  classes,  seminars 
and  systems  that  can  teach  you  time- 
management  skills.  You  may  need  to  try  sev- 
eral before  you  find  one  that  works  for  you. 
You  may  also  find  that  a  time-management 
system  that  works  well  in  your  current  job 
may  not  meet  the  needs  of  a  new  position. 
Experimentation  is  the  key  to  finding  the 
best  time-management  system  for  you  and 
your  job. 

Tackling  Negotiation 

Most  people  dread  negotiation  because  it  is 
a  form  of  conflict.  But  in  reality,  we  negotiate 
on  a  daily  basis  in  our  personal  and  work 
lives.  We  negotiate  with  a  salesperson  over 
the  price  of  a  car,  with  a  spouse  over  house- 
work or  childcare  responsibilities,  or  with 
outside  vendors  on  the  terms  of  a  contract. 
Anyone  can  learn  to  negotiate  for  their  own 
benefit  and  that  of  their  employer. 

Technical  professionals  should  become 
familiar  with  the  art  of  negotiating  and  recog- 
nize it  as  a  valuable  skill.  You  won't  always  be 
able  to  assume  that  others  will  effectively 
negotiate  for  you.  You  may  often  be  the  only 
person  with  the  technical  expertise  and  pro- 
fessional qualifications  to  participate  in 
important  negotiations.  You  need  to  be  ready 
and  able  to  step  up  to  the  challenge. 

As  with  the  other  skills  mentioned  in  this 
article,  there  are  classes,  seminars,  tapes 
and  books  that  will  teach  you  to  be  a  better 
negotiator.  Take  a  seminar  that  includes 
practice  negotiations;  that's  the  best  way  to 
learn  useful  negotiating  tactics.  It's  some- 
times scary  to  practice  new  skills  in  front  of 
a  room  full  of  people,  but  that's  a  lot  less 
scary  than  practicing  in  front  of  a  customer 
or  a  new  department  head. 

Survival  of  the  Fittest 

Today's  professional  marketplace  is  highly 
competitive.  To  survive  and  flourish,  you 
need  the  best  and  most  up-to-date  skills. 
And  to  prepare  for  the  challenges  of  tomor- 
row, you  need  to  take  advantage  of  the  time 
you  have  today  and  use  it  wisely.  It  is  within 
your  control  to  set  the  stage  for  continued 
success  in  your  career.  You  just  need  to 
accept  responsibility  for  your  own  survival 
skills  and  go  for  it. 

— Veal  is  a  product  manager  in  the  Micro- 
electronic Products  Division  of  NCR  in  Fort 
Collins,  Colo.,  a  division  of  AT&T  Global 
Information  Solutions. 


WPI  Journal 


27 


The  Return 
of  the 


W  Golden  One 


By  Joan  Killough-Miller 


As  a  child,  Lee  Kenseth  Abel  '95 

escaped  the  killing  fields  of 

Cambodia  and  ultimately  found  a 

new  life  with  a  family  in  America. 

But  he  always  wondered  what  had 

happened  to  the  family  he  left 

behind.  This  year,  he  had 

the  chance  to  find  out. 


t  was  early  January 
1994  as  Lee  Ken- 
seth Abel's  plane 
touched  down  in 
Thailand.  For  the  WPI 
junior,  it  was  the  first  time 
he  would  set  foot  on 
Southeast  Asian  soil  in 
more  than  five  years.  He 
was  there  to  complete  a 
project  at  WPI's  Bangkok 
Project  Center.  But  first, 
there  was  a  more  person- 
al mission  to  accomplish. 
He  flew  from  Bangkok 
to  Phnom  Penh,  the  capital 
of  neighboring  Cambodia. 
There  he  bought  a  map 
and  hired  a  car.  After  a  few 
days  of  asking  around,  he 
directed  his  driver  to  take 
him  to  a  small  village 
about  35  miles  outside  of 
the  city.  Following  Abel's 
directions,  the  driver 
stopped  in  front  of  a  small  house.  A  dog  was 
asleep  outside  and  two  motorcycles  were 
tucked  underneath  the  structure.  A  sleepy- 
looking  woman  came  to  the  door. 

"May  I  help  you?"  she  asked.  "Who  are 
you  looking  for?"  He  replied  in  Khmer,  his 
native  tongue,  but  his  accent,  colored  by 
more  than  a  decade  in  Thailand  and  the  U.S., 
made  his  words  unclear.  She  seemed  to 
think  that  Abel,  with  his  Western  clothing, 
was  a  friend  of  her  older  son,  who  had  once 
worked  for  the  United  Nations. 

He  asked  her  name  and  she  told  him. 
Then  he  called  her  "Mom."  But  after  so 


many  years,  the  woman  seemed  doubtful 
that  this  young  man  could  be  her  long-lost 
son.  She  looked  at  him,  struggling  for  recog- 
nition. Then  she  grasped  his  face  and  turned 
his  head  to  the  side.  There,  under  his  right 
ear,  she  saw  a  familiar  mole.  She  knew. 

"She  put  her  arms  around  me  and  cried 
out.  Then  she  fainted,"  Abel  says.  "They  all 
thought  1  was  dead.  She  had  gone  to  fortune 
tellers;  some  said  alive,  some  said  dead.  She 
cried  and  cried.  Me?  I  was  just  too  over- 
whelmed...! couldn't  really  cry."  . 

Despite  the  contradictory  intelligence 
from  the  fortune  tellers,  his  birth  mother 
had  never  lost  faith  that  her  son  was  alive. 
Until  that  day,  Abel  had  not  known  for  sure 
if  any  of  his  relatives  had  survived  Cam- 
bodia's killing  fields,  or  whether  he  would  be 
able  to  track  down  the  family  he  had  lost- 
almost  20  years  before. 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  1975  that  the 
Khmer  Rouge,  soldiers  of  the  Cambodian 
communist  insurrection,  began  their  final 
offensive  against  the  American-backed  Lon 
Nol  government.  Five-year-old  Ly  Chhem 
was  living  with  relatives  in  Phnom  Penh.  His 
country  had  been  at  war  for  almost  a 
decade.  Prince  Sihanouk,  Cambodia's  long- 
time leader,  had  been  ousted  in  a  right-wing 
coup  one  month  before  his  birth.  Hundreds 
of  Cambodian  villagers  were  being  killed  or 
left  homeless  as  America  drove  deeper  into 
the  border  with  an  illegal  bombing  campaign 
staged  to  flush  out  Viet  Cong  sanctuaries. 

To  escape  the  shelling  of  the  capital,  Ly 
was  sent  with  his  grandparents  to  Battam- 
bang,  a  rural  western  province  that  borders 
Thailand.  The  rest  of  the  family  was  to  fol- 
low, but  they  could  not  have  known  that  on 


28 


Summer  1994 


April  17,  just  two  weeks  after  Ly's  departure, 
the  Khmer  Rouge  would  storm  Phnom  Penh, 
blowing  up  bridges,  halting  air  traffic,  and 
ordering  a  massive  evacuation  of  the  city 
dwellers  to  prison  camps  and  torture  cen- 
ters in  rural  regions  of  the  country. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  four  years  of 
genocide  for  so-called  Democratic  Kampu- 
chea, under  the  brutal  leadership  of  Pol  Pot. 
The  Khmer  Rouge  targeted  the  wealthy,  edu- 
cated classes  as  enemies  of  communism. 
Their  reforms  included  the  execution  of  any- 
one connected  with  the  former  government 
and  the  annihilation  of  all  traces  of  foreign 
influence  or  upper-class  culture.  In  the  end, 
more  than  a  million  people  died  (some  esti- 
mate two  to  three  mil- 


Communist  government.  He  thinks  he  remem- 
bers seeing  him  in  uniform  on  occasion,  but 
cannot  recall  his  face.  Years  later  he  learned 
that  his  father  was  imprisoned  by  the  Khmer 
Rouge  and  died  of  starvation. 

Ly  spent  the  next  two  years  in  a  Khmer 
Rouge  camp.  "When  the  camp  started,  there 
were  maybe  2,000  children  under  the  age  of 
10.  At  the  end. ..600,"  he  says  softly.  "We 
were  too  young  to  execute,  so  they  starved 
us  and  got  what  work  they  could  out  of  us." 

When  he  left  the  camp,  he  was  feverish 
and  so  weak  he  could  not  move  his  legs.  He 
and  other  survivors  were  sent  by  train  into 
the  jungle,  where  he  spent  the  next  two  years 
as  a  slave 


"You  didn't  know  when  you  were  going 

to  die,  you  didn't  know  who  was  going 

to  shoot  you — the  left  wing,  the  right 

wing,  the  Vietnamese.  It  was  like  you 

were  waiting  to  be  executed,  you  were 

waiting  to  be  told  where  to  go" 


1 


lion)  by  slaughter  in  the  infa- 
mous "killing  fields,"  from  overwork  and 
starvation  in  labor  camps,  or  from  the  wide- 
spread disease  and  famine  that  ensued 
when  Pol  Pot  closed  Cambodia's  borders  to 
foreign  aid  and  trade. 

In  Battambang,  Ly's  grandparents  per- 
ished from  lack  of  food.  Left  on  his  own  at  an 
age  when  his  American  contemporaries  were 
still  in  kindergarten,  he  was  soon  swept  up  by 
the  Khmer  Rouge,  along  with  orphans  of  the 
slaughtered  ruling  class.  Ly  is  not  sure  if  his 
own  father  was  associated  with  the  pre- 


laborer  grow- 
ing yams.  "Everybody  thought  we  were  going 
to  be  executed,"  he  says.  "But  they  said  it's  a 
waste  to  kill  us.  Why  not  just  let  us  die  of 
malaria,  and  make  some  food  for  them?" 

In  1979,  the  Pol  Pot  government  was 
overthrown  by  Vietnamese  Communists  and 
rival  left-wing  factions  of  the  Khmer  Rouge, 
with  help  from  the  Soviet  Union.  The  coun- 
try was  in  chaos,  and  the  jungles  still  dan- 
gerous. "You  didn't  know  when  you  were 
going  to  die,  you  didn't  know  who  was  going 
to  shoot  you — the  left  wing,  the  right  wing, 
the  Vietnamese,"  Abel  recalls.  "It  was  like 
you  were  waiting  to  be  executed,  you  were 


"Pure  luck  and  lots  of  skill  and 
hard  work"  led  Lee  Kenseth  Abel, 
above,  back  to  the  village  in 
Cambodia  where  his  mother 
resided.  His  reunion  with  her  after 
almost  20  years,  opposite  page, 
was  the  culmination  of  a  remark- 
able and  powerful  tale. 


WP1  Journal 


29 


waiting  to  be  told  where  to  go.  I  was  too 
young  to  know  anything.  I  was  hungry.  I  just 
went  day  by  day." 

Nine-year-old  Ly  was  evacuated  from  the 
jungle.  He  returned  to  Phnom  Penh  to  look 
for  his  family,  but  the  capital  had  been  emp- 
tied. "It  was  so  quiet  in  the  city,  like  a  ghost 
town,"  he  remembers.  The  war-ravaged 
country  had  been  liberated  from  the  Khmer 
Rouge,  but  conditions  were  still  harsh.  Food 
was  scarce  in  the  government  orphanage 
where  he  spent  several  months.  A  top  schol- 
ar himself,  Ly  noticed  that  among  the  older 
children,  superior  students  were  being  sent 
off  to  Hanoi  and  to  the  U.S.S.R.  He  knew  he 
would  be  drafted  into  the  army  as  soon  as 
he  came  of  age. 

Ly  saw  only  one  chance  for  survival: 
refugee  camps  were  being  set  up  in  Thai- 
land, and  he'd  heard  there 
was  plenty  of  food  there  and 
a  chance  to  seek  sanctuary  in 
the  United  States.  He  fled  the 
orphanage  with  four  children, 
not  much  older  than  himself. 
They  hopped  a  ride  on  the 
top  of  a  train,  then  traveled 
for  three  days  on  foot.  It  was 
a  dangerous  journey.  They 
had  to  duck  snipers,  fend  off 
robbers  and  avoid  land 
mines.  And  the  Khmer  Rouge 
were  still  righting  at  the  bor- 
der. He  was  separated  from 
his  companions,  only  one  of 
whom  made  it  to  Thailand 
alive.  Ly  finally  crossed  the 
border  and  managed  to  find  a 
refugee  camp. 

Run  by  the  U.N.,  it  was  "basically  just 
another  concentration  camp,"  Abel  says, 
"but  they  were  kind  to  us  and  didn't  starve 
us  or  beat  us  up."  There  was  no  fresh  food, 
supplies  were  short,  and  the  refugees  had 
little  freedom.  They  got  some  protection 
from  young,  untrained  guards,  who  were 
sometimes  drunk,  but  at  night  were  left  to 
fend  for  themselves. 

Even  in  the  chaos  of  the  camps,  Ly  kept 
up  his  studies.  He  couldn't  afford  private 
tutoring,  but  sat  outside,  rain  or  shine,  to  lis- 
ten in  on  the  sessions.  It  became  a  running 
joke  that  he  could  always  be  found  in  the 
camp  library,  in  reality  just  a  bamboo  pavil- 
ion. After  three  years  his  application  for 
refugee  status  was  accepted;  he  was  cleared 
to  go  to  the  United  States  under  the  spon- 
sorship of  David  W.  Rosenberg  of  the 
Lutheran  Immigration  and  Refugee  Service. 

Next  came  a  processing  center  in  the 
Philippines,  where  refugees  were  checked 
for  disease,  taught  some  rudimentary 
English,  and  briefed  on  American  culture.  In 


1987,  Ly  Chhem  made  it  to  the  United 
States  and  went  to  live  in  Amherst,  Mass., 
with  Elaine  Kenseth-Abel,  a  friend  and  for- 
mer co-worker  of  Rosenberg's,  and  Chris 
Abel.  Elaine  had  already  met  Ly,  having 
gone  to  the  camp  in  Thailand  to  search  for 
relatives  of  other  Cambodian  refugees  liv- 
ing in  the  U.S. 

The  Abels,  who  later  moved  to  Miller's 
Falls,  did  not  adopt  Ly,  since  they  felt  adop- 
tion was  not  appropriate  at  his  age  and 
because  of  uncertainty  over  the  fate  of  his 
natural  parents.  Still, 
he  refers  to  Chris, 
Elaine  and  their  four 
children  as  his  "fos- 
ter" family. 

Ly   completed   a 
year  of  high  school  in 


himself,"  Abel  says.  "In  the  last  few  years 
he's  opened  up  more  and  more,  and  he's 
started  talking  about  what  he's  been 
through." 

When  it  came  time  to  choose  a  topic  for 
his  Interactive  Qualifying  Project,  Ly  learned 
about  the  Bangkok  Project  Center,  where  he 
would  go  with  four  other  students  to  study 
cross-cultural  management  of  multinational 
corporations.  He  saw  an  opportunity  to  go 
back  to  Cambodia  and  search  for  surviving 
relatives,  a  mission  that  had  been  on  his 


"He's  had  to  fight  for 

everything  by  himself, 

and  he  tends  to  keep 

his  burdens  to  himself. 

In  the  last  few  years, 

he's  opened  up  more 

and  more,  and  he's 

talking  about  what 

he's  been  through." 


Amherst,  then  earned 
his  diploma  in  1991at 
the  Northfield  Mount 
Hermon  School,  where 
he  excelled  in  math- 
ematics and  science. 
He  wanted  to  attend 
a  small  engineering 
school  in  New  England,  and  WPI  appealed  to 
him — to  the  great  delight  of  his  American 
grandfather,  Wally  Abel  '39,  who  showed  Ly 
around  the  campus  and  introduced  him  to 
faculty  members. 

"Ly  was  the  only  science-minded  grand- 
child," Kenseth-Abel  says.  In  the  end,  he 
chose  WPI  for  its  top  ranking  in  U.S.  News  & 
World  Report  and  its  reputation  for  quality 
undergraduate  programs. 

Wally  Abel  compares  the  adventures  of 
his  "adopted"  grandchild  to  a  fairy  tale — 
from  his  narrow  escape  from  Cambodia,  to 
his  new  life  as  a  successful  engineering  stu- 
dent. "He's  had  to  fight  for  everything  by 
himself,  and  he  tends  to  keep  his  burdens  to 


mind  for  years.  "I  think  it  was  always  there... 
the  needing  to  know,"  says  Kenseth-Abel. "He 
would  sometimes  get  glimmers  that  some- 
one was  still  alive." 

Years  ago,  while  he  was  visiting  a 
Buddhist  temple  in  Rhode  Island,  a  Khmer 
woman  recognized  Ly  from  the  refugee 
camp,  and  helped  him  get  in  touch  with 
cousins  in  Battambang,  where  she  also  had 
relatives.  He  was  told  that  someone  had 
seen  his  mother  alive  in  1980,  but  rumors 
like  that  abound  in  refugee  communities. 

He  already  knew  that  his  father  and  two 
of  his  brothers  were  dead,  but  women  stood 
a  better  chance  of  surviving  the  Khmer 
Rouge.  Although  women  were  also  enslaved 


30 


Summer  1994 


and  tortured,  men  took  the  brunt  of  the  exe- 
cutions. It  has  been  estimated  that  of  the 
victims  of  Cambodia's  holocaust,  80  percent 
were  males  between  the  ages  of  20  and  50. 

The  Abels  feared  that  without  an  Amer- 
ican passport,  Ly  would  face  hassles  at  the 
Cambodian  border.  After  conversations  with 
Marche  Haddad,  WPI's  assistant  director  of 
global  programs,  they  decided  that  he 
should  apply  for  American  citizenship.  Ly 
passed  the  required  test  in  October  1993, 
but  was  told  he  would  have  to  wait  five  to 
six  months  for  the  next  swearing-in  cere- 
mony in  Boston — too  late  for  his  scheduled 
January  departure. 

The  Abels  appealed  to  Sen.  Edward  M. 
Kennedy's  office,  which  contacted  the  U.S. 
Immigration  and  Naturalization  Service.  A 
local  Superior  Court  judge  agreed  to  swear 
Ly  in  at  the  Franklin  County  courthouse. 
"Between  a  drug  dealer  and  a  wife  beater, 
they  stopped  to  have  this  nice  little  natural- 
ization ceremony,"  recalls  Kenseth-Abel. 
Just  two  days  before  Christmas,  Ly  Chhem 
got  his  wish:  he  became  an  American  citizen 
and  had  his  name  legally  changed  to  Lee 
Kenseth  Abel.  He  got  his  passport  in  record 
time,  and  just  days  before  his  departure  he 
was  issued  a  new  visa  for  Thailand  with  his 
American  name. 

It  was  "pure  luck  and  lots  of  skill  and 
hard  work"  that  led  him  to  find  his  mother  in 
the  village  where  she  had  grown  up.  He  just 
kept  asking  around  on  the  streets  of  Phnom 
Penh,  until  he  made  contact  with  people 
who  knew  his  relatives.  "In  Cambodia,  every- 
body is  related,  and  everybody  knows  every- 
one else,"  he  says. 

His  mother  took  him  to  see  his  three  sur- 
viving brothers.  Abel  says  he  found  his  fami- 
ly members  living  comfortably,  although 
from  his  perspective  as  an  American  engi- 
neering student,  Cambodia  seemed  undevel- 
oped. "It  was  like  going  back  50,  60,  70 
years,"  he  says.  The  level  of  technology  and 
mass  communication  is  improving  in  the 
cities,  he  notes,  but  in  his  mother's  village 
there  is  no  electricity  or  running  water  and 
there  are  no  paved  roads.  A  trip  to  Phnom 
Penh  is  required  to  mail  a  letter  and  newspa- 
pers don't  regularly  reach  the  countryside. 

By  the  time  he  found  his  mother,  Abel 
was  almost  out  of  time.  With  his  project  in 
Thailand  about  to  begin,  he  had  only  a  few 
days  with  his  mother  and  brothers;  most  of 
that  was  spent  traveling  to  meet  scattered 
relatives.  Along  the  way  he  did  have  time  to 
cause  a  commotion  in  Phnom  Penh  by  roller 
blading  to  a  stadium  to  see  a  soccer  match. 

"They  stopped  the  game  and  the  players, 
the  police. ..everyone  wanted  to  see  my 
roller  blades,  to  touch  them,"  he  says. 
"Thousands  of  people  wanted  to  see  me 


skate.  So  I  did  spins  and  jumps  and  turns.  I 
played  basketball  on  my  roller  blades.  Then 
I  skated  to  Sihanouk's  palace  and  there  were 
almost  some  accidents  as  people  slowed 
down  to  look  at  me.  About  30  children  ran 
after  me." 

When  his  project  was  finished,  Abel 
returned  to  Cambodia  for  a  brief  but  less- 
frenzied  visit.  But  lack  of  time  wasn't  the 
only  obstacle  he  encountered  in  reuniting 
with  his  family.  Although  his  mother  and 
brothers  were  overjoyed  at  finding  him 
alive,  he  was  still  a  stranger  to  them,  he 
says.  And  in  their  eyes,  he  was  a  foreigner. 

"It  was  a  shock  for  everybody,"  he  says 
of  the  reunion.  "It's  very  strange;  there  were 
so  many  mixed  emotions.  Asian  people  are 
not  very  open  to  people  they  don't  know.  To 
them,  I  seemed  like  a  tourist — the  way  I 
wore  my  clothes  and  the  way  I  hung  around 
and  talked  with  Americans  and  Europeans." 

Then  there  was  the  irony  of  retaining 


"Before  /  went  back  to 
Cambodia,  I  didn't  really 
appreciate  my  life.  Now  I 
see  that  I'm  very  lucky  to 
be  alive  and  to  get  this 
kind  of  education.' 


» 


childhood  memories — for  example,  fights 
over  toys  with  his  cousins — but  not  recog- 
nizing the  people  from  those  memories 
when  they  greeted  him  as  adults.  When  he 
asked  after  a  favorite  cousin,  he  was  told, 
"But  he  is  standing  right  next  to  you!"  What 
was  hardest  to  accept  was  the  distance  that 
had  grown  between  him  and  his  Cambodian 
mother. 

"She  knows  I'm  her  son,  but  I'm  no  longer 
the  boy  that  she  once  knew,"  he  says.  "She 
tried  to  imagine  what  kind  of  life  I'd  been  liv- 
ing, what  kind  of  joys  I'd  had,  or  what  kind  of 
suffering  I  went  through.  She  tried  to  get 
close  to  me.  I  thought  when  I  saw  her,  I  was 
going  to  feel  very  close  to  her.  It  was  very 
disappointing." 

He  confided  his  feelings  in  a  phone  call  to 
Elaine  Kenseth-Abel  after  his  return  to 
Thailand.  "To  tell  you  the  truth,  Mom,"  he 
said,  "I  feel  closer  to  you  than  my  real  mom. 
I  just  don't  know  her  like  I  know  you." 

After  a  few  days  of  adjusting  and  playing 
with  his  younger  relatives,  Abel  felt  his 
Cambodian  family  begin  to  open  up  to  him. 
He  discovered  that  although  he  is  consid- 
ered quiet  and  reserved  by  American  stan- 


dards, among  Cambodians  he  stands  out  as 
being  active  and  outspoken. 

He  also  learned  that  he  is  two  years 
younger  than  he  thought  he  was.  The  date  of 
birth  on  his  immigration  papers,  Dec.  31, 
1968,  was  actually  made  up  by  immigration 
officials  in  Thailand,  who  were  anxious  to 
finish  work  and  get  to  a  New  Year's  Eve 
party.  His  real  birthday  is  April  28,  1970, 
making  him  the  same  age  as  his  American 
brother  Leif.  His  Cambodian  mother  told 
him  that  he  also  has  a  half-brother,  named 
Stephen  Bell,  living  in  the  U.S.  Abel  says  he 
believes  he  is  in  Connecticut,  but  so  far  has 
been  unable  to  trace  him. 

Abel  plans  to  stay  in  contact  with  his 
newfound  family,  although  he  knows  the 
inefficiency  of  the  Cambodian  postal  system 
and  the  effort  it  takes  for  people  in  the  coun- 
tryside to  mail  letters  will  make  that  difficult. 
Abel  has  sent  letters  and  pictures  to  his  fam- 
ily with  friends  traveling  to  Cambodia  and 
has  faxed  messages  though  a  Cambodian 
business  owner  he  knows.  So  far,  there  has 
been  no  reply. 

He  would  like  to  visit  again,  but  knows 
that  there  is  no  future  for  him  in  his  home- 
land. Cambodia  has  no  commercial  industry 
and  there  are  no  jobs  for  a  mechanical  engi- 
neering major  whose  field  of  interest  is  man- 
ufacturing. However,  his  1QP  on  cross-cultur- 
al management  opened  his  eyes  to  global 
opportunities  with  American  companies  that 
are  expanding  elsewhere  in  Asia. 

When  multinational  companies  are  ready 
to  move  into  Cambodia,  he  will  be  ready.  "At 
WPI  I  am  a  lowly  undergraduate,"  he  says, 
"but  in  Cambodia,  I  am  an  expert.  They  need 
someone  who  understands  both  cultures." 
But  for  now,  the  demand  for  trained  engi- 
neers in  Thailand  and  some  other  Asian 
countries  is  so  high,  he  says,  "they  grab 
whatever  they  can  find." 

Abel  says  his  journey  back  to  his  home- 
land taught  him  a  great  deal  about  himself. 
"Before  I  went  back  to  Cambodia.  I  didn't 
really  appreciate  my  life,"  says  Abel.  "Now  I 
see  that  I'm  very  lucky  to  be  alive  and  to  get 
this  kind  of  education.  If  I  stayed  in  Cam- 
bodia, chances  are  I  would  be  one  of  those 
people  who  barely  finished  junior  high,  or  I 
could  have  been  drafted  into  the  army  and 
shot  and  killed." 

One  other  thing  he  learned  in  Cambodia 
was  his  real  name,  the  one  his  mother 
called  him — Sovann  Ly.  "Sovann  means 
Golden  One,"  he  told  Kenseth-Abel  by 
phone,  "smartest,  most  fortunate.  The  stars 
and  the  planets  and  all  the  heavens  were 
all  great  when  I  was  born.  Sovann  means  I 
would  never  die,  good  and  kind  people 
would  always  help  me,  and  you  know,  Mom, 
it's  true... I  mean,  it's  really  true." 


WPI  Journal 


31 


FINAL  WORD 


"Shy 

Inventor" 
Kept  Byrd 
on  Course 

By  Joan  Killough-Miller 


Albert  H.  Buinstead  didn't  stick 
around  WPI  long  enough  to  earn  a 
diploma,  but  without  him  Admiral 
Richard  E.  Byrd  might  still  be  cir- 
cling the  North  Pole — that  is,  if  he'd  been 
able  to  find  it  in  the  first  place.  Byrd  swore 
by  the  "sun  compass"  invented  by  Bum- 
stead,  a  member  of  the  Class  of  1898.  "I  do 
not  hesitate  to  say  that  without  it  we  could 
not  have  reached  the  poles,"  he  once  re- 
marked. "[The  instrument]  made  it  possible 
to  fly  with  confidence  to  the  North  Pole,  and 
to  find  our  way  back  to  our  bases." 

Bumstead's  compasses  also  went  along 
to  Antarctica  with  Byrd,  who  persisted  in 
exploring  places  where  proximity  to  the 
Earth's  magnetic  poles  made  a  traditional 
mariner's  compass  useless.  When  Byrd  said 
that  he  wished  he  could  navigate  at  night  as 
well  as  he  did  by  day,  Bumstead  took  that  to 
heart,  too.  He  came  up  with  a  simple  and 
practical  system  based  on  a  sextant  reading 
of  Polaris,  the  Pole  Star. 

Soon  Byrd  was  conferring  with  Bumstead 
before  each  voyage.  The  explorer  carried  a 
tiny  American  flag  to  the  South  Pole,  which 
was  later  mounted  and  hung  on  the 
Bumsteads'  dining  room  wall.  Byrd  also 
named  a  mountain  in  the  Queen  Maude 
Range,  near  the  South  Pole,  for  the  inventor. 

In  addition  to  the  Bumstead  sun  compass 
and  Mount  Bumstead,  some  38  million  maps 
also  bear  his  name.  In  his  25  years  with  the 
National  Geographic  Society,  Bumstead  pro- 
duced maps  of  every  part  of  the  world  and 
revolutionized  the  science  of  cartography 
with  inventions  that  made  mapmaking 
quicker,  neater  and  more  accurate. 

Adjectives  like  "modest,"  "quiet"  and 
"unobtrusive"  abound  in  articles  about 
Bumstead,  who  was  often  described  as  the 


4 


Above,  Bumstead,  left,  explains  the 
operation  of  his  sun  compass  to 
Admiral  Byrd.  Opposite  page, 
Bumstead,  standing,  with  Osgood 
Hardy,  the  assistant  cartographer 
on  the  1912  expedition  to  Peru. 

"shy  inventor."  "I  have  always  been  handy 
with  my  hands,"  he  said,  in  a  humble  explana- 
tion of  his  genius.  But  a  mysterious  classmate, 
apparently  a  WPI  alumnus  and  a  reporter  for 
the  Washington  Evening  Star,  described  the 
real  Bumstead  as  two  different  people. 

The  profile  described  Albert  H.  Bum- 
stead, chief  cartographer,  as  "an  elderly  gen- 
tleman with  graying  hair  and  mustache,  both 
a  bit  unruly,  [who]  speaks  in  an  odd  low 
monotone."  His  counterpart,  "Al,"  might  be 
encountered  almost  any  night,  scurrying 
nervously  around  the  basement  of  his 
Washington,  D.C.,  home. 

"He  has  the  same  graying  hair  and  mus- 


tache, still  unruly — perhaps  more  unruly — 
but  the  voice  is  different,"  the  writer  ex- 
plained. "It  is  less  even;  it  is  more  animated. 
There  is  a  difference  of  about  20  years  in  the 
ages  of  Albert  H.  Bumstead  and  Al,  in  favor 
of  the  latter.  Yet  they  are  the  same  man.  Al, 
in  the  cellar,  is  a  magician;  Albert,  in  the 
penthouse  [his  top  floor  office  at  National 
Geographic  headquarters],  is  chief  cartogra- 
pher, surrounded  by  maps  of  every  charter 
corner  of  the  world." 

The  article,  which  appeared  in  1934,  has 
no  byline,  yet  its  author  describes  Bumstead's 
monotone  as  "a  voice  which  was  recognized 
recently  over  the  phone  by  an  old  classmate 
who  had  seen  him  but  once  before  in  34 
years."  The  WPI  Journal  noted  the  article  in  a 
news  column,  but  was  unable  to  identify  the 
author.  "Too  bad  good  feature  writers  are  so 
often  nameless,"  it  lamented. 


32 


Summer  1994 


^&»7*i3^$ft>F 


.4s  /?e  wenf  through  life,  Bumstead  pretty  much  invented 
what  he  needed,  or  what  he  thought  others  needed,  from  recycled 

parts  and  everyday  objects. 


According  to  his  1940  obituary  in  the 
Journal,  Bumstead  studied  electrical  engi- 
neering at  WPI  for  two  years,  then  withdrew, 
although  he  was  earning  high  grades  in  most 
subjects.  After  leaving  the  Institute,  he  stud- 
ied geography  at  Harvard  for  a  year.  He 
worked  briefly  as  topographer  for  the  U.S. 
Geological  Survey,  then  retired  to  Townsend 
Harbor,  Mass.,  where  he  spent  nine  years 
"trying  to  run  a  farm  and  finding  I  couldn't," 
according  to  his  own  admission. 

In  1912  Bumstead  was  recruited  by 
Hiram  Bingham  as  chief  topographer  on  an 
expedition  to  Peru  that  uncovered  Machu 
Picchu,  "Lost  City  of  the  Incas."  When  he 
returned,  he  was  appointed  to  the  National 
Geographic  Society. 

Bumstead  and  his  wife,  Annie  Sweeney, 
had  five  children.  Two  sons  attended  WPI. 
G.  Newman  Bumstead  '30  followed  in  his 
father's  footsteps,  eventually  becoming  chief 
of  geographic  art  for  the  National  Geo- 


graphic Society.  He  died  in  1967.  Robert 
Bumstead  '31  was  the  only  Bumstead  to 
receive  a  degree  from  the  Institute.  A  retired 
mechanical  engineer  and  insurance  execu- 
tive, he  lives  in  New  Hampshire. 

As  he  went  through  life,  Bumstead  pretty 
much  invented  what  he  needed,  or  what  he 
thought  others  needed,  from  recycled  parts 
and  everyday  objects.  The  famous  sun  com- 
pass was  actually  a  retrofitted  alarm  clock, 
with  a  24-hour  dial  plate  and  a  hand  to  cast  a 
shadow  on  the  face.  It  was  developed  in 
three  weeks  and  rushed  to  Byrd  just  before 
takeoff.  When  Bumstead  developed  a  fasci- 
nation for  lapidary,  the  art  of  grinding  and 
polishing  gemstones,  his  basement  work- 
shop gave  birth  to  new  apparatuses  for  his 
hobby.  With  his  brother  Ralph,  he  created  a 
device  for  rapid  transmission  of  stock  quota- 
tions that  established  the  basis  for  later 
communications  technology. 

During  World  War  I,  Bumstead  ap- 


proached the  war  department  with  a  new 
map  projector  that  laid  down  parallels  and 
meridians  in  20  minutes,  as  opposed  to 
three  or  four  hours  for  the  ordinary  method. 
He  turned  out  an  accurate  map  of  the 
European  theater  of  operations  and  later 
declined  a  patent  on  the  new  invention,  giv- 
ing it  over  for  government  use.  Although  his 
patriotism  was  hailed  in  Washington,  his 
New  England  neighbors  were  more  leery. 

In  1917,  residents  of  Townsend  Harbor 
feared  that  Bumstead  was  transmitting  intel- 
ligence to  the  Germans.  Neighbors  reported 
the  suspected  spy  to  the  Fitchburg  police. 
When  authorities  investigated  the  property, 
they  found  antennas  wired  to  the  elm 
trees — evidence  of  an  innocent  "wireless" 
operator  who  had  an  endless  fascination 
with  new  technologies.  As  for  Bumstead,  he 
was  off  in  Peru,  on  a  second  expedition  to 
explore  newly  discovered  relics  from  the 
distant  past. 


1  Cc. l 


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c> .. 


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P  — 


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'^U****************  CAR-RT  SORT  **  R001 
DOROTHY  MCCARTHY 
83  KEITH  HILL  ROAD 
GRAFTON,  MA  01519-1314 


FALL  1994 


puis: 

Look  Back  at  the 
Presidency  of  Jon  C.  Strauss 


WPI  Journal 


VOLUME  XCVII  NO.  4    FALL  1994 


m  m    ""                                  1 

1 


8 


12 


12 


• 
i 

Br 

r   vH 

FEATURES 

Repositioning  the  Institute:  The  New  WPI  and  Beyond 

Jon  C.  Strauss 

In  the  final  installment  of  his  series  of  annual  report  messages,  President  Jon  C. 
Strauss  reports  on  WPI's  continuing  efforts  to  build  on  its  traditional  strengths 
to  create  the  "university  of  the  future,"  an  institution  with  a  broader  appeal  to 
prospective  students  and  an  enhanced  quality  of  life. 

A  Plan  of  Action:  The  Presidency  of  Jon  C.  Strauss 

Michael  W.  Dorsey 

By  keeping  WPI  focused  on  the  challenges  it  has  faced,  helping  it  seize  new 
opportunities,  and  involving  the  entire  WPI  community  in  planning  for  the  future, 
Jon  Strauss  helped  the  Institute  transform  itself  into  a  stronger,  better-known  and 
more  focused  institution. 

Three  Thousand,  Three  Hundred  and 
Seventy-nine  Days  at  One  Drury  Lane 

Jean  A.  A.  Strauss 

In  1985,  Jean  Strauss  became  the  wife  of  a  college  president,  a  role  for  which  she 
says  she  felt  unprepared.  In  the  nine  years  that  followed,  she  gained  confidence 
and  learned  some  valuable  lessons.  And  through  it  all,  she  kept  her  sense  of  humor. 

The  Year  That  Was:  A  Look  Back  at  the  Events  of  1993-94 

Jon  C.  Strauss 

A  growing  global  studies  program,  a  host  of  educational  innovations,  major 
awards  for  research,  improvements  in  diversity  and  student  life,  physical  plant 
improvements,  and  continuing  national  recognition  for  the  Institute — these  are 
just  some  of  the  highlights  of  a  busy  year  at  WPI. 

DEPARTMENTS 


17  Financial  Summary  Robert  W.  Gailey 

A  look  at  the  Institute's  financial  performance  in  FY93 

[§  Financial  Highlights 

The  fiscal  year  at  a  glance 

25  Development  Highlights  Alfred R.Doig Jr. 
A  Year  of  Building 


19 


27  Honor  Roll  of  Donors 


Front  Coven  On  the  lawn  in  front  of  One  Drury  Lane,  their  home  for  more  than  nine  years,  are  Jon  and 
Jean  Strauss  and  their  sons,  Kristoffer,  left,  and  Jonathon.  Photo  by  Janet  Woodcock.  Opposite:  The 
many  roles  of  a  college  president  as  carried  out  by  Jon  C.  Strauss.  Back  Cover  A  crunchy  blanket  of 
fallen  leaves  covers  the  hillside  by  Gordon  Library.  Photo  by  Janet  Woodcock. 


Staff  of  the  WPI  Journal:  Editor,  Michael  W.  Dorsey  •  Contributing  Writers,  Bonnie  Gelbwasser.  Joan  Killough-Miller,  Neil  Norum  and  Ruth  Trask  •  Designer,  Carol  Hoyle  Ballard  • 
Art  Direction,  Michael  J.  Sherman  •  Photographer,  Janet  Woodcock  Alumni  Publications  Committee:  Samuel  Mencow  '37,  chairman  •  James  S.  Demetry  '58  •  William  J.  Firla  Jr.  '60  • 
William  R.  Grogan  '46  •  Robert  C.  Labonte  '54  •  Roger  N.  Perry  Jr.  '45  •  Harlan  B.  Williams  '50  •  The  WPI  Journal  (ISSN  0148-6128)  is  published  quarterly  for  the  WPI  Alumni  Association  by  the 
Office  of  University  Relations.  Second-class  postage  paid  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  additional  mailing  offices.  Printed  by  The  Lane  Press,  Burlington,  Vt.  Printed  in  the  U.S.A. 

Diverse  views  presented  in  this  magazine  do  not  necessarily  reflect  the  opinions  of  the  editors  or  official  WPI  policies.  We  welcome  letters  to  the  editor  Address  correspondence  to  the  Editor,  WPI  Journal. 
WPI.  100  Institute  Road,  Worcester,  MA  01609-2280  Phone:  (508)  831-5609,  FAX:  (508)  831-5604,  Electronic  Mail  (Internet),  mwdorsey@wpi.wpi.edu.  Postmaster:  If  undeliverable,  please  send  form  3579 
to  the  address  above.  Do  not  return  publication  Entire  contents  ©  1994.  Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute 


The  New  WPI  and  Beyond 


Last  year's  annual  report  was 
prefaced  with  an  editor's  note  that 
set  forth  an  ambitious  agenda:  "In 
fiscal  year  1993,  the  college  com- 
pleted a  major  period  of  self-evalu- 
ation and  began  the  weighty  task  of  deter- 
mining how  it  will  mold  itself  into  the  type  of 
institution  best  able  to  thrive  and  grow  in 
the  decades  ahead."  As  you  will  see,  we 
have  indeed  been  asking  ourselves  what  it 
means  to  thrive  and  grow  in  these  challeng- 
ing times.  We've  also  come  to  appreciate 
that  we  have  not  yet  completed — nor  will  we 
complete  any  time  soon — our  self-evalua- 
tion. In  fact,  continuous  critical  self- 
appraisal  is  the  key  to  the  growth  in  excel- 
lence to  which  we  aspire. 

This  annual  report  is  the  ninth  and  last  in 
the  series  spanning  my  presidency  of  WPI.  It 
begins  with  a  review  of  the  actions  taken 
over  the  past  year  in  response  to  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  Blue  Ribbon  Task  Force. 
The  task  force's  report  was  the  focus  of  my 
message  in  the  1992-93  annual  report. 


One  action  taken  was  the  hiring  of 
marketing  consultants  Barton  Gillet  to  study 
how  WPI  is  perceived  within  its  most  impor- 
tant marketplace:  the  group  of  potential 
students.  This  report  goes  on  to  summarize 
our  efforts  this  year  to  refocus  WPI's  image 
in  that  marketplace  in  response  to  Barton 
Gillet's  recommendations. 

The  report  concludes  with  a  look  at  our 
initial  planning  efforts  for  WPI's  next 
comprehensive  fund-raising  campaign.  The 
campaign  will  be  designed  to  develop  the 
funds  needed  to  position  WPI  to  best  serve 
the  needs  of  our  students,  our  faculty  and 
our  society  as  we  enter  a  new  millennium. 

The  emphasis  on  planning  you  will  find 
in  the  pages  that  follow  will  not  surprise 
readers  of  earlier  editions  of  this  annual 
report  series.  My  first  report,  for  the  1985-86 
fiscal  year,  established  an  agenda  for  strate- 
gic excellence;  each  successive  report  has 
commented  on  some  aspect  of  our  progress 
toward  that  agenda.  This  year's  report 
continues  that  commentary. 


Background 

To  appreciate  fully  why  it  seems  necessary 
to  reposition  WPI,  one  must  begin  by 
looking  back  to  the  beginning  of  this  decade. 
At  that  time,  WPI  was  just  concluding  the 
highly  successful  Campaign  for  Excellence, 
which  ultimately  yielded  $63.7  million — 
121  percent  of  its  $52.5  million  goal.  At  the 
request  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  a  steering 
committee  was  at  work  developing  a  new 
strategic  plan  to  guide  WPI's  development 
through  the  1990s.  The  resulting  plan,  which 
was  approved  by  the  faculty  and  the 
trustees  in  the  spring  of  1990,  has  six  goals: 

GOdl  1 '.  Enhance  the  Level  of 
Excellence  in  Undergraduate  Education 

uOSl  2:  Enhance  the  Level  of 
Excellence  in  Graduate  Education 

Goal  o!  Increase  the  Quality  and 
Quantity  of  Research  and  its  Recognition 


Fall  1994 


Goal  4:  Enhance  the  Quality  of 
Life  on  Campus 

G03l  5:  Meet  the  Needs  of  Professionals 
for  Continuing  Education 

Goal  6:  Strengthen  WPI's  External 
Relationships 

With  the  passage  of  the  strategic  plan, 
we  began  focusing  our  operations  toward 
achieving  these  goals;  each  year  since  we've 
highlighted  our  progress  in  the  annual 
report.  But  by  the  fall  of  1991,  it  was  becom- 
ing obvious  that  the  strategic  plan  might 
have  to  be  rethought.  Several  external 
factors,  most  particularly  the  dramatically 
increasing  cost  of  institutional  financial  aid, 
were  placing  enormous  budgetary  pressure 
on  WPI,  creating  the  prospect  of  an  even 
more  challenging  future  than  that 
envisioned  by  the  plan's  drafters. 

Accordingly,  the  Blue  Ribbon  Task  Force, 
whose  members  were  drawn  from  the 
faculty,  staff,  student  body  and  Board  of 
Trustees,  was  charged  with  developing  a 
comprehensive  plan  for  the  Institute. 
Reflecting  the  strategic  plan  where  possible, 
it  would  maintain  and  enhance  WPI  as  it 
charted  a  course  through  the  many 
demographic,  societal  and  financial  uncer- 
tainties of  the  next  decade.  The  plan  also 
had  to  assure  the  financial  equilibrium  of  the 
operating  and  capital  budgets. 

Given  the  magnitude  of  its  objective,  it 
is  not  surprising  that  the  Blue  Ribbon  Task 
Force  did  not  succeed  completely  in  devel- 
oping a  comprehensive  plan.  But  it  did 
confirm  that  we  face  vexing,  largely  external- 
ly imposed  financial  problems.  It  also 
developed  a  framework  for  addressing  them 
in  the  contexts  of  quality  of  life,  academic 
experience  and  financial  equilibrium. 

In  its  final  report,  the  BRTF  made  a  number 
of  recommendations,  but  its  vision  for  WPI's 
future  is  probably  best  captured  by  the  follow- 
ing excerpt  from  the  executive  summary: 

"Quality  in  all  we  do  is  essential  to  our 
continuing  success.  WPI  must  take  advan- 
tage of  its  strengths  in  technology  and 
broaden  along  technical  lines;  be  sensitive 
to  the  needs  of  its  customers,  both  finan- 
cially and  educationally;  be  flexible  program- 
matically  to  meet  their  needs;  and  produce  a 
higher  quality  program  at  a  lower  consumer 
and  institutional  cost." 

...and  in  these  two  recommendations: 

"That  the  WPI  of  the  21st  century  be 
a  technologically  based  comprehensive 
university." 

"That  WPI's  'broadening'  include  a  more 
vital  role  for  the  Humanities  and  Social 


Science  and  Policy  Studies  departments  in 
contributing  to  these  emerging  interface 
technologies...." 

Under  the  guidance  of  the  Community 
Council,  which  was  formed  in  1992-93  in 
response  to  a  recommendation  of  the 
Commission  on  Residential  and  Social  Life,  a 
number  of  initiatives  were  begun  in  the  fall 
of  1993  to  respond  to  the  BRTF  recommen- 
dations. These  included 

D>  four  campus  open  forums.  These 
explored  each  of  the  BRTF  emphasis 
areas — quality  of  life,  academic  experi- 
ence and  financial  equilibrium — and 
engaged  the  community  in  a  discussion 
about  parking  under  the  aegis  of  the  new 
Parking  Committee. 

the  hiring  of  the  marketing  firm  of  Barton 
Gillet  to  determine  how  prospective 
students  would  receive  the  BRTF  recom- 
mendations relating  to  the  academic 
experience. 

D>  the  soliciting  of  proposals  from  the 
faculty  to  develop  academic  programs  in 
"interface  disciplines."  These  would 
build  on  our  considerable  existing 
strengths  and  broaden  WPI's  appeal  to 
students  who  might  not  otherwise  con- 
sider matriculating  at  what  they  perceive 
to  be  a  narrow  engineering  school. 

As  the  fall  of  1993  progressed,  it  became 
clear  that  the  financial  problems  facing  WPI 
were  even  more  difficult  than  the  BRTF  had 
foreseen.  Because  of  the  continuing  escala- 
tion in  the  amount  of  institutional  financial 
aid  WPI  must  make  available  to  remain 
competitive,  total  tuition  revenue  net  of 
institutional  financial  aid  increased  by  just 
1  percent  in  1992-93  and  was  projected  to 
increase  by  only  2  percent  in  1993-94 — even 
with  constant  enrollments. 

Moreover,  applications  were  dropping 
and  it  appeared  that  quality  might  have  to 
suffer  to  maintain  enrollment.  These  indica- 
tors, combined  with  a  continuing  national 
decline  in  interest  in  technological  higher 
education,  suggested  that  a  course  marked 
by  "business  as  usual"  would  be  fraught 
with  difficulty.  Ways  needed  to  be  found  to 
increase  net  revenue  more  rapidly  than  the 
costs  of  instruction. 

Repositioning 

In  its  study  of  WPI's  prospective  student 
marketplace,  Barton  Gillet  surveyed  a  total 
of  23,700  young  men  and  women  in  the  fall 
of  1993:  21,000  students  who  inquired  about 
WPI  during  1992-93  but  never  applied  for 
admission  (inquirers);  2,000  students  who 
applied  and  were  accepted,  but  who  chose 


not  to  enroll  (no-shows);  and  700  students 
who  matriculated  as  members  of  the  Class 
of  1997  (freshmen).  The  survey  uncovered  a 
number  of  interesting — almost  startling — 
facts  about  how  prospective  students 
perceive  us.  For  example: 

t>  24  percent  of  the  inquirers  and  15  per- 
cent of  the  no-shows  expressed  an 
interest  in  the  biological  sciences;  only 
4  percent  of  the  freshmen  expressed 
such  an  interest. 

24  percent  of  the  inquirers  were  interest- 
ed in  medical  careers;  only  8  percent  of 
the  no-shows  and  7  percent  of  the 
freshmen  were  so  inclined. 

[>  The  factor  cited  most  often  by  inquirers 
and  no-shows  to  explain  why  they  did  not 
choose  WPI  was  a  preference  for  a  more 
all-around  school  (read  university)  over  a 
technological  institution  (67  percent  of 
inquirers  cited  this  as  a  major  reason  and 
17  percent  said  it  was  a  concern;  it  was  a 
major  reason  for  43  percent  of  no-shows 
and  a  concern  for  27  percent). 

O  No-shows  were  more  likely  than  the 
other  groups  to  cite  cost  (39  percent 
major  factor;  25  percent  concern)  and 
quality  of  life  (21  percent  major  factor;  45 
percent  concern)  as  reasons  for  not 
choosing  WPI. 

Based  on  these  and  related  data,  Barton 
Gillet  made  several  recommendations  to 
WPI.  Most  important,  they  concluded  that 
"only  a  major  repositioning  of  WPI  in  the 
marketplace  will  succeed  in  making  possible 
our  escape  from  the  current  [financial] 
predicament."  They  said  the  basis  for  such  a 
repositioning  "already  exits  in  the  WPI  Plan, 
the  directions  in  which  you  have  been  lead- 
ing the  Institute,  and  some  of  the  imagina- 
tive proposals  now  on  the  table.  What  is 
needed  is  a  focus  and  a  unifying  platform 
and  direction  for  these  initiatives." 

As  part  of  this  major  repositioning, 
Barton  Gillet,  echoing  the  Blue  Ribbon  Task 
Force,  recommended  broadening  WPI  into  a 
comprehensive  university.  Neither  Barton 
Gillet  nor  the  BRTF  envisioned  WPI  compet- 
ing with  Amherst  or  Wesleyan  for  English 
majors.  Rather,  both  groups  were  seeking 
ways  for  WPI  to  attract  those  potential  appli- 
cants who  would  profit  from  our  strengths 
in  areas  such  as  the  biological  sciences,  but 
who  either  don't  apply  or  choose  not  to 
attend  after  they've  been  accepted. 

If  we  can  find  a  way  to  get  more  of  these 
students  to  apply  with  serious  desire  to 
enroll,  we  can  be  more  selective  based  on 
the  ability  of  our  applicants  to  pay,  thereby 
raising  the  net  revenue  we  receive  per 


WPI  Journal 


student.  In  this  way,  we  can  reduce  our  cost 
for  institutional  financial  aid,  thus  relieving 
the  financial  pressures  we  face. 

The  challenge  will  be  overcoming  the 
obvious  fears  these  prospective  students 
have  of  being  limited  by  attending  what  they 
perceive  to  be  a  narrowly  focused  engineer- 
ing school.  We  must  find  ways  to  communi- 
cate more  clearly  our  existing  broad 
strengths  in  the  life  and  social  sciences  and 
in  the  liberal  and  fine  arts. 

Once  we  attract  these  nontraditional 
students,  who  will  not  be  seeking  the  rigors 
of  a  traditional  engineering  education,  we 
must  provide  them  with  a  stimulating  and 
nurturing  environment.  The 
development  of  interface 
disciplines,  an  idea  pro- 
posed by  the  BRTF,  will 
help  support  this  objective 
by  creating  academic  dis- 
ciplines that  prepare  stu- 
dents in  the  liberal  arts, 
humanities  and  sciences  for 
the  increasingly  technical 
nature  of  these  fields,  as 
well  as  for  new  careers  that 
cross  the  boundaries 
between  technical  and  non- 
technical fields.  We  must 
also  make  progress  on 
enhancing  the  breadth  and 
quality  of  life  at  WPI. 

While  the  faculty  worked 
to  plan  new  programs 
in  interface  disciplines,  Provost  Diran 
Apelian  and  I  "went  on  the  road"  last  fall  to 
meet  with  faculty  and  staff  members,  acade- 
mic departments,  students,  alumni,  and 
trustees  to  discuss  the  implications  of  the 
Barton  Gillet  study  and  the  BRTF  recommen- 
dations. These  many  meetings  culminated  in 
a  combined  discussion  at  the  February  1994 
retreat  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  The 
essence  of  that  discussion  was  captured  in 
two  planning  papers:  The  New  WPI  (March 
22,  1994)  and  A  Marketing  Plan  for  the  New 
Wr7(Aprill4,1994). 

The  substance  of  the  repositioning  vision 
of  The  New  WPI  is  captured  in  the  following 
five  fundamental  hypotheses: 

1.  To  attract  and  nurture  students  who 
would  not  traditionally  matriculate  at 
what  they  perceive  to  be  only  an  "engi- 
neering school,"  we  must  develop 
student-oriented  programs  in  such 
high-demand  areas  as  the  pre-health 
professions,  environmental  studies, 
communications  and  global  studies. 

2.  To  further  differentiate  WPI  from  its  com- 
petitors in  the  marketplace,  both  for  its 
programmatic  excellence  and  its  value, 


and  to  increase  the  employability  of  our 
graduates,  the  Institute  should  offer  a  new 
professionally  oriented  master's  degree  in 
all  appropriate  disciplines  that  WPI's  four- 
year  graduates  could  earn  with  just  one 
additional  year  of  study — possibly  at  a 
significant  discount. 
3.  To  help  graduates  make  a  rapid  and 
successful  transition  from  WPI  into  work 
or  graduate  school,  we  should  develop 
preferred  supplier  relationships  with  the 
various  markets  for  our  graduates.  In  the 
engineering  professions,  this  would  mean 
developing  more  co-op  and  intern  oppor- 
tunities; in  pre-professional  areas,  it  could 


here  is  little  question  in  the  minds 
of  most  members  of  the  WPI  family 
that  WPI  must  increase  its  appeal 
in  the  marketplace  for  nontraditional 
students  while  preserving  and  enhanc- 
ing its  traditional  strengths. 


mean  negotiating  preferential  admission 
programs  with  appropriate  graduate  and 
professional  schools. 

4.  To  respond  to  the  concerns  of  prospec- 
tive and  matriculated  students  regarding 
the  quality  of  life  at  WPI,  we  should 
accelerate  our  efforts  to  fund  and  build  a 
campus  center  and  to  improve  the 
gender,  racial  and  cultural  balance  among 
our  students,  faculty  and  staff. 

5.  To  emphasize  the  changes  made  in  items 
1  to  4,  to  recognize  WPI's  status  as  a 
university  in  all  but  name,  and  to  broaden 
our  appeal  to  the  84  percent  of  the  inquir- 
ers in  the  Barton  Gillet  study  who 
expressed  a  preference  for  a  more 
all-around  school,  we  should  change  our 
name  to  WPI  University  (a  name  that  will 
still  hearken  back  to  our  roots). 

The  New  WPI  also  proposed  a  companion 
investment  plan  totaling  $10  million  over 
five  years  to  help  implement  this  reposition- 
ing vision.  A  significant  portion  of  that 
investment  plan  was  to  be  directed  at 
broadly  marketing  WPI  University  as  The 
University  of  the  Future,  an  institution  where 
students  would  be  prepared  to  provide 


leadership  in  an  increasingly  technological 
world.  Another  major  portion  of  the 
proposed  investment  was  to  be  used  to 
create  a  supportive  environment  for  the 
nontraditional  students  we  would  attract 
with  the  new  student-oriented  programs  in 
the  pre-health  professions,  environmental 
studies,  communications  and  global  studies. 
While  the  specifics  of  The  New  WPI  have 
encountered  intense  criticism  from  faculty 
members  and  students,  there  is  little 
question  in  the  minds  of  most  members  of 
the  WPI  family  that  WPI  must  increase  its 
appeal  in  the  marketplace  for  nontraditional 
students  while  preserving  and  enhancing  its 
traditional  strengths.  As 

WPI  works  to  respond  to 

the  challenges  of  the  mar- 
ketplace, it  must  recognize 
that  while  it  is  important  to 
continue  improving  the 
quality  of  its  program,  that 
will  not  be  sufficient.  Barton 
Gillet  commented  directly 
on  this  issue: 

"Much  of  the  debate  at 
WPI  seems  to  revolve 
around  program  quality — 
whether  the  Institute  ought 
simply  to  do  better  what  it 
already  does.  Put  plainly, 
that  is  just  not  the  issue. 
The  market  research  does 
not  indicate  that  prospec- 
tive students  have  any 
problem  with  the  quality  of  WPI's  program. 
Rather,  they  prefer  a  more  rounded  insti- 
tution. Most  of  the  Institute's  prospects  are 
convinced  that  they  will  find  in  a  broader- 
based  university  a  more  rewarding  student 
life,  an  experience  more  conducive  to  lead- 
ership development,  better  preparation  for 
professional  study,  a  broader  perspective 
on  the  world  around  them,  and  generally,  a 
more  prestigious  qualification.  Only  a  thin 
slice  of  the  prospective  student  pie  is  willing 
to  consider  what  is  perceived  to  be  a  narrow 
engineering  school." 

To  maintain  progress  on  developing  The 
New  WPI  vision  as  we  seek  to  build  con- 
sensus for  future  directions,  the  trustees  in 
May  1994  authorized  WPI  to  invest  $600,000 
beyond  the  approved  budget.  In  addition  to 
funding  the  first  year  of  development  for  the 
interface  disciplines,  this  investment  will 


Chemistry  Professor  James  Dittami 
and  student  Hua  Qi  analyze  bio- 
molecules  on  an  NMR  scanner. 
Developing  programs  in  high- 
demand  areas  like  pre-health  is 
integral  to  the  New  WPI  vision. 


Fall  1994 


enable  WPI  to  continue  work  toward 
repositioning  WPI  to  satisfy  the  needs  of  the 
marketplace.  Specific  investments  will  also 
be  made  in  staff  support  for  the  Pre-Health 
Professions  Program  and  for  a  women's 
advocacy  program  that  will  help  recruit  and 
retain  women  at  all  levels. 

An  ad  hoc  faculty  committee  chaired  by 
Professor  George  Phillies  has  reviewed  18 
proposals  for  new  interface  disciplines. 
Most  of  these  focus  on  course  or  curriculum 
design  for  new  majors  or  specialties  that  will 
use  our  existing  strengths  to  attract  new, 
nontraditional  students.  We  will  need 
special  marketing  efforts  to  alert  prospec- 
tive students  to  these  exciting  new  oppor- 
tunities. New  programs 
have  been  recommended 
in  American  studies,  envi- 
ronmental policy,  interna- 
tional studies,  pre-law, 
teacher  certification,  tech- 
nology and  policy,  techni- 
cal theater,  and  economics 
and  technology.  It  has  also 
been  recommended  that 
funds  be  allocated  to 
expand  and  better  market 
existing  programs  in  entre- 
preneurship,  computer 
networking  and  communi- 
cations, environmental 
studies,  pre-health  studies, 
industrial  engineering,  and 
technical  communications. 

As  work  continues  on 

refining  and  implementing       

The  New  WPI  vision,  it  will 

be  important  to  keep  these  fundamental 

questions  in  mind: 

[>  How,  in  a  period  of  no  growth  or  even 
contraction,  can  WPI  continue  to  benefit 
from  the  excitement,  enthusiasm  and 
new  ideas  that  come  with  the 
recruitment  of  new  faculty  and  staff 
members? 

t>  How,  when  interest  in  studying  tech- 
nology related  disciplines  is  dropping, 
and  when  the  cost  of  preserving  and 
enhancing  the  quality  of  its  academic 
programs  is  outpacing  the  ability  and 
desire  of  families  to  pay  for  a  higher 
education  in  these  disciplines,  can  WPI 
position  itself  to  gain  greater  control 
over  its  revenue? 

D>  How,  in  this  period  of  intense  competi- 
tion for  resources,  can  the  Institute 
maintain  the  strengths  of  its  effective  and 
distinctive  outcome-oriented  educational 
program,  while  still  striving  for  the 
efficiency  necessary  to  prosper? 


\>  How,  when  traditional  federal  and  corpo- 
rate support  for  education  and  research 
is  static  at  best,  does  WPI  make  its  case 
for  support  sufficiently  compelling  to 
succeed  over  increasingly  aggressive  and 
sophisticated  competition? 
And  how  can  we  continue  to  increase  the 
recognition  for  this  distinctive  institu- 
tion, recognition  upon  which  rests  the 
success  of  its  future  recruitment  and 
resource  development  efforts? 

Comprehensive  Campaign 

Ultimately,  the  continuing  development  of 
The  New  WPI  vision  will  require  significant 
new  resources;  that  will  be  the  basis  for  a 


A  natural  question  then  will  be,  what 
added  value  do  students  gain  by  attending  a 
private  institution  like  WPI?  Beyond  the 
value  added  by  an  outstanding  faculty, 
leading-edge  facilities,  and  a  unique  and 
renowned  curriculum,  there  are  the  less  tan- 
gible qualities  summarized  by  the  term 
quality  of  life.  As  prospective  students  begin 
to  ask  the  "value-added  question,"  WPI  will 
find  even  greater  impetus  for  raising  the  capi- 
tal resources  needed  to  transform  its  campus 
to  provide  the  amenities  associated  with 
comprehensive  universities.  It  will  need  to 


[ 


he  comprehensive  campaign  will 
raise  endowment  and  program 
resources  for  the  scholarships, 
fellowships,  professorships  and  pro- 
gram opportunities  that  will  support 
the  academic  and  quality  of  life 
objectives  of The  New  WPI  vision. 


comprehensive  campaign,  which  is  already 
being  planned  by  the  Board  of  Trustees. 
This  comprehensive  campaign  will  raise 
endowment  and  program  resources  for  the 
scholarships,  fellowships,  professorships 
and  program  opportunities  that  will  support 
the  academic  and  quality  of  life  objectives  of 
The  New  WPI  vision. 

Included  in  the  program  resources  will 
be  money  to  fund  the  continuing  develop- 
ment of  technology  to  assist  in  learning  and 
teaching.  For  many  years,  knowledgeable 
people  have  predicted  that  the  latest 
technology,  be  it  radio,  movies,  television, 
computers,  personal  computers,  CD-ROMs 
or  multimedia,  would  revolutionize  educa- 
tion. Yet  the  real  impact  of  technology  on 
education  has  been  minimal.  It  now  appears 
that  computers  and  communications  tech- 
nology, in  combination  with  powerful 
artificial  intelligence  and  virtual  reality 
software,  will  finally  fulfill  those  predic- 
tions, making  possible  sophisticated  and 
affordable  self-paced  learning. 


build  a  campus  center 
upgrade  its  residence  halls 

O  build  a  new  home  for  the 
Department  of  Human- 
ities and  Arts 

D>  renovate  Salisbury  Lab- 
oratories to  create  a 
modern  facility  for  the 
life  sciences 

O  provide  a  new,  central 
location  for  the  Office  of 
Physical  Plant 

l>  close  West  Street  to 
create  a  safer  campus 
and  an  attractive 
pedestrian  mall 

[>  move  parking  off  the  cen- 
tral campus  and  "re- 
green"  the  Quadrangle 

D>  upgrade  the  visual  appeal 
of  the  campus 

D>  and    renovate    and 

expand  the  facilities  of 

Gordon  Library 

Conclusion 

WPI  has  a  truly  exciting  opportunity  to  build 
on  its  strengths  as  it  creates  the  University  of 
the  Future.  But  no  one  can  do  this  alone.  It 
will  be  important  that  all  members  of  the 
WPI  family  come  together  during  the  next 
year  to  build  consensus  for  what  the  BRTF 
termed  "bold  and  aggressive  action."  While 
the  challenge  arises  from  problems  in 
attracting  enough  students  with  the  ability 
and  the  desire  to  pay  for  WPI's  traditional 
products,  the  market  data  demonstrates 
that  these  problems  can  be  turned  into 
opportunities.  And  that  can  be  done  without 
compromising  on  quality  and  by  building  on 
the  Institute's  strengths  through  the 
creation  of  interface  disciplines. 


Renovating  Salisbury  Laboratories  to 
create  a  home  for  the  life  sciences  is 
one  of  several  capital  projects  that 
will  likely  be  goals  of  a  new  compre- 
hensive fund-raising  campaign. 


Fall  1994 


President's  Commission  and  my  involvement  in  the 
Association  of  Independent  Technological  Universities, 
the  American  Council  on  Education  and  other  organiza- 
tions, have  been  clearly  recognized. 

"But  a  lot  of  WPI's  growth  in  recognition,  of  course, 
has  been  based  on  our  accomplishments.  You  don't  get 
recognized  for  a  PR  campaign.  You  get  recognized  for  the 
accomplishments  you  highlight  in  that  campaign.  The 
fact  that  we've  had  something  to  say  is  clearly  a  result  of 
the  entire  community's  work — especially  the  faculty's 
work — and  not  just  mine." 


that  have  chronicled  the  new  knowledge  uncovered  by 
the  research  community  at  WP1.  Another  is  the  more  than 
tripling  of  annual  research  support  at  WPI,  from  roughly 
$2.5  million  when  the  Strauss  presidency  began  to  $7.9 
million  in  the  most  recent  academic  year.  One  measure  in 
which  Strauss  says  he  takes  special  pride  is  the  tripling  of 
the  four-year  average  number  of  Ph.D.s  awarded  by  WPI,  a 
figure  that  currently  stands  at  20. 

Not  unrelated  to  the  Institute's  success  in  research — 
and  its  growing  reputation  in  the  community  of 
scholars — is  the  physical  infrastructure  that  has  been 


From  left,  new 
laboratories  like 
these  for  work  in 
magnetic  reso- 
nance imaging 
and  fire  science 
have  helped  build 
a  foundation  for  a 
growing  research 
program.  The 
installation  of 
a  high-speed 
telecommunica- 
tions network  and 
the  construction 
of  Fuller 
Laboratories 
were  part  of  a 
campaign  to 
improve  the 
Institute's  com- 
puter facilities. 


Some  of  WPI's  most  significant  work  over  the  past 
decade  has  been  its  effort  to  enhance  its  involve- 
ment in  research.  Before  the  mid-1960s,  scholar- 
ship was  all  but  nonexistent  at  WPI.  A  focused  effort  to 
spur  research  resulted  in  a  20-fold  growth  in  research 
sponsorship  between  1965  and  1980.  But  to  many  on  the 
faculty,  that  was  just  a  necessary  first  step. 

In  1984  a  faculty  committee,  chaired  by  James  Pavlik, 
head  of  the  Chemistry  Department,  undertook  a  major 
study  on  educational  and  professional  development  that 
culminated  in  a  set  of  sweeping  recommendations.  These 
included  the  expansion  of  the  Office  of  Graduate  Studies 
and  Research,  improvements  to  the  Institute's  educational 
and  research  facilities,  and  the  creation  of  funds  to  provide 
seed  money  for  research  and  educational  development. 

President  Strauss'  commitment  to  scholarship 
proved  to  be  the  catalyst  that  helped  bring  about  these 
and  other  changes  (including  the  upgrading  of  the  dean 
of  graduate  studies  and  research  to  a  full-time  position, 
the  creation  of  the  post  of  director  of  research  adminis- 
tration, and  the  establishment  of  the  Research  and 
Educational  development  councils).  These  changes,  in 
turn,  helped  build  an  institutional  foundation  for  a  grow- 
ing research  program.  Another  contributing  factor  was 
the  recruitment  of  dozens  of  new  faculty  members — 
nearly  half  of  the  Institute's  tenure-track  faculty — over 
the  past  nine  years. 

There  are  many  ways  to  measure  the  products  of  this 
endeavor.  One  is  the  flood  of  articles  in  refereed  journals, 
presentations  at  academic  conferences,  and  news  articles 


built  for  research  on  the  WPI  campus.  This  includes  a 
host  of  new  laboratories  and  research  centers  in  a  wide 
range  of  disciplines,  many  completed  or  established 
with  major  awards  from  philanthropic  foundations, 
corporations  and  government  agencies,  as  well  as  the 
generous  financial  support  of  WPI  alumni. 

They  include  labs  for  aluminum  casting,  biomedical 
sensors,  bioprocess  engineering,  ceramics  processing, 
computational  mechanics,  computer  and  information 
networks,  fire  science,  and  magnetic  resonance  imaging, 
as  well  as  centers  for  crystal  growth  in  space,  image 
understanding,  inorganic  membrane  studies,  powder 
metallurgy,  shock/dynamics/seismic  analysis,  and  wire- 
less information  networks. 

These  and  many  other  physical  and  programmatic 
changes  and  improvements  over  the  past  nine  years 
have  been  made  possible  by  a  significant  growth  in  the 
Institute's  annual  bounty  of  financial  support.  During  the 
Strauss  presidency,  the  yearly  value  of  cash,  gifts-in-kind 
and  pledges  received  by  WPI  tripled,  to  $18.3  million.  A 
significant  factor  in  that  growth  was  the  highly  success- 
ful Campaign  for  Excellence,  which  sought  to  raise  $52.5 
million  (a  goal  that  seemed  unattainable  to  many)  and 
instead  brought  in  $63.7  million  in  gifts  and  pledges  by 
its  conclusion  in  late  1990. 

Gifts  of  endowed  funds  and  prudent  investments 
helped  double  the  market  value  of  WPI's  endowment  to 
$126.5  million.  Income  from  the  endowment,  in  turn,  has 
helped  offset  some  of  the  costs  of  operating  the  univer- 
sity (as  well  as  supporting  scholarships,  fellowships  and 


10 


Fall  1994 


professorships).  And,  gifts  received  during  the  campaign 
and  since  have  helped  transform  the  campus  by  sup- 
porting a  host  of  renovation  and  construction  projects. 

Among  the  most  visible  of  these  is  the  George  F. 
Fuller  Laboratories,  a  magnificent  home  for  the  informa- 
tion sciences  at  WPI,  which  was  completed  in  1990. 
Fuller  was  the  capstone  of  a  comprehensive  campaign  to 
improve  the  Institute's  computing  capabilities  over  the 
past  decade. 

Through  gifts,  discounts,  special  licensing  arrange- 
ments and  direct  purchases,  WPI  and  its  departments 


have  made  hundreds  of  personal  computers  and 
high-power  workstations  available  to  students  in  general- 
access  labs,  have  placed  state-of-the-art  computing 
machines  on  the  desks  and  in  the  labs  of  faculty  mem- 
bers, have  upgraded  the  academic  and  administrative 
computing  facilities  (more  than  once),  and  have 
acquired  a  wealth  of  educational,  research,  statistics, 
and  administrative  software.  Starting  with  a  major  con- 
struction project  in  1989,  the  Institute  has  also  linked  all 
of  these  machines  to  each  other — and  to  the  rest  of  the 
world — with  a  high-speed  campus  network. 

Other  major  construction  projects  completed  in  the 
last  decade  include  the  restoration  of  Alden  Memorial, 
which  in  1992  was  reborn  as  a  home  for  the  performing 
arts;  the  construction  of  the  Fitness  Center  in  Alumni 
Gym;  the  transformation  of  the  Pub  in  the  basement  of 
Sanford  Riley  into  Gompei's  Place,  a  pizzeria  and  deli;  and 
the  conversion  of  the  former  home  of  the  Lambda  Chi 
Alpha  fraternity  into  Institute  Hall,  a  small  student  resi- 
dence. Beyond  enhancing  its  existing  campus,  WPI  has 
succeeded  in  expanding  its  grounds  over  the  last  decade 
through  the  purchase  of  numerous  nearby  properties, 
many  of  which  now  house  WPI  administrative  offices. 

Along  with  the  growth  of  scholarship,  resources  and 
facilities  has  come  increased  recognition,  much  as 
Strauss  predicted  in  his  inaugural  message.  For  the  most 
part,  WPI's  rising  profile  is  difficult  to  quantify,  but  posi- 
tive indicators  include  its  success  in  recruiting  students 
from  cities  and  towns  well  removed  from  New  England 
and  considerable  anecdotal  evidence  that  the  name  WPI 


is  now  far  less  likely  to  be  greeted  with  puzzled  looks 
beyond  our  own  backyard. 

Perhaps  the  most  concrete  gauge  of  the  Institute's 
enhanced  reputation  has  been  its  consistently  high 
ranking  in  the  annual  review  of  colleges  by  U.S.  News  and 
World  Report,  which  placed  WPI  first  in  the  North  among 
regional  universities  four  of  the  last  five  years. 

This  year,  WPI  was  moved  into  the  far  more  competi- 
tive group  of  national  universities  (along  with  the  likes  of 
Harvard,  Princeton  and  Yale),  a  reflection  of  its  reclassi- 
fication as  a  Doctoral  II  University  by  the  Carnegie 


Foundation  for  the  Advancement  of  Teaching.  While  the 
Institute  lost  its  No.  1  ranking,  the  change,  triggered  by 
the  growth  in  the  WPI  graduate  program,  only  served  as 
further  recognition  of  the  progress  WPI  has  made  in 
scholarship  and  research. 

These  and  WPI's  many  other  accomplishments  have 
been  enumerated  in  Strauss'  nine  annual  report 
messages.  More  than  a  simple  recounting  of  events  and 
activities,  these  messages  have  formed  a  continuing 
chronicle  of  WPI's  efforts  to  develop  a  comprehensive 
strategic  plan  for  its  future. 

"The  concern  for  planning  and  the  need  for  insti- 
tutional plans  have  become  more  and  more  important  in 
higher  education,  as  they  have  in  all  forms  of  human 
endeavor,"  Strauss  says.  "But  it  is  also  the  case  that 
planning  is  a  very  strong  part  of  my  own  career  expecta- 
tions and  of  my  own  approach  to  management." 

The  process  of  shaping  a  plan  for  WPI  began  in  1985 
when  Strauss  asked  each  of  the  Institute's  academic  and 
administrative  departments  to  develop  plans  incorporat- 
ing their  goals  and  objectives  for  the  next  five  years. 
These  plans,  in  turn,  helped  establish  the  goals  for 
the  Campaign  for  Excellence  and  set  the  stage  for  the 
development  of  overall  institutional  objectives. 

The  next  step  on  the  journey  to  a  strategic  plan  was 
the  development,  in  1985-86,  of  a  concise  institutional 
mission  statement  by  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  the 
passage,  in  1986-87,  of  a  statement  on  institutional  goals 
by  the  faculty.  In  1988-89,  Strauss  appointed  three  study 

(Continued  on  Page  14) 


WPI  Journal 


11 


Three  Thousand,  Three 
Hundred  and  Seventy-nine 
Days  at  One  Drury  Lane 


The  first  time  I  saw  One  Drury  Lane  was 
from  the  back  of  a  tandem  bike  as  Jon 
and  I  peddled  into  Worcester  on  the 
last  day  of  June  1985. 1  was  30  years  old  and 
we'd  been  married  for  just  16  days.  While 
Jon  was  supremely  qualified  to  become 
WPI's  13th  president,  being  the  wife  of  a 
college  president  was  a  position  for  which  I 
had  no  resume.  At  that  moment,  from  my 
vantage  point  on  the  rear  seat  of  the 
tandem,  both  the  house  and  the  role  I  was 
soon  to  play  seemed  enormous — unfillable. 

In  those  first  months  and  years,  I'm  sure  I 
committed  many  a  faux  pas.  Fortunately, 
there  were  lots  of  wonderful  people  encour- 
aging me  to  just  be  myself.  They  never  made 
me  feel  uncomfortable  when  life  at  One 
Drury  Lane  took  whimsical  turns. 

Lately,  I've  grown  quite  nostalgic  about 
what  living  in  Worcester  meant  to  us.  You 
can't  live  in  one  place  for  almost  a  decade 
and  not  go  through  monumental  changes. 
During  our  first  year  in  Worcester  a  fresh- 
man mistook  me  for  a  student  and  asked  me 


By  Jean  Strauss 


out.  More  recently,  at  Commencement, 
parents  would  ask  me  if  I  had  a  son  or  a 
daughter  graduating.  So  I  know  that  I  at  least 
look  different. 

There  are  a  thousand  memories  we  will 
take  with  us  of  our  days  within  the  walls  of 
One  Drury  Lane.  And  there  were  numerous 
lessons  I  learned  during  my  time  at  WPI  that 
will  guide  me  in  the  future.  For  example: 

Rule  No.  1:  Never  Hold  a  Glass  of  Water 
When  You  Welcome  Visitors 

The  first  time  Don  Berth  '57,  then  vice 
president  for  university  relations,  came  by 
the  house,  I  was  a  bit  nervous.  Hoping  to 
make  a  good  impression,  I  exuberantly  told 
him  how  glad  I  was  to  welcome  him  to  One 
Drury  Lane.  To  my  horror,  I  realized  that  I'd 
accidentally  spilled  the  glass  of  water  I  was 
holding  all  over  Don's  shirt  and  tie.  1  can  still 
see  the  incredulous  look  on  his  face.  To  his 
credit,  Don  still  visited  us  frequently  over 
the  years,  though  he  always  seemed  wary 
around  me  if  I  had  anything  in  my  hands. 


Rule  No.2:  Never  a  Borrower  Be 

For  the  first  faculty  wives  tea  I  hosted,  I 
borrowed  a  neighbor's  silver  tea  service. 
This  neighbor  was  wonderfully  generous, 
but  she  neglected  to  tell  me  that  the  ornate 
ball  on  top  of  the  teapot  had  broken  off  and 
had  been  temporarily  reattached  with  a 
small  wad  of  bubble  gum.  As  I  poured  the 
first  cup  of  tea  for  one  of  my  guests,  the  ball 
fell  off  and  landed  right  in  her  cup,  trailing  a 
stringy  glob  of  gum.  Without  cracking  a  smile, 
she  said,  "I  think  I  would  prefer  coffee." 

Rule  No.  3:  Always  Check  the  Flue 

The  reception  for  the  first  Presidential 
Founder's  Dinner  (for  donors  of  at  least 
$100,000)  was  held  at  One  Drury  Lane.  A 
blizzard  was  raging  outside,  so  five  minutes 
before  guests  were  to  arrive  I  decided  to 
light  the  logs  in  the  fireplace  to  create  a 
nice,  warm,  homey  feel.  Never  thought  to 
check  the  flue. 

Pine  boughs  make  a  fast  fire — and  a  lot  of 
smoke.  Within  seconds,  every  fire  alarm  in 
the  house  sounded.  It  was  quite  a  scene  as 
people  ran  around  opening  windows,  trying 
to  fan  out  the  smoke  with  copies  of  National 
Geographic,  while  Jon  took  the  batteries  out 
of  the  alarms. 

Fortunately,  because  of  the  storm,  our 
first  guest  was  late.  She  arrived  moments 
after  we'd  closed  the  last  window.  "What  a 
lovely  smokey  smell.  This  place  is  so  warm 
and  homey,"  she  said  as  she  walked  in. 


12 


Fall  1994 


Rule  No.  4:  Always  Check  Under  the  Hood 

A  young  cat  was  hanging  around  the 
neighborhood  one  February.  To  get  warm, 
it  climbed  onto  the  engine  block  of  an  Alpha 
Tau  Omega  fraternity  member's  car,  which 
was  parked  in  the  driveway  of  One  Drury 
Lane.  When  the  student  started  the  car,  he 
heard  a  yowl.  Opening  the  hood,  he  discov- 
ered that  the  poor  animal  had  been  severely 
injured  by  the  fanbelt.  "I've  killed  President 
Strauss'  cat!  Now  I'll  never  graduate!"  he 
thought  as  he  raced  off  to  a  vet,  who  man- 
aged to  stitch  up  the  cat  for  a  sizeable  fee. 

Relieved,  the  student  arrived  on  our 
doorstep  that  night  with  the  cat  wrapped  in 
a  blanket.  When  Jon  answered  the  door,  the 
student  blurted  out  nonstop  what  had 
happened,  finishing  with,  "...and  don't 
worry,  the  vet  says  your  cat  will  be  okay." 
Finally  able  to  get  a  word  in,  Jon  shrugged 
and  said,  "But  that  isn't  my  cat."  The  story 
has  a  happy  ending.  Jon,  an  old  ATO  him- 
self, took  the  stray  in.  We  named  it  Fanbelt. 

Rule  No  5:  Tenure  Has  Advantages,  Even 
for  College  Presidents 

When  our  chocolate  Labrador  Retriever, 
Gracie,  had  12  puppies  (by  our  German 
Short-Haired  Pointer,  George),  I  was  con- 
cerned that  we  wouldn't  be  able  to  find 
homes  for  such  a  large  litter.  I'm  not  as 
imaginative  as  Jon. 

At  the  weekly  faculty  dinners  we  hosted, 
Jon  would  bring  a  couple  of  the  tiny  pups  up 
to  the  dining  room  and  pass  them  around 
the  table.  In  less  than  a  month  we'd  found 
homes  for  the  whole  lot.  Interestingly,  most 
of  Gracie's  pups  went  to  faculty  members 
who  had  not  yet  received  tenure.  (It's  proba- 
bly just  a  coincidence  that  everyone  who 
took  a  pup  ultimately  did!) 

Rule  No.  6:  Never  Gloat 

One  fall  I  had  several  trustee  wives  to 
One  Drury  Lane  for  a  luncheon.  During  the 
meal,  we  got  into  a  discussion  about  the 
differences  between  men  and  women — 
particularly  about  how  mothers  are  more 
instinctively  attentive  to  the  needs  of  their 
children  than  are  fathers.  To  illustrate, 
I  related  a  recent  incident. 

Jon  was  watching  our  son  Kristoffer, 
who  was  then  a  toddler.  Engrossed  in  the 
newspaper,  Jon  lost  track  of  Kristoffer's 
whereabouts.  After  searching  the  house,  he 
finally  found  him  in  the  master  bath — seat- 
ed inside  the  toilet,  happily  splashing  water 
as  if  he  were  in  a  wading  pool.  1  said,  rather 
emphatically,  that  that  would  never  have 
occurred  on  my  watch,  and  everyone  nod- 
ded in  agreement. 

Two  of  the  wives  asked  if  they  could 
come  back  later  to  see  Kristoffer,  who  had 


been  napping.  1  was  just  finishing  getting 
dressed  for  the  trustee  dinner  when  the 
doorbell  rang.  As  I  hurried  downstairs,  1  real- 
ized I  had  no  idea  where  Kristoffer  was.  As  I 
approached  the  door,  I  saw  him — inside  the 
downstairs  bathroom,  sitting  in  the  toilet, 
happily  splashing.  Sheepishly,  I  answered 
the  door  with  a  wet  kid  in  my  hands.  I've  yet 
to  live  that  one  down. 

Rule  No.  7:  Always  Use  Water  and  Soap 
to  Remove  Food  Coloring 

One  afternoon,  our  son  Jonathon  had  his 
new  friend  from  pre-school  over  to  play.  The 
boy's  name  was  Gabriel,  and  he  had  beauti- 
ful blond  hair.  After  the  kids  had  enjoyed 
themselves  for  a  couple  of  hours,  Gabriel's 
mom  called  to  say  she'd  be  over  soon  to 
pick  him  up.  I  was  in  the  laundry  room  when 
Jonathon  tapped  on  the  door.  "Hey  Mom! 
Come  see  what  we  did!" 

He  led  me  by  the  hand  to  the  living  room. 
Everything  was  fine,  except  that  most  of 
Gabriel's  hair  was  a  deep  forest  green.  "It 
works!"  Kristoffer  said,  proudly  holding  up 
the  bottle  of  green  food  coloring  that  came 
with  his  chemistry  set. 

I  didn't  know  Gabriel's  mom  all  that  well, 
so  1  wasn't  sure  how  she'd  feel  about  her  son 
coming  home  with  a  new  hair  color.  We  raced 
to  the  kitchen  sink  and  I  tried  to  wash  the  dye 
out  with  water.  That  only  made  it  worse. 
Jonathon  kept  his  head.  "Here,  Mom,"  he 
said,  handing  me  a  bottle.  "Try  soap." 

It  worked — sort  of.  At  least  it  wasn't  as 
green  when  Gabriel's  mom  arrived.  The  next 
day  she  told  me  that  at  bedtime  that  night, 
Gabriel's  father  had  asked  him  if  he'd  been 
upset  when  Kristoffer  and  Jonathon  dyed  his 
hair.  Gabriel  nodded  vigorously;  "I  wanted  it 
to  be  orange,"  he  said. 

Jon  and  I  spent  exactly  three  thousand, 
three  hundred  and  seventy-nine  days  in  One 
Drury  Lane.  It  doesn't  seem  so  long  unless  I 
think  about  all  the  events  that  occurred.  My 
mother  died.  Both  of  my  sons  were  born.  I 
found  my  birth  family  and  wrote  a  book 
about  the  experience.  Our  kids  learned  to 
walk,  then  to  talk,  then  to  draw  hiero- 
glyphics on  the  walls  with  crayons. 

We  made  some  wonderful  friends  during 
our  time  in  Worcester,  and  shared  in  many 
happy  occasions — and  some  sad  ones.  We 
will  not  forget  our  days  (or  these  friend- 
ships) now  that  we've  moved  on  to  a  new 
adventure.  It  was  a  privilege  being  a  resident 
of  One  Drury  Lane.  I  grew  to  care  about  WPI 
the  way  I  do  about  my  own  alma  mater. 

Nine  years  ago,  when  we  first  arrived, 
One  Drury  Lane  seemed  huge  and  unfillable. 
As  we  spent  several  weeks  packing  up  our 
belongings,  I  knew  we  had  managed  to  at 
least  fill  the  house — and  our  hearts. 


The 
Quest  to 

Decentralize 

Prior  to  accepting  the  post  of  WPI 
president,  Jon  Strauss  served  as 
vice  president  for  budget  and 
finance  at  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  senior  vice  president  for 
administration  at  the  University  of 
Southern  California.  In  both  jobs,  he 
had  great  success  with  a  decentralized 
approach  to  management  and  budget- 
ing, wherein  academic  departments  are 
given  greater  responsibility  for  creating 
their  own  budgets  and  for  generating 
the  revenues  to  support  their  activities. 

"The  major  emphasis  of  my  work 
in  higher  education. ..has  been  on 
bringing  the  faculty  closer  to  the  man- 
agement issues  and  helping  them 
understand  and  become  more  active  in 
resource  generation,"  Strauss  told  the 
WPI  Journal  in  his  first  interview  as  WPI 
president  in  1985.  "While  I  am  interested 
in  faculty  participation  in  more  responsi- 
ble and  effective  use  of  resources,  my 
major  interest  is  in  faculty  involvement 
in  resource  development." 

His  hope  was  to  institute  a  similar 
system  at  WPI.  How  did  that  process 
go?  Here  is  his  assessment: 

"We  developed  some  rich  databases 
on  how  we  earn  and  how  we  spend  our 
revenues  on  a  decentralized  basis,  but 
we  have  not  moved  from  the  analysis  to 
the  synthesis.  We  have  not  made  our 
departments  responsible  for  earning 
the  revenues  to  cover  their  program 
costs.  In  part  that  reflects  the  character 
of  what  historically  has  been  a  small 
college,  now  maturing  as  a  medium-size 
university.  And  in  part  that  reflects  all 
the  other  things  that  have  been  on  our 
plate. 

"These  have  been  tempestuous  bud- 
getary times  and  there  are  only  so  many 
things  you  can  change  at  once.  But  we 
do  have  the  data  on  a  decentralized 
basis  that  we  have  used  in  the  budgeting 
process  and  that  people  are  using  to 
understand  how  we  do  our  business.  I'd 
recommend  continuing  to  develop  the 
data  and  using  it  in  our  decision  making, 
because  the  more  years  you  have  of  the 
data  the  more  valuable  it  is  and  the 
more  trends  you  can  see." 


WPI  Journal 


13 


(Continued  from  Page  1 1) 

groups  made  up  of  trustees,  faculty  and  staff  members, 
and  students  to  look  at  the  challenges  the  Institute 
faced  in  the  areas  of  enrollment,  student  life  and 
academic  programs. 

The  study  groups  reached  two  fundamental  con- 
clusions. First,  they  said  it  was  imperative  that  WPI  be 
recognized  nationally  for  the  quality  of  its  educational 
programs  and  research.  And  second,  they  noted  that  the 
WPI  Plan,  the  foundation  of  the  successes  the  Institute 
had  realized  for  more  than  two  decades,  was  the  still  the 


increasing  the  quality  and  quantity  of  research  and 
its  recognition;  enhancing  the  quality  of  life  on 
campus;  meeting  the  needs  of  professionals  for  continu- 
ing education;  and  strengthening  WPI's  external 
relationships. 

In  the  months  that  followed,  WPI's  future  direction 
was  sharpened  by  the  work  of  the  Marketing  Task  Force, 
which  looked  for  ways  to  increase  the  yield  of  students 
who  could  afford  to  pay  WPI's  full  tuition,  and  the  Com- 
mission on  Residential  and  Social  Life,  which,  among 
other  recommendations,  strongly  urged  the  Institute  to 


From  left, 
students  in  a 
recent  Strive 
summer  program, 
part  of  WPI's 
efforts  to  increase 
its  diversity;  a  stu- 
dent project  team 
in  London,  one  of 
numerous  places 
around  the  world 
students  can  now 
complete  projects; 
a  materials  testing 
laboratory,  impor- 
tant to  a  multi- 
disciplinary 
research  center 
in  intelligent 
materials 
processing. 


best  vehicle  for  future  excellence.  They  recommended 
that  the  Plan  be  enhanced  and  that  the  spirit  behind  it  be 
revitalized  and  infused  into  all  aspects  of  WPI. 

This  phase  in  WPI's  strategic  planning  produced  the 
recommendation  that  WPI  establish  several  multidisci- 
plinary  research  centers;  develop  new,  nontechnical 
majors  to  take  advantage  of  growing  student  interest  in 
fields  like  management,  the  humanities  and  the  social 
sciences;  commission  a  comprehensive  study  of  WPI's 
space  utilization  needs,  including  the  need  for  a  campus 
center;  and  seek  to  broaden  the  diversity  of  the  faculty, 
staff  and  student  body.  The  Applied  Bioengineering  and 
Intelligent  Processing  of  Materials  centers  were 
established  and  the  space  study  was  undertaken;  the 
remaining  recommendations  became  the  focus  of  later 
planning. 

In  1990,  five  years  of  planning  crystallized  in  a  formal 
strategic  plan,  which  was  approved  by  the  Board  of 
Trustees  that  spring.  The  plan  had  six  goals:  enhancing 
the  level  of  excellence  in  undergraduate  education; 
enhancing  the  level  of  excellence  in  graduate  education; 


begin  planning  for  a  campus  center  and  argued  for  the 
importance  of  community  at  WPI,  which  it  said  was 
WPI's  third  tower,  joining  learning  and  skilled  arts.  In 
response  to  a  commission  recommendation,  Strauss 
created  the  Community  Council  to  foster  the  spirit  of 
community  on  campus. 

In  1990-91,  WPI  took  some  time  away  from  pondering 
its  future  to  take  stock  of  its  strengths  and  weaknesses. 
The  motivation  was  the  10-year  review  by  the  New 
England  Association  of  Schools  and  Colleges,  which 
accredits  WPI's  educational  program.  Many  faculty  and 
staff  members  spent  a  good  part  of  the  year  preparing 
the  materials  NEASC  would  need  to  complete  its  review, 
including  special  self-studies  on  the  freshman-year 
learning  experience,  intellectual  and  community  culture, 
and  the  role  of  assessment  at  WPI. 

As  expected,  WPI  was  reaccredited  for  another  10 
years,  with  high  praise  for  the  excellence  of  the  under- 
graduate program,  the  creativity  and  loyalty  of  the  faculty 
and  staff,  the  Institute's  emphasis  on  research  and  schol- 
arship, its  established  culture  of  balanced  budgets,  and 


14 


Fall  1994 


perhaps  most  important,  the  unique  "colleagueship" 
between  students  and  (acuity.  The  association  also  point- 
ed out  a  few  areas  where  WPI  had  fallen  short  of  his  goals. 
One  of  the  most  important  was  the  need  to  increase  the 
diversity  of  its  faculty,  staff  and  student  body. 

As  they  have  for  most  educational  institutions  that 
concentrate  on  technical  disciplines,  enrolling  more 
women  and  more  students  of  color,  and  increasing  the 
diversity  of  its  faculty  and  staff,  have  been  especially 
daunting  challenges  for  WPI.  For  a  variety  of  reasons, 
women  and  minorities  have  always  been  underrepre- 


sented  in  engineering  and  science.  Reversing  that  trend 
takes  creativity  and  hard  work. 

WPI  has  made  progress.  More  focused  equal  opportu- 
nity hiring  practices  have  helped  boost  the  diversity  of 
the  staff  and  administration.  New  admissions  programs 
aimed  at  reaching  out  to  women  applicants,  combined 
with  the  growing  number  of  women  faculty  members, 
have  helped  increase  the  representation  of  female 
students  in  the  undergraduate  population  to  about  20 
percent,  from  about  15  percent  nine  years  ago.  And  stu- 
dents of  color  now  make  up  4.5  percent  of  freshmen  and 
sophomores,  triple  the  percentage  of  nine  years  ago. 

Contributing  to  that  last  accomplishment  have  been 
a  variety  of  programs  launched  over  the  past  decade. 
These  have  included  COMET,  a  program  supported  by 
GTE  Corp.  and  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Regents 
that  helped  prepare  students  of  color  in  Worcester  for 
academic  programs  in  science  and  technology,  the 
School/College  Collaborative,  which  has  sought  to 
increase  the  quantity  and  quality  of  science  and 
technology  education  in  the  public  schools,  and  the 


General  Electric  Foundation  Scholarships,  which  provide 
awards  to  underrepresented  minority  students  based  on 
academic  achievement  and  financial  need. 

In  1991  United  Technologies  Corp.  awarded  WPI  a 
five-year,  $500,000  grant  to  support  its  efforts  to  increase 
diversity  and  pluralism.  The  award  funded  the  creation 
of  the  Office  of  Multicultural  Affairs  and  the  development 
of  Strive  for  College  and  Careers  in  Mathematics, 
Engineering  and  Science.  Strive  provides  enrichment  and 
support  for  academically  talented  high  school  juniors 
from  underrepresented  minorities  interested  in  careers 
in  science  and  mathematics.  Its  centerpiece  is  a  four- 
week  summer  program  on  campus  that  introduces 
students  to  the  excitement  of  scientific  investigation. 

Augmenting  efforts  to  enroll  greater  numbers  of 
students  from  underrepresented  minorities  have  been 
programs  aimed  at  helping  to  support  and  retain  these 
students.  These  include  the  new  Office  of  Minority 
Student  Affairs  and  EMSEP  (Excellence  in  Mathematics, 
Science  and  Engineering  Program).  The  latter  includes  a 
special  new-student  orientation,  support  programs,  and 
an  early  intervention  program. 

In  addition  to  helping  open  the  door  to  a  WPI  educa- 
tion to  a  broader  group  of  students,  the  Institute  also 
devoted  considerable  effort  and  thought  over  the  past 
nine  years  to  improving  the  quality  of  that  education.  In 
part,  this  has  meant  "fine-tuning"  the  experience  students 
gain  from  the  WPI  Plan,  the  innovative,  project-driven 
educational  program  approved  by  the  WPI  faculty  nearly 
25  years  ago.  The  fine-tuning  included  the  adoption  of 
distribution  requirements  by  all  academic  majors  and  the 
elimination  of  the  all-or-nothing  Competency  Exam,  one  of 
the  Plan's  four  original  degree  requirements. 

Among  the  most  significant  enhancements  to  the 
Plan  over  the  past  decade  has  been  the  enormous 
growth  in  opportunities  for  off-campus  project  work.  In 
1987  the  London  Project  Center,  modeled  after  the 
Institute's  first  off-campus  residential  center  in 
Washington,  D.C.,  was  inaugurated.  Since  then,  project 
centers  and  programs  have  been  established  in  more 
than  15  countries  on  five  continents. 

In  1991,  these  programs,  along  with  on-campus  initia- 
tives like  the  Center  for  International  Studies,  were 
brought  together  under  the  umbrella  of  the  Global 
Perspectives  Program,  which  seeks  to  give  all  WPI 
students  a  better  understanding  of  and  appreciation  for 
other  cultures  and  other  ways  of  doing  business — 
qualities  increasingly  valued  by  business  and  industry. 
The  International  Scholars  Program  was  also  created  to 
recognize,  with  a  designation  on  their  transcripts, 
students  who  make  global  studies  a  substantial  part  of 
their  academic  careers. 

By  the  time  the  Institute  adopted  its  overall  strategic 
plan,  a  variety  of  trends  were  already  conspiring  to 
make  its  objectives  and  strategies  almost  obsolete.  In 
particular,  shrinking  high  school  graduating  classes  and 
declining  interest  among  young  people  in  science  and 
engineering  were  making  the  process  of  filling  WPI's 
entering  classes  more  and  more  challenging. 

WPI's  efforts  in  recent  years  to  cast  its  admissions  net 
well  beyond  its  traditional  recruiting  region  and  the  con- 
tinuing attractiveness  of  the  WPI  Plan  helped  the  Institute 
continue  to  meet  its  enrollment  targets.  (In  fact,  it 


WPI  Journal 


15 


increased  undergraduate  and  full-time  graduate  enroll- 
ment during  a  time  when  many  of  its  competitors  were 
seeing  their  classes  shrink.)  But  it  accomplished  this  feat 
by  admitting  an  ever  greater  percentage  of  its  applicant 
pool. 

Perhaps  more  important,  the  ability  of  WPI's  students 
to  pay  its  tuition  declined  steadily  in  the  late  1980s  and 
early  1990s,  just  as  the  federal  and  state  governments 
were  cutting  back  on  their  grant  and  loan  programs.  As  a 
result,  an  ever  growing  percentage  of  WPI  under- 
graduates have  required  financial  assistance,  placing  a 
greater  and  greater  burden  on  the  operating  budget. 

"In  a  five-  to  six-year  period,  our  institutional  aid  as 
a  percentage  of  tuition  went  from  10  percent  to  30 
percent,"  Strauss  says.  "Nothing  else  in  this  world 
changes  that  rapidly.  That's  been  especially  challenging 


Building  a  Board 


When  asked  for  his  list  of  the  most  significant  achievements  of  his  nine 
years  in  office — the  ones  that  will  have  the  most  enduring  benefits 
for  WPI — Jon  Strauss  places  the  growth  and  development  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  close  to  the  top. 

"The  board  is  more  than  80  percent  different  than  it  was  nine  years  ago," 
he  says.  "That  wasn't  an  accident.  I've  put  a  lot  of  effort  into  board  recruit- 
ment and  board  development,  and  by  many  measures  we  have  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  boards  in  the  country.  Even  if  you  compare  us  to  institu- 
tions with  which  we  would  not  normally  be  compared,  on  a  board-to-board 
basis,  we  will  equal  or  excel  almost  any  cohort  of  institutions.  That's  exciting, 
and  it  will  pay  enormous  dividends  to  this  institution  moving  forward." 


at  an  institution  like  ours  with  enormous  fixed  costs  and 
longtime  commitments  to  people  and  programs." 

To  respond  to  these  challenges,  President  Strauss  in 
1992  appointed  the  Blue  Ribbon  Task  Force.  The  group's 
overriding  objective  was  to  fashion  a  new  plan  for  the 
coming  decade.  In  its  final  report,  prepared  for  the 
Board  of  Trustees  in  May  1993,  the  task  force  made  a 
number  of  recommendations  organized  into  the  broad 
categories  of  academic  program,  quality  of  life  and 
financial  equilibrium. 

In  addition  to  echoing  previous  calls  for  a  campus 
center  and  urging  continuing  development  of  the  Global 
Perspectives  Program,  the  task  force  called  for  the 
creation  of  interface  disciplines,  academic  programs  that 
cross  WPI's  traditional  disciplinary  boundaries  and  that 
might  appeal  to  "humanists  who  need  to  function  in 
a  technological  world."  It  was  also  suggested  that 
the  Institute  hire  a  marketing  firm,  Barton  Gillet,  to 
determine,  among  other  things,  the  potential  demand 
for  these  and  other  new  programs. 

In  the  following  months,  the  task  force's  report, 
combined  with  the  study  by  Barton  Gillet,  became  the 
launching  pad  for  The  New  WPI.  In  the  months  ahead,  as 
WPI  continues  its  quest  for  the  new  ideas,  the  new  direc- 
tions, and  the  new  approaches  that  will  keep  it  strong, 
continue  to  build  its  reputation  and  its  appeal  to  new  gen- 
erations of  students,  hone  its  mission,  and  bolster  the 
excellence  of  its  programs,  Strauss  says  it  is  his  hope  that 


the  Institute  will  not  lose  the  sense  of  urgency  that  has 
kept  it  working  toward  a  workable  plan  for  the  future. 

"Our  own  success  in  the  short  term  has  been  an  issue 
for  WPI,"  he  says.  "We've  made  our  enrollment  targets. 
We've  met  our  budget  targets.  We've  done  so  by  expect- 
ing our  faculty  and  staff  to  perform  and  work  much 
harder,  and  they  have.  We  have  this  record  of  success, 
and  yet  we're  being  a  contrarian. 

"We've  been  fortunate,  but  the  risk  increases  every 
year.  Can  we  continue  to  maintain  enrollment  while 
everyone  else  is  losing  theirs?  We  hope  so,  but  it  could 
catch  up  with  us.  The  impetus  is  increasing.  You'd  hate 
to  do  the  right  thing  for  the  wrong  reason." 

As  he  prepared  to  assume  his  new  post,  Strauss  said 
he  will  miss  having  the  ability  to  influence  the  future 
"of  a  very  important  institution.  Certainly,  I'll  miss  the 
interactions  I've  had  with  students,  because  I  will  not 
have  that  in  my  new  role.  I  will  not  miss  always  having  to 
be  conscious  of  being  the  figurehead.  It  will  be  nice  to 
lead  a  more  normal  family  life  that  doesn't  always 
revolve  around  being  the  president  of  WPI. 

"Most  of  all,  Jean  and  I  will  miss  the  interactions  we 
have  had  with  the  people  of  WPI.  This  has  truly  been  one 
of  the  most  extraordinary  experiences  of  our  lives.  I  am 
very  proud  to  have  been  the  13th  president  of  WPI,  and 
even  more  proud  of  the  hard  work  and  enthusiasm  of 
the  WPI  community  that  made  possible  the  successes  of 
the  last  nine  years." 


16 


Fall  1994 


FINANCIAL  SUMMARY 


By  Robert  W.  Gailey 

Vice  President  for  Business  Affairs 
and  Treasurer 


WPI's  overall  financial  position  at  June  30, 
1994,  continues  to  be  strong.  The 
Institute's  investments  and  fund  balances 
are  at  an  all-time  high.  The  Endowment 
Fund  realized  an  increase  in  book  value  of  $2.4  million 
for  the  year.  Although  WPI  enjoys  the  flexibility  of  hav- 
ing 54  percent  of  its  endowment  restricted  by  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  a  low  debt  to  total  endowment  ratio 
and  a  healthy  total  endowment  per  student  ratio,  WPI's 
growing  tuition  dependence,  and  its  relatively  high  and 
growing  financial  aid  burden  will  provide  a  challenge 
to  the  operating  budgets  in  the  years  ahead. 

Total  assets  increased  by  approximately  $16  mil- 
lion, or  7.6  percent,  to  $227  million,  while  total  liabili- 
ties increased  by  $6.2  million.  Debt  service  (principal 
and  interest)  represented  5.2  percent  of  unrestricted 
current  fund  expenditures  and  mandatory  transfers  for 
the  fiscal  year.  Investment  in  property,  plant  and 
equipment  (less  accumulated  depreciation)  increased 
by  14.3  percent  to  $59.2  million. 

The  market  value  of  the  Endowment  Fund  was 
$126,518,000  as  of  June  30,  1994.  Although  the  fund's  4 
percent  total  return  was  the  lowest  in  several  years,  it 
exceeded  the  3.2  percent  benchmark  established  by 
the  trustee  Investment  Committee.  The  total  return 
compared  favorably  with  the  Standard  and  Poor's 
stock  index  gain  of  1.4  percent  and  the  Shearson 
Lehman  intermediate  bond  index  gain  of  -0.2  percent. 

Total  Current  Fund  revenue  increased  by  $3.3  mil- 
lion in  fiscal  year  1994  to  a  total  of  $81.4  million;  this 
represented  a  gain  of  4.2  percent  over  fiscal  year  1993. 
There  was  a  small  positive  bottom  line  from  operations 
for  the  fiscal  year  of  $10,392,  but  the  Institute  increased 
its  overall  fiscal  position  (total  fund  balance)  by  $9.9 
million,  a  5.8  percent  gain  for  the  year. 

Total  funds  expended  for  instruction  and  depart- 
ment research  increased  slightly  to  34.6  percent  of 
unrestricted  educational,  general  and  auxiliary  rev- 
enue. While  the  annual  funds  expended  for  operations 
and  maintenance  of  the  physical  plant  increased  slight- 
ly, accumulated  deferred  maintenance  on  the  WPI  cam- 
pus continued  to  total  about  $15  million. 

Student  aid  awarded  from  unrestricted  current 
funds  increased  by  13.6  percent  to  more  than  $11.5  mil- 
lion; it  represented  24.4  percent  of  the  total  revenue 
(including  room  and  board)  collected  from  undergrad- 
uate students  and  27.7  percent  of  undergraduate 
tuition  (discount  rate). 

While  auxiliary  operations  (housing,  food  service, 
bookstore,  etc.)  generated  $7.3  million  in  revenue,  the 
cost  to  generate  that  resource  ran  slightly  lower.  The 
Institute's  policy  of  operating  auxiliary  services  on  a 
self-supporting  basis  was  maintained. 


4%  Other 


0  Physical  plant, 
computing  and  other 
administrative 


21% 


0  Student  Aid 


5.M  Direct  expenses  for 
educational  and 
research  operations 


/               /                /                / 

y    y           ^ 

$ 

^ 

m 

■ 

' 

^z-a 

^^M 

p 

y^. 

/   ./ 

^^ 

^^ 

l              l 

w  / 

w 

v 

^^^        s 

k 

u 

E 
S 

12% 


0  Other 


\j/o  Endowment  income, 
gifts  and  other 
internal  revenue 


69  ^  Tuition,  room  and 
board,  educational 
and  other  fees 


WPI  Journal 


17 


FINANCIAL  HIGHLIGHTS 

Years  ended  June  30,  1994  and  1993 

1.  General  Operating  Funds  (Thousands  of  Dollars) 

1994 

1993 

Percent 
Change 

Tuition,  fees  and  other  educational  revenues 
Student  financial  aid 

Gifts,  grants  and  bequests,  as  recognized 
Revenues  from  sponsored  research  programs 
Total  staff  benefit  expenses,  before  allocation 

$48,837 

17,285 

8,237 

9,320 

7,351 

$46,311 

15,885 

8,193 

9,109 

6,930 

+5.5% 

+8.8 

+0.5 

+2.3 

+6.1 

2.  Endowment  and  Similar  Funds  (Thousands  of  Dollars)     1994 

1993 

Percent 
Change 

Beginning  market  values 

$127,898 

$114,757 

+  11.5% 

plus: 

Investment  results 

Income  (interest  and  dividends) 

Realized  gains 

Change  in  unrealized  gains 

$4,075 
1,855 
(2,907) 

$5,013 
8,754 
3,636 

Total  investment  results 

$3,023 

$17,403 

-82.6 

less: 

Used  in  support  of  college 

Transferred  to  restricted  funds 

(4,178) 
(1,717) 

(3,996) 
(266) 

+4.6 
+545.5 

Net  reinvested  in  endowment 

(2,872) 

13,141 

plus: 

Additions  to  endowments,  mostly  from  gifts 

2,574 

4,389 

41.4 

Ending  Market  Value 

$127,600 

$127,898 

-0.2 

Five-Year  Summary  of  Total  Return  Data 

'94             '93 

'92 

'91 

'90 

WPI  Total  Return 

WPI  Policy  Index 

S&P500 

Shearson  Lehman  Int.  Bond 

CPI  Index 

4.0%          11.9% 
3.2            13.5 

1.4  13.6 
-0.2            10.5 

2.5  3.0 

12.4% 
13.5 
13.5 
13.2 

2.8 

8.5% 
8.7 
7.4 
10.5 
5.1 

5.0% 
13.7 
16.4 

7.8 

4.8 

Copies  of  the  complete  audited  financial  reports  for 
Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute  for  fiscal  year  1994 
can  be  obtained  by  writing  to: 

Office  of  Business  Affairs 
Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute 
100  Institute  Road 
Worcester,  MA  01609-2280 

18 


Fall  1994 


The  Year  That  Was. . 

A  Look  Back  at  the 

Major  Events  of  1993-94    by  JOn  c.  stress 


Some  of  the  many  accomplishments  at 
WPI  during  the  1993-94  fiscal  year  are 
highlighted  below  against  the  six  goals 
of  the  Strategic  Plan. 

GOB1 1 1  Enhance  the  Level  of 
Excellence  in  Undergraduate  Education 

•  WPI's  highly  successful  Global  Per- 
spectives Program  continued  to  expose 
students  to  other  cultures  through  on- 
campus  programs  and  project  and  course 
work  abroad.  A  total  of  209  students  par- 
ticipated in  off-campus  projects  in  1993-94, 
up  33  percent  from  1992-93. 

•The  Massachusetts  Academy  of  Mathe- 
matics and  Science  continued  WPI's  com- 
mitment to  improving  pre-college  science 
and  mathematics  education.  Seventy-six 
outstanding  high  school  juniors  and 
seniors  from  Central  Massachusetts  were 
involved  in  the  second  year  of  this  pio- 
neering program  of  excellence  sponsored 
by  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 
All  31  of  the  graduating  seniors  are  attend- 
ing prestigious  universities,  including  14 
who  are  enrolled  at  WPI. 


•The  combined  B.S./D.V.M.  pro- 
gram, run  in  conjunction  with  the 
Tufts  University  School  of 
Veterinary  Medicine,  yielded  13 
new  students  for  1994-95.  This  pro- 
gram enables  a  student  to  earn 
admission  to  both  WPI  and  Tufts 
while  still  a  senior  in  high  school. 

•A  major  grant  from  the  Davis 
Educational  Foundation  continued 
to  support  educational  initiatives 
in  the  departments  of  Biology  and 
Biotechnology,  Chemical  Engineer- 
ing, Civil  Engineering,  Computer 
Science,  Mathematical  Sciences, 
and  Mechanical  Engineering. 
These  initiatives  introduce  the 
active,  collaborative  learning  typical  of  the 
WPI  Plan  projects  into  first-  and  second- 
year  courses  in  a  cost-effective  manner. 

•The  new  Entrepreneurs  Collaborative, 
modeled  on  the  highly  successful 
International  Scholars  Program,  began 
this  year.  Donald  F.  Berth  '57,  former  vice 
president  for  university  relations,  and 
Professor  Arthur  Gerstenfeld  are  leading 


a  group  of  faculty  members,  students 
and  alumni  seeking  to  learn  the  skills  of 
entrepreneurship. 
•  The  Class  of  1998  was  on  track  to  exceed 
our  goal  of  650  freshmen  by  at  least  40.  Of 
the  more  than  715  paid  deposits  received 
by  the  spring  deadline,  21  percent  were 
from  women  and  4.5  percent  were  from 
students  of  color.  Some  74  percent  of 
these  students  were  in  the  top  quintile  of 
their  high  school  classes;  their  median 
verbal  and  math  SAT  scores  are  530  and 
650,  respectively. 

That's  the  good  news.  The  bad  news  is 
that  there  was  an  8  percent  drop  in  appli- 
cations last  year;  in  order  to  achieve  this 
fine  class  we  accepted  86  percent  of  our 
applicants.  This  is  a  clear  indication  of  the 
high  degree  of  competitiveness  among 
technological  universities  today. 

Our  expenditures  for  undergraduate 
financial  aid  in  1994-95  should  be  right  on 
our  $12  million  budget  for  a  tuition  dis- 
count of  29  percent  (it  was  28  percent  last 

Two  examples  from  the  growing 
Global  Perspectives  Program:  Above, 
Corinne  Kachler  '96,  Michael  Conklin 
'96,  Kimberley  Scofield  '96  and 
Antonio  Delgado  '96,  who  completed 
a  project  in  San  Candido,  Italy,  last 
summer.  Left,  Ahmed  Al-Baiti  '95 
(second  from  left)  and  William  Herron 
'96  (far  right),  who  studied  biogas 
generators  in  Botswana. 


WPI  Journal 


19 


year).  The  drop  in  applications  and  the 
increase  in  tuition  discount  argue  strongly 
for  broadening  WPI's  programs  as  well  as 
our  appeal  to  prospective  students  as  was 
advocated  by  the  Blue  Ribbon  Task  Force 
and  outlined  in  The  New  WPI  proposal 
(see  page  2). 
•  In  response  to  a  challenge  from  the  Blue 
Ribbon  Task  Force,  more  than  50  faculty 
members  working  in  teams  produced  18 
proposals  for  the  development  of  new 
programs  in  what  we  are  calling  interface 
disciplines.  The  objective  is  to  broaden 
WPI's  appeal  to  students  who  would  not 
normally  consider  an  engineering  school 
and  strengthen  our  program  offerings  in 


r WOODCOCK 


areas  of  high  societal  demand.  An  ad  hoc 
committee  of  faculty  governance  chaired 
by  Professor  George  Phillies  recommend- 
ed seed  funding  for  the  best  of  these  pro- 
posals starting  in  the  summer  of  1994. 
•  Following  up  on  work  on  the  freshman 
year  learning  experience  completed  as 
part  of  WPI's  1991  regional  accreditation 
by  the  New  England  Association  of  Schools 
and  Colleges,  a  group  of  faculty  and  staff 
members  organized  a  three-day  Future 
Search  Conference  in  June  for  over  60  of 
their  colleagues.  Their  objective  was  to 
bring  the  excitement  of  project-based 
learning,  characteristic  of  the  upper-class 
years  at  WPI,  to  the  freshman  year. 


Goal  2:  Enhance  the  Level  of 
Excellence  in  Graduate  Education 

•  WPI  awarded  17  Ph.D.s  at  Commencement 
on  May  21,  1994.  While  this  total  fell  short 
of  1993's  record  of  28,  it  contributed  to  an 
impressive  four-year  running  average  of 
doctorates  awarded,  which  has  risen  from 
seven  to  20  over  the  last  10  years.  This 
is  a  strong  testament  to  the  improving 
quality  and  quantity  of  faculty  scholar- 
ship at  WPI. 

•In  view  of  our  success  in  awarding 
Ph.D.s,  the  Carnegie  Foundation  for  the 
Advancement  of  Teaching  this  year 
reclassified  WPI  from  a  Comprehensive 
University  to  a  Doctoral  II  University. 

•  During  the  past  year,  the  Management 
Department  and  the  Fire  Protection 
Engineering  Program  delivered  distance 
learning  programs  to  remote  sites  through 
the  use  of  two-way  compressed  video 
equipment  made  by  PictureTel  Corp.  This 
equipment  is  maintained  by  the  Instruc- 
tional Media  Center  for  use  by  the  WPI 
community. 

•  The  University  Relations  Office  was  partic- 
ularly successful  this  past  year  in  securing 
industrial  support  for  graduate  fellow- 


Above,  Judith  Nitsch  '75,  founder  of 
her  own  engineering  firm,  speaks  at  a 
seminar  offered  by  the  Entrepreneurs 
Collaborative.  Left,  Michael  Ferraris 
'95,  left,  works  with  math  students 
in  a  program  in  cooperative  learning 
sponsored  by  the  Davis  Foundation. 


20 


Fall  1994 


ships.  The  13  fellowships  now  in  place 
provide  an  excellent  foundation  for 
communication,  collaboration,  and  it  is 
hoped,  future  support. 

Goal  3:  Increase  the  Quality  and 
Quantity  of  Research  and  its  Recognition 

•  Twelve-month  research  support  through 
June  1994  totaled  $7.1  million,  an  increase 
of  25.6  percent  from  the  previous  period. 
(This  does  not  include  $5  million  in  fund- 
ing for  the  Center  for  High  Performance 
Computing,  $800,000  in  NSF  support  for 
the  renovation  of  Higgins  Laboratories, 
and  more  than  $1  million  in  gifts  designat- 
ed to  support  research.) 


•The  Carl  Gunnard  Johnson  Powder 
Metallurgy  Center  received  national  recog- 
nition and  support  from  the  Alfred  P.  Sloan 
Foundation  and  eight  corporations.  This 
multidisciplinary  initiative  is  the  result  of  a 
collaboration  of  faculty  members  from  the 
manufacturing,  materials  and  management 
programs. 

•The  Aluminum  Casting  Research 
Laboratory  was  awarded  a  $1.4  million, 
five-year  contract  from  the  U.S. 
Department  of  Energy  as  part  of  its  Metals 
Initiative  Program. 

•  In  the  Electrical  and  Computer  Engineering 
Department,  Professors  David  Cyganski, 
Richard  Vaz  and  John  Orr  were  awarded 
$900,000    over    three    years    by    the 


NEIL  NORUM 


Clockwise  from  top,  associate  pro- 
fessor Yitzhak  Mendelson  (pointing), 
teaches  an  introductory  course  in 
biomedical  engineering,  part  of  a 
new  interface  discipline  in  pre-health 
studies;  views  of  a  distance  learning 
program  in  management;  a  scene 
from  a  summer  conference  on  the 
freshman  experience  at  WPI. 


WPI  Journal 


21 


m 


Lk.  . 


{/ 


Advanced    Research   Projects   Agency 

(ARPA)  for  research  on  model-based  object 

recognition. 

Three  of  the  initial  140  awards  from  the 

federal  Technology  Reinvestment  Program 

supported  consortia  lead  by  WPI:  the 

Realization  Manufacturing  Coalition,  the 


Top,  from  left,  professors  David 
Cyganski,  Richard  Vaz  and  John  Orr 
with  the  products  of  their  work  on 
model-based  object  recognition. 
Bottom,  NSF  Young  Investigator 
Grover  Swartzlander. 


Central  Massachusetts  Manufacturing 
Partnership,  and  the  Massachusetts 
Bioengineering  Center. 

•  Professor  Grover  A.  Swartzlander  Jr.,  new 
last  year  in  physics,  was  named  an  NSF 
Young  Investigator  with  as  much  as 
$500,000  in  support  over  the  next  five  years. 

Goal  4:  Enhance  the  Quality  of 
Life  on  Campus 

Diversity 

•  Four  students  from  the  second  class  of 
WPI's  summer  program  for  minorities, 
Strive  for  College  and   Careers   in 

Mathematics,  Engineering  and  Science, 

matriculated  as  members  of  the  Institute's 

Class  of  1998. 

•  The  Office  of  Human  Resources  strength- 
ened WPI's  affirmative  action  hiring 
procedures  this  past  year.  Now  the  hiring 
pools  for  all  jobs  with  underutilization  of 


women  or  minorities  will  include  suitable 
candidates  from  whom  an  affirmative 
selection  will  be  made. 

•  Under  the  leadership  of  Blanche  Pringle, 
the  new  Director  of  Minority  Student 
Affairs,  the  first  year  of  Excellence  in 
Mathematics,  Science  and  Engineering 
Program  (EMSEP),  our  new  minority  orien- 
tation and  advising  program,  proved  an 
extraordinary  success.  Twenty-five  of  the 
27  participants  will  continue  in  1994-95 
with  excellent  reports  of  progress  and 
performance. 

•  A  two-day  Search  Conference  on 
Community  and  Pluralism  was  held  on 
campus  in  January  with  the  active  partici- 
pation of  more  than  70  faculty  and  staff 
members,  students,  alumni,  trustees,  and 
neighbors.  The  resulting  Pluralism 
Advancement  Model,  which  includes 
specific  tasks  and  timetables  to  improve 
pluralism  at  WPI,  will  be  managed  by  the 
Community  Council  in  1994-95. 

•A  well-attended  conference  in  April 
celebrated  the  25th  anniversary  of  the 
admission  of  women  undergraduates  at 
WPI.  Jane  Shaw,  president  and  COO  of  Alza 
Corp.  and  a  1992  recipient  of  an  honorary 
degree  from  WPI,  gave  the  keynote 
address. 


Fall  1994 


Community  Life 

•  Dean  of  Students  Janet  Richardson  led  a 
community-wide  effort  to  define  the 
program  for  the  planned  campus  center. 
With  a  program  in  place,  nearly  $2.5  mil- 
lion raised  for  the  building,  and  good 
prospects  for  significant  additional  fund- 
raising,  ground  breaking  for  this  facility,  so 
important  to  enhancing  the  quality  of  life 
on  campus,  could  well  occur  within  the 
next  two  years. 

•The  first  year  of  our  new  Healthy 
Alternatives  Program  was  a  resounding 
success.  This  program,  sponsored  by 
FIPSE  and  led  by  Mary  Cox,  started  several 
initiatives  to  educate  students  about  the 
effects  of  alcohol  and  other  drugs  and 
sponsored  social  and  athletic  programs 
to  empower  and  support  WPI  students 
who  choose  to  abstain. 

•  The  Community  Council  championed  the 
implementation  of  the  recommendations 
of  the  Blue  Ribbon  Task  Force  while  work- 
ing to  improve  the  sense  of  community  on 
campus. 

•Our  NCAA  Division  III  intercollegiate 
athletic  program  and  our  active  club  and 
intramural  sports  programs  continued  to 
enjoy  high  levels  of  participation  and  suc- 
cess. The  wrestling  team  was  the  New 
England  Division  111  champion,  the  varsity 
football  team  was  the  Freedom 
Conference  champion,  and  the  soccer 
team  won  the  Constitution  Athletic 
Conference  championship.  The  women's 
tennis  team  was  the  MAIAW  state  champi- 


on and  the  women's  field  hock- 
ey team  qualified  for  the  ECAC 
tournament. 
•After  extensive  study,  the 
Parking  Committee,  chaired  by 
Professor  Ted  Crusberg,  found 
that  the  796  official  parking 
spaces  on  campus  can  accom- 
modate the  demand  on  all  but  NEILN0RUM 
the  worst  snow  days,  given  active  enforce- 
ment. It  did  point  out,  however,  that  such 
important  new  projects  as  the  campus  cen- 
ter, the  proposed  closing  of  West  Street, 
and  the  "greening"  of  the  Quadrangle 
(including  the  removal  of  the  main  faculty 
and  staff  parking  lot),  will  surely  require 
the  addition  of  many  new  spaces.  On  our 
space-poor  campus,  that  will  most  likely 
require  the  construction  of  at  least  one 
parking  structure,  albeit  one  that  the  WPI 
community  would  be  loathe  to  support 
through  parking  charges. 

Physical  Environment 

•  The  long  awaited  expansion  and  renova- 
tion of  Higgins  Laboratories,  home  of  our 
premiere  Mechanical  Engineering  Depart- 
ment, has  begun.  This  $8.5  million  project 


includes  some  20,000  additional  square 
feet  of  space,  primarily  in  a  new  addition 
adjacent  to  Alumni  Gymnasium,  and  the 
complete  renovation  of  the  original  labora- 
tories. The  addition  was  scheduled  for 
completion  in  the  fall  of  1994  with  the  total 
project  to  be  completed  by  fall  of  1995. 

To  date,  some  $7.5  million  in  funding 
has  been  identified  for  the  project,  includ- 
ing large  gifts  from  the  Alden,  Keck,  Lufkin 
and  Stoddard  Foundations,  an  award  from 
the  National  Science  Foundation,  gifts 
from  several  individuals,  and  anniversary 
gifts  from  the  Classes  of  1943,  1944,  1954 
and  1969.  Lots  of  excellent  naming  oppor- 
tunities remain  for  those  who  might  be 
inclined  to  provide  additional  support  for 
this  important  project. 


WPI  Journal 


23 


•The  campus  computer  network  was 
extended  to  all  major  residence  halls  during 
the  summer  of  1994.  The  expansion  provid- 
ed telephone,  computer  communications 
and  cable  television  services  to  all  rooms. 

•  Although  it  will  little  change  the  external 
appearance  of  the  building,  a  planned 
$720,000  renovation  of  the  heating  and 
ventilation  system  in  Goddard  Hall  will 
improve  the  safety  and  efficiency  of  this 
long-time  home  of  the  Chemistry  and 
Chemical  Engineering  departments. 

•  A  complete  renovation  of  Freeman  Plaza, 
which  sits  between  Salisbury  Laboratories, 
the  Washburn  Shops  and  Gordon  Library, 
was  recently  completed.  A  new  look  for 
this  important  campus  meeting  place 
will  set  a  new  standard  for  our  campus 
landscaping. 

•Last  fall,  WPI  acquired  the  Salisbury 
Estates,  an  apartment  complex  adjacent  to 
the  WPI  campus.  Presently  operated  as 
market-rate  rental  housing,  this  108-unit 
complex,  which  sits  on  6.5  acres  adjoining 
Salisbury  Pond,  may  become  another 
student  housing  option  in  the  future. 

Goal  5:  Meet  the  Needs  of  Professionals 
for  Continuing  Education 

•  Our  new  Nypro  Leadership  Institute,  a 
week-long  residency  program  for  midlevel 
managers  from  the  worldwide  facilities  of 
NYPRO  Corp.,  has  proven  to  be  a  great 
success.  It  is  serving  as  a  model  for  other 
such  programs  currently  being  designed 


by  the  Office  of  Continuing  Education. 
•The  faculty  approved  a  new  certificate 
program  that  will  recognize  the  comple- 
tion of  individually  designed  programs  of 
graduate  courses  in  computer  science, 
engineering  and  mathematics. 

Goal  6:  Strengthen  WPI's  External 
Relationships 

•  Once  again  in  1993,  WPI  was  ranked  No.  1 
among  comprehensive  institutions  in  the 
North  by  U.S.  News  and  World  Report. 
Interestingly,  with  its  reclassification  by 
the  Carnegie  Foundation  to  Doctoral 
University  II,  WPI  will  find  itself  competing 
with  the  likes  of  Harvard  and  Stanford  in 
future  U.S.  News  rankings.  In  this  company, 
it  will  probably  be  a  few  years  before  WPI 
wins  a  No.  1  ranking  again. 

•  The  Presidential  Founders,  which  honors 
alumni  and  friends  with  cumulative  giving 
to  WPI  of  at  least  $100,000,  recognized  16 
new  members  at  the  Founders  Day  Dinner 
on  Nov.  11,1993. 

•The  grand  total  of  cash  gifts  ($11.4  mil- 
lion), gifts-in-kind  ($3.4  million)  and  net 
new  pledges  ($3.5  million)  for  the  1993-94 
fiscal  year  is  $18.3  million.  This  exceeds 
last  year's  all-time  record  of  $17.3  million. 

•  At  a  joint  dinner  in  October  1993,  members 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  the  Institute's 
departmental  advisory  committees  heard 
trustee  Leonard  E.  Redon  73,  general  man- 
ager and  vice  president  for  market  devel- 
opment of  Eastman  Kodak's  Imaging 


Group,  speak  on  "A  New  Kodak."  The 
seven  advisory  committees,  made  up  of 
distinguished  alumni  and  friends,  have 
proved  invaluable  in  providing  advice, 
reviewing  progress  and  developing 
support  for  WPI's  ambitious  plans — 
departmental  and  institutional. 
•  Seven  new  members  were  elected  to  the 
WPI  Board  of  Trustees  during  1994-95. 
George  T.  Abdow  '53,  chairman  of  Abdow's 
Big  Boy  Restaurants,  was  elected  in 
October  1993  to  complete  the  unexpired 
term  of  alumni  trustee  Arthur  J.  LoVetere 
'60.  Claude-Alain  Tardy,  vice  president  and 
general  manager  of  Norton  Co.,  Thomas  A. 
Corcoran,  president  of  the  Martin  Marietta 
Electronics  Group,  and  H.  Kerner  Smith  II, 
president  and  CEO  of  Riley  Consolidated 
Inc.,  were  elected  as  term  trustees  in 
October  1993.  Michael  A.  DiPierro  '68, 
president  of  Baystone  Corp.,  and  Philip  R. 
Morgan,  president  and  CEO  of  Morgan 
Construction  Co.,  were  elected  as  alumni 
and  term  trustees  respectively  in  May. 
John  C.S.  Fray,  professor  of  cellular  and 
molecular  physiology  at  the  University  of 
Massachusetts  Medical  School,  was  elect- 
ed a  term  trustee  in  June. 

Of  particular  note  is  the  fact  that  Philip 
Morgan  is  the  fifth  generation  of  Morgans 
to  serve  on  WPI's  board.  His  father,  Paul  S. 
Morgan,  and  his  grandfather,  Philip  M. 
Morgan,  both  served  as  board  chairman, 
and  his  great-great-grandfather,  Charles  H. 
Morgan,  was  a  member  of  the  founding 
board. 


24 


Fall  1994 


DEVELOPMENT  HIGHLIGHTS 


1993-94:  A  Year  of  Building 

By  Alfred  R.  Doig  Jr.,  Vice  President  for  University  Relations 


One  of  the  joys  of  working  in  devel- 
opment is  seeing  concrete  results 
from  your  work — sometimes  quite 
literally.  As  I've  walked  across  cam- 
pus each  morning  over  the  past  six  months, 
I've  watched  with  fascination  as  a  three- 
story  addition  has  risen  beside  Higgins 
Laboratories.  Today  the  addition  is  nearly 
complete  and  its  gleaming  expanses  of  glass 
contrast  stunningly  with  the  handsome 
brick  facade  of  this  52-year-old  building. 

The  addition  is  just  one  phase  of  a  com- 
prehensive rebirth  of  Higgins,  a  process  that 
will,  a  year  from  now,  produce  a  modern 
home  for  mechanical  engineering  at  WPI. 
This  $8.5  million  project  is  under  way  today 
thanks  to  the  generous  gifts  we've  received 
from  many  corporations,  foundations  and 
individuals.  Prominent  among  these  are  $2.4 
million  from  the  George  I.  Alden  Trust,  $1.5 
million  from  the  Stoddard  Trust,  $500,000 
from  the  Lufkin  Trust,  $425,000  from  the 
W.M.  Keck  Foundation,  $222,000  from 
Pauline  W.  Heald,  $200,000  from  Raymond  J. 
Perreault  '38,  $150,000  from  the  Elsworth 
Foundation,  $150,000  from  Norton  Co.,  and 
$75,000  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Milton  Higgins. 

In  addition,  the  Classes  of  1944,  1954  and 
1969  dedicated  the  unrestricted  portion  of 
their  anniversary  class  gifts — nearly 
$423,000— to  the  Higgins  project  and  the 
National  Science  Foundation  awarded  the 
Mechanical  Engineering  Department 
$800,000  to  help  rejuvenate  several  of  the 
building's  research  labs. 

These  and  many  other  gifts  and  pledges 
have  brought  the  total  raised  to  more  than 
$7.5  million,  leaving  about  one  million  to  go. 
It  is  gratifying  to  see  that  a  substantial  por- 
tion of  the  funding  for  the  Higgins  renova- 
tion and  expansion  has  come  from  local 
sources:  family  foundations,  corporations 
and  individuals  right  here  in  the  Worcester 
area.  This  hearkens  back  to  the  campaign 
that  originally  raised  the  funds  to  build 
Higgins,  a  drive  in  which  many  of  these 
same  families  and  corporations  participated. 

The  start  of  the  Higgins  renovation  was 
one  of  the  highlights  for  WPI  last  year.  In  the 
development  area,  the  highlight  was  the 


The  old  and  the  new  contrast  in  this  view  of  the  nearly  complete 
20,000-square-foot  addition  to  the  52-year-old  Higgins  Laboratories. 


$18,246,779  in  cash,  gifts-in-kind  and  pledges 
received  by  the  Institute,  a  new  all-time  high. 
Of  this  total,  $11,384,472  was  in  cash, 
$3,400,099  was  in  the  form  of  gifts-in-kind, 
and  $3,462,208  was  in  pledges.  Included 
in  that  total  is  $2,245,084  in  giving  to  the 
annual  Alumni  Fund,  also  a  new  all-time 
record  total. 

As  the  Institute  looks  ahead  to  its  next 
major  comprehensive  fund-raising 
campaign,  achievements  like  these 
bode  well,  indeed.  The  official  announce- 
ment for  the  new  campaign  is  still  a  year  or 
more  away,  but  already  we  are  beginning  to 
think  about  the  programs  and  initiatives  for 
which  we  will  seek  funding. 

Before  we  can  set  these  objectives,  we 
must  have  a  clear  idea  of  the  directions  in 
which  we  want  the  Institute  to  move  in  the 
decade  ahead.  Then  we  must  consider  the 
strategic  investments — new  academic  pro- 
grams, improvements  to  the  quality  of  life, 


physical  plant  changes  or  additions,  and  so 
on — that  will  be  needed  to  create  the 
momentum  to  move  us  in  those  directions. 
Those  investments,  in  turn,  will  become  the 
major  goals  of  the  campaign. 

This  planning  process  is  already  under 
way  and  will  continue  this  year  under  the 
guidance  of  interim  president  John  Lott 
Brown  '46.  But  the  final  stages  in  the  process 
must  await  the  appointment,  sometime  next 
summer,  of  WPI's  14th  president,  who  will  be 
charged  with  the  responsibility  of  leading 
the  Institute  through  the  campaign  period. 

Presidential  leadership  will  play  a  vital 
role  in  the  success  of  the  upcoming  cam- 
paign, much  as  it  did  during  the  highly  suc- 
cessful Campaign  for  Excellence  of  1985  to 
1990.  President  Jon  C.  Strauss  was  instru- 
mental in  helping  the  Institute  develop  the 
objectives  for  that  drive  and,  working  with 
former  vice  president  Don  Berth  '57,  labored 
hard  to  be  sure  that  the  $52.5  million  target 
was  not  only  met,  but  exceeded.  In  the 


WPI  Journal 


25 


Fiscal  Year  1994  Fund-Raising  Results 

(in  percent) 


Cash  Received 

$11,384,472 

'Does  not  include  gifts-in-kind 

Total  Activity 

$18,246,779 


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process,  he  helped  raise  the  Institute's  fund- 
raising  sights. 

An  important  element  in  that  sight-rais- 
ing process  was  the  creation  of  the 
Presidential  Founders,  a  group  of  men, 
women  and  family  foundations  who  have, 
since  the  Institute's  creation,  made  cumula- 
tive gifts  and  pledges  to  WPI  equaling  or 
exceeding  the  $100,000  founding  gift  of  John 
Boynton.  During  the  Campaign  for  Excel- 
lence, gifts  from  the  Presidential  Founders 
accounted  for  half  of  all  dollars  raised. 

In  the  years  since  the  campaign,  we've 
added  65  additional  Presidential  Founders, 
bringing  the  total  to  more  than  200.  Sixteen 
new  members  joined  us  for  the  annual 
Founders  dinner  in  1993,  when  the  Institute 
honored  Miriam  Rutman  and  the  late  Walter 
Rutman  '30.  Another  16  new  members  came 
on  board  before  the  night  of  the  1994  dinner, 


at  which  the  White  family — Anne  and 
Leonard  '41  and  Shirley  and  David  75 — were 
recognized. 

Clearly,  support  at  the  Presidential 
Founder  level  has  made  a  tremendous  differ- 
ence to  WPI  as  it  has  sought  to  become  a 
stronger  institution.  But  in  reality,  every  gift 
to  WPI  counts.  Every  dollar  we  receive  helps 
raise  the  Institute's  level  of  excellence.  And 
every  thing  we  do  to  make  this  an  even  more 
outstanding  institution  adds  to  our  growing 
recognition. 

The  quality  and  innovation  of  WPI's  edu- 
cational programs,  the  reputation  and 
strength  of  our  faculty,  the  record  of 
achievement  of  our  alumni — these  are  all 
good  reasons  to  invest  in  the  future  of  this 
institution.  Another  good  reason  is  our  sin- 
cere commitment  to  being  a  good  steward  of 
your  investment. 


Honored  at  this  year's  Presidential  Founders  dinner,  David  White  '75  and  his 
father,  Leonard  White  '41,  together  run  the  R.H.  White  Construction  Co. 


Whether  you  make  a  gift  of  cash,  a 
planned  gift  or  a  bequest;  whether  you  make 
a  gift  of  an  endowed  fund  or  a  gift  that  will 
be  put  to  immediate  use;  and  whether  you 
choose  to  restrict  your  gift  to  a  particular 
purpose,  such  as  financial  aid,  or  let  WPI 
determine  where  it  can  best  be  put  to  use, 
we  will  use  your  dollars  wisely  and  make 
sure  that  they  go  as  far  as  possible  to  sup- 
port the  goals  and  missions  of  the  Institute. 

You  can  also  feel  confident  that  you  are 
investing  in  an  institution  that  is  financially 
sound.  WPI  recently  compared  its  financial 
picture  to  those  of  46  other  colleges  and  uni- 
versities that,  like  WPI,  have  received  an  A 
bond  rating  from  Standard  and  Poor's.  While 
the  Institute  has  some  areas  of  concern  (for 
example,  there  is  too  little  flexibility  in  its 
operating  budget  to  respond  to  unforseen 
expenses),  the  picture  on  the  whole  is  quite 
favorable. 

For  example,  in  the  areas  of  debt  to 
endowment  ratio  (a  measure  of  relative  debt 
load),  endowment  per  student,  the  size  of 
the  quasi-endowment  (unrestricted  endow- 
ment funds),  and  the  ratio  of  quasi-endow- 
ment to  restricted  endowment,  WPI  has  per- 
formed better  over  the  past  three  fiscal 
years  than  the  median  for  the  group  of  46 
institutions.  In  addition,  WPI's  relatively  low 
level  of  deferred  maintenance  is  laudable. 

Our  many  generous  donors  do  not  make 
gifts  to  WPI  simply  because  of  our  financial 
performance,  of  course.  It  is  loyalty  to  this 
institution,  a  sincere  belief  in  its  mission  and 
outcomes,  and  a  desire  to  see  it  become  an 
even  better  university  in  the  years  ahead 
that  lie  behind  so  many  of  the  contributions 
we  receive. 

On  behalf  of  the  trustees,  faculty,  staff 
and  students  of  WPI,  I'd  like  to  take  this 
opportunity  to  applaud  that  vision  and  to 
thank  everyone  who  has  invested  in  WPI 
over  the  past  fiscal  year.  On  the  pages  that 
follow,  you  will  find  the  names  of  many  of 
these  benefactors. 


26 


Fall  1994 


HONOR  ROLL  OF  DONORS 


Giving  to  WPI:  1993-94 

WPI  gratefully  acknowledges  the  support  of  the  thousands  of  individuals, 
foundations  and  corporations  whose  contributions  of  $14,784,571  in 
cash  and  gifts-in-kind  through  the  Alumni  Fund,  the  Parents  Fund,  mini- 
campaigns  and  general  development  efforts  during  the  1993-94  fiscal 
year  (July  1, 1993,  to  June  30,  1994)  are  already  at  work  making  WPI  a  stronger  and 
more  outstanding  institution.  Space  does  not  permit  the  listing  of  all  their  names. 
An  additional  $3,462,208  was  pledged  during  the  fiscal  year.  These  commitments 
will  be  listed  in  future  reports  as  they  are  received  as  cash  or  gifts-in-kind. 


$100,000  and 
above 

George  I.  Alden  Trust 
Philip  G.  Atwood  '37 
Harry  F.  Chapell  '54 
China  Technical 

Consultants  Inc. 
Davis  Educational 

Foundation 
Digital  Equipment 

Corporation 
Robert  A.  Foisie  '56 
George  F.  and  Sybil  H. 

Fuller  Foundation 
Estate  of 

Edith  B.  Green  TO 

Caleb  D.  Hammond  '37 
Pauline  W.  Heald 
Robert  W.  Hewey  '40 
Milton  P.  Higgins 
William  D.  Holcomb  '38 
Howmet  Turbine 

Components 

Corporation 
W.M.  Keck  Foundation 
Eugene  V.  Kosso  '46 
Richard  A.  Lufkin  Trust 
Commonwealth  of 

Massachusetts 
Paul  M.  Murphy  '38 
Douglas  G.  Noiles  '44 
Norton  Company 
Raymond  J.  Perreault  '38 
Alfred  P.  Sloan  Foundation 
Stedman  W.  Smith  '36 
Stoddard  Charitable  Trust 
United  Technologies 

Corporation 
Viewlogic  Systems  Inc. 
Howard  C.  Warren  '42 


$25,000  to 
$99,999 

Walter  L.  Abel  '39 
Joyce  G.  Adderley 
Herbert  Asher  '44 
AT&T 

Eleanor  W.  Bateman 
Robert  H.  Beckett  '57 
John  R.  Brand  '36 
Allen  Breed  '46 
Robert  B.  Davis  '46 
Dining  and  Kitchen 

Administration  Inc. 
Exxon  Education 

Foundation 
Fairlawn  Foundation 
Raymond  J.  Forkey  '40 
Hoche-Scofield  Foundation 
Richard  T.  Gates  '52 
General  Electric  Foundation 
Raymond  R.  Hagglund  '56 
Hewlett-Packard  Company 
John  E.  Hossack  '46 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Henry 

Hough 
IBM  Corporation 
Rolf  Jensen  &  Associates 
Steven  T.  Kelley 
Estate  of  Mary  C.  Knight  '28 
Luther  C.  Leavitt  '34 
William  M.  Lester  '28 
The  Macamor  Foundation 
Thomas  M.  McCaw  '46 
Procter  &  Gamble  Company 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richard 

Prouty 
Elijah  B.  Romanoff  '34 
Texaco  Inc. 
Estate  of  William  B. 

Wadsworth 
WPI  Alumni  Association 


$10,000  to 
$24,999 

Allied-Signal  Inc. 
Carl  W.  Bettcher  Jr.  '41 
Cushing  C.  Bozenhard  '46 
EdwardS.  Coe  Jr.  '31 
Mary  Jane  Coe 
Corning  Inc. 
GTE  Corporation 
Hartford  Steam  Boiler 

Inspection  & 

Insurance  Company 
Charles  R.  Healy  '56 
Gerald  F.  Hickey  '46 
William  H.  Hills  '54 
Ingersoll-Rand  Company 
August  C.  Kellermann  '46 
Kemper  National  Insurance 

Companies 
Paul  N.  Kokulis  '45 
Mrs.  David  A.  Kuniholm  '40 
Estate  of  Richard 

Lamothe  '61 
John  H.  Lancaster  '39 
Gordon  B.  Lankton 
Liberty  Mutual 

Insurance  Co. 
Myles  McDonough 
Motorola  Inc. 
Pfizer  Inc. 

Raytheon  Company 
Schlumberger-Doll 

Research 
Tarek  M.A.  Shawaf  '55 
John  J.  Shields  '69 
Raymond  B.  Shlora  '40 
William  R.  Steur  '35 
Harry  W.  Tenney  Jr.  '56 
The  Torrington  Company 
Xerox  Corporation 


Note:  a  p "  after  a  name  indicates  parent(s)  of  WPI  students/alumni. 
*  =  deceased 


$5,000  to  $9,999 

BASF  Corporation 
Edward  C.  Berndt  Jr.  '45 
John  E.  Bigelow  '44 
Anna  Harrington  Boardman 
John  Lott  Brown  '46 
Philip  G.  Buffinton  '49 
Central  Sprinkler  Company 
CIGNA  Corporation 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Noel  L.  Cohen  p 
Daniel  I.  Coifman  '67 
Communications  Satellite 

Corporation 
Allan  J.  Costantin  '54 
Donald  G.  Craig  '57 
Paul  M.  Craig  Jr.  '45 
Edward  J.  Curtis  Jr.  '64 
Custer  Powell  Inc. 
Cutler  Associates  Inc. 
DOW  Chemical  Company 
Mrs.  Dwight  Dwinell  '34 
Ruth  H.  and  Warren  A. 

Ellsworth  Foundation 
Neil  A.  Fitzgerald  '38 
Leslie  Flood  '46 
A.J.  Gilford  Charitable  Trust 
Greater  Worcester  Community 

Foundation 
Dale  G.  Freygang  '74 
Alfred  E.  Green  '45 
Hanover  Insurance  Company 
Philip  B.  Heald 
Lawrence  B.  Horrigan  Jr.  '56 
Industrial  Risk  Insurers 
Allan  B.  Johnson  '46 
Joseph  H.  Johnson  Jr.  '46 
Johnson  Controls 
Arthur  R.  Koerber  '40 
Carlton  G.  Lutts  Jr.  '46 
Mildred  H.  McEvoy  Foundation 
Medical  Center  of  Central 

Massachusetts 
Mobil  Foundation  Inc. 
Fred  S.  Moulton  '44 
National  Fire  Sprinkler 

Association 
Neles-Jamesbury  Corporation 
NEMA 

Werner  M.  Neupert  '54 
New  England  Power  Service 

Company 
New  England  Telephone 

and  Telegraph  Company 
Robert  S.  Parks  '93  Trust 
Polaroid  Corporation 
The  Presmet  Corporation 
Walter  L.  Robb 
John  T.  Rushton  '39 
Sean  D.S.  Sebastian  '83 
Shawmut  Worcester 

County  Bank 


Carl  F.  Simon  Jr.  '46 
J.  Morrison  Smith  '37 
Estate  of  Edith  Gates 

Snow  '26 
Robert  C.  Stempel  '55 
Sullivan  Family 
Donald  Taylor  '49 
J.  Headen  Thompson  '36 
John  G.  Underbill  '44 
David  T.  Van  Covern  '53 
Charles  F.  Walters  '55 
WPI  Worcester  County  Club 

$2,500  $4,999 

Estate  of  Leslie  Morgan 

Abbe  '22 
Paul  A.  Allaire  '60 
Allmerica  Financial 
Diran  Apelian 
Gerald  R.  Backlund  '55 
Paul  W.  Bayliss  '60 
C.  Edward  Bean  '44 
Bemis  Company  Inc. 
Harvey  A.  Berger  '58 
Paul  R.  Beswick  '57 
Harold  D.  Burt  '33 
George  Button  II  '46 
James  L.  Carr  Jr.  '74 
Mrs.  Richard  A.  Carson  '44 
Coopers  &  Lybrand 
Frederick  J.  Costello  '59 
Michael  A.  DiPierro  '68 
Robert  E.  Duffy  '45 
Howard  J.  Dworkin  '55 
John  E.  Edfors  '55 
Leland  P.  Ekstrom  '42 
Janet  Forkey 
John  F.  Gabranski  '75 
Michael  M.  Galbraith  '58 
General  Motors  Corporation 
Mark  S.  Gerber  '69 
David  F.  Gilbert  '54 
The  Gillette  Company 
Albert  S.  Goldberg  '48 
Robert  W.  Goodfader  '60 
Edward  L.  Griffith  Jr.  '69 
Grinnell  Corporation 
Michael  S.  Gutman  '58 
Daniel  J.  Harrington  Jr.  '50 
John  F.  Harvey  '77 
Mrs.  George  W.  Hazzard 
Roger  J.  Heinen  '73 
Roll  H.  Jensen 
Charles  C.  Johnston  '57 
Everett  M.  Johnson  '44 
Chandler  W.  Jones  '26 
Franklin  S.  June  '45 
Margaret  N.  Kalenian 
John  F.  Kelley  III  '65 
Richard  D.  Kirk  '54 
Hans  H.  Koehl  '56 


WPI  Journal 


27 


John  Lee  '46 

Cole  Contracting  Inc. 

Ward  D.  Messimer  '39 

Mrs.  Richard  E.  Bliven  '27 

Paul  I.  Pressel  '44 

Eino  0.  Leppanen  '32 

Christopher  R.  Collins  '56 

Charles  R.  Michel  '37 

Roland  C.  Bouchard  '66 

William  Price  '37 

Bruce  G.  Lovelace  '68 

Charles  F.H.  Crathern  III  '52 

Bruce  D.  Minsky  '77 

Edouard  S.P.  Bouvier  '55 

Richard  A.  Prokop  '37 

Russell  R.  Lussier  '54 

David  S.  Crimmins  '58 

Robert  B.  Mirick  '39 

BP  America 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gunnar 

James  H.  Maloney  Jr.  '46 

Gordon  F.  Crowther  '37 

Monsanto  Fund 

Craig  F.  Bradley  '69 

Randholm  p 

Marsh  &  McLennan 

Henry  S.C.  Cummings  Jr.  '50 

Morgan  Construction 

Harrison  K.  Brown  '39 

John  B.  Robinson  p 

Companies  Inc. 

Earl  M.  Curtis  '36 

Company 

Kevin  J.  Burke  '60 

Robert  W.  Schramm  '46 

Massachusetts  Electric 

C.  Marshall  Dann  '35 

Peter  B.  Myers  '46 

W.  Richard  Byrnes  '54 

Richard  B.  Scott  '54 

Company 

Mrs.  Phillip  R.  Delphos  '26 

John  M.  Nelson 

John  W.  Chandler  '44 

Robert  F.  Shannon  '50 

Frank  L.  Mazzone  '46 

Albert  M.  Demont  '31 

Robert  L.  Norton 

Chevron  Corporation 

William  E.  Shanok  '64 

Richard  J.  McBride  '56 

William  P.  Densmore  '45 

Robert  W.  O'Brien  '38 

Joseph  J.  Concordia  '56 

Irving  Skeist  '35 

Herman  Medwin  '41 

Thomas  R.  d'Errico  '41 

Mark  F.  O'Neil  '80 

George  A.  Cowan  '41 

Edward  H.  Smith  '46 

Merck  &  Co.  Inc. 

Robert  L.  Diamond  '56 

Francis  J.  Oneglia  '42 

C.  Chapin  Cutler  Sr.  '37 

Southern  New  England 

Microsoft  Corporation 

Walter  G.  Dick  '49 

Alex  C.  Papianou  '57 

Vladimir  T.  Dimitroff  Jr.  '44 

Telephone  Company 

Harry  L.  Mirick  Jr.  '54 

PaulC.DisarioJr. '42 

Ronald  B.  Paris  '46 

Peter  C.  Dooley  Jr.  '44 

Society  of  Fire  Protection 

Charles  A.  Mitchell  '46 

Emerson  Electric  Company 

Parker  Hannifin  Corporation 

Donald  B.  Esson  '69 

Engineers 

MITRE  Corporation 

Cornelius  J.  Enright  Jr.  '60 

James  Z.  Peepas  '49 

Daniel  F.  Farrar  '84 

Spag's  Supply 

Alfred  A.  Molinari  Jr.  '63 

Robert  L.  Favreau  '52 

Edward  H.  Peterson  '43 

James  C.  Ferguson  '41 

Stephen  W.  Spakowsky  '69 

National  Fire  Protection 

William  J.  Firla  Jr.  '60 

Edward  J.  Power  Jr.  '54 

Warner  S.  Fletcher 

Harvey  W.  Spence  p 

Association 

Ford  Motor  Company  Fund 

John  W.  Powers  '61 

Fluor  Corporation 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roger  Sullivan  p 

Northeast  Utilities  Service 
Company 

The  Foxboro  Company 

Henry  B.  Pratt  '32 

Victor  J.  Geraci  '84 

Edward  J.  Sydor  '50 

Timothy  A.  French  '73 

Olive  Higgins  Prouty 

Arthur  and  Susan  Gerstenfeld 

John  W.  Sztuka  Jr.  '70 

David  P.  Norton  62 

tr                  mi     it           -I'—- 

Anson  C.  Fyler  '45 

Foundation 

W.R.  Grace  &  Company 

Donald  A.  Taft  72 

Henry  W.  Nowick  56 

Herbert  F.  Gale  '34 

Simon  D.  Ramo 

Lee  P.  Hackett  '61 

Robert  M.  Taft  '38 

Julius  A.  Palley  '46 

r\       i     !•         ri                *              pi            .       *          ri 

Milton  W.  Garland  '20 

Edward  W.  Randall  '49 

Joseph  M.  Halloran  Jr.  '40 

Tambrands  Inc. 

Public  Service  Electric  & 

Gas  Company 
Raymond  J.  Remillard  '49 
Roger  P.  Roberge  '45 
Rockwell  International 

Corporation 
Reynald  J.  Sansoucy  '55 
Sara  Lee  Corporation 
Lawrence  F.  Scinto  '51 
Kenneth  W.  Shiatte  '53 
Society  of  Fire  Protection 

Engineers 
Jon  C.  and  Jean  A.  Strauss 

C.  Stewart  Gentsch  '58 

Samuel  Ringel  '47 

William  E.  Hanson  '32 

Roger  H.  Tancrell  '56 

Bennett  E.  Gordon  Jr.  '65 

Kenneth  W.  Roberts  '68 

Hercules  Incorporated 

TRW  Inc. 

Joel  P.  Greene  '69 

Rodney  Hunt  Co. 

Joachim  Herz  '54 

Steven  A.  Udell  70 

Peter  T.  Grosch  '69 
Richard  M.  Gross  '69 

John  H.  Rogers  Jr.  '56 
John  E.  Rogerson  '42 

Neil  M.  Hodes  '70 
D.  Brainerd  Holmes 

United  Telephone- 
Eastern  Inc. 

Grumman  Corporation 
Ralph  P.  Guertin  '62 
David  H.  Hall  '68 
Leslie  B.  Harding '41 
Warren  G.  Harding  '42 
Stephen  J.  Hebert  '66 
Thomas  S.  Heefner  '61 

Milton  E.  Ross  '40 
Stephen  E.  Rubin  '74 
Anthony  J.  Ruscito '70 
Philip  B.  Ryan  '65 
David  M.  Schwaber  '65 
William  F.  Shields  '64 
Paul  W.  Snyder  '53 

Hyde  Manufacturing 

Company 
International  Association 

for  Fire-Safety  Science 
D.  Alden  Johnson  '54 
Timothy  C.  Johnson  '71 
Charles  A.  Kalauskas  '69 

Westinghouse  Electric 

Company 
Estate  of  Hester  D.  Wetherell 
Wheelabrator 

Technologies  Inc. 
Plummer  Wiley  '35 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph 

Wojtowicz  p 

Warner  C.  Sturtevant  '45 

John  T.E.  Hegeman  '45 

The  Stanley  Works 

Andrea  J.  Fielding  Kaneb  '84 

Howard  E.  Swenson  '44 
Leonard  H.White '41 

Leonard  Hershoff  '43 
Jay  P.  Hochstaine  '62 

Edward  Stokel  '46 
Stone  &  Webster  Inc. 

Arthur  T.  Katsaros  '69 
Thomas  C.  Kee  '54 

$250  to  $999 

Peter  H.  Horstmann  '55 

Nam  P.  Suh 

Jean  Keller  p 

Crosby  L.  Adams  '57 

Holbrook  L.  Horton  '29 

Lawrence  R.  Sullivan  '40 

Atwater  Kent  Foundation 

Donald  H.  Adams  '52 

$1,500  to  $2,499 

Hughes  Aircraft  Company 

John  W.  Sutcliffe  '38 

Morey  Kraus 

Joseph  D.  Adams  Jr.  76 

Michael  L.  Abrams  '77 

Clayton  E.  Hunt  Jr.  '34 

Claude-Alain  Tardy 

Donald  T.  Kremer  70 

Aetna  Life  &  Casualty 

James  S.  Adams  '49 

Leonard  Israel  '44 

Marshall  B.  Taylor  '68 

PhilipA.  Kulin'39 

Arthur  M.  Aframe  '69 

Robert  H.  Adams  '48 

M  Howard  Jacobson 

W.  Gordon  Thatcher  '40 

M.  Leonard  Kuniholm  '38 

Air  Products  &  Chemicals  Inc. 

Advanced  Micro  Devices  Inc. 

Harry  T.  Jensen  '33 

Francis  G.  Toce  '60 

Arthur  Lagadinos  '46 

Robert  E.  Akie  73 

Aerospace  Corporation 

Charles  F.  Jones  '48 

John  M.  Tracy  '52 

Peter  H.  Levine 

Akzo  America  Inc. 

Joseph  J.  Alekshun  Jr.  '56 

Steven  M.  Kay  '72 

Irwin  T.  Vanderhoof  '48 

Carl  J.  Lindegren  III  '82 

Paul  R.  Alasso  '54 

Richard  W.  Allen  '45 

Robert  C.  Keenan  '70 

Helen  G.  Vassallo  '82 

Richard  W.  Lindquist  '54 

James  A.  Alfieri  '59 

Robert  C.  Appenzeller  '46 

George  J.  Kennedy  '45 

Romeo  J.  Ventres  '48 

Francis  W.  Madigan  Jr.  '53 

Patricia  A.  Allard  '83 

Arthur  Andersen  &  Company 

William  A.  Kerr  '60 

Davis  S.  Watson  '46 

Thomas  F.  Mahar  Jr.  '55 

Robert  A.  Allen  '59 

Christian  S.  Baehrecke  '56 

Kinefac  Corporation 

Charles  F.  Whitcomb  '46 

Carlos  A.  Maltos  Diaz  '80 

Raymond  L.  Alvey  Jr.  '50 

Roy  E.  Baharian  '44 

Douglas  W.  Klauber  '67 

Richard  T.  Whitcomb  '43 

Peter  J.  Martin  '62 

Alza  Corporation 

Bruce  M.  Bailey  '51 

Victor  E.  Kohman  '43 

David  H.  White  '75 

John  T.  McGrath  III  '36 

Amoco  Corporation 

Richard  A.  Barlow  '57 

Wilmer  Kranich 

Malcolm  K.  White  '46 

Millipore  Corporation 

Arthur  W.  Anderson  '57 

Jonathan  R.  Barnett  '74 

Ernest  R.  Kretzmer  '45 

Philip  A.  Wild '50 

Paul  R.  Mullaney  '46 

G.  Albert  Anderson  '51 

James  L.  Bartlett  Jr.  '39 

Joseph  A.  Lagana  '67 

John  Wiley  &  Sons  Inc. 

Paul  E.  Nelson  '32 

Gordon  C.  Anderson  '44 

Leon  H.  Bassett  '51 

Walter  E.  Lankau  Jr.  '64 

John  H.  Williams  '49 

Howard  I.  Nelson  '54 

Merico  E.  Argentati  70 

Bechtel  Group  Inc. 

Craig  B.  Laub  '77 

Richard  B.  Wilson  '39 

Edwin  F.  Nesman  '55 

Ashland  Oil  Inc. 

J.  William  Belanger  Jr.  '58 

John  H.  Lauterbach  '66 

Ronald  L.  Zarrella  '71 

Rowland  M.  Newcomb  '46 

Emanuel  S.  Athanas  '32 

C.  Gordon  Bell  '93 

John  B.  Lawson  '63 

David  A.  Zlotek  '69 

New  England  Power  Company 

ATOCHEM  Inc. 

Donald  F.  Berth  '57 

John  W.  Lebourveau  '44 

Donald  N.  Zwiep 

New  York  Stock  Exchange 

Dennis  Aves  '84 

J.  William  Bowen  '66 

Thomas  E.  Lempges  '46 

North  American  Philips 

Avon  Products  Inc. 

Bristol  Myers  Squibb 

Allen  H.  Levesque  '59 

$1,000  to  $1,499 

Corporation 

William  E.  Bachmann  '50 

Paul  W.  Brown  Jr.  '55 

Arthur  J.  LoVetere  '60 

J.  Carleton  Adams  '23 
American  Cyanamid 

Company 
Erving  Arundale  '37 
Edwin  G.  Baldwin  '45 

William  J.  Norwood  III '81 

Carl  W.  Backstrom  '30 

Daniel  A.  Bundza  '57 
John  L.  Buzzi  '57 

Joseph  J.  Maggi  '67 
Zareh  Martin  '40 

John  F.  O'Brien 

O'Brien  &  Gere  Engineers 

Frank  C.  Baginski  '45 
Everett  E.  Bagley  '52 

Richard  S.  Carrara  '63 

Martin  Marietta  Corporation 

Robert  J.  O'Malley  '39 

Brownell  M.  Bailey  '80 

Wilder  R.  Carson  '39 

Robert  E.  Maynard  Jr.  '63 

Robert  A.  Painter  '43 

Kenneth  E.  Baker  Sr.  '52 

Frederick  M.  Chakour  '45 

Thomas  G.  McGee  '64 

Banta  Corporation 
Gerald  J.  Bibeault  '42 

Alfred  G.  Parker  '33 

Norman  E.  Baker  '50 

Edwin  B.  Coghlin  Jr.  '56 

John  M.  McHugh  '56 

Philip  Morris  Inc. 

Walter  J.  Bank '46 

Charles  H.  Cole  '30 

Samuel  W.  Mencow  '37 

John  A.  Bjork  '44 

Ralph  W.  Piper  Jr.  '42 

George  M.  Banks  '69 

28 


Fall  1994 


C.R.  Bard  Inc. 
Barnett  Banks  Inc. 
Carl  P.  Baron  77 
John  H.  Barrett  Jr.  '46 
Francis  L.  Barry  '44 
Harry  S.  Barton  Jr.  '55 
Robert  W.  Batchelder  '49 
John  C.  Bayer  '45 
Edward  J.  Bayon'31 
Karen  L.  Bean  '86 
Robert  W.  Bean  '82 
Arthur  F.  Beaubien  '81 
Paul  G.  Beaudet  '68 
Paul  H.  Beaudry  '49 
David  S.  Becker  '56 
Susan  Coombs  Becker  '84 
Todd  H.  Becker  '86 
G.  Standish  Beebe  '34 
Robert  E.  Behringer  '53 
Hugh  C.  Bell  '55 
Salvatore  J.  Bellassai  '42 
BellSouth  Services  Inc. 
Keith  R.  Bennett  76 
Carl  F.  Benson  '36 
Penny  J.  Bergmann  76 
Paul  H.  Bergstrom  '38 
Stephen  E.  Bernacki  70 
Eugene  R.  Bertozzi  Jr.  '38 
Rene  R.  Bertrand  '57 
Mark  A.  Besse  '83 
Fermo  A.  Bianchi  Jr.  73 
J.  Alfred  Bicknell  '33 
William  R.  Bingham  '46 
Charles  N.  Bissell  '34 
Mrs.  HaroldS.  Black '21 
John  R.  Black  '53 
Louis  A.  Blanchard  '57 
Henry  S.  Blauvelt  '39 
Laurence  E.  Blomstrom  '56 
Earl  M.  Bloom  Jr.  '55 
Robert  E.  Boddorff  '46 
The  Boeing  Company 
Joseph  E.  Boggio  '58 
John  T.  Bok  70 
Thomas  A.  Bombicino  '44 
Paula  Mesite  Bordogna  '80 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  M. 

Borrellip 
Richard  J.  Bors  73 
Boston  Edison  Company 
David  P.  Bova  '63 
Henry  J.  Bove  '47 
John  R.  Boyd  '69 
Michael  J.  Boyden  74 
Russell  P.  Bradlaw  '49 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  J. 

Brady  Jr.  p 
Ronald  S.  Brand  '40 
Melvin  H.  Bredahl  '46 
Alan  S.  Breitman  70 
Fred  J.  Brennan  '49 
FredT.BrierlyJr.  '42 
Alan  K.  Briggs  76 
George  E.  Brooks  '36 
Frederick  G.  Broshjeit  '59 
John  J.  Brosnihan  '67 
Gedney  B.  Brown  '55 
Paul  J.  Brown  Jr.  73 
James  R.  Buchanan  '60 
Gary  S.  Bujaucius  77 
Steven  M.  Burgarella  '84 
Henry  K.  Burger  '53 
Richard  F.  Burke  Jr.  '38 


WPI  Journal 


Donald  M.  Burness  '39 
Thomas  1.  Burns  74 
Newton  H.  Burr  '44 
Carrol  E.  Burtner  '47 
Clifford  W.  Burwick  '56 
Scott  J.  Bury  '88 
Richard  C.  Butterworth  '55 
Robert  H.  Cahill  '65 
Jean  Salek  Camp  '84 
Bernard  M.  Campbell  Jr.  '58 
Edwin  C.  Campbell  '43 
Campbell  Soup  Company 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Armand 

Capistran  p 
Capital  Cities/ABC  Inc. 
Elso  R.  Caponi  '45 
Dana  B.  Carleton  '32 
Carl  H.  Carlson  '29 
Allen  S.  Carnicke  75 
John  W.  Carpenter  Jr.  '46 
Patricia  A.  Martone 

Carrolo  '84 
Kenneth  L.  Case  '69 
William  P.  Casey  Jr.  76 
Donald  E.  Casperson  '69 
Victor  B.  Castellani  '62 
Paul  M.  Castle  '66 
Lee  W.  Catineau  '54 
Donald  A.  Cauley  77 
Robert  L.  Chang  '55 
Richard  M.  Chapman  '58 
Walter  J.  Charow  '49 
Raymond  F.  Cherenzia  73 
Alexander  S.  Chodakowski  '41 
Paul  A.  Christian  73 
Chrysler  Corporation 
Church  &  Dwight 
Company  Inc. 
CIBA-GEIGY  Corporation 
Todd  R.  Cimino  '84 
Wayne  J.  Civinskas  77 
George  A.  Clark  74 
J.  David  Clayton  '44 
Clorox  Company  Foundation 
Edward  H.  Coburn  Jr.  '48 
Richard  A.  Coffey  Jr.  '51 
Morrel  H.  Cohen  '47 
Matthew  V.  Colagiuri  '88 
Raymond  W.  Coleman  72 
Commonwealth  Electric 

Company 
Commonwealth  Gas 

Company 
George  E.  Comstock  '46 
Consolidated  Edison  of 

New  York 
George  H.  Conley  Jr.  '46 
John  F.  Conlon  Jr.  '55 
The  Connecticut  Light  & 

Power  Company 
Connecticut  Mutual  Life 
Insurance  Company 
Robert  F.I.  Conte  '57 
J.  Desmond  Cook  '86 
John  R.  Corf  '46 
Nicholas  A.  Cotsidas  '62 
Richard  H.  Court  Jr.  '67 
John  B.  Coyle  '35 
Roger  M.  Cromack  '48 
Philip  B.  Crommelin  Jr.  '52 
Marshall  W.  Cross  '64 
Kevin  J.  Crossen  73 
Catherine  M.  Culnane  '84 
William  D.  Cunningham  77 


Robert  Cushman 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paul  C. 

Cutroni  p 
Merritt  E.  Cutting  '34 
Walter  G.  Dahlstrom  '36 
Bernard  R.  Danti  '56 
George  G.  Davenport  III  '69 
Warren  H.  Davenport  '34 
Daniel  L.  David  72 
Harold  C.  Davis  Jr.  '44 
Michael  A.  Davis  '62 
Paul  W.  and  Sharon  C.  Davis 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Ross  Davis  p 
Davis  Corporation  of 

Worcester 
Debra  R.  Weinstein  Dean  '83 
Phillip  S.  Dean  '35 
Henry  N.  Deane'31 
Domenic  W.  DeAngelo  79 
James  J.  DeCarlo  Esq.  '80 
John  L.  Dehnert  '59 
Gene  E.  DeJackome  74 
Delta  Air  Lines  Inc. 
Howard  J.  Dember  '48 
David  P.  Demers  74 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  A. 

Demiccop 
Allen  R.  Deschere  '38 
Susan  A.  Butler  DesMarais  '86 
Ralph  A.  Desrosiers  '88 
Dexter  Corporation 
Thomas  M.  Di  Francesco  73 
Richard  J.  DiBuono  '62 
Arthur  M.  Dickey  '65 
Richard  J.  Dickey  '85 
Gregorys.  Dickson  71 
Robert  G.  Dietrich 
Mario  P.  DiGiovanni  75 
Stephen  P.  Diguette  72 
Anne  M.  McPartland  Dodd  75 
Glenn  W.  Dodwell  77 
DanD.  DohertyJr. '81 
Alfred  R.  Doig  Jr. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Herbert  J. 

Dollerp 
Michael  W.  Donahue  '90 
William  J.  Dowd  '64 
David  A.  Drab  '85 
Randall  P.  Drabczuk  '84 
John  E.  Driscoll  '28 
Alfred  L.  Dunklee  '61 
Linda  S.  Dunn  '84 
Joseph  B.  Dzialo  76 
Wayne  E.  Eastman  70 
Robert  M.  Edgerly  '45 
Charles  J.  Egan  '34 
Edward  W.  Eidt  Jr.  '57 
Eli  Lilly  &  Company 
Richard  M.  Elliott  '38 
Franklin  P.  Emerson  '49 
Ensign-Bickford 

Foundation  Inc. 
Richard  E.  Epstein  '63 
Stephen  A.  Erikson  '69 
Paul  E.  Evans  '48 
Factory  Mutual  System 
David  R.  Fairbanks  '52 
Alan  S.  Feitelberg  '84 
Peter  R.  Fenner  '64 
Martin  P.  Ferguson  '84 
Richard  J.  Ferguson  '57 
Oscar  A.  Fick  Jr.  '38 
Joseph  L.  Fischer  '46 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  P. 

Fischer  p 
Niel  I.  Fishman  '48 
Robert  W.  Fitzgerald  '53 
John  J.  Fitzgibbons  Jr.  75 
Stephen  L.  Fitzhugh  75 
Patricia  A.  Graham 

Flaherty  75 
Robert  J.  Flaherty  '85 
Robert  W.  Flanagan  Jr.  74 
Florida  Power  &  Light 

Company 
James  D.  Fogarty  '61 
Warren  F.  Follett  '69 
Alan  S.  Foss  '52 
Thomas  R.  Fournier  '69 
George  F.  Foxhall  '61 
Charles  S.  Frary  Jr.  '34 
Roger  F.  French  '44 
Linda  S.  Fritz  '74 
Richard  W.  Frost  '62 
Richard  C.  Furman  '69 
John  J.  Gabarro  '61 
Michael  Gaffin  '55 
Andre  F.  Gagnon  '80 
Cynthia  L.  Gagnon  '82 
Theodore  E.  Gazda  '46 
John  H.  Geffken  '63 
General  Dynamics 

Corporation 
William  F.  Gess  Jr.  '58 
F.  Clark  Gesswein  '64 
Frederick  C.  Gilbert  '48 
David  A.  Gillespie  '82 
Andrew  J.  Giokas  70 
Donald  J.  Girard  '46 
Donald  P.  Givens  '66 
Joseph  Glasser  '35 
Mrs.  Allan  Glazer  '47 
Paul  R.  Glazier  '37 
Gerald  H.  Gleason  '49 
Kenneth  E.  Gleason  Sr.  '33 
Arthur  E.  Goddard  II  '63 
Charles  N.  Goddard  '63 
Loretta  M.  Goeller  76 
Edward  M.  Gonsalves  '81 
David  L.  Goodman  '62 
Alexander  L.  Gordon  '36 
Saul  Gordon  '50 
Denise  C.  Gorski  75 
Martina  R.  Gorski-Strong  '84 
Willard  T.  Gove  '40 
Winfield  D.  Gove  '24 
Robert  N.  Gowing  '49 
Paul  B.  Grautski  '84 
Thomas  B.  Graves  76 
Leland  E.  Gray  Jr.  '48 
Bruce  M.  Green  '69 
George  D.  Greenwood  '34 
Donald  J.  Grenier  '55 
R.  Reed  Grimwade  '50 
Frank  A.  Gross  Jr.  '46 
GTE  Sylvania  Inc. 
James  G.  Hackendorf  '60 
Joseph  Haddad  '34 
Alan  R.  Hahnel  74 
David  L.  Haight  '44 
Allan  L.  Hall  '30 
James  R.  Hall  76 
Raymond  E.  Hall  '31 
Carl  A.  Hammar  '54 
Janet  L.  Hammarstrom  '80 
George  E.  Hanff  '38 


Timothy  B.  Hardy  '85 
Bradford  J.  Harper  '59 
Hartford  Insurance  Company 
Francis  S.  Harvey  '37 
Alan  F.  Hassett  70 
Bradford  F.  Hawley '51 
Charles  M.  HealeyJr.  '26 
David  G.  Healey  '69 
Herbert  S.  Hebel  '59 
Fred  H.  Hedin  '26 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ari  Helenius  p 
Harold  F.  Henrickson  '36 
John  F.  Henrickson  '65 
Peter  M.  Herron  '67 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter 

Hewitson  p 
Patricia  M.  Hickey  '88 
Merrill  W.  Higgins  '42 
Richard  H.  Hill  '83 
Hoechst  Celanese 

Corporation 
David  H.  Hoercher  '80 
George  L.  Hogeman 
Franklin  K.  Holbrook  '43 
Hollingsworth  &  Vose 

Company 
Ralph  H.  Holmes  '37 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  M.  Holt  p 
Honeywell  Fund 
Keith  E.Hongisto  71 
Glendon  C.  Home  '62 
Malcolm  D.  Horton  '50 
Richard  B.  Hosmer  '61 
Household  International  Inc. 
Raymond  K.  Houston  '38 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Herbert 

Howard  p 
William  C.  Howard  '45 
Donald  W.  Howe  Jr.  '38 
Harris  C.  Howland  70 
David  B.  Hubbell  73 
Mark  Hubelbank  '68 
Douglas  E.  Hudson  '83 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stephen  S. 

Hullp 
Leonard  G.  Humphrey  Jr.  '35 
Thomas  F.  Humphrey  '59 
Charles  F.  Hunnicutt  '65 
Lewis  W.  Huntoon  '62 
Daniel  Hurley  '80 
Daniel  L.  Hussey  '25 
Frederick  E.  Hyatt  Jr.  '36 
[MO  Industries 
Instron  Corporation 
International  Paper  Company 
Alfred  E.Irelan '61 
ITT  Corporation 
John  P.  Jacobson  '65 
Robert  S.  Jacobson  '46 
David  A.  Jacqmin  78 
Eugene  A.  Jakaitis  '52 
Asjed  A.  Jalil  '61 
James  River  Corporation 
David  S.  Jenney  '53 
Mark  R.  Johnson  '81 
Richard  P.  Johnson  '57 
W.  Evans  Johnson  '51 
Johnson  &  Higgins 
Johnson  &  Johnson 
Arthur  W.  Joyce  Jr.  '50 
Kevin  E.  Joyce  '56 
William  B.  Juhnevicz  '58 
Kenneth  A.  Kadezabek  '82 


29 


John  M.  Kahn 
Peter  Kalil  '49 
Frank  A.  Kania  73 
Samuel  B.  Kaplan  '39 
Carl  H.  Karlsson  '60 
Francis  J.  Kaszynski  Jr.  '60 
Stuart  C.  Kazin  '61 
Frank  H.  Kean  Jr.  '33 
Richard  C.  Kee  '55 
John  H.  Keenan  '34 
Averill  S.  Keith  '43 
Eleanor  M.  Cromwick 

Kelly '81 
John  F.  Kelly  '82 
Michael  S.  Kenniston  78 
Norman  A.  Kerr  '42 
Carl  A.  Keyser  '39 
Thaddeus  J.  Kielar  '80 
Francis  J.  Kiernan  75 
Carleton  F.  Kilmer  Jr.  '64 
Osmond  L.  Kinney  '35 
Lothar  W.Kleiner  70 
Walter  E.  Knapp  '38 
George  W.  Knauff  '41 
Mark  G.  Knights  77 
William  L.  Knoblock  '56 
Steven  G.  Kochman  '83 
Stephen  R.  Kolek  77 
Victor  A.  Kolesh  '41 
Peter  P.  Koliss  '38 
Mark  A.  Koretz'71 
Jeffrey  Korn  73 
Robert  J.  Kowal  73 
Harold  A.  Krieger  '44 
Marshall  P.  Krupnick  '59 
James  A.  Kudzal  74 
Frederick  J.  Kull  '46 
Albert  J.  Kullas  '38 
Kenneth  N.  Kummins  78 
David  H.  Laananen  '64 
M.  Stephen  Lajoie  '64 
Peter  A.  Lajoie  '60 
Leonard  B.  Landall  '39 
David  G.  Lapre  74 
Alfred  F.  Larkin  Jr.  '44 
Law  Engineering 
Stephen  R.  Lawry  '80 
Edward  J.  Ledden  74 
Richard  G.  Ledoux  '61 
Sang  Ki  Lee  '60 
Henry  E.  Leikkanen  '55 
Thaddeus  J.  Lelek  70 
George  N.  Lemmon  III  '65 
Joel  I.  Leonard  '60 
Marshall  S.  Levine  '55 
Robert  S.  Levine  '66 
Carl  W.  Lewin  '39 
Daniel  G.  Lewis  Jr.  '47 
Lester  L.  Libby  '35 
William  G.  Light  71 
Edward  E.  Lindberg  '60 
Paul  R.  Lindberg  '66 
Richard  C.  Lindstrom  '55 
Lester  N.  Lintner  '32 
Charles  Lipson  '60 
Michael  A.  Littizzio  '63 
James  M.  Lockwood  70 
Loctite  Corporation 
Eugene  C.  Logan  '45 
Fred  H.  Lohrey  '56 
Joseph  D.  Lojewski  '52 
George  H.  Long  Jr.  '57 
Lotus  Development 


Corporation 
Charles  L.  Loveridge  Jr.  '48 
Peter  H.  Lukesh  '66 
Richard  J.  Lyman  '37 
John  Machonis  Jr.  '63 
Douglas  B.  MacLaren  '54 
Homer  E.  MacNutt  Jr.  '49 
Frank  A.  MacPherson  '51 
Roger  H.  Maddocks  '63 
Ellen  E.  Madigan  '92 
Mark  A.  Mahoney  74 
George  A.  Makela  '35 
Kenneth  M.  Makowski  73 
John  F.  Malloy  Jr.  '54 
Paul  R.  Malnati  '66 
Steven  E.  Mandell  79 
Paul  A.  L.  Mannheim  '61 
John  F.  Manning  Jr.  '80 
William  E.  Mansfield  '51 
Suzanne  J.  Call  Margerum  '81 
Louis  J.  Marsella  '56 
George  A.  Marston  '30 
Robert  R.  Martin  75 
Robert  W.  Martin  '39 
Lawrence  J.  Martiniano  74 
Michele  F.  Mass  78 
McDonnell  Douglas 

Foundation 
James  E.  McGinnis  '41 
Robert  E.  Mcintosh  Jr.  '62 
James  G.  McKernan  '48 
Malcolm  G.  McLeod  '54 
Donald  M.  McNamara  '55 
Harold  A.  Melden  Jr.  '49 
Brian  C.  Mellea  76 
Orlando  R.  Mendez  '67 
Richard  T.  Merrell  '33 
Behrends  Messer  Jr.  '43 
Charles  B.  Miczek  '46 
Edward  A.  Mierzejewski  '69 
John  E.  Miller 
Minnesota  Mining  and 

Manufacturing  Co. 
John  D.  Minott  '57 
Robert  F.  Mizula  '80 
Gerald  F.  Morris  '65 
Morton  International  Inc. 
Paul  V.  Moruzzi  '82 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gregory  A. 

Moser  p 
John  S.  Mudgett  '38 
Frederic  H.  Mulligan  71 
Charles  F.  Mulrenan  '51 
Duncan  W.  Munro  '51 
William  J.  Museler  '64 
Albert  F.  Myers  '45 
William  H.  Nagel  '53 
Nalco  Chemical  Company 
Anthony  P.  Napikoski  '80 
Narragansett  Electric 

Company 
National  Starch  &  Chemical 

Corporation 
Stanley  P.  Negus  Jr.  '54 
Robert  M.  Neumeister  '45 
Robert  K.  Neunherz  '55 
New  England  Business 

Service  Inc. 
New  York  Telephone 

Company 
Niagara  Mohawk  Power 

Corporation 
Arthur  E.  Nichols  Jr.  '54 
William  R.  Nims  '66 


Maurice  Nirenstein  '49 
Norfolk  Southern  Corporation 
Torbjoern  G.  Nygaard  75 
Walter  0.  Nygaard  '38 
Occidental  Oil  &  Gas 

Corporation 
Terence  P.  O'Coin  '83 
Kevin  W.O'Connell'71 
Manus  H.  O'Donnell  '83 
John  F.  Ogorzalek  '61 
Michael  A.  O'Hara  78 
William  J.  O'Neil  '58 
Richard  C.  Olson  '50 
Richard  S.  Olson  '65 
Verner  R.  Olson  '35 
Steven  W.  Opolski  '84 
James  F.  O'Regan  '49 
Irving  F.  Orrell  Jr.  '51 
Michael  C.  Ortolano  '84 
Edmund  S.  Oshetsky  '46 
OSRAM  Sylvania  Inc. 
Joseph  J.  Osvald  '65 
Pacific  Telesis  Group 
Arthur  A.  Padovano  '65 
Earl  G.  Page  Jr.  '43 
John  R.  Palitsch  74 
CaryAPalulis'68 
William  D.  Parent  70 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Juan  Miguel 

Parodi  p 
John  W.  Patterson  '44 
Bruce  F.  Paul  '56 
Roy  A.  Pearson  Jr.  '58 
John  A.  Pelli  70 
Daniel  J.  Pender  '63 
Alton  L.  Penniman  '51 
Edward  G.  Perkins  72 
Ronald  S.  Perzan  '59 
John  H.  Peters  III  '40 
Donald  W.  Petersen  Jr.  '66 
C.  Raymond  Peterson  '44 
Donald  F.  Pethybridge  '38 
Robert  J.  Petit  Jr.  '90 
Barrett  S.  Pett  75 
David  J.  Pietraszewski  '69 
Edward  F.  Pietraszkiewicz  75 
Eric  0.  Pisila  '67 
Leonard  Polizzotto  70 
Gary  G.  Pontbriand  74 
Frederick  M.  Potter  '33 
Walter  B.  Power  III  '55 
Foster  C.  Powers  '37 
Robert  E.  Powers  '45 
William  E.  Powers  Jr.  '44 
PPG  Industries  Foundation 
Thurl  Richard  Price  72 
Howard  B.  Pritz  '58 
Provident  Mutual  Life 

Insurance 
George  P.  Prozzo  '57 
Wilfred  L.  Prue  72 
John  W.  Putis  Jr.  '80 
Quabaug  Rubber  Company 
Manuel  J.  Queijo  '44 
Raymond  J.  Quenneville  '35 
Martin  A.  Rafferty  '55 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ronald 

Redmond  p 
Donald  P.  Reed  '28 
Ronald  D.  Rehkamp  '68 
Walter  A.  Reibling  '54 
Norton  S.  Remmer  '60 
John  H.  Reynolds  '62 


Lester  J.  Reynolds  Jr.  '50 
Joaquim  S.S.  Ribeiro  '58 
David  J.  Ripple  '58 
George  P.  Rizzi  '59 
Gerald  C.  Robblee  '86 
Harvey  G.  Roberts  '58 
Nancy  L.  Roberts  77 
James  L.  Roche  '69 
Thomas  D.  Rockwood  79 
Richard  L.  Rodier  '46 
William  C.Rogler  Jr. '57 
Rohm  and  Haas  Company 
Stephen  W.  Rollins  '84 
William  M.  Rolya  70 
F.  Paul  Ronca  '24 
Morton  J.  Rosenberg  p 
Louis  J.  Rossi  '61 
Edward  J.  Roszko  '39 
Paul  A.  Rougeau  '63 
Jennifer  E.  Udall  Roy  '84 
Eugene  L.  Rubin  '53 
Walter  J.  Ruthenburg  III  '65 
Edwin  M.  Ryan  '41 
John  P.  Ryan  Jr. '81 
Elmer  S.  Sachse  '46 
Donald  R.  Sanders  '49 
Carleton  R.  Sanford  '27 
Donald  F.  Sanger  '62 
Edward  A.  Saulnier  '59 
Alice  A.  Sayler  74 
Walter  C.  Scanlon  '50 
Warren  H.  Schafer  '38 
Ralph  P.  Schlenker  '57* 
John  H.  Schmidt  '64 
Roland  W.  Schmitt 
Steven  H.  Schoen  76 
Bruce  E.  Schoppe  '60 
Michael  S.  Schultz  75 
Robert  J.  Schultz  '55 
Kenneth  G.  Schurzky  '67 
David  L.  Schwartz  75 
Richard  J.  Schwartz  70 
Wayne  E.  Schweidenback  73 
Robert  E.  Scott  '45 
Robert  J.  Scott  '69 
Roy  A.  Seaberg  Jr.  '56 
Stephen  Selinger  '69 
Joseph  A.  Senecal  '69 
William  A.  Seubert  '54 
Michael  D.  Shapiro  '65 
Jeffrey  E.  Shaw  '68 
Daniel  H.  Sheingold  '48 
Shell  Companies  Foundation 
Philip  C.  Sherburne  '34 
Philip  R.  Sherman  '88 
Michael  J.  Shorr  '92 
Steven  J.  Silva  76 
Albert  J.  Simonti  74 
Robert  A.  Sinuc  '66 
Robert  F.H.  Sisson  '81 
Richard  G.  Skoglund  '65 
Herbert  H.  Slaughter  Jr.  '46 
PaulS.  Sledzik'61 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  David  Sluter  p 
Alan  F.  Smelewicz  79 
Charles  S.  Smith  '35 
Donald  W.  Smith  '54 
Everett  P.  Smith  '40 
Dennis  E.  Snay  '63 
Fred  S.  Snively  '60 
Society  of  Fire  Protection 
Engineers 


Eric  W.  Soderberg  '35 
Software  &  Systems  Inc. 
Donald  A.  Soorian  '46 
Warren  A.  Spence  74 
George  V.  Spires  III  '64 
Warren  R.  Standley  '63 
Charles  M.  Stasey  '57 
Peter  G.  Stebbins  '66 
Michael  J.  Stephens  '57 
Peter  J.  Stephens  '56 
Charles  B.  Stewart 
Francis  E.  Stone  '40 
Michael  Stone  '84 
George  M.  Storti  '61 
Howard  H.  Street  111  '59 
David  B.  Sullivan  '59 
M.F.  Sullivan  70 
Lance  G.  Sunderlin  76 
Sun  Life  of  Canada 
Martin  Surabian  '69 
Benjamin  M.  Surowiecki  '65 
Alan  H.  Suydam  '67 
Roger  W.  Swanson  '51 
Gerrit  S.  Swart  '55 
Francis  B.  Swenson  '38 
John  H.  Sylvester  '30 
David  E.  Szkutak  79 
Joan  M.  Bolduc  Szkutak  79 
Alvin  E.  Tanner  '57 
Thomas  J.  Tantillo  75 
William  E.  Tanzer  '67 
William  R.  Taylor  '55 
Tech  Old  Timers 
Edwin  D.  Tenney  '59 
Harry  Terkanian  '40 
Texas  Instruments 

Foundation 
The  Textron  Charitable  Trust 
Textron  Inc. 
Peter  A.  Thacher  74 
Thiokol  Corporation 
Leo  J.  Thomas 
John  S.  Thompson  Jr.  '69 
Joseph  A.  Toce  70 
David  A.  Tone  '63 
Gerard  A.  Toupin  '66 
Towers  Perrin  Company 
Travelers  Insurance  Company 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Michael  W. 

Treeman  p 
Alden  F.  Tucker  '52 
Stephen  J.  TurekJr. '44 
Turner  Corporation 
Oliver  R.  Underhill  Jr.  '31 
United  Engineers  & 

Constructors  Inc. 
United  Illuminating  Company 
John  S.  Vale  '60 
William  VanHerwarde  75 
Shirley  Hossack  Van  Winkle 
Vincent  P.  Vignaly  '83 
Kenneth  R.  Wadland  72 
Richard  K.  Wagner  '63 
William  M.  Walker  '43 
Richard  W.  Wallahora  '68 
Warner-Lambert  Company 
Burl  S.  Watson  Jr.  '49 
William  A.  Webb 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spencer  Weig  p 
John  B.  Weigele  73 
J.  Richard  Weiss  Jr.  '42 
Axel  H.  Wendin  '26 
John  J.  West  Jr.  '88 


30 


Fall  1994 


Westinghouse  Education  Fund 
Harold  E.  White  '39 
Mark  D.  Whitley  73 
Morgan  M.  Whitney  Jr.  '59 
George  E.  Whitwell  77 
John  L.  Wilki  Jr.  '46 
Bruce  G.  Willbrant  '60 
John  H.  Williams  Jr.  '47 
Robert  S.  Williamson  '31 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  R.  Willis  p 
Thomas  M.  Wilsack  '84 
Paul  C.  Wilson  70 
Bruce  W.Woodford '61 
Charles  E.  Woodward  '31 
John  D.  Writer  '51 
William  E.  Wyman  '35 
Wyman-Gordon  Company 
Yang  Xu '91 
Robert  A.  Yates  '57 
Michael  H.  Zack  73 
Thomas  P.  Zarrilli  76 
Mary  M.  Zoeller  73 

$125  to  $249 

ABB  Combustion  Engineering 

Robert  B.  Abbe  '38 

Thomas  J.  Abdella  '81 

Stephanie  P.  Cullen  Abisla  '88 

Stephen  J.  Abrams  '53 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ronald  J.  Ackman  p 

John  S.  Adams  '92 

Aid  Association  for  Lutherans 

John  Albernaz  77 

Stephen  A.  Albino  77 

Alcan  Aluminum  Corporation 

Algonquin  Gas  Transmission 

Company 
Christopher  J.  Alicandro  '88 
Edward  K.  Allen  Jr.  '33* 
D.  Ray  Allshouse  '49 
David  J.  Altieri  76 
Paul  G.  Amazeen  '64 
William  L.  Ames  '42 
Analog  Devices  Inc. 
Chester  L.  Anderson  Jr.  '49 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Anderson  p 
Robert  E.  Anderson  '68 
W.  Roger  Anderson  '51 
Mark  G.  Andrews  72 
Stephen  R.  Andruchow  '69 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Theodore 

Angelakis  Sr.  p 
Sonja  M.  Annecharico  '90 
Edgar  C.  Ansaldi  '32 
David  L.  Anthony  '48 
Daniel  L.  Appelbaum  '88 
Kenneth  C.  Arifian  72 
Arizona  Public  Service  Company 
Neil  W.  Armstrong  '57 
John  E.  Arnold  79 
G.  Gilbert  Ashwell  '38 
Frank  Aspin  '42 
David  J.  Aspinwall  '80 
John  H.  Atchison  Jr.  '57 
Augat  Inc. 
Anni  H.  Autio  '82 
Michael  R.  Aylward  73 
Philip  Backlund  '57 
Henry  H.  Baker  Jr.  '50 
Garry  P.  Balboni  74 
Lawrence  K.  Barber  '37 
Robert  J.  Baron  '67 
Robert  E.  Barrett  '31 
James  P.  Barry  Jr.  '87 
John  W.  Barry  73 


Wayne  R.  Barry  '81 
Patricia  M.  Craig  Barstow  '84 
Thomas  R.  Barstow  '83 
Glen  A.  Bashian  '82 
Baxter  International  Inc. 
Andrew  M.  Beaudoin  '61 
Katherine  R.  Fowler  Becker  75 
Robert  H.  Becker  74 
Michael  C.  Beckerle  '83 
Beckman  Instruments  Inc. 
John  H.  Beckwith  '49 
James  H.  Beech  Jr.  76 
Robert  D.  Behn  '63 
Brian  N.  Belanger  '66 
John  V.  Bellantoni  '82 
Richard  B.  Belmonte  73 
Laurence  K.  Bennett  '88 
Michel  R.  Benoit  74 
Kenneth  C.  Benton  '63 
Marcia  J.  Huber  Berg  79 
Mrs.  Robert  Berger 
Michael  T.  Bergeron  '80 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  M. 

Bergeron  p 
Carl  G.  Bergstrom  '35 
Donald  P.  Bergstrom  '68 
Norman  A.  Bergstrom  Jr.  '68 
Alexander  Berman  11  '82 
Daniel  T.  Bernatowicz  '52 
Scott  A.  Berry  '83 
Kathleen  Berthelette  '80 
Kent  E.  Berwick  75 
Glen  R.  Betz  '44 
Bruce  E.  Beverly  73 
John  W.  Biddle  '60 
Francis  J.  Bigda  '49 
George  S.  Bingham  '40 
Scott  W.  Bishop  '88 
Peter  G.  Bladen  70 
Bonnie  J.  Cook  Blair  '81 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gilles  M.  Blaisp 
Jeffrey  E.  Blaisdell  73 
A.  Michael  Blaney  79 
Walter  A.  Blau  Jr.  '35 
Douglas  P.  Bobseine  '68 
BOC  Group  Inc. 
Arthur  R.  Bodwell  '64 
Richard  D.  Bohigian  '63 
Paul  A.  Bonczyk  '59 
Peter  J.  Bondy  '67 
Allan  J.  Bonomi  75 
Harvey  S.  Bornstein  '88 
David  F.  Botros  '90 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniel  G.  Boucher  p 
Robert  L.  Bourget  '59 
John  J.  BoursyJr.  71 
Cameron  P.  Boyd  '69 
Jack  F.  Boyd  '39 
William  E.  Boyd  '47 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arthur  C. 

Boynton  p 
EliG.  BraleyJr.  '48 
JohnW.BraleyJr.'57 
Santo  M.  Bramande  '57 
Douglas  W.  Brand  '80 
Robert  B.  Brautigam  '41 
James  E.  Breed  '45 
Daniel  K.  Breen  70 
Robert  J.  Brennan  76 
Todd  J.  Brennan  '80 
Oliver  G.  Briggs  Jr.  70 
Charles  J.  Brine  72 
Stephen  J.  Brodeur  '68 
Erik  A.  Brodin  75 
John  E.  Brogan  '50 
Richard  Brontoli  73 


Mark  W.  Brown  '82 
Dave  C.  Brownell  '88 
Stephen  B.  Brownell  '64 
Cynthia  L.  Bruder  '81 
David  L.  Brumback  111  '50 
William  A.  Brutsch  '62 
Chiara  L.  Whalen  Bubin  '84 
James  R.  Buell  73 
Gasper  Buffa  74 
Frederick  J.  Burg  '38 
John  P.  Burgarella  '50 
Paul  T.  Burgarella  79 
Alan  D.  Burke  '55 
Francis  X.  Burke  '92 
John  F.  Burke  72 
Allan  T.  Buros  Jr.  '67 
William  E.  Burpee  '34 
Ronald  H.  Burrowes  '91 
Malcolm  S.  Burton  '40 
George  L.  Bush  '27 
Philip  A.  Buttacavoli  '88 
Peter  J.  Caffrey  '86 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Cahill  p 
John  A.  Calcio  '87 
Donald  R.  Campbell  '53 
Donald  W.  Campbell  74 
Mark  Candello  75 
David  I.  Caplan  '48 
William  E.  Carew  Jr.  '37 
Donald  C.  Carlson  '65 
Hilding O.Carlson '31 
Richard  H.  Carlson  '50 
Carolina  Power  &  Light 

Company 
Gerard  E.  Caron  '68 
Matthew  J.  Caron  '88 
Stephen  B.  Carroll  '82 
Gary  E.  Carver  74 
John  P.  Casey  76 
Robert  R.  Cassanelli  '62 
Thomas  K.  Caste '61 
Robert  J.  Cataldo  77 
Caterpillar  Inc. 
Robert  E.  Cavallaro  '65 
Chester  Cekala  Jr.  '81 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilfred  Ceppetelli  p 
Brian  D.  Chace  '69 
James  Mon-Her  Chen  73 
Ernst  E.  Chenoweth  '64 
Wayne  P.  Chepren  74 
Paul  B.  Cherubini  '67 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bradford  L. 

Chetwynd  p 
Robert  E.  Chiabrandy  '53 
Francis  A.  Christiano  II  '91 
William  A.  Chudzik  '69 
Francis  A.  Cichowski  Jr.  '61 
Citibank 

Jennifer  A.  Pollard  Clark  78 
Henry  J.  Clark  III  '88 
Marcel  H.  Clavien  '63 
William  H.Clogston '91 
Robert  N.  Cochran  '51 
Samuel  W.  Cocks  '48 
James  L.  Coffin  '88 
Carl  J.  Colangelo  '83 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  Frederick 

Coleman  p 
William  V.  Collentro  '66 
David  R.  Collette  '67 
William  L.  Collins  78 
John  J.  Concordia  '48 
John  F.  Conlon  111  '82 
Edward  G  Conway  '33 
David  A.  Coombe  '65 
Thomas  R.  Copp  71 
John  A.  Coppola  '49 


William  D.  Coulopoulos  '48 
James  E.  Coyne  Jr.  '83 
E.  Bruce  Crabtree  '39 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Craig  p 
Daniel  C.  Creamer  '68 
William  J.  Cronin  Jr.  77 
Edward  D.  Cross  '40 
Michael  E.  Crowley  '87 
Carlton  E.Cruff  71 
Earl  R.  Cruff  '49 
CSC  Index  Inc. 
Andrew  J.  Cucchiara  72 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Anthony  Cullen  p 
Robert  B.  Cummings  '80 
Robert  A.  Cunneen  '81 
William  J.  Cunneen  '51 
Timothy  H.  Cupples  '93 
John  M.  Cuth  72 
Michael  J.  Dabkowski  76 
Dermot  J.  Daley  '82 
Paul  Dalton  '58 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Matteo  D'Anellop 
Scott  R.  Davidson  77 
James  W.  Davis  73 
Truman  S.  Dayton  '46 
Paul  J.  DeAndrea  75 
Chester  A.  Deane  '27 
Robert  H.  DeFlesco  Jr.  '68 
Cheryl  M.  Delay  '87 
GaryT.  DelGrego'91 
Frank  J.  DeMarco  Jr.  '50 
Joseph  A.  DeMauro  '80 
John  S.  Demko  '59 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  David  C. 

Dempster  p 
Edward  C.  Dench  '39 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Manuel  A.  De  Sa'  p 
Richard  R.  DesJardins  '85 
Anthony  V.  DeSpirito  Jr.  '87 
Garrett  H.  DeVlieg  '65 
William  J.  Dewkett  74 
Edward  T.  Diamantis  '93 
Anna  Maria  K.  Diaz  '83 
S.  Carlton  Dickerman  '40 
Norman  L.  Diegoli  '48 
Mark  T.  Dillon  '86 
James  P.  DiMilia  73 
Laura  Zarrella  Dion  '83 
Charles  W.  Dodd  74 
Donald  W.  Dodge  '50 
Maryellen  Doherty  79 
Marylou  D.  Place  Domino  '81 
Patrick  J.  Donahue  78 
Michael  J.  Donati  '82 
Robert  A.  Donnan  '48 
R.R.  Donnelley  &  Sons 

Company 
Robert  E.  Douglas  Jr.  '91 
Richard  A.  Downe  '64 
John  F.  Downes  78 
Edward  R.  Drechsel  Jr.  '49 
Kenneth  R.  Dresser  '41 
Donald  R.  Drew  75 
Raymond  G  Dube  '64 
Curtis  T.  Dudley  '80 
Richard  F.  duFosse  71 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roger  M.  Dufourp 
Clifford  J.  Dufresne  '86 
Henry  J.  Dumas  Jr.  '56 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  John 

Dunkelberg  Sr.  p 
David  E.  Dunklee  Jr.  '63 
Francis  X.  Dunn  '83 
Carl  R.  Dupre  '68 
Richard  A.  Dziura  78 
James  C.  Eilenberger  '81 
Wlfred  C.  Ekberg  '36 


C.  Milton  Ekberg  '32 
David  S.Elario'itl 
Louis  G.  Elias  '86 
William  C.  Emerson  78 
Richard  P.  Engert  '84 
Jacob  N.  Erlich  '62 
Bruce  M.  Eteson  72 
Howard  S.  Ewing  '50 
Paul  J.  Exner  71 
John  A.  Facca  '67 
Robert  Fair  75 
Michael  T.  Falcinelli  79 
Jeffrey  A.  Farash  76 
F.  William  Farnsworth  '59 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bobby  Felton  p 
Thomas  H.  Ferguson  73 
Joseph  G.  Ferrara  '67 
Joseph  A.  Ferrari  Jr.  '87 
Malcolm  E.  Ferson  '49 
George  L.  Fetherolf  Jr.  '44 
Gregg  A.  Fiddes  '85 
James  Figucia  '88 
Morton  S.  Fine  '37 
WilliamS.  Fischer  '81 
Joseph  B.  Fitzgerald  '88 
Michael  A.  Fitzgerald  74 
Mark  J.  FitzMaurice '81 
Mark  D.  Flaherty  '86 
Pierre  A.  Fleurant  78 
Thomas  J.  Foley  '89 
John  W.  Fondahl  '45 
Conrad  B.  Fong  73 
James  F.  Ford  70 
George  H.  Forsberg  '62 
Paul  N.  Fortier  '84 
MarkC.  Fortin  '91 
James  M.  Fowler  78 
Douglas  E.  Fraher  '83 
Gerda  Frank 

Pamela  M.  Baradine  Frank  76 
Charles  S.  Frary  111  '65 
Kenneth  C.  Fraser  '40 
Stanley  Friedman  '50 
Theodore  C.  Fritz  Jr.  '53 
Steven  J.  Frymer  '67 
Robert  C.  Fuller  '81 
Rafael  R.  Gabarro  '51 
Gerard  A.  Gabriel  79 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dana  H.  Gaebep 
Joseph  H.  Gaffen  74 
Robert  F.  Galligan  '57 
Edward  L.  Gallini  '57 
Willard  A.  Gallotte  '24 
Kenneth  A.  Gamache  79 
Nicolas  W.  Ganzon  '91 
Lori  Garon  p 
George  A.  Garrison  '53 
Richard  R.  Garstka  77 
William  H.  Gascoyne  '81 
Walter  M.  Gasek  Jr.  '59 
Wayne  D.  Gass  '59 
Jay  S.  Gehrig  78 
David  W.  Geiger  '65 
Hazel  A.  Fotheringham 

Geraghty  '85 
Clinton  A.  Gerlach  '42 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Gerry  p 
Carl  P.  Gerstle  78 
David  M.  Giddings  75 
Raymond  G.  Giguere  '53 
Jeffrey  E.  Gilbertson  '90 
Joseph  B.  Gill  '58 
Michael  S.  Gipps  73 
Cathryn  M.  Ricci  Giunta  '80 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Giurleo  Jr.  p 
Robert  W.  Glamuzina  '68 


WPI  Journal 


31 


Albert  B.  Glenn  '34 
Kenneth  A.  Gminski  '68 
George  W.Golding  Jr. '43 
Carl  L.  Goldknopf  72 
Richard  L.  Goldman  '55 
Amaro  Goncalves  '85 
Willard  W.  Goodwin  Jr.  '63 
Goodyear  Tire  &  Rubber 

Company 
Dickson  B.  Goon  '86 
Malcolm  G.  Gordon  '48 
Stephen  P.  Goudreau  '90 
Joseph  F.  Goulart  '67 
Philip  J.  Gow  '43 
David  L.  Gradwell  '68 
Robert  J.  Grande  76 
James  J.  Grasseschi  '86 
Jeffrey  W.Gravdahl76 
Stanley  W.  Graveline  '58 
Don  E.  Green  76 
Lawrence  S.  Green  '61 
Michael  C.  Greenbaum  73 
Jack  B.  Greenshields  II 71 
Robert  A.  Gregorio  79 
Robert  M.  Griffin  '58 
Robert  J.  Grillo  77 
Joseph  R.  Grimes  Jr.  '82 
John  R.  Grimwade  79 
Halsey  E.  Griswold  '51 
Kevin  A.  Griswold  '88 
Jeffrey  A.  Gross  '82 
Prescott  E.  Grout  '46 
J.  Edward  Guild  '36 
PhilipJ.Guimond'90 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert 

Gundermanp 
Diane  M.  Gunn  76 
Berton  H.  Gunter  '68 
Gordon  T.  Gurney '41 
Alan  R.  Gustafson  '57 
Frank  G.  Gustafson  '40 
James  B.  Gustafson  '65 
Lynn  L.  Gustafson  '82 
Richard  N.  Gustafson  '59 
Richard  G.  Gutowski  '89 
William  J.  Hakkinen  70 
David  C.  Hall  '84 
Kathleen  Lies  Hallren  79 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Michael  Hamelp 
James  L.  Hammett  Jr.  '65 
Robert  B.  Handyside  '47 
Robert  J.  Hansen  '80 
Norman  M.  Hardy  '60 
George  R.  Harris  73 
Harris  Corporation 
Donald  W.  Haskins  '33 
Sameer  S.  Hassan  '48 
Daniel  J.  Hastings  Jr.  '37 
Philip  C.  Hayes  73 
Paul  F.  Hayner  Jr.  '69 
Howard  W.  Haynes  '38 
Donald  B.  Hayward  '58 
Roswell  J.  Heald  '62 
Kenneth  M.  Healy  '53 
Joseph  J.  Hearne  '46 
James  G.  Hedrick  Jr.  '50 
David  K.  Heebner  '67 
William  C.  Hees  '59 
John  C.  Heid  76 
Barry  J.  Heitner'76 
William  E.  Helliwell  Jr.  71 
Andrew  J.  Heman  '69 
Allyn  W.  Hemenway  Jr.  '57 
Alison  P.  Carroll  Henderson  '87 
Robert  B.  Henderson  '84 
Robert  W.  Henderson  '48 


Kenneth  E.  Hermance  Sr.  '57 
Rolando  A.  Herrera  '86 
Carl  P.  Hershfield  '48 
Eric  B.  Hertz  77 
Jeffrey  S.  Hewes  73 
G.  Christopher  Heyl  '84 
Lisa  A.  LaChance  Heyl  '84 
Robert  D.  Hickey  '68 
Lisa  L.  Lacourse  Higgins  '87 
Timothy  M.  Higgins  73 
Victor  E.  Hill  '27 
James  B.  Hills  '69 
Malcolm  S.  Hinckley  '48 
Allen  G.  Holbrook  '80 
Richard  G.  Holden  '44 
Thomas  C.  Hollocher  Jr.  '53 
John  H.  Holmes  '68 
Robert  M.  Holt  '66 
John  J.  Homko  73 
Kenneth  A.  Homon  '62 
Richard  B.  Hopewell  71 
William  H.  Hopf  '58 
Richard  B.  Hopkinson  77 
Thomas  A.  Horan  '85 
Robert  J.  Horansky  '68 
Brian  M.  Horgan  '89 
Richard  K.  Home  '48 
Thomas  Houston  '60 
Robert  A.  Hoyt  '56 
Thomas  C.  Huard  72 
Arthur  J.  Hughes  79 
Peter  B.  Hunt  '84 
Mrs.  Lawrence  K.  Hyde  '22 
Barry  M.  Hynds  74 
Jeffrey  A.  Hynds  '69 
Joseph  J.  lantosca  Jr.  '83 
James  F.  Ingraham  Sr.  74 
Intel  Corporation 
David  C.  Ireland  '81 
Larry  Israel  '61 
Leighton  Jackson  '33 
Edward  H.  Jacobs  '42 
Irwin  Jacobs  '60 
Chester  F.  Jacobson  '59 
William  A.  Jacques  '49 
John  J.  Janas  III  79 
Michael  T.  Janus  '91 
Mary  L.  Jarvis  74 
Bruce  R.  Jenket  79 
Stephen  G.  Jennette  76 
Ankur  Jethi  '93 
Ronald  E.  Jodoin  '68 
George  W.  Johnson  71 
Jerry  L.  Johnson  70 
Kenneth  E.  Johnson  '65 
Mark  L.  Johnson  76 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Johnson  p 
John  D.  Jolls  70 
Douglas  A.  Jones  '82 
Asher  L.  Joslin  '33 
Edmond  H.  Judd  '50 
Thomas  M.  June  '51 
Jaak  Jurison  '54 
Charles  A.  Jutras  74 
Mark  A.  Jutras '85 
Barry  J.  Kadets '64 
Edward  W.  Kaleskas  '68 
Stephen  E.  Kaminski  73 
Stephen  J.  Kaneb  '82 
Jay  A.  Kapur  '91 
Robert  Karakoosh  '38 
Bryan  A.  Kashiwa  73 
Francis  E.  Kearney  '50 
Mel  G.  Keegan  '61 
Duncan  K.  Keill  '84 
Keith  M.  Kelble  '91 


Paul  W.  Kelley  72 
Arne  A.  Kellstrom  '48 
David  P.  Kelly  '82 
Jeffrey  T.Kelly '86 
Kevin  J.  Kelly  75 
Francis  E.  Kennedy  Jr.  '63 
Daniel  J.  Kennefick  79 
Thomas  H.  Kent  77 
John  K.  Keough  '87 
Roger  J.  Kern  70 
Otto  Kern  Jr.  '48 
WillemT.Keyer'85 
Thomas  M.  Kiely  '68 
Beth  Driscoll  Kinney  79 
Gary  L.  Kiontke  75 
Steven  J.  Kirincich  '89 
Donald  E.  Kirk  '59 
Ivan  H.  Kirsch  '60 
Miklos  Z.  Kiss  '90 
Kimberly  A.  Berg  Kitchens  '83 
Carlton  B.  Klein  78 
Charles  S.  Knothe  '66 
Douglas  A.  Knowles  76 
Russell  H.  Koelsch  '65 
Joseph  W.  Kolis  79 
Kenneth  W.  Kolkebeck  72 
Andrew  M.  Kopach  76 
David  T.  Kosewski  '89 
Chester  Kotowski  74 
Darwin  W.  Kovacs  73 
Michael  J.  Kozakiewicz  74 
Donald  H.  Kray  73 
Eric  M.  Krichbaum  '82 
Gary  R.  Krumpholz  78 
Roger  W.  Kuenzel  '59 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frank  Kuffel  Jr.  p 
Frederick  J.  Kulas  73 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Albert  P. 
Kupcinskas  Jr.  p 
Mitsuo  Kuwada  '83 
Raymond  F.  LaBine  '53 
Robert  C.  Labonte  '54 
Joyce  M.  Lachance '82 
Raymond  J.  Laferriere  '47* 
Michael  E.  LaFleur  '82 
Bruce  L.  Lamarre  76 
Joan  M.  Landry  '85 
Steven  J.  Landry  '87 
Theresa  B.  Langevin  79 
Jeffrey  W.  Laprise  '85 
Ernest  A.  Larose  '50 
David  E.  Larson  '91 
Kent  D.  Larson  '80 
Jane  I.  Lataille  75 
Paul  G.  Laurienzo  '81 
David  J.  Lavallee  '89 
Lawrence  R.  Lavallee  '59 
Jacqueline  Lawn  p 
Kent  C.  Lawson  70 
Aaron  W.  Laznovsky  '91 
Mark  F.  Lefebvre  '80 
Michael  E.  Legere  '89 
James  I.  Leighton  77 
Anthony  F.  Leketa  '69 
LeoE.  Lemere  Jr.  '51 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Lemons  p 
Roger  R.  Lesieur  '61 
John  P.  Letourneau  '80 
Nathan  R.  Levine  '36 
Stephen  C.  LeViness  '82 
Elliott  W.  Lewis  '52 
John  R.  Lewis  '65 
Jeffrey  C.  Lindberg  74 
Donald  E.  Lindsay  Jr.  '84 
Mitchell  J.  Liro  Jr.  77 
James  F.  Liston  Jr.  '80 


Roger  A.  Litman  '58 
Joseph  W.  Little '61 
Robert  S.  Lloyd  '39 
David  J.  Lodigiani  79 
Calvin  F.  Long  '46 
Lisa  A.  Longwell  '84 
Gregory  Loukedes  '93 
Bernard  A.  Lovelace  '38 
Russell  A.  Lovell  Jr.  '40 
Malcolm  E.  Low  '61 
Eugene  F.  Lowe  Jr.  '30 
David  B.  Luber  '65 
Alvin  A.  Luce '41 
Terrence  P.  Luddy  73 
Raymond  K.  Lum  '80 
David  A.  Luoma  '62 
David  N.  Lyons  '62 
Kenneth  A.  Lyons  '46 
Kenneth  R.  MacDonald  78 
Stephen  N.  MacDonald  '90 
Otis  E.  Mace  '31 
Timothy  J.  Mackie  70 
Anne  L.  Madara  76 
Neil  M.  Mager  '82 
John  V.  Magnano  '66 
Fred  C.  Magnuson  Jr.  '57 
Joseph  J.  Magri  73 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  F.  Mahoneyp 
Marc  F.  Mahoney  76 
William  C.  Maine  '36 
Stephen  A.  Maiorano  73 
A.  George  Mallis  '38 
Allan  R.  Mandelin  '44 
Paul  A.  Mandeville  '80 
John  C.  Mangiagli  Jr.  76 
Harry  S.  Mankey  '50 
John  F.  Mar  '83 
Michael  A.  Marando  '90 
John  C.  Margo  '50 
Stephen  A.  Mariano  '85 
Anthony  J.  Marino '87 
Marion  Merrell  Dow  Inc. 
Edward  R.  Markert  '34 
Alfred  J.  Marotta  79 
Hannah  H.  Martel  79 
Joseph  A.  Marubbio  '61 
Frederick  W.  Marvin  '46 
Suresh  S.  Masand  74 
Edward  J.  Masterson  '88 
Ronnie  R.  Materniak  75 
Scott  E.  Mathews  '82 
Philip  A.  Mattson  '68 
William  H.  Mawdsley  73 
Jeffrey  M.  May  '89 
Richard  G.  Mayer  '40 
Peter  D.  McDermott  73 
David  McEwan  '39 
Steven  L.  McGrath  74 
David  F.  McGuigan  74 
Michael  G.  Mclntyre  '84 
Wallace  McKenzie  Jr.  73 
JohnD.  McKeogh'51 
William  R.  McLeod  Jr.  '58 
Thomas  G.  McNeice  76 
Kevin  M.  McQuaid  '67 
Milton  Meckler  '54 
Jill  E.  Fabricant  Meier  '80 
Bernard  J.  Meister  '62 
David  D.  Melanson  '93 
Douglas  L.  Melanson  '83 
Jennifer  L.  Mellone  '86 
Frank  D.  Meoli  70 
Ronald  L.  Merrill  '59 
Frederick  P.  Mertens  '57 
Paul  J.  Messias  '90 
John  R.  Messier  76 


Robert  A.  Meyer  '52 
Stanley  L.  Miller  '51 
William  L.Millette  Jr. '88 
Philip  A.  Minotti  '89 
William  P.  Mitnik  '34 
Harry  H.  Mochon  Jr.  '49 
Richard  A.  Molongoski  '81 
Ralph  K.  Mongeon  Jr.  '55 
Donald  K.  Montgomery  '83 
Jeffrey  H.  Moody  75 
Thomas  G.  Moog  '87 
Herbert  S.  Moores  '61 
John  L.  Mooshian  '29 
Stephen  J.  Morgan  '82 
George  R.  Morin  '46 
Robert  P.  Morin  75 
Elizabeth  A.  Morrison  '81 
Homer  R.  Morrison  '35 
William  F.  Mufatti  '51 
Robert  B.  Mulholland  Jr.  '60 
Peter  J.  Mulvihill  78 
Douglas  C.  Murdoch  '91 
Barbara  G.  Weiss  Murphy  '81 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eugene  Murphy  p 
Eugene  L.  Murphy  '68 
Walter  J.  Mussoni  '49 
Russell  B.  Naber  74 
Herbert  P.  Narbeshuber  '53 
Ronald  F.  Naventi  '66 
The  Nellie  Mae  Fund 
John  L.  Nenninger  '80 
Thomas  A.  Nery  76 
Robert  P.  Neville  '82 
Richard  J.  Newhouse  75 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Newton  p 
Donald  L.  Nichols  '46 
Patrick  J.  Nicholson  78 
Charles  R.  Nickerson  74 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Terence 

Nickolette  p 
Herman  A.  Nied  '50 
Roland  L.  Nims  '35 
Helge  V.  Nordstrom  '50 
Ronald  A.  Norris  77 
Northern  Telecom  Inc. 
Augustus  J.  Nunes'81 
Bruce  E.  Nunn  73 
Allison  J.  Huse  Nunn  73 
NYNEX 

Paul  G.  Nystrom  '41 
Michael  W.  Oakes  77 
Gunilla  A.  Oberg  '93 
David  F.  Oberhauser  '90 
Colleen  A.  O'Connor  '80 
Thomas  J.  O'Connor  '59 
Robert  J.  Oftring  '81 
Edward  F.  O'Hara  '68 
John  W.  Oldham  '87 
Janet  L.  O'Leary  '84 
Olin  Corporation  Charitable 

Trust 
David  N.  Olson  '57 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edmund  Olson  p 
Richard  C.  Olson  '67 
James  A.  O'Neill  '93 
Bruce  R.  Orenstein  79 
Edward  M.  Ortman  '89 
Ronald  C.  Ouellet  '80 
Andrew  J.  Owen  '89 
Owens-Corning  Fiberglas 

Corporation 
Edward  W.  Pacek  '41 
Michael  R.  Pacek  '82 
Steven  S.  Packard  72 
Richard  H.  Palm  '69 
Danny  E.  Palubeckis  '89 
Mark  K.  Pankoski  '80 


32 


Fall  1994 


Armand  L.  Paquette  '26 

Donald  F.  Rapp  '69 

Lionel  H.  Seccombe  Jr.  '45 

Shawn  L.  Sullivan  72 

Katherine  M.  Kruczek 

Stephen  A.  Parent  79 

Nikitas  D.  Rassias  72 

Joseph  J.  Sedor  '87 

Sun  Microsystems  Inc. 

Vignaly  '84 

Elizabeth  Roughan  Parker  '84 

Lionel  C.  Reed  '35 

JohnB.  Seguin'51 

Robert  F.  Sutherland  Jr.  '57 

Paul  R.  Vilandre  '58 

Gordon  M.  Parker  '61 

Morgan  R.  Rees  '61 

David  J.  Seibel  '85 

Kathryn  A.  Spieler  Swain  '84 

Andrew  J.  Viszmeg  '85 

Robert  E.  Parker  '64 

David  A.  Reeves  '80 

Ralph  E.  Sellars  Jr.  '58 

Edward  1.  Swanson  '45 

Spiro  L.  Vrusho  '57 

Russell  W.  Parks  '41 

Melissa  A.  Young  Reeves  '80 

Stephanie  J.  Chapman  Sequin  '84 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  F. 

Mark  D.  Waddell  76 

Robert  M.  Pascucci  72 

John  L.  Reid  '51 

Lisabeth  T.  Shablin  '86 

Sweeter  Sr.  p 

Michael  L.  Wagner  77 

Arthur  D.  Patten  '80 

Laurent  O.  Rheault  79 

Arnold  G.  Sharp  '53 

Willard  M.  Sweetser  Jr.  '63 

Thornton  H.Waite  71 

Alvin  B.  Pauly  '69 

Christine  Ribeiro  '89 

Peter  M.  Sharpe  '80 

Kenneth  A.  Swenson  78 

Kevin  F.  Wall  76 

John  D.Payne '81 

John  C.  Ricciardi  '82 

Kathleen  E.  Molony  Shea  77 

Edward  T.  Swierz  '47 

John  M.  Wallace  '62 

James  D.  Pearl  '82 

Charles  M.  Richardson  '46 

Neil  M.  Shea  '67 

Robert  C.  Sykes  73 

Francis  J.  Walsh  Jr.  '80 

Robert  J.  Pearson  '80 

Donald  B.  Rising  '57 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Shea  p 

Anne-Marie  Sylvia  '81 

Mary  Foley  Walsh  '85 

John  F.  Peavey  '39 

Elaine  M.  Kokernak  Ritchie  '82 

Joseph  P.  Sheehan  '48 

Frank  Barry  Sylvia  Sr.  '64 

Yee  Kwok  Timothy  Wang  '90 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Philip  E.  Pelletierp 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Rixon  p 

Robert  W.  Sherburne  78 

Alfred  G.  Symonds  '65 

Kathleen  A.  Warburton  79 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Travis  Pence  p 

Joseph  J.  Roberts  '80 

Craig  Sherman  '80 

Norman  P.  Szamocki  74 

Robert  H.  Warburton  Jr.  78 

Mrs.  Julian  B.  Pendleton  '25 

James  A.  Robertson  '26 

Howard  Sherry  '65 

Kenneth  H.  Szeflinski  74 

Daniel  P.  Ward  '84 

William  F.  Perkins  '80 

Bruce  S.  Robinson  70 

Howard  A.  Sholl  '60 

Edward  A.  Szkutak  Jr.  '80 

Louis  A.  Wargo  '64 

Edward  B.  Pero  '66 

John  W.  Roche  IV  '80 

John  R.  Shotliff '71 

Karla  J.  Twedt  Szkutak  '84 

Jerry  H.  Warren  '80 

Andrew  T.  Perreault  '69 

Paul  A.  Rollo  '87 

Siemens-Allis  Inc. 

C.  Stephen  Szlatenyi  Jr.  73 

Brian  G.  Wasko  '82 

John  J.  Perrone  '67 

Harvey  J.  Rosenfeld  '59 

Ojars  M.  Silarais  '65 

John  J.  Szostek  '69 

John  W.  Watkins  75 

Edward  C.  Perry  Jr.  '47 

Sheldon  W.  Rothstein  '61 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Deborah  Silvestri  p 

Jeffrey  L.  Szwarc  '80 

Steven  C.  Watson  71 

Roger  N.  Perry  Jr.  '45 

Thomas  H.  Rothwell  '53 

Ronald  Simmons  75 

Stanley  Szymanski  '64 

Leonard  J.  Weckel  '66 

Russell  E.  Person  '63 

Phillip  J.  Roux  79 

William  P.  Simmons  '41 

Thomas  Szymanski  73 

Stanley  C.  Wells  Jr.  '60 

Neal  D.  Peterson  '51 

James  E.  Roy  Jr.  '67 

Arthur  G.  Simonian  '87 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  G.  Table  p 

Andrew  P.  Wemple  74 

Paul  A.  Peterson  78 

Steven  H.  Roy  '83 

Harry  W.  Simpson  '58 

Bradford  Tannebring  78 

Ronald  P.  Wen  '88 

Richard  M.  Peterson  74 

Frederick  F.  Roys  '82 

J.  Robert  Sims  '90 

Ronald  D.  Tarallo  Jr.  '86 

Mark  A.  Wendell  74 

Stephen  W.  Petroff  '68 

James  F.  Rubino  74 

Charles  J.  Sisitsky  '67 

Daniel  P.  Tarkiainen  '80 

Richard  T.  Wester  '60 

Petrolite  Corporation 

David  J.  Rubinstein  '82 

Neil  J.  Skidell  '87 

Phyllis  K.Tarnoffp 

Western  Massachusetts 

Peter  R.  Picard  '67 

Smil  Ruhman  '49 

Richard  E.  Skowronski  78 

Michael  G.  Tashjian  '34 

Electric  Company 

Wayne  L.  Pierce  '68 

Donald  W.  Rule  '69 

WilliamA.SlagleJr.'33 

Caroline  A.  Tatara  '85 

Richard  V.  Whalen  '80 

Michael  D.  Piispanen  '88 

Jean  M.  Reny  Runge  75 

Stephen  R.  Slavick  73 

Norman  J.  Taupeka  '58 

Stephen  J.  Wheaton  '85 

Arthur  L.  Pike  '48 

James  D.  Russell  77 

Ellen  M.  Sloan  '89 

Melinda  F.  Taylor  '87 

Mrs.  Alfred  J.  Wheeler '51 

Walter  E.Pillartz  Jr. '61 

William  A.  Russell  '26 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sylvia  Smit  p 

Robert  D.Taylor '31 

John  J.  Wheeler  '49 

Edward  W.  Piltzecker  Jr.  '67 

Erin  T.  Ryan  '89 

Charles  E.  Smith  Jr.  '82 

Eugene  J.  Teir  '33 

Terry  A.  Wheeler  '82 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Christos 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Rzasap 

David  E.  Smith  79 

Tenneco  Inc. 

Elliot  F.  Whipple  '67 

Pissimissisp 

Wayne  M.  Saari  '82 

David  K.  Smith  '67 

Douglas  A.  Tenney  '86 

Gordon  P.  Whitcomb  '34 

Robert  E.  Pizzano  Jr.  '85 

Jacob  A.  Sacks  '36 

Gregory  F.X.  Smith  78 

Andrew  D.  Terwilleger  '62 

Robert  F.  White  '64 

Suzanne  C.  Piatt 

Patricia  A.  Pfeiffer  Salamone  75 

Myron  H.  Smith  '60 

Donald  W.  Thompson  '50 

Mark  J.  Whitney  74 

Robert  T.  Pleines  '68 

Edmund  J.  Salate  '48 

Russell  M.  Smith  '47 

Ronald  E.  Thompson  '52 

Howard  P.  Whittle  '54 

James  R.  Plummer  '91 

Mark  F.  Samek  72 

Stephen  E.  Smith  '87 

Walker  T.  Thompson  '62 

Howard  A.  Whittum  '34 

Joseph  F.  Pofit  '46 

Ellsworth  M.  Sammet  '49 

Stephen  H.  Smith  '66 

Wallace  B.  Thompson  Jr.  '49 

Richard  M.  Wholey  '88 

Guenther  T.  Pollnow  '66 

Edward  G.  Samolis  '52 

SmithKline  Beecham 

John  B.  Thornton  '93 

Stanley  M.  Wilbur  '62 

Daniel  T.  Pond  '86 

Harry  W.  Sandberg  '45 

Corporation 

Michael  C.  Thorogood  77 

Dean  C.  Wilcox  78 

Kenneth  A.  Poole  78 

Douglas  R.  Sandor  '81 

Richard  F.  Socha  73 

Ronald  S.  Tiberio  '92 

James  C.  Wilkinson  '91 

Albert  P.  Popoli  73 

Donald  E.  Sands  '51 

Thomas  J.  Socha  74 

Thomas  C.  Tillman  '85 

Franklyn  Williams  '44 

Donald  G.  Post  '53 

Deborah  M.  Sanna  '93 

Walter  H.  Sodano  '40 

Brian  M.  Timura  78 

David  E.  Wilson  '66 

Bettina  Tuttle  Potter  78 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carl  G. 

Richard  A.  Sojka  72 

Mark  S.  Tino  '80 

John  E.  Wilson  '46 

David  F.  Pouliot  73 

Santesson  p 

Stanley  W.  Sokoloff  '59 

John  E.  Titus  '80 

Joyce  C.  Wilson  73 

A.  Hamilton  Powell  '37 

Mark  J.  Sarmiento  '92 

Thomas  R.  Sokolowski  '64 

Mark  C.  Toomey  '91 

Roger  D.  Wilson  70 

John  D.  Powers  72 

Lawrence  A.  Savage  '81 

Harry  A.  Sorensen  '30 

The  Toro  Company 

William  M.  Wilson  '35 

Stephen  J.  Powlishen  74 

Brian  J.  Savilonis  72 

Jack  E.  Speight  '84 

James  H.  Torrey  Jr.  '80 

Jeffrey  S.Wnek  75 

William  F.  Pratt  '67 

Edward  A.  Sawtell  '38 

Leslie  A.  Reed  Spiars  '89 

Melissa  J.  Towler  '93 

Robert  A.  Wojciak  '87 

Irvin  S.  Press  74 

David  E.  Sawyer  76 

Gary  M.  Staab  '86 

Terry  G.  Tracy  '65 

Stephen  J.  Wojciak  75 

Maurice  Pressman  '38 

Randall  P.  Saxton  '26 

Standex  International 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  A. 

Robert  F.Wolff  Jr. '58 

Charles  B.  Price  111  76 

Raymond  W.  Scanlon  72 

Corporation 

Triantafillou  p 

Daniel  G.  Wong  '84 

Robert  D.  Price  '85 

Elton  J.  Sceggel  '42 

Brian  K.  Standley  '88 

Paul  G.  Trudel  '67 

Ronald  W.  Wood  '65 

Carl  B.  Pritchett  Jr.  '46 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richard  T. 

Stanhome  Inc. 

Steve  A.  Tuch  '82 

Kimball  R.  Woodbury  '44 

The  Prudential  Insurance 

Schachner  p 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Michael 

Hugh  K.  Tufts  Jr.  '54 

Thomas  0.  Woodbury  '81 

Company 

Scott  E.  Schaefer  '85 

Stankoskyp 

Daniel  Turner  '64 

Gordon  G.  Woodfall  74 

MichaelS.  Przybyla '81 

Richard  S.  Schaufeld  76 

Thomas  S.  Staron  Jr.  '62 

Lee  D.  Turner  74 

Robert  C.  Wright  '36 

Milosh  T.  Puchovsky  '88 

Herbert  S.  Schiller  77 

John  E.  Stauffer  '60 

Paul  W.  Ulcickas  '63 

Lisa  M.  Wylie  '80 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gaetano  Pucillo  p 

Richard  G.  Schmitt  '52 

Richard  H.  Steeves  70 

Union  Camp  Corporation 

John  H.  Wyman  '36 

Charles  C.  Puffer  '35 

Timothy  R.  Schmoyer  '87 

Carl  J.  Stefanik  '62 

The  Upjohn  Company 

Joseph  A.  Yanikoski  '87 

Jay  J.  Pulli  75 

Henry  A.  Schneck  '65 

Robert  Stein  71 

Foundation 

Yankee  Gas  Services  Company 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Madhukar 

Kurt  A.  Schneider  '51 

Kenneth  J.  Steinhardt  78 

The  UPS  Foundation 

Jon  A.  Zapolski  '92 

Purohitp 

Edward  D.  Schrull  72 

Robert  A.  Stengard  '45 

David  S.  Ure  '87 

Arthur  Zavarella  '30 

William  U.  Pursell  Jr.  '59 

Raymond  W.  Schuh  '37 

Jeanne  Travers  Stetson  '86 

Richard  M.Urella '81 

Robert  E.  Zawistowski  78 

Donald  W.  Putnam  '32 

Roy  N.  Schumacher  '80 

Paul  B.  Stewart  '60 

David  J.  Usher  '64 

Louis  W.  Zitnay  70 

Stephen  M.  Pytka  '68 

Eric  L.  Schwartz  '84 

Mary-Jane  Hall  Stimson  '81 

Alan  M.  Vale  '92 

Frank  J.  Zone  Jr.  70 

Michael  P.  Quarrey  '83 

Andrew  D.  Schwarz  '86 

Philip  B.  Stiness  '84 

Erik  C.  Van  Bork  '84 

Zurn  Industries  Inc. 

Robert  K.  Quattrochi  '49 

Science  Applications 

Robert  A.  St.  Jean  '60 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  W. 

Peter  L.  Quinn  '89 

International  Corporation 

Donald  F.  Stockwell  '51 

Van  Kirkp 

Richard  P.  Quintin  '55 

Charles  P.  Scopelitis  73 

Thomas  A.  Storey  '80 

Arsenio  Vargas  '88 

Peter  Rado  70 

Gregory  A.  Scott  77 

Lisa  Krauss  Strampach  '80 

Robert  P.  Vary '91 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sheikh  Rahman  p 

Richard  A.  Scott  '62 

Stephanie  A.  Strohbeck  '84 

Richard  D.  Ventre  74 

Surinder  S.  Rana  '84 

Richard  A.  Seagrave  '48 

Michael  R.  Strong  '93 

Andrew  F.  Vesper  '85 

Ronald  P.  Ranauro  '83 

Robert  P.  Seaton  '43 

Peter  J.  Sugda'61 

JosephP.VignalyJr.  '82 

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WPI  Journal 


VOLUME  XCVIII  NO.  1     WINTER  1995 


FEATURE 


18  fcUJARDS  FOR  A  JfTlALL  PLAIKT 

David  Brooks,  Alison  Chisolm,  Diane  Benison,  Michael  Dorsey, 
Joan  Killough-Miller  and  Ruth  Trash 

It's  been  more  than  three  decades  since  Rachel  Carson's  Silent 
Spring  awakened  the  world's  environmental  consciousness. 
In  that  time,  hundreds  of  alumni  have  used  their  WPI  education 
as  a  stepping-stone  to  rewarding  careers  in  environmental 
management  and  protection.  Here  are  some  of  their  stories. 


2 
4 


6 


9 


12 


DEPARTMENTS 


Advance  Word    Michael  Dorsey 

Environmental  education  covers  the  academic  spectrum  at  WPI. 

Letters 

A  disappointing  celebration;  Marietta  Fletcher  also  a  Sinclair;  thanks  for  the  Internet 
story;  promote,  but  don't  mandate,  the  F.E.;  Fine's  article  "timely  and  necessary." 

Ingenuities    Michael  Dorsey 

The  World  Wide  Web:  future  shock  meets  the  Internet;  building  a  new  home  on  the  Web; 

new  WPI  network  aims  to  get  alumni  on  the  Internet;  a  vital  connection  for  job  hunters. 

Explorations    Angela  Innamorati 

Student  projects  In  Thailand,  Botswana,  the  Tyrol  and  Puerto  Rico  focus  on 

environmental  issues. 

Investigations    Michael  Dorsey 

Tackling  the  scourge  of  heavy  metals:  a  tale  of  three  research  projects;  finding 
out  how  deep-sea  fishes  follow  their  noses;  how  poor  decisions  can  add  up  to 
global  problems. 


22    Final  Word    Joan  Killough-Miller 
The  search  for  Everett  Leach. 

Cover:  Illustration  by  Robert  G.  Cuoco.  Story  on  page  18.  Opposite:  By 
good  fortune,  a  great  deal  of  this  winter's  sparse  snowfall  arrived  in  time 
for  the  1995  Winter  Carnival,  held  recently.  The  WPI  community  enjoyed 
such  wintry  activities  as  snow  sculpting  and  frozen  turkey  bowling 
(seen  here).  Photo  by  Jason  Philbrook  '97. 


Staff  of  the  WPI  Journal:  Editor.  Michael  W.  Dorsey  •  Contributing  Writers,  Bonnie  Gelbwasser,  Joan  Killough-Miller,  Neil  Norum  and  Ruth  Trask  •  Art  Director/Designer,  Michael  J.  Sherman  • 
Alumni  Publications  Committee:  Samuel  Mencow  '37,  chairman  •  James  S.  Demetry  '58  •  William  J.  Firla  Jr.  '60  •  William  R.  Grogan  '46  •  Robert  C.  Labonte  '54  •  Roger  N.  Perry  Jr.  '45  • 
Harlan  B.  Williams  '50  •  The  WPI  Journal  (ISSN  0148-6128)  is  published  quarterly  for  the  WPI  Alumni  Association  by  the  Office  of  University  Relations.  Second-class  postage  paid  at  Worcester. 
Mass.,  and  additional  mailing  offices.  Printed  by  The  Lane  Press.  Burlington,  Vt.  Printed  in  the  U.S.A. 

Diverse  views  presented  in  this  magazine  do  nol  necessarily  relied  the  opinions  of  the  editors  or  official  WPI  policies  We  welcome  letters  to  the  editor.  Address  correspondence  to  the  Editor.  WPIJoumal. 
WPI.  100 Institute  Road,  Worcester,  MA  01609-2280.  Phone:  (508)  831-5609.  Fax:  (508)  831-5604.  Electron:,  Mail  (Internet).  mwdorsey®mpi  edu  Postmaster  If  undelweruble.  please  send  Form  3579  to  the 
address  above.  Do  not  return  publication  Entire  contents  ©  1995.  Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute 


ADVANCE  WORD 


Environmental 
Education  Covers 
the  Academic 


Spectrum 
atWPI 


By  Michael  Dorsey 

In  this  special  issue  of  the  WPI Journal  we 
look  at  the  field  of  environmental  science 
and  engineering.  Starting  on  page  9,  we 
report  on  four  projects  with  environ- 
mental themes  completed  by  WPI  under- 
graduates at  the  far  corners  of  the  globe. 
Beginning  on  page  12,  you'll  find  profiles  of 
five  current  research  projects  that  revolve 
around  ecology,  environmental  engineering 
and  environmental  psychology.  Finally, 
starting  on  page  18,  we  present  eight  stories 
of  WPI  graduates  who  have  built  interesting 
careers  in  the  environmental  arena. 

There  is,  of  course,  another  side  to  the 
environmental  field  at  WPI — environmental 
education.  Since  the  dawn  of  the  WPI  Plan  in 
the  early  1970s,  students  have  been  able  to 
take  courses,  pursue  undergraduate  majors, 
and  complete  projects  in  environmental 
studies.  In  the  early  days  of  the  Plan,  most  of 
the  courses  and  majors  were  pursued 
through  the  Interdisciplinary  Studies 
Division  (now  the  Interdisciplinary  and 
Global  Studies  Division).  Since  then,  the 
environment  has  become  the  focus  for  pro- 
grams centered  in  eight  academic  depart- 
ments and  programs  (including  Interdis- 
ciplinary and  Global  Studies),  and  oppor- 
tunities for  students  to  concentrate  their 
course  and  project  work  in  an  environmen- 
tal discipline  have  grown  dramatically. 

WPI's  1995-96  undergraduate  catalog 
devotes  two  pages  to  describing  the  range  of 


environmental  offerings  available  at  the 
undergraduate  level.  Emphasis  areas  in  envi- 
ronmental engineering  exist  in  the  Chemical 
Engineering  Department,  the  Manufacturing 
Engineering  Program,  the  Mechanical 
Engineering  Department,  and  the  recently 
renamed  Civil  and  Environmental  Engi- 
neering Department. 

The  civil  and  environmental  program 
focuses  on  water  quality  control  systems  re- 
lated to  water  supply  and  waste  treatment. 
The  chemical  engineering  program  intro- 
duces students  to  areas  like  pollution  pre- 
vention, environmentally  friendly  packaging, 
and  the  abatement  of  air,  water  and  soil  pol- 
lution. In  manufacturing  engineering  and 
mechanical  engineering,  the  emphasis  is  on 
designing  products  to  minimize  environmen- 
tal impact  and  on  environmentally  con- 
scious manufacturing. 


Other  emphasis  areas  have  been  created 
in  the  departments  of  Biology  and  Biotech- 
nology, Humanities  and  Arts,  and  Social  Sci- 
ence and  Policy  Studies.  The  focus  areas  in 
biology  and  biotechnology  include  ecology 
and  environmental  biology.  In  humanities 
and  arts,  students  may  pursue  a  degree  in 
literature,  history,  or  philosophy  and  reli- 
gion with  an  environmental  orientation, 
preparing  for  careers  in  such  fields  as  law, 
business,  government  service,  environmen- 
tal activism  and  journalism. 

In  social  science  and  policy  studies,  stu- 
dents can  focus  on  environmental  issues  as 
part  of  any  of  the  department's  three  exist- 
ing degree  programs:  economics,  economics 
and  technology,  and  society,  technology  and 
policy.  Currently  in  development  is  a  new 
degree  program  called  environmental  policy 
and  development. 


Winter  1995 


Sustainable  development  will  be  a  theme 
that  permeates  the  new  major  program, 
says  Michael  J.  Radzicki,  associate  professor 
of  social  science  and  policy  studies  and  one 
of  the  creators  of  the  new  major.  "The  philo- 
sophy of  sustainable  development  is:  don't 
use  renewable  resources  faster  than  they 
can  be  substituted  for;  don't  create  any 
more  pollution  than  can  be  assimilated  by 
the  environment;  and  don't  encourage  more 
growth  than  the  environment  can  support. 
In  essence,  the  idea  is  to  tie  your  stan- 
dard of  living  to  the  carrying  capacity 
of  the  environment." 

Students  will  explore  the  require- 
ments for  and  difficulties  of  sustain- 
able development  in  a  number  of 
ways.  For  example,  they  will  use  a 
computer  simulation  being  developed 
by  an  Interactive  Qualifying  Project 
team.  In  the  game,  players  attempt  to 
run  a  nation  on  a  sustainable  basis, 
deciding  how  much  of  the  country's 
labor  resources  to  allocate  to  things 
like  manufacturing  and  renewable 
resource  stewardship.  Through  pro- 
jects like  this  one,  students  at  WPI 
can  explore  real-world  environmental 
problems  and  issues  and  get  valuable 
insight  into  the  kinds  of  social,  tech- 
nological and  political  interactions 
they  are  likely  to  encounter  in  their 
careers. 

Each  year,  dozens  of  students 
complete  IQPs,  Sufficiencies  and 
Major  Qualifying  Projects  with  envi- 
ronmental themes.  Most  are  students 
who  do  not  intend  to  pursue  an  envi- 
ronmental degree  program  or  empha- 
sis, but  who  have  a  strong  interest  in 
understanding  the  potential  ramifications  of 
the  environment  in  their  careers  and  lives. 

The  topics  for  these  projects  are  far- 
ranging.  Of  the  12  broad  thematic  divisions 
in  which  IQPs  are  categorized,  four  touch 
directly  on  environmental  issues:  Envi- 
ronment and  Technology;  Energy  and  Re- 
sources; Regional  Studies  and  Planning;  and 
Economic  Growth,  Stability  and  Planning. 
Project  teams  working  in  these  divisions  in 
recent  years  have  looked  at  the  effective- 
ness of  automobile  recycling,  studied  atmos- 
pheric pollution  in  Athens,  and  prepared 
environmental  curricular  materials  for  local 
public  schools. 

Through  WPI's  corporate  project  cen- 
ters, MQP  teams  have  tackled  many  environ- 
mental problems  of  concern  to  managers  at 
companies  like  Norton,  Raytheon,  Polaroid, 
Wyman-Gordon  and  Monsanto.  At  Norton, 


students  have  helped  the  company  experi- 
ment with  converting  its  fleet  of  vehicles  to 
run  on  natural  gas  and  helped  find  ways  to 
reclaim  and  reuse  abrasives  used  to  make 
grinding  wheels.  At  Raytheon,  students  have 
helped  find  alternatives  to  the  ozone-deplet- 
ing chemicals  used  in  metal  cleaning  and  fin- 
ishing processes. 

"These  projects  are  very  popular,"  notes 
Richard  D.  Sisson  Jr.,  professor  and  head  of 
the   Manufacturing  Engineering  Program. 


'These  projects  are 

very  popular.  That's  a 

reflection  of  the  interest 

students  have  in  the 
environment.  They  want 

to  do  some  good  for 

society  and  they  feel  this 

is  something  to  which  an 

engineer  can  make  an 

important  contribution 

—  Richard  D.  Sisson  Jr. 


*) 


"That's  a  reflection  of  the  interest  students 
have  in  the  environment.  They  want  to  do 
some  good  for  society  and  they  feel  this  is 
something  to  which  an  engineer  can  make 
an  important  contribution." 

Increasingly,  students  are  traveling  over- 
seas to  complete  such  projects.  The  stories 
starting  on  page  9  provide  just  a  few  exam- 
ples. Some  of  WPI's  international  project 
centers,  including  the  Ecuador  Project  Center 
in  Guayaquil  and  the  Venice  Project  Center, 
were  created,  in  part,  to  address  environ- 
mental issues,  but  opportunities  to  pursue 
projects  with  environmental  themes  exist 
around  the  world. 

A  recent  grant  from  the  Fund  for  the 
Improvement  of  Post-Secondary  Education 
is  making  it  easier  for  students  to  do  envi- 
ronmentally related  projects  overseas— and 
for  students  from  overseas  to  complete  envi- 


ronmental studies  in  this  country,  according 
to  Lance  Schachterle,  assistant  provost  for 
academic  initiatives  and  principal  investiga- 
tor on  the  grant.  The  grant  supported  the 
creation  of  the  United  States/European 
Community  Environmental  Projects  Coali- 
tion, which  is  being  run  by  WPI  in  coopera- 
tion with  Howard  University,  the  Technical 
University  in  Darmstadt,  Germany,  the  Eind- 
hoven University  of  Technology  in  Holland, 
and  the  University  of  Limerick  in  Ireland. 

WPI  students  who  travel  to  Europe 
are  likely  to  learn  about  some  of  the 
most  comprehensive  environmental 
laws  in  the  world,  Sisson  says.  "A  few 
European  nations,  including  Germany, 
essentially  say  that  a  company  owns 
its  products  for  the  entire  life  of  those 
products.  If  you  buy  a  computer,  the 
company  has  to  take  it  back  when  you 
are  done  with  it  and  recycle  or  reuse 
it.  This  is  something  our  engineers 
need  to  become  familiar  with." 

Funding  from  the  AT&T  Founda- 
tion is  supporting  an  innovative  effort 
to  teach  students  about  the  impor- 
tance of  multidisciplinary  teams  in 
manufacturing  enterprises  through 
the  use  of  case  studies  (WPI  Journal, 
Spring  1994).  One  of  the  studies, 
developed  by  Sharon  Johnson,  associ- 
ate professor  of  management,  James 
O'Shaughnessy,  professor  of  civil 
engineering,  and  Sisson,  looked  at  a 
waste  elimination  program  developed 
by  Hyde  Manufacturing  Co.  in  South- 
bridge,  Mass.,  a  maker  of  household 
tools  and  knives. 

Not  all  of  the  environmentally 
related  course  and  project  work  takes 
place  at  the  undergraduate  level,  of  course. 
WPI  currently  offers  master's  and  Ph.D.  pro- 
grams in  environmental  engineering  through 
the  Civil  and  Environmental  Engineering 
Department  (in  fact,  about  half  of  the  depart- 
ment's graduate  students  are  pursuing  envi- 
ronmental degrees).  Students  also  frequent- 
ly complete  master's  theses  and  doctoral 
dissertations  on  environmental  topics  in 
many  other  departments.  In  addition,  cours- 
es that  delve  into  environmental  issues  are 
offered  in  a  number  of  disciplines.  In  Manu- 
facturing Engineering,  for  example,  a  new 
course  developed  and  taught  by  Sisson  and 
O'Shaughnessy  introduces  students  to  envi- 
ronmental issues  in  manufacturing. 

"This  course  is  quite  timely,"  O'Shaugh- 
nessy says,  "because  we  are  seeing  great 
changes  in  manufacturing  and  environmental 
engineering.  The  chemical  industry  has  said 


WPI  Journal 


that  in  the  1990s,  the  cost  of  environmental 
compliance  will  exceed  the  cost  of  raw 
materials  in  manufacturing.  But  even  more, 
industry  is  coming  to  see  that  minimizing 
waste  and  pollution  makes  good  business 
sense.  When  you  recover  a  waste  and 
reuse  it,  you  spend  less  on  raw  materials 
and  on  equipment  to  treat  waste." 

O'Shaughnessy,  who  has  served  as 
chairman  of  the  American  Society  of  Civil 
Engineers  Task  Force  on  Pollution  Preven- 
tion, obtained  funding  from  the  Massa- 
chusetts Toxic  Use  Reduction  Institute  at 
the  University  of  Massachusetts  to  teach 
courses  on  toxic  use  reduction  through 
WPI's  Continuing  Education  Office.  Also 
participating  in  the  courses,  which  help 
companies  comply  with  the  Massachu- 
setts Toxic  Use  Reduction  Act,  were 
Sharon  Johnson  and  Raymond  Lizotte,  an 
engineer  at  Texas  Instruments. 

At  the  undergraduate  level,  O'Shaugh- 
nessy is  team  leader  for  environmental 
course  and  project  materials  being  de- 
veloped by  the  Realization  Consortium, 
which  is  pioneering  a  new  approach  to 
engineering  education  with  a  major  grant 
from  the  federal  Technology  Reinvest- 
ment Program  (WPI Journal,  Spring  1994). 
Led  by  WPI,  the  consortium  also  includes 
Cornell,  MIT,  North  Carolina  A&T  and 
Tuskegee. 

"I'll  be  focusing  on  pollution  preven- 
tion and  waste  minimization  in  the  materi- 
als I'll  be  developing,"  O'Shaughnessy 
says.  "The  idea  is  to  put  together  course 
modules  that  can  be  used  at  any  of  the 
participating  schools — in  fact,  at  any 
school  that  teaches  engineering  and 
design.  We  eventually  hope  to  put  these 
materials  on  the  World  Wide  Web  (see 
page  6)  to  make  them  widely  available." 

With  topics  like  waste  minimization, 
pollution  prevention  and  design  for  the 
environment  to  ignite  students'  interest, 
O'Shaughnessy  says  the  job  of  getting  stu- 
dents excited  about  environmental  issues 
is  becoming  easier.  It's  a  change  he  says 
he's  seen  in  his  own  career  as  an  environ- 
mental educator  and  consultant. 

"Until  recently,  I  was  always  reactive, 
working  at  the  end  of  the  pipe  to  clean  up 
the  waste  generated  by  manufacturers," 
he  says.  "When  you  talked  to  industry 
about  waste  treatment,  they  became 
defensive.  Now  we  can  be  proactive.  We 
talk  about  reducing  waste  and  saving 
money,  and  industry  gets  excited.  That 
gets  me  excited  too.  Now  our  job  is  to 
pass  that  excitement  on  to  our  students." 


LETTERS 

A  Disappointing 
Celebration 

To  the  Editor: 

Upon  receiving  the  Spring  1994  WPI 
Journal,  I  looked  forward  to  reading 
"Memories  of  a  Quarter  Century: 
Celebrating  25  Years  of  Women  at  WPI." 
When  my  husband,  Paul  '68,  attended 
WPI,  there  were  no  women  students.  As 
the  parent  of  two  daughters,  Jaime  (Yale 
'98)  and  Erin  (a  high  school  junior),  it  was 
interesting  to  look  at  the  history  of 
women  at  WPI. 

However,  I  was  upset  to  note  that  in 
your  "celebration"  of  25  years  of  women's 
accomplishments,  you  were  unable  to 
highlight  the  accomplishments  of  any 
women  in  any  of  the  accompanying  arti- 
cles. I  counted  12  separate  articles  about 
men  and  31  pictures  of  successful  men 
(along  with  a  photo  of  one  lone  woman). 
Were  no  women  graduates  in  25  years 
worthy  of  mention?  Have  no  women  been 
successful  enough  to  highlight,  especially 
in  this  celebration  issue?  What  kind  of 
message  are  we  sending  our  daughters, 
female  students  and  female  alumni — that 
their  accomplishments  just  don't  rate? 
What  a  disappointment! 

Susan  Arruda 
Wilmington,  Del. 

Marietta  Fletcher 
Also  a  Sinclair 

To  the  Editor: 

What  a  wonderful  surprise  it  was  to  see 
the  picture  of  my  great-grandmother, 
Marietta  Fletcher,  at  the  top  of  page  12  in 
the  Spring  1994  WPI  Journal.  My  mother, 
still  alive  in  her  90s,  remembers  her  grand- 
mother with  loving  affection. 

Marietta  S.  Fletcher  was  indeed  one  of 
the  first  female  members  of  the  WPI  facul- 
ty. Her  education  included  an  extended 
visit  in  the  home  of  a  German  family,  where 
she  gained  a  deep  sense  of  familiarity  with 
Germany  and  its  people.  She  taught 
English,  French  and  German  at  WPI  (then 
the  Worcester  Free  Institute).  In  1870,  only 
a  few  years  after  the  founding  of  the 
Institute,  she  married  Professor  John  E. 
Sinclair,  who  taught  mathematics  at  WPI. 
While  Marietta's  tenure  as  a  teacher  lasted 
only  a  few  years,  her  husband  remained 
with  WPI  for  nearly  four  decades  as  head  of 


the  Mathematics  Department. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  your  article  did 
not  mention  Marietta  Fletcher's  married 
name  of  Sinclair.  I  believe  she  married  dur- 
ing the  period  when  she  was  teaching.  The 
arrival  of  her  first  child,  my  grandmother 
Luise  Sinclair,  caused  her  to  leave  her 
teaching  post. 

Incidentally,  Marietta's  (and  John 
Sinclair's)  descendants  have  maintained  a 
close  relationship  with  WPI.  They  include 
myself,  Louis  C.  Smith  (WPI  Class  of  1872), 
David  S.  Cummings  '72  and  Stephen  J. 
Cummings  '76.  I  serve  on  the  President's 
Advisory  Council.  The  present  John  E. 
Sinclair  Professorship  at  WPI  was  funded 
by  Professor  Sinclair's  life  insurance,  the 
beneficiary  of  which  was  Marietta,  until  her 


Winter  1995 


death.  Also,  the  manufacturing  company 
started  by  Professor  Sinclair,  now  called 
Lowell  Corp.,  has  created  the  John  K. 
Sinclair  Scholarship  Fund  at  WPI. 

Thank  you  for  the  article  "0  Pioneers," 
which  put  the  highlight  on  my  great-grand- 
mother. May  her  memory  be  preserved  for 
years  to  come. 

Henry  S.  "Pete"  Cummings  '50 
Holden,  Mass. 

Thanks  for  the 
Internet  Story 

To  the  Editor: 

Thank  you  for  your  excellent  article  on  the 
Internet  in  the  Summer  1994  WPI  Journal.  I 
am  a  member  of  the  "slide-rule  generation" 
who  is  trying  to  educate  myself  in  the  ways 
of  computers.  Any  help  I  can  get  is  very  wel- 
come. 

While  I  have  always  enjoyed  reading  WPI 
publications,  this  article  is  the  most  person- 
ally useful  one  I  have  read  in  the  Journal  dur- 
ing the  past  39  years.  Please  include  more  of 
this  type  of  article  in  the  future. 

Philip  C.  Jones  '55 
Charlestown,  R.I. 

Promote,  But  Don't 
Mandate,  the  F.E. 

To  the  Editor: 

I  read  with  great  interest  Morton  Fine's  arti- 
cle in  the  Summer  1994  WPI  Journal  suggest- 
ing that  the  ABET  accreditation  process  for 
engineering  curriculums  include  a  mandate 
that  all  seniors  sit  for  the  Fundamentals  of 
Engineering  (F.E.)  examination  ("Academia 
is  Shortchanging  New  Engineers").  While  1 
understand  the  arguments  advanced  by  the 
author,  I  disagree  with  his  conclusions. 

The  thrust  of  the  article  is  that  practic- 
ing engineers  should  see  that  new  gradu- 
ates are  required  to  take  the  first  step 
toward  registration,  whether  they  wish  to 
or  not.  The  article  stresses  the  difficulties 
imposed  by  waiting  beyond  graduation  to 
start  the  process  and  appears  to  define  reg- 
istration as  a  prerequisite  to  a  successful 
career. 

Having  waited  until  12  years  after  gradua- 
tion to  take  the  F.E.  exam,  1  will  admit  that  it 
is  made  more  difficult  by  the  passage  of 
time.  In  my  case,  the  delay  was  not  due  to 
trepidation  about  taking  the  exam.  Rather,  it 


reflected  the  reality  that,  as  an  engineer  and 
manager  in  a  large  manufacturing  company, 
there  was  no  benefit  at  all  to  my  being  regis- 
tered. Only  after  I  decided  to  redirect  my 
career  toward  consulting  did  any  benefits 
arise.  While  the  delay  did  not  enhance  my 
taking  the  exam,  it  did  not  prevent  me  from 
preparing  for  and  passing  it,  nor  would  it  do 
so  to  others. 

In  fact,  a  greater  impediment  to  registra- 
tion for  individuals  in  a  manufacturing  envi- 
ronment is  obtaining  the  letters  of  recom- 
mendation from  P.E.s  familiar  with  the  indi- 
vidual's work,  which  must  be  submitted  as 
part  of  the  application  process.  I  know  sev- 
eral individuals  who  have  avoided  applying 
because  of  this  requirement,  and  not 
because  of  examination  issues. 

Admittedly,  it  would  have  been  more 
convenient  had  I  taken  the  exam  while  in 
school.  However,  the  end  of  a  student's 


"The  end  of  a  student's 
senior  year  is  not  neces- 
sarily the  best  time  to 
include  an  additional 
mandated  requirement." 


"More  effort  should  be 
devoted  to  this  subject  in 
order  to  inform  WPI  stu- 
dents about  the  importance 
of  engineering  registration." 


senior  year  is  not  necessarily  the  best  time 
to  include  an  additional  mandated  require- 
ment, especially  one  as  stress-laden  and 
requiring  as  much  preparation  as  the  F.E. 
exam.  Coupled  with  the  costs  of  taking  the 
exam  (fees  for  registering  with  the  state  for 
the  exam,  fees  to  the  testing  company  for 
taking  the  exam,  and  more  fees  for  complet- 
ing registering  with  the  state  after  passing 
the  exam),  it  can  be  argued  that  the  immedi- 
ate benefits  to  the  student  do  not  outweigh 
the  cost. 


While  there  are  some  professional  draw- 
backs to  not  being  registered,  the  list  is  not 
as  extensive  as  implied  by  Mr.  Fine.  I'm  not 
sure  which  professional  societies  restrict 
full  membership  to  P.E.s  (certainly  not 
AIChE),  but  the  lack  of  registration  has  little 
or  no  effect  on  most  careers.  The  great 
majority  of  registered  engineers  practice  in 
consulting  roles.  Certainly,  a  P.E.  is  neces- 
sary if  one  wishes  to  open  a  one-engineer 
shop,  but  for  most  engineers  practicing  as 
employees  there  is  no  pressing  need. 

Regarding  the  ability  of  a  physician  to 
use  the  title  M.D.  without  having  to  be 
licensed  to  practice,  an  engineer  is  just  as 
free  to  use  the  titles  B.S.,  M.S.  and  Ph.D.  after 
his  or  her  name.  Many  Ph.D.  recipients 
freely  use  the  honorific  "Doctor"  prior  to 
their  names.  Achieving  registration  has  no 
bearing  on  the  use  of  these  titles,  nor  on  the 
prestige  and  respect  that  is  or  is  not  granted 
to  them.  More  commonly,  nonengineers 
either  question  the  meaning  of  the  initials 
P.E.  or  have  no  idea  of  their  significance. 
Even  among  engineers,  the  title  is  some- 
times seen  as  an  achievement  worthy  of 
merit,  but  not  one  of  consequence. 

Perhaps  before  those  of  us  in  practice 
impose  another  requirement  upon  graduat- 
ing seniors,  we  may  want  to  become  better 
educated  about  professional  registration 
ourselves.  Once  we  have  defined  the  bene- 
fits of  registration  and  reached  agreement  as 
to  the  value  thereof,  we  can  consider  requir- 
ing seniors  to  join  us.  Until  that  time,  a  more 
aggressive  informational  campaign,  using 
such  resources  as  student  society  chapters, 
may  be  our  best  means  to  promote  the  initi- 
ation of  the  registration  process. 

George  A.  Dainis  79  P.E. 
Mansfield,  Mass. 

Fine's  Article  "Timely 
and  Necessary" 

To  the  Editor: 

1  read  Morton  Fine's  article  "Academia  is 
Shortchanging  New  Engineers"  (Summer 
1994)  with  great  interest.  It  was  timely  and 
necessary.  It  also  reflects  my  sentiment  on 
the  subject.  I  wrote  similar  articles  myself 
more  than  20  years  ago  for  professional  pub- 
lications. I  believe  more  effort  should  be 
devoted  to  this  subject  in  order  to  inform 
WPI  students  about  the  importance  of  engi- 
neering registration. 

Victor  (Vung)  K.  Chun  '51  P.E. 
Los  Angeles,  Calif. 


WPI  Journal 


INGENUITIES 


Another 
Spin  on  the 
Information 
Highway 


Editor's  Note:  In  the  Summer  1994  issue, 
we  brought  WPI  Journal  readers  up  to 
speed  on  the  vast  and  constantly  growing 
Internet  ("Net  Assets").  The  response  to 
that  story  has  been  quite  positive,  and 
we've  received  a  number  of  requests  to 
provide  readers  with  similar  information 
on  a  regular  basis.  (It  should  be  noted  that 
many  of  those  requests  arrived  by  e-mail, 
at  least  a  few  sent  by  readers  who  were 
enticed  into  taking  their  first  steps  into 
cyberspace  after  reading  the  JournalJ. 

In  that  spirit,  we  introduce  this  new 
department.  We'll  use  this  corner  of  the 
Journal  to  talk  about  new  developments 
in  science  and  technology  and  to  define 
and  demystify  some  of  the  buzzwords  you 
may  ftnd  yourself  reading  about  in  news- 
papers and  magazines  (and,  perhaps,  on- 
line). In  this  hrst  installment  we  '11  contin- 
ue our  dialogue  on  the  Internet  and  tell 
you  how  alumni  may  soon  be  able  to  ven- 
ture into  cyberspace  courtesy  of  the  WPI 
Alumni  Association. 


The  World  Wide 
Web:  Future  Shock 
Meets  the  Internet 

In  an  article  in  Harper's  Magazine  in  1965, 
author  Alvin  Toffler  defined  future  shock  as 
"the  dizzying  disorientation  brought  on  by 
the  premature  arrival  of  the  future."  Over 
the  past  three  decades,  the  future  has  been 
arriving  with  greater  and  greater  speed.  In 
1995,  it  seems  that  what's  hot  today  can  turn 
cold  in  the  blink  of  an  eye  and  today's 
emerging  technology  can  become  tomor- 
row's household  tool. 

The  World  Wide  Web  is  a  good  case  in 
point.  Last  summer,  when  we  mentioned  the 
Web  in  the  Journal,  this  Internet  service  was 
still  coming  into  its  own.  Since  then,  the 
Web  has  exploded,  with  thousands  of  new 
sites  having  come  on-line  and  many  more 
being  added  every  day. 


Having  broken  through  the  informal  ban 
on  the  use  of  the  Internet  for  blatant  adver- 
tising, the  Web  is  becoming  an  almost  man- 
datory storefront  for  companies  and  corpo- 
rations of  all  sizes.  And  with  its  ease  of  use, 
potential  for  dazzling  and  creative  graphics, 
and  its  ability  to  speed  text,  pictures,  sound 
and  video  to  computers  all  over  the  world, 
the  World  Wide  Web  is  quickly  eclipsing 
Gopher,  yesterday's  hot  Internet  tool. 

A  good  indicator  of  the  Web's  growing 
popularity  is  its  increasing  presence  in  the 
media.  Stories  on  the  Web  abound  in  news- 
papers and  magazines.  The  national  news- 
weeklies  Time  and  Newsweek  now  have  col- 
umns on  electronic  resources  that  regularly 
feature  Web  sites,  as  do  frequent  articles 
and  columns  in  major  newspapers. 

The  Web  was  conceived  in  1989  by  scien- 
tists at  the  CERN  in  Geneva  and  developed 
over  the  course  of  the  next  few  years.  It 
employs  a  concept  called  hypermedia, 


Winter  1995 


% 


which  means  that  the  doc- 
uments one  retrieves 
through  the  Web  may  con- 
tain links  that,  when 
clicked  with  a  mouse,  will 
transport  a  user  to  other 
information,  often  located 
on  another  computer  in 
some  other  corner  of  the 
world. 

The  first  Web  brow- 
sers (software  needed  to 
take  advantage  of  the 
Web's  hypermedia  for- 
mat) were  text-based.  In 
1993  the  first  multimedia 
browsers  appeared.  The 
most  popular  is  Mosaic, 
created    by    the 
National   Center 
for  Supercompu- 
ter Applications. 
By  the  end  of  1993 
the  first  versions 
of  Mosaic  written 
for  personal  com- 
puters   were    re- 
leased, setting  the 
stage  for  the  pop- 
ularization of  the 
Web. 

To  use  the  Web, 
you'll  first  need  ac- 
cess to  the  Internet. 
See  the  Summer  1994 
Journal  for  some  tips  for 
getting  connected  or  pick  up  one  of 
the  books  mentioned  in  that  issue  or  any  of  a 
slew  of  other  Internet  books  now  at  book- 
stores. For  personal  use,  you'll  need  a  recent 
generation  Macintosh  or  an  IBM-compatible 
computer  with  enough  power  and  memory 
to  run  Microsoft  Windows  3.1. 

You'll  also  need  a  browser.  You  can  re- 
trieve Mosaic  by  ftp  from  ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu 
(the  directories  are  /PC/Mosaic  and  /Mac/ 
Mosaic).  Netscape  is  a  commercial  product 
that  can  be  obtained  free  by  ftp  for  evalua- 
tion purposes  (be  sure  to  read  the  license 
that  comes  with  the  package  for  details  on 
long-term  usage  restrictions.)  It's  at  ftp. 
mcom.com  in  the  /netscape/mac  and 
/netscape/windows  directories. 

To  use  these  programs  you  will  likely 
need  other  software  (MacTCP  for  the  Mac 
and  a  Winsock.dll  and  a  windows  32-bit  up- 
grade for  Windows).  The  installation  instruc- 
tions that  come  with  the  software  will  ex- 
plain these  requirements  and  may  point  you 
to  shareware  versions  of  the  packages. 


Things  will  get  easier  for  Windows  users 
this  year  when  Windows  95  is  finally  re- 
leased with  its  built-in  Internet  software. 
IBM's  new  Warp  version  of  OS/2  already  pro- 
vides this  function.  Also,  commercial 
Internet  software  is  available  that  makes 
using  the  Web  much  easier  (one  popular 
package  is  called  Internet-in-a-Box).  Internet 
service  providers  often  equip  users  with 
Web  software,  and  if  you  belong  to  an  on-line 
service  like  CompuServe  or  America  On-Line, 
you  should  get  Web  access  later  this  year. 
(Users  of  Prodigy  already  have  it.) 

OK,  you've  got  your  browser  installed 
and  working.  So  where  do  you  go?  Here  are  a 
few  interesting  places  I've  found.  The  first 
three  are  actually  useful  lists  that  will  link 
you  to  many,  many  other  sites.  Try  these  to 
start  with.  In  no  time,  you'll  find  yourself 
ranging  far  and  wide  around  the  Web  as  you 
follow  the  links.  To  travel  to  the  following 
sites,  you'll  need  to  learn  how  to  type  in  a 
URL  (Universal  Resource  Locator — a  fancy 
name  for  an  Internet  address)  with  your 
browser.  In  the  examples  below,  the  URLs 
are  in  bold  type. 

Yahoo:  A  Guide  to  the  WWW:  http:// 
akebono.stanford.edu/users/www_server/ 

The  Whole  Internet  Catalog:  http:// 
www.digital.com/gnn/wic/ 

EINet  Galaxy:  http://galaxy.einet.net/ 

Library  of  Congress:  http://lcweb.loc. 
gov/homepage/  A  wealth  of  information;  the 
Global  Electronic  Library  has  links  to  federal 
government  Web  servers,  including  the 
White  House,  as  well  as  many  World  Wide 
Web  guides;  Thomas  has  the  full  text  of  bills 
before  the  House  of  Representatives  and  a 
guide  to  how  laws  are  made. 

National  Public  Radio:  http://www.npr. 
org/  Story  lineups,  recipes  and  other  infor- 
mation from  a  host  of  NPR  news  programs. 

The  Virtual  Tourist:  http://wings.buffalo. 
edu/world/  You  start  with  a  map  of  the 
world,  select  a  region  and  ultimately  work 
your  way  down  to  clickable  maps  of  World 
Wide  Web  sites  in  specific  states  or  nations. 

Zarf  Guide  to  Interactive  Games:  http:// 
www.cs.cmu.edu  :8001/afs/cs.  cmu.edu/ 
user/zarf/www/games.html  These  are 
games  and  other  unusual  diversions  accessi- 
ble through  the  Web,  including  chess,  a  tarot 
card  reader  and  the  Magic  8-Ball.  Also  check 
out  http://www.yahoo.com/Computers/ 
Internet/Interesting_Devices_Connected_to 
_the_Net/  to  see  some  of  the  strange  things 
people  have  hooked  up  to  the  Net,  including 
cameras  continually  trained  on  offices,  doors 
and  aquariums. 

—Michael  Dorsey 


Building  a  New 
Home  on  the  Web 

One  of  the  sites  you  can  visit  on  your  Web 
excursions  is  WPI  (http://www.wpi.edu/). 

Recognizing  how  easy  the  Web  makes  it  to 
access  and  retrieve  information,  WPI  late 
last  year  formed  a  committee,  led  by  Helen 
Sinister,  director  of  the  Gordon  Library,  to 
design  a  new  Web  server  that  would  offer 
visitors  a  more  comprehensive,  useful  and 
easy-to-navigate  bundle  of  information  about 
the  university. 

The  result  of  the  committee's  work  re- 
cently went  on-line.  Visitors  arrive  first  at  the 
WPI  home  page,  a  concise,  attractive  and 
simply  organized  departure  point.  A  Visitors 
Center  provides  newcomers  with  informa- 
tion about  WPI  and  even  a  virtual  tour  of  the 
campus.  An  on-line  Admissions  Office  (still 
in  development)  will  cater  to  the  interests 
and  needs  of  potential  undergraduate  and 
graduate  students  and  will  even  allow  stu- 
dents to  apply  through  the  Internet. 

Other  buttons  on  the  main  menu  lead  to, 
among  other  things,  home  pages  for  academ- 
ic and  administrative  departments  and  cam- 
pus organizations  (a  selction  of  the  Gordon 
Library's  on-line  services  can  be  reached 
through  the  Web),  WPI  publications  (includ- 
ing the  undergraduate  and  graduate  cata- 
logs), news  releases  and  calendars,  periodi- 
cals (including  the  Journal),  information 
about  WPI  educational  programs  (including, 
eventually,  courses  offered  through  the 
Web),  a  campus  phone  book,  and  personal 
home  pages  maintained  by  members  of  the 
WPI  community.  There  is  even  a  guest  book 
to  "sign"  and  a  place  where  visitors  can 
leave  suggestions  or  request  more  informa- 
tion about  what  they  find  on  our  Web  site. 

The  WPI  Web  pages  will  always  be  under 
construction,  as  Web  page  builders  are  fond 
of  saying,  with  new  information  being  added 
all  the  time.  We  hope  Net  browsers  (people, 
not  software,  that  is)  will  find  many  reasons 
to  stop  back  often. 

— MD 

New  WPI  Network 
Aims  to  Get  Alumni 
On  the  Internet 

The  wealth  of  information  now  being  made 
available  on  the  WPI  World  Wide  Web  server 
should  be  of  special  interest  to  alumni  who 
want  to  stay  in  touch  with  goings-on  at  their 
alma  mater.  But  to  get  at  this  treasure  trove, 
one  needs  access  to  the  Internet,  something 


WPI  Journal 


•^L&J- 


F.  ASH -OK-' 


that  can  cost  at  least  $20  per  month — a  sum 
that  may  seem  a  bit  steep  for  many. 

All  that  may  soon  change.  Currently  an 
ad-hoc  committee  of  the  Alumni  Council, 
spurred  by  a  suggestion  from  WPI's  College 
Computer  Center  (CCC),  is  exploring  ways  to 
give  alumni  who  have  their  own  computers 
and  modems  an  inexpensive  and  easy  route 
not  only  to  WPI's  on-line  offerings,  but  to  the 
Internet  at  large.  The  committee  is  chaired 
by  Harlan  Williams  '50  and  is  being  assisted 
by  Margaret  Riley  of  the  Gordon  Library  and 
the  staff  of  the  CCC. 

The  committee  has  taken  a  look  at  other 
universities  that  offer  this  service  to  their 
alumni,  including  RPI.  Rensselaer  Alumni 
Network  News  (RANN)  employs  a  dedicated 
computer  on  campus  that  alumni  can  reach 
through  their  modems.  Users  are  charged  a 
$40  monthly  service  fee.  For  that  they  get 
access  to  the  Internet  and  to  alumni  and 
campus  newsgroups  and  information. 

One  drawback  to  the  RPI  arrangement  is 
the  fact  that  alumni  outside  of  the  local  call- 
ing area  must  pay  long-distance  charges  on 
top  of  the  monthly  fee.  In  addition,  if  WPI 
were  to  implement  such  a  system,  issues 
such  as  the  cost  of  the  necessary  equipment, 
the  responsibility  for  maintaining  it,  control- 
ling access  to  the  network,  and  the  potential 
for  the  network  to  strain  computers  also 
used  by  faculty,  students  and  staff  would 
have  to  be  addressed. 

The  cost  of  dialing  into  the  network  could 
be  reduced  by  linking  alumni  to  WPI's  com- 
puters through  a  data  communications  ser- 
vice such  as  Infopath,  a  service  of  NYNEX. 
Through  Infopath,  callers  in  Eastern 
Massachusetts  would  dial  a  local  NYNEX 
modem  bank,  rather  than  calling  long-dis- 
tance to  Worcester.  Their  call  would  be  rout- 
ed to  WPI  through  NYNEX  data  communica- 


tions paths  and 
callers  would  be 
billed  by  NYNEX 
based  on  the  quan- 
tity of  data  trans- 
mitted over  the 
telephone  lines. 
Williams  College  is  trying  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent approach.  Its  alumni  network  will  be 
accessed  through  a  commercial  on-line  ser- 
vice, most  likely  America  Online  or  Compu- 
Serve. By  paying  a  monthly  fee  as  low  as  $10, 
participating  alumni  will  get  full  Internet 
access,  will  be  able  to  use  all  of  the  offerings 
of  the  on-line  service,  and  will  be  able  to 
puruse  special  services  available  only  to 
Williams  alumni.  Both  CompuServe  and 
America  Online  services  can  be  reached  via  a 
local  phone  call  from  much  of  the  country. 

Harlan  Williams  says  the  committee 
would  appreciate  feedback  from  alumni  con- 
cerning how  they  might  use  the  proposed 
network  and  what  information  they  would 
like  to  have  made  available  to  them. 
Questions,  comments  and  suggestions  can 
be  addressed  to  Williams  through  the  Alumni 
Office  (100  Institute  Road,  Worcester,  MA 
01609-2280)  or  c/o  mwdorsey®  wpi.wpi.edu. 
— Joan  Killough-Miller 

A  Vital 
Connection 
for  Job 
Hunters 

As  you  browse  through 
WPI's  Web  service,  you're 
likely  to  come  across  Marg- 
aret Riley's  constantly  grow- 
ing guide  to  job  hunting  and 
career  resources  on  the 
Internet  (it's  in  the  Gordon 
Library  section  and  on 
Margaret's  own  home  page — http:// 
www.wpi.edu/~mfriley/jobguide.  html).  The 
list  developed  by  the  Gordon  Library  circu- 
lation librarian  has  grown  considerably  since 
it  was  mentioned  in  the  Summer  1994 
Journal — and  not  just  in  length.  It  has  also 
added  thousands  of  new  users  and  won  grow- 
ing recognition. 

Riley  and  her  expertise  in  Internet  job 
hunting  have  been  featured  in  stories  in  the 
Scientist,  Boston  Business  Journal  and  Work- 
ing Woman,  among  other  publications.  She 
has  also  been  a  consultant  for  a  new  book  on 
Internet  job-hunting  tips  by  Joyce  Lane 
Kennedy,  who  writes  a  syndicated  column  on 
career-related  topics. 


Riley  says  the  list,  which  is  part  of  a  large 
set  of  subject-oriented  Internet  guides  housed 
at  the  University  of  Michigan,  is  still  the  most 
comprehensive  on  the  Net.  She  continues  to 
update  it  monthly,  a  task  that  grows  more  and 
more  time-consuming  as  use  of  the  Net  for  job 
hunting  and  recruitment  escalates. 

"As  people  realize  that  other  people  are 
using  the  Internet  as  a  job-hunting  and  re- 
cruiting resource,  more  and  more  people  and 
organizations  are  setting  up  services,"  Riley 
says.  "Many  companies,  as  they  join  the 
World  Wide  Web,  are  including  their  job 
opportunities.  Corporate  recruiters  are  join- 
ing. The  Internet  in  general  (and  especially 
the  Web)  is  becoming  the  new  place  to  look 
for  a  job." 

Riley  says  she  finds  the  information  in  her 
guide  by  personally  scouring  the  Net  and  by 
subscribing  to  Internet  mailing  lists  that 
announce  new  services.  She  also  receives 
electronic  mail  from  people  who  are  creating 
new  services  and  want  to  get  into  the  guide. 
(She  says  she  will  not  add  companies  that 
charge  for  job  hunters  to  read  their  listings 
unless  they  make  a  reasonable  amount  of 
information  available  at  no  charge.) 

She  says  she  also  receives  many  e-mail 
messages  from  around  the  world  sent  by 
users  of  her  guide.  While  many  people  write 
to  thank  her  for  creating 
the  listing,  a  great  deal  of 
the  mail  is  from  people 
who  need  help  using 
basic  Internet  tools  to  find 
the  information.  "People 
are  still  learning  the  ba- 
sics," she  says.  "Contrary 
to  what  many  people 
think,  most  peo- 
ple are  not 
Internet  lit- 
erate." 
But  it's 

not  just  individuals  who  are  coming  to  grips 
with  the  vast  sprawl  of  the  Net,  as  Riley 
recently  discovered.  Governments,  too,  some- 
times need  to  catch  up.  "I  got  a  call  from 
someone  at  the  federal  Office  of  Personnel 
Management,"  she  says.  "The  committee  that 
runs  the  federal  job  list  has  convinced  OPM  to 
change  their  procedures  based  on  the  amount 
of  recruiting  going  on  through  the  Internet. 

"It  was  in  large  part  because  of  my  guide 
that  they  realized  how  far  behind  the  federal 
government  is.  Because  of  that  the  OPM  will 
be  incorporating  the  use  of  the  Internet  in  its 
application  procedure,  its  recruiting  proce- 
dure and  several  other  of  its  practices." 

— MD 


8 


Winter  1995 


EXPLORATIONS 


Projects  From  Around 
the  World  Focus  on 
Environmental  Issues 


By  Angela  Innamorati 

Helping  Solve  a 
Garbage  Disposal 
Problem  in  a 
Thai  Slum 

Dealing  with  garbage  is  a  major  problem  in 
the  Klong  Toey  slums  of  Bangkok.  With  infre- 
quent municipal  waste  collection,  residents 
are  left  to  pile  trash  in  huge  mounds  on 
roads  and  to  dump  it  into  the  canals  and 
drainage  system.  The  result  is  water  conta- 
mination, the  proliferation  of  rats  and  cock- 
roaches, and  the  rapid  spread  of  disease. 

"The  problem  is  so  bad,  it  takes  less  than 
a  week  for  a  recently  cleaned  water  source 
to  refill  with  trash,"  says  Jason  Anderson 
'95,  who  with  Sandra  Davis  '95  spent  seven 
weeks  in  Thailand  last  year  examining  the 
waste  problem  in  Klong  Toey  and  develop- 
ing ways  to  help  residents  clean  up  their 
community. 

The  Interactive  Qualifying  Project,  a  final- 
ist in  the  1994-95  President's  1QP  Awards 
competition,  was  sponsored  by  the  Duang 
Prateep  Foundation,  which  is  dedicated  to 
helping  improve  the  quality  of  life  for  slum 
residents.  It  was  advised  by  John  F.  Zeugner, 
professor  of  history  at  WPI  and  director  of 
the  Institute's  Bangkok  Project  Center. 

Before  traveling  to  Bangkok,  the  students 
did  a  literature  search  on  solid  waste  man- 
agement and  learned  about  life  in  the  slums. 
Once  in  Thailand  they  observed  the  daily 
activities  of  more  than  1,000  families  and 
talked  to  three  influential  nongovernment 
organizations  to  learn  about  potential  strate- 
gies for  getting  slum  residents  involved  in 
improving  their  surroundings. 

Part  of  the  garbage  problem  in  Klong 
Toey  can  be  traced  to  the  inefficient  city 
trash  collection  service  for  the  slum  area. 
The  service  consists  of  six  people  who  must 
walk  several  miles  each  day  carrying  up  to 
three  tons  of  trash  in  wheelbarrows.  Low 


morale  among  the  collectors  results  in  a 
high  rate  of  absenteeism  and  poor  service. 
In  fact,  Davis  says,  the  government  collects 
garbage  in  the  slums  an  average  of  just  two 
to  three  times  a  year.  "They  do  it  if  an  impor- 
tant person  is  scheduled  to  visit,"  she  says. 

Anderson  and  Davis  say  they  believe  the 
lack  of  interest  in  the  garbage  problem  con- 
tributes to  a  general  feeling  of  indifference 
and  hopelessness  on  the  part  of  slum  resi- 
dents. The  students  say  residents  respond 
to  virtually  any  problem,  from  mounting 
garbage  to  AIDS,  with  the  phase  "Mai  ben 
rai"  ("It's  no  problem/It's  O.K.") 

The  students  set  out  to  attack  the  gar- 
bage problem  from  a  number  of  directions. 
For  example,  they  mathematically  analyzed 
the  current  garbage  collection  system  and 
suggested  ways  it  could  be  improved.  They 
pointed  out  potential  new  disposal  sites 
and  mapped  out  a  more  efficient  collection 
pattern. 

They  designed  educational  materials  to 
encourage  residents  to  play  a  more  active 
role  in  cleaning  up  their  community.  The 
materials  included  posters  that  highlight 
proper  garbage  disposal  methods  and  the 
importance  of  recycling,  among  other  top- 
ics. They  also  created  brochures  and  T- 
shirts  that  illustrate  the  connection  between 
improper  waste  disposal  and  disease. 

The  students  also  made  recommenda- 
tions for  a  variety  of  low-cost  clean-up  meth- 
ods aimed  at  reducing  the  improper  dispos- 
al of  garbage.  These  included  the  purchase 
of  trash  barrels  and  the  fencing  of  proposed 
dump  sites.  They  emphasized  that  these  are 
the  minimum  steps  that  must  be  taken  to 
begin  turning  the  trash  problem  around. 

"Although  we  would  have  liked  to  solve 
the  problem  completely,  we  had  to  be  realis- 
tic," Davis  says.  "We  hope  we  started  the 
ball  rolling  and  that  the  people  who  inhabit 
the  slums  will  take  a  proactive  stance  in 
making  theirs  a  better  community." 


Anderson  says  the  project  was  "intense, 
intriguing  and  exciting.  Not  only  did  we  devel- 
op and  improve  our  presentation  skills,  we 
learned  about  tolerance  and  cultural  diversi- 
ty," he  says.  Davis  says  her  experience  in 
Thailand  changed  the  way  she  interacts  with 
the  international  students  at  WPI.  "Everyone 
in  Bangkok  was  so  helpful  and  attentive,"  she 
says.  "They  went  out  of  their  way  to  help  me 
get  acclimated.  I  want  to  do  the  same  for  stu- 
dents who  come  to  WPI  from  overseas.  It's  so 
important  and  takes  so  little  effort,  but  it 
makes  such  a  big  difference." 

"Cross-cultural  encounters  are  the  most 
vivid  learning  experiences,"  says  Zeugner. 
"Watching  Jason  and  Sandy  grapple  with 
their  astonishment,  frustration,  confusion 
and  elation  was  an  educational  experience 
for  me." 

Will  Biogas  Be  a 
Viable  Alternative 
to  Firewood  In 
Botswana? 

Ahmed  Al-Baiti  '95  of  Tanzania,  William 
Herron  (who  has  since  transfered  to  the 
University  of  Alabama),  and  Corey  Lewis  '95 
of  Bloomfield,  Conn.,  shared  a  common 
desire  when  they  enrolled  at  WPI:  they  want- 
ed to  go  to  southern  Africa  to  do  one  of  their 
required  projects.  When  they  decided  to 
travel  together  to  the  Republic  of  Botswana 
to  do  an  IQP  focused  on  that  nation's  energy 
problems,  they  found  that  they  would  first 
need  to  solve  a  more  immediate  problem — 
raising  the  money  for  the  trip. 

The  students  hoped  to  look  for  renew- 


WPI  Journal 


This  page:  Jason  Anderson  and 
Sandra  Davis  (in  foreground)  in  the 
Klong  Toey  slum;  Ahmed  Al-Baiti,  left, 
and  William  Herron  in  Botswana.  Next 
page:  from  left,  Antonio  Delgado, 
Corinne  Kachlert,  Gail  Concannon, 
Michael  Conklin,  Philipp  Herget, 
Hanna  Herharter  of  the  Innichen  Tour- 
ist Association,  Kimberley  Scofield 
and  Dean  Emeritus  William  Grogan  in 
Innichen;  from  left,  biologist  Eduardo 
Cintron,  Rafael  Chavez  and  Susan 
Moriera  prepare  to  fly  with  their  pilot 
to  Isla  de  Mona. 

able  energy  resources  Botswana  might  turn 
to  in  order  to  end  its  reliance  on  wood  for 
cooking  and  heating  and  its  dependence  on 
imported  oil  and  gas  for  diesel  engines, 
appliances  and  lamps.  The  heavy  use  of 
wood  is  a  special  concern,  because  (coupled 
with  a  growing  population)  it  is  leading  to 
the  depletion  of  the  nation's  forests  and 
endangering  its  land  and  water. 

The  students  estimated  that  their 
expenses  for  the  seven-week  trip  would  run 
about  $13,000  more  than  what  the  Institute 
could  contribute.  Seeking  to  raise  the  need- 
ed funds,  they  contacted  local  congressmen, 
small  business  owners,  black  organizations 
and  energy  groups.  They  also  approached 
the  U.S.  and  Botswana  embassies.  "It  was  a 
lot  more  difficult  than  we  imagined  to  raise 
the  money,"  Lewis  says.  "We  found  that  peo- 
ple were  interested  in  making  contributions, 
but  were  skeptical  because  nobody  else  had 
yet  done  so.  It  was  a  vicious  cycle." 

The  students  also  turned  to  friends  and 
relatives  for  help.  They  even  contemplated 
selling  their  stereo  systems  and  cars  to 
finance  the  venture.  "It  wasn't  until  then  that 
people  realized  how  serious  we  were  and 
that  we'd  do  it  at  any  cost,"  Lewis  adds. 

To  reduce  their  financial  needs,  the  stu- 
dents reworked  their  expenses,  cutting 
meals  down  to  the  bare  essentials  and  ask- 
ing J.  Raheem  Hosseini  '89,  director  and  gen- 
eral manager  of  Kgalagadi  Resources  Devel- 
opment Co.  Ltd  in  Gaborone,  Botswana,  for 


help  in  finding  inexpensive  lodging. 

It  was  then  that  the  students  received 
their  first  contributions.  They  came  from 
W.A.  Bland  Addison  Jr.,  associate  professor 
of  history,  who  co-advised  the  project  with 
Tom  Hartvig  Thomsen,  associate  dean  of 
student  life  and  international  student  advi- 
sor, and  Edward  Clarke,  professor  emeritus 
of  engineering  and  science. 

"They  started  the  ball  rolling,"  says  Al- 
Baiti.  "After  that,  we  called  everyone  back 
and  asked  again  if  they  would  help  out.  The 
response  was  quite  a  bit  different  this  time." 
Among  the  contributions  the  students  re- 
ceived were  several  corporate  gifts,  including 
nearly  $2,000  from  United  Technologies. 

Once  they  reached  Botswana,  the  stu- 
dents learned  more  about  the  nation's  disap- 
pearing firewood  supply.  They  estimated  that 
within  a  decade  the  country  (78  percent  of 
which  is  now  covered  by  desert)  would  run 
out  of  fuel.  "The  people  of  Botswana  were 
only  addressing  the  problem  with  short-term 
solutions,"  Herron  says.  "For  example,  they 
were  planting  eucalyptus  trees  to  use  as  fire- 
wood because  they  grow  so  fast." 

After  researching  potential  alternatives, 
the  students  recommended  that  Botswana 
use  biogas  as  a  cooking  fuel  and  as  a  replace- 
ment for  petroleum  products  (importing 
these  products  costs  Botswana  millions  of 
dollars  each  year).  Biogas,  a  mixture  of  meth- 
ane, carbon  dioxide  and  other  gases,  is  pro- 
duced by  fermenting  animal  and  human 
waste  and  vegetable  matter. 

The  students  say  the  waste  from  the 
nation's  four  million  head  of  cattle  alone 
could  generate  enough  biogas  to  fill  all  of 
Botswana's  energy  needs.  "Biogas  is  the 
most  affordable  renewable  energy  resource, 
and  it  can  be  readily  produced  in 
Botswana,"  Lewis  says.  "In  addition,  it  is  not 
harmful  to  the  environment." 

The  project  won  the  1994-95  President's 
1QP  Award.  Despite  the  thoroughness  of  the 
student's  research  and  recommendations, 
the  Botswanian  government  is  unsure  about 


making  the  switch  to  biogas,  Herron  says. 
"They  just  aren't  looking  at  the  long-term 
effects  of  what  they  are  doing.  After  all,  why 
should  they  pay  for  biogas  when  they  can 
get  firewood  for  free?  Still,  the  increasing 
ecological  and  energy  problems  the  nation 
faces  may  change  their  attitudes." 

Balancing  Tourism 
and  Cultural 
Preservation  in 
the  Tyrol 

Innichen  (San  Candido),  an  isolated  region 
of  the  southern  Tyrol  on  the  border  between 
Italy  and  Austria,  is  known  for  its  beauty  and 
its  skiing.  Thanks  to  the  work  of  six  WPI 
juniors,  it  may  also  be  known  as  the  newest 
addition  to  WPI's  growing  global  network  of 
project  sites.  Last  summer,  Estado  Aragua, 
Gail  Concannon,  Michael  Conklin,  Antonio 
Delgado,  Philipp  Herget,  Corinne  Kachlert 
and  Kimberley  Scofield  traveled  to  Innichen 
to  examine  the  feasibility  of  establishing  a 
WPI  project  center  there  and  to  study  the 
impact  of  tourism  on  the  local  economy. 

The  idea  of  establishing  a  project  site  in 
Innichen  grew  from  a  conversation  in  the 
summer  of  1993  between  William  R.  Grogan 
'45,  dean  emeritus  of  undergraduate  studies, 
and  Fabio  Carrera  '84,  coordinator  of  WPI's 
Venice  Project  Center.  The  topics  for  the 
first  two  projects  were  suggested  by  David 
B.  Dollenmayer,  associate  professor  of 
German  and  coordinator  of  WPI's  foreign 
language  Sufficiency  program. 

"The  area  is  extremely  interesting  histori- 
cally," Grogan  says.  "Innichen  was  part  of 
Austria  until  after  World  War  I,  when  it  was 
annexed  by  Italy.  All  of  the  town's  3,000  resi- 
dents speak  both  Italian  and  German." 
Advance  work  by  Grogan,  Dollenmayer  and 
Carrera  led  to  an  agreement  by  the  town  to 
provide  the  students  and  their  advisors  with 
housing  at  no  cost.  An  office,  complete  with 


10 


Winter  1995 


photocopy  and  fax  machines  (not  to  mention 
a  spectacular  view),  was  also  made  available. 

As  part  of  their  "bootstrap"  project, 
Concannon,  Conklin  and  Kachler  set  out  to 
identify  potential  student  projects  in 
Innichen  and  to  learn  all  they  could  about 
the  region's  history,  culture  and  geography. 
They  did  extensive  library  research,  con- 
ducted telephone  interviews,  and  went  door- 
to-door  to  talk  to  townspeople  about  their 
concerns.  The  result  was  a  list  of  29  poten- 
tial projects,  most  of  which  would  focus  on 
environmental  issues  in  the  region. 

"The  town  is  interested  in  determining 
how  growing  traffic  from  tourists,  whether 
hikers  or  mountain  bikers,  is  affecting  the 
local  environment,"  Concannon  says. 
Innichen's  majestic  hills  have  long  been  a 
lure  for  skiers.  In  recent  years,  interest  in 
hiking  and  other  outdoor  activities  has 
drawn  vacationers  to  the  region  year-round. 

For  their  project,  Delgado,  Herget  and 
Scofield  took  an  initial  step  toward  address- 
ing those  concerns.  They  surveyed  farmers, 
tourists  and  town  officials  to  find  out  how 
these  groups  viewed  the  importance  of  the 
growing  tourist  industry  and  its  potential 
impact  on  the  26  mountain  farms  that  line 
the  Innichberg  (the  slope  above  the  town). 
They  found  that  while  residents  and  town 
officials  believe  tourism  is  beneficial  to 
Innichen's  economy,  they  fear  that  it  may 
diminish  the  traditional  Tyrolean  culture. 

"The  attractiveness  and  uniqueness  of 
the  Alpine  farms,  if  they  are  preserved,  will 
provide  an  attraction  for  tourists  and 
income  for  the  Tyrolean  town,"  the  students 
noted  during  their  presentation  to  the  town. 
They  recommended  a  number  of  ways  to 
achieve  a  balance  between  tourism  and  cul- 
tural preservation,  including  running  guided 
tours  of  a  few  farms  combined  with  exhibits 
of  traditional  methods  of  farming,  baking 
and  craft-making,  and  developing  a  program 
that  would  enable  visitors  to  live  on  a  farm 
and  participate  in  farm  life  for  a  period  of 
time  in  exchange  for  a  fee. 


The  team  members  made  their  presenta- 
tions in  German;  most  had  completed  a 
Sufficiency  in  the  language  to  prepare  for  the 
projects.  Delgado,  a  resident  of  Venezuela, 
presented  his  portion  in  Italian.  The  invita- 
tions to  the  event  were  printed  in  both  lan- 
guages, while  the  students'  final  reports 
were  written  in  German  and  English.  One  of 
the  projects,  "Farming  on  the  Innichberg: 
Preserving  a  Unique  Culture,"  was  a  finalist 
in  the  President's  IQP  Awards  Competition. 

"These  projects  were  among  the  best  I've 
ever  seen,"  Grogan  says.  Innichen  mayor 
Edgar  Passler  also  gave  the  students  high 
marks.  "We  don't  get  many  Americans  here 
and  sometimes  they  are  not  so  nice,"  he 
says.  "Your  students  have  completely 
changed  the  opinion  of  the  people  here 
about  Americans." 

Solar  Energy  May 
Make  a  Puerto 
Rican  Paradise 
More  Livable 

For  the  six  biologists  who  spend  their  days 
studying  rare  fish,  iguanas,  sea  turtles, 
stingrays,  sharks,  octopuses  and  other  exot- 
ic animals,  Isla  de  Mona,  an  island  off  of 
Puerto  Rico,  is  a  paradise.  But  it  is  a  par- 
adise that  comes  at  a  cost.  Living  conditions 
on  the  island  are  primitive.  In  part,  that  is 
because  financial  and  environmental  restric- 
tions prevent  the  operation  of  the  diesel 
generators  that  provide  electricity  for  the 
biologists  and  two  maintenance  people  for 
more  than  10  hours  a  day. 

Although  the  Puerto  Rican  government 
would  like  to  improve  the  accommodations 
on  Isla  de  Mona  and  provide  electricity 
around  the  clock,  their  primary  concern  is 
the  welfare  of  the  island's  nonhuman  inhabi- 
tants. That's  why  the  Departamento  de 
Recursos  Naturales  y  Ambientales  asked 
Rafael  Chavez  '95  and  Susan  Moreira  '95  to 


study  the  situation  and  recommend  an  inex- 
pensive, waste-free  and  environmentally 
sound  alternative  to  the  diesel  generators. 

In  addition  to  producing  air  pollution  and 
creating  the  potential  for  a  fuel  spill,  the  gen- 
erators are  costly  to  operate  and  maintain.  "It 
costs  $600  for  fuel  and  $1,200  to  transport 
that  fuel  every  two  weeks,"  says  Wilhelm 
Eggimann,  professor  of  electrical  and  com- 
puter engineering,  who  advised  the  project 
with  Anita  Sheperd-Mendez,  a  co-advisor  at 
WPI's  Puerto  Rico  Project  Center  in  San  Juan. 

To  learn  more  about  the  problem,  the  stu- 
dents met  with  representatives  of  the  De- 
partamento de  Recursos  Naturales  y  Ambien- 
tales and  with  the  researchers  and  staff  on  Isla 
de  Mona.  "They  also  spent  several  days  at 
the  research  station  to  see  firsthand  how  the 
biologists  have  to  live  and  work,"  Eggimann 
says.  "The  facilities  were  rather  primitive." 

The  students  recommended  that  the 
island's  electricity  be  generated  with  photo- 
voltaics.  "PV  is  versatile,  economically  feasi- 
ble and  ecologically  safe  in  many  applica- 
tions," Moreira  says.  "It  is  a  great  way  to 
generate  power  in  geographic  locations  like 
the  Isla  de  Mona,  where  the  only  free  energy 
source  is  the  sun." 

The  students  developed  four  economic 
models  that  compared  the  cost  of  the  diesel 
generators  to  three  possible  ways  of  imple- 
menting a  solar-energy  system.  They  found 
that  although  the  initial  installation  costs  of 
a  PV  system  are  high,  the  system  would  cost 
about  a  third  of  the  amount  spent  on  the 
diesel  generators  over  a  20-year  period. 

"The  solution  they  proposed  made  per- 
fect sense.  It  considered  economic,  techno- 
logical and  environmental  issues,"  Eggimann 
says.  "There  is  a  good  chance  that  the 
Departamento  of  Recursos  Naturales  will 
actually  install  one  of  the  proposed  sys- 
tems." The  project  was  a  finalist  in  the  1994- 
95  President's  IQP  Awards  competition. 

— Innamorati  served  as  acting  assistant  direc- 
tor of  the  News  Service  during  part  of  1994. 


WPI  Journal 


11 


INVESTIGATIONS 


Flushing  Soils  Clean 
of  Metals 

Among  the  most  difficult  problems  environ- 
mental engineers  face  is  treating  hazardous 
waste  that  has  been  spilled  onto,  leached 
into,  or  buried  under  the  ground.  Once 
released  into  the  earth,  wastes  like  organic 
solvents  and  heavy  metals  can  become 
bound  to  the  soil  or  slowly  dis- 
perse until  they  contaminate 
groundwater.  Often  the  only  way 
to  recover  the  waste  and  treat  the 
soil  is  to  dig  up  huge  quantities  of 
earth  and  cart  it  off  to  treatment 
sites  or  dumps,  an  expensive 
proposition. 

With  funding  from  the  Envi- 
ronmental Protection  Agency, 
Robert  A.  D'Andrea,  associate 
professor  of  civil  engineering,  and 
James  C.  O'Shaughnessy,  profes- 
sor of  civil  engineering,  have  been 
conducting  laboratory  tests  of  a 
technique  they've  developed  for 
removing  metal  wastes  from  soils 
on-site  by  flushing  them  out  with  g 
solutions  containing  chelating  § 
agents.  These  are  chemicals,  like  t 
citric  acid  and  EDTA,  that  can  ~ 
bind  tightly  to  metals  and  keep 
them  in  solution.  Some  of  these 
agents  are  also  used  by  phys- 
icians to  treat  heavy-metal  poi- 
soning. 

"The  EPA  is  interested  in  our 
technique  because  it  is  a  possible 
remediation  method  for  the  Lipari 
Landfill  in  New  Jersey,  a  major 
Superfund  site,"  D'Andrea  says.  "It 
may  also  prove  useful  at  a  number 
of  other  Superfund  sites  in 
Northern  industrialized  states  that 
have  similar  soils  and  long  histo- 
ries of  manufacturing  and  dispos- 
ing of  metal  wastes." 

The  permeability,  or  hydraulic  conduc- 
tivity, of  the  soil  is  a  critical  factor  in  deter- 
mining whether  or  not  the  technique  will 
work.  D'Andrea  says  the  conductivity  of  soil 
can  vary  by  more  than  10  orders  of  magni- 
tude, from  dense  clays  that  are  almost 
impermeable  to  loose  gravel  that  is  highly 
permeable.  "That's  more  variance  than  you 
will  find  in  just  about  any  other  engineering 
parameter,"  he  says. 

The  soils  that  are  most  likely  candidates 
for  flushing  are  mixtures  of  mainly  sand  and 
gravel,  with  small  amounts  of  fines,  a  grain- 
size  distribution  that  is  often  the  result  of 


glacial  deposition.  These  soils  are  reason- 
ably permeable  to  water  and  are  also  capa- 
ble of  latching  onto  heavy  metals  before 
they  wash  down  into  the  groundwater. 

To  conduct  their  tests,  D'Andrea  and 
O'Shaughnessy  gathered  numerous  samples 
of  this  type  of  soil  from  various  sites  around 
New  England.  After  preliminary  evaluation,  a 
soil  deemed  to  have  the  greatest  potential 


SPRAY  OR  TRICKLE  IRRIGATION  SYSTEM 


CONTAMINATED  SOIL  COLUMN 


w 


PERCOLATING  SOLVENT 


I   is  M 


V  O'^M'*"  tLt  V 


V  J 

,.-*'V«V.<,rt'-V.-'>VO'-'}Y.''-' 


SATURATED  ZONE 


O'Shaughnessy,  left,  and  D'Andrea 
with  some  of  the  permeameters  they 
used  to  test  their  technique  for  flush- 
ing heavy  metals  from  soil.  The  dia- 
gram by  graduate  student  Alton  Day 
Stone  shows  how  a  chelating  agent 
solution  would  be  sprayed  onto  con- 
taminated soil  and  allowed  to  perc- 
olate down  to  drains. 

for  successful  treatment  was  chosen.  The 
soil,  obtained  from  a  site  in  Worcester,  was 
artificially  contaminated  by  treatment  with 
solutions  containing  varying  concentrations 
of  metal  salts.  It  was  then  placed  into  tall 
plexiglass  columns. 


Because  previous  research  had  shown 
that  columns  filled  with  soil  were  prone  to 
clogging  when  repeatedly  flushed  with  water, 
the  researchers  also  conducted  tests  with 
similar  soil  packed  into  small  plexiglass 
cubes.  The  cubical  containers,  called  multidi- 
rectional hard-walled  permeameters,  permit- 
ted the  direction  of  the  flow  of  water  to  be 
varied  by  90  degrees  to  reduce  the  chance  of 
clogging  and  to  enable  the 
researchers  to  investigate  metal 
precipitation.  The  permeameters 
and  an  associated  piping  system 
were  based  on  an  apparatus 
designed  as  part  of  a  Major  Qual- 
ifying Project  by  John  T.  Germain 
76,  now  a  principal  research  asso- 
ciate at  MIT. 

In  tests  with  the  columns  and 
cubes,  D'Andrea  and  O'Shaugh- 
nessy flushed  the  soil  multiple 
times  with  plain  tap  water  and 
with  solutions  containing  various 
chelating  agents.  They  found  that 
each  of  the  six  metals  they  tested 
(cadmium,  copper,  chromium, 
lead,  nickel  and  zinc)  reacted  dif- 
ferently to  the  flushing. 

Copper,  for  example,  was  unaf- 
fected by  the  water  rinses,  but 
could  be  completely  removed  from 
the  soil  with  repeated  rinses  with 
an  EDTA  solution.  Up  to  80  percent 
of  chromium  was  removed  in  some 
trials  with  tap  water  rinses  alone, 
while  the  addition  of  the  EDTA 
solution  removed  only  an  addi- 
tional 1.5  percent. 

To  put  this  technique  into  prac- 
tice in  the  field,  D'Andrea  says,  a- 
temporary  barrier  would  be  con- 
structed to  surround  the  contami- 
nated soil.  A  solution  of  chelating 
agents  would  be  trickled  onto  the 
soil  surface  while  wells  would 
pump  the  water  collected  from 
underdrains  beneath  the  ground,  drawing  the 
chelating  agent  solution  through  the  soil. 

For  his  thesis,  master's  degree  candidate 
Alton  Day  Stone  proposed  the  use  of  this 
method  to  treat  contaminated  soil  at  a  site 
in  Cambridge,  Mass.  "In  this  study,  Stone 
applied  the  laboratory  results  to  show  that 
more  than  50  percent  of  the  metals  in  the 
soil  could  be  recovered,"  D'Andrea  says. 
"Though  we  wouldn't  achieve  complete 
removal  for  all  metals,  it  should  be  possible 
to  reduce  the  metal  concentrations  to  safe 
levels — and  levels  that  meet  state  stan- 
dards— in  a  relatively  cost-effective  way." 


■>ViV\»»V 


12 


Winter  1995 


Evolutionary 
Trick  May  Provide 
an  Economical 
Heavy  Metal 
Treatment 

Within  the  cells  of  all  living  things  are 
tiny  quantities  of  heavy  metals. 
Elements  like  iron,  copper,  selenium 
and  zinc  are  critical  components  of 
enzymes  that  enable  organisms  to 
carry  out  such  life-sustaining  functions 
as  the  transport  and  storage  of  oxygen 
and  the  metabolism  of  food.  To  keep 
these  valuable  substances  from  wash- 
ing away  into  the  lower  reaches  of  the 
earth,  fungi,  molds  and  bacteria  in  the 
top  layers  of  soil  capture  them  and 
keep  them  in  circulation. 

Research  by  Ted  Crusberg,  associ- 
ate professor  of  biology  and  biotech- 
nology at  WPI,  has  shown  that  the  same 
physiological  processes  that  enable 
these  organisms  to  absorb  small  quan- 
tities of  metals  may  also  protect  them 
from  the  toxicity  of  much  larger  con- 
centrations of  these  elements.  This  pre- 
viously unknown  defense  mechanism, 
in  turn,  may  become  the  basis  for  a 
simple,  effective  and  economical  way  of 
treating  heavy  metal  waste. 

For  several  years,  Crusberg  has 
been  studying  the  ability  of  a  Peni- 
cillium  mold  to  entrap  heavy  metals. 
Initially,  the  work  focused  on  beads 
made  from  the  cell  walls  of  microbes 
from  which  the  living  matter  had  been 
chemically  removed  (WPI  Journal, 
Winter  1990).  More  recently,  Crusberg 
has  started  experimenting  with  living 
cells.  "I've  found  that  the  living  organ- 
isms are  easier  to  work  with,"  he  says. 
"But  more  important,  they  are  also  12  times 
more  effective  at  absorbing  heavy  metals." 

Using  various  analytical  techniques, 
including  electron  microscopy,  Crusberg 
and  his  team  (which  currently  includes  eight 
undergraduates  and  two  graduate  students) 
have  shown  that  Penicillium  uses  an  enzyme 
secreted  through  its  cell  membrane  to  cre- 
ate an  environment  in  which  metal  ions  bind 
to  phosphate  ions.  The  resulting  metal  phos- 
phates are  trapped  within  the  periplasm,  a 
fluid  layer  that  lies  between  the  cell  mem- 
brane and  cell  wall  in  fungi.  The  process, 
called  biomineralization,  is  similar  to  the 
way  coral  cells  build  their  protective  shells 
and  to  the  way  bones  are  formed. 


Tackling  the  Scourge 
of  Heavy  Metals 

The  first  three  stories  in  this  edition  of  "Investigations" 
profile  WPI  teams  that  are  developing  three  quite  differ- 
ent ways  of  dealing  with  the  problem  of  heavy  metals  in 
the  environment.  Unlike  the  many  manmade  pollutants 
that  have  contaminated  the  Earth,  heavy  metals  are  nat- 
urally occurring  substances.  Many,  such  as  chromium, 
nickel,  cobalt  and  copper,  are  actually  necessary  in 
small  quantities  to  sustain  life.  But  when  these  same 
metals  are  released  into  the  environment  in  large  quan- 
tities as  waste  from  manufacturing  and  metal-plating 
plants,  as  components  of  agricultural  pesticides,  in 
sludge  from  sewage  treatment  plants,  in  products  like 
batteries,  paint  and  electrical  equipment,  and  in  the 
exhaust  from  gasoline-  and  diesel-fueled  vehicles,  they 
can  become  a  serious  threat  to  health,  causing  acute 
and  chronic  toxicity  and  even  cancer. 

Federal  environmental  laws  and  regulations  now 
prohibit  the  wholesale  release  of  metal  wastes  into  the 
environment  and  make  manufacturers  liable  for  the  safe 
and  responsible  disposal  of  any  waste  they  generate. 
These  laws,  plus  a  growing  awareness  that  treating 
waste  and  recovering  the  metals  can  often  be  more 
cost-effective  than  buying  new  raw  materials,  has 
focused  attention  on  finding  more  effective  and  eco- 
nomical ways  to  extract  metals  from  the  waste  stream. 

But  even  as  industry  works  to  keep  heavy  metals 
out  of  the  environment,  vast  quantities  of  waste,  the 
legacy  of  more  than  a  century  of  industrial  activity  in 
this  country,  lie  buried  in  thousands  of  underground 
sites,  slowly  releasing  metals  into  the  soil  and  ground- 
water. Recovering  these  wastes  and  treating  contami- 
nated soils— a  major  focus  of  the  federal  Superfund 
program— is  proving  to  be  a  difficult  and  extremely 
expensive  undertaking. 


"This  is  really  an  interesting  protective 
mechanism,"  Crusberg  says.  "The  metals 
never  reach  the  interior  of  the  cell,  so  the 
organism  is  in  no  danger.  The  only  problem  is 
that  as  the  cells  growing  in  culture  trap  more 
and  more  of  the  metal,  they  get  very  large 
and  heavy  and  will  ultimately  settle  to  the 
bottom.  Then,  getting  adequate  oxygen  and 
nutrients  to  the  cells  becomes  a  problem." 

Studies  in  Crusberg's  lab  have  shown 
that  the  Penicillium  mold  is  highly  effective 
at  absorbing  virtually  any  heavy  metal.  It 
also  survives  well  in  even  highly  concentrat- 
ed metal  solutions.  In  addition,  the  mold  is 
easy  to  grow  in  a  continuous  process. 

The  cells  tend  to  cluster  into  pea-sized 


beads  that  can  be  freeze-dried  and  later 
revived.  The  beads  are  easy  to  keep 
suspended  in  solution,  thus  eliminat- 
ing the  need  to  immobilize  the  cells 
in  columns  or  grow  them  into  mats, 
techniques  that  are  required  for  other 
types  of  biological  agents  used  in  waste 
treatment. 

"It  should  be  possible  to  send  a 
small  quantity  of  freeze-dried  Peni- 
cillium beads  to  an  industrial  site," 
Crusberg  says.  "The  beads  would  be 
placed  in  a  bioreactor,  and  from  that 
initial  supply,  the  company  could  grow 
all  the  fungus  they  need.  That's  another 
major  advantage  of  living  cells  over 
dried  cell  walls." 

The  fungal  beads,  which  Crusberg 
calls  biotraps,  should  prove  an  effec- 
tive and  low-cost  method  for  treating 
industrial  waste  streams  containing 
heavy  metals.  The  beads,  once  they 
become  saturated  with  metal  ions, 
could  be  removed  from  solution  and 
burned  in  a  kiln.  The  only  thing  left 
behind  would  be  the  metals,  which 
could  be  recovered  and  reused. 

Another  possible  application  for  the 
biotraps  is  the  treatment  of  water  con- 
taminated with  radioactive  metals 
(including  uranium  and  plutonium) 
from  nuclear  reactors  and  nuclear 
weapons  plants.  "These  wastes  are  now 
very  difficult  to  treat,"  Crusberg  says. 
"I've  already  had  some  preliminary 
talks  with  people  at  some  of  the  nation- 
al nuclear  laboratories  about  testing 
this  application." 

Crusberg  has  also  had  discussions 
with  engineers  at  the  Worcester  waste- 
water treatment  plant  about  testing  the 
organism's  ability  to  remove  copper 
from  the  treated  water  before  it  is  dis- 
charged into  the  environment.  "Copper 
leaching  from  water  pipes  in  the  home  is  a 
major  problem  in  the  Northeast,  where  the 
leaching  is  significantly  enhanced  by  acid 
rain,"  he  says.  "The  copper  eventually  finds 
its  way  into  municipal  wastewater.  There 
are  EPA  regulations  in  the  works  that  may 
require  municipalities  to  remove  that  cop- 
per during  wastewater  treatment,  before  it  is 
discharged.  Biotraps  may  prove  to  be  an 
economical  way  of  doing  that." 

In  addition  to  studying  how  the  Peni- 
cillium mold  goes  about  trapping  heavy  met- 
als, Crusberg  has  been  working  to  give  that 
ability  to  other  microorganisms.  He  and  his 
team  have  obtained  the  gene  that  produces 
the  enzyme  responsible  for  heavy  metal  bio- 


WPI  Journal 


13 


mineralization.  The  next  step  will  be  to  use 
genetic  engineering  methods  to  transfer  the 
gene  to  other  bacteria,  fungi  or  molds.  "We 
should  be  able  to  give  this  resistance  to 
almost  any  microorganism,"  he  says. 

Pillared  Clays  May 
Stack  Up  Against 
Heavy  Metals 

Clay  is  a  component  of  soil  made  up  almost 
exclusively  of  very  fine  particles.  These  tiny 
shards  of  mineral  matter  bind  readily  to 
metallic  ions,  making  them  good  candidates 
for  filtering  heavy  metals  from  industrial 
waste  streams.  But  the  fine  grain  structure 
of  clays  also  renders  much  of  their  interior 
surfaces  inaccessible  for  adsorption.  To 


clays  with  a  solution  containing  inorganic  ium 
polymeric  cations  (positively  charged  ions  clay 
capable  of  linking  together  to  form  a  poly- 
mer). The  clay  particles  are  allowed 
to  settle  out  of  solution, 
forming  layers.  When  the 
clay  samples  are  baked  at 
a  high  temperature,  the 
polymeric  ions  form  pil- 
lars that  become  chemi- 
cally bound  to  the  clay 
particles,  pushing  the  clay 
layers  apart. 

Once  they  have  created 
pillared  clays,  the  research- 
ers use  a  variety  of  techniques,  including 
electron  microscopy  and  x-ray  diffraction,  to 
study  their  physical  properties.  These  in- 
clude the  size  of  the  channels  created  by  the 


making  it  possible  to  regenerate  the 
beds  and  recover  and  reuse  the  metals. 
As  part  of  their  re- 
search,  the  team  will 
develop  computer  mod- 
els   to    simulate    the 
processes  that  occur 
when  the  clays  adsorb 
and  release  the  met- 


date,  this  has  limited  their 
utility  for  waste  treatment. 

With  a  grant  from  the 
Environmental  Projection 
Agency's  Risk  Reduction 
Engineering  Laboratory  in 
Cincinnati,  Yi  Hua  Ma,  pro- 
fessor of  chemical  engineer- 
ing, and  Alfred  A.  Scala,  professor  of  chem- 
istry, are  experimenting  with  a  technique 
that  may  overcome  this  shortcoming.  The 
technique  involves  creating  tiny  pillars  that 
force  apart  the  layers  in  clay,  creating  chan- 
nels through  which  wastewater  can  flow. 
Working  with  Ma  and  Scala  on  the  project  is 
Danyan  Li,  a  postdoctoral  researcher  whose 
Ph.D.  dissertation  at  Michigan  State  Uni- 
versity focused  on  pillared  clays. 

To  create  a  pillared  clay,  the  researchers 
mix  natural  or  synthetic  montmorillonite 


pillars  and  the  total 
surface  area  available 
for  adsorbing  heavy 
metals.  "Our  two  de- 
partments have  many 
years  of  experience 
using  these  techniques 
to  study  other  porous 
materials,  most  notably  zeolites,  that  can  be 
used  as  ion  exchangers,"  Ma  says.  "It  was 
this  expertise  that  led  us  to  realize  that  pil- 
lared clays  may  prove  effective  as  exchange 
agents  for  heavy  metals." 

In  addition  to  the  structural  characteriza- 
tion, Ma,  Scala  and  Li  will  use  fixed  beds  of 
pillared  clays  to  measure  their  effectiveness 
in  removing  a  range  of  heavy  metals  from 
water.  They  will  also  determine  whether 
they  can  get  the  clays  to  release  the  heavy 
metals  in  exchange  for  benign  ions  like  sod- 


■Ll-t*^ 


Above  left,  a  photomicrograph  of  a 
pillared  clay.  Inset,  from  left,  Ma,  Li 
and  Scala.  Center,  a  40-micrometer 
sphere  of  copper  phosphate  that  has 
formed  in  the  mycelia  of  a  Penicillium 
fungal  bead.  Inset,  Crusberg.  Far 
right,  a  scanning  laser  beam  captures 
dye  as  it  disperses  in  a  simulated 
ocean  environment.  Inset,  from  left, 
Baird,  Johari  and  Jumper. 

als.  The  models  will  help  the  researchers 
determine  how  to  optimize  the  adsorption  of 
the  pillared  clay  systems.  "These  models 


14 


Winter  1995 


should  be  generally  useful  in  evaluating  and 
optimizing  processes  involving  absorbents," 
Ma  says. 

"If  they  prove  successful,"  Scala  says,  "pil- 
lared clays  could  be  used  to  treat  concentrat- 
ed metal  wastes  produced  by  manufacturers 
like  metal  platers,  lowering  or  eliminating  the 
cost  of  disposing  of  these  materials.  By 
enabling  companies  to  recover  metals  they 


now  dispose  of,  the  technique  should  reduce 
their  raw  material  costs  and  make  their  oper- 
ations more  efficient  and  competitive." 

Finding  Out  How 
Deep-Sea  Fishes 
Follow  Their  Noses 

Hundreds  of  meters  beneath  the  surface  of 
the  ocean  lies  a  strange,  alien  world.  Here,  in 
a  still,  cold,  pitch-black  realm,  live  exotic 


species  of  fish  well-suited  for  life  in  a  watery 
desert  where  the  main  sources  of  food  are 
ultimately  derived  from  more  fertile  waters 
far  above,  and  where  encounters  with  other 
creatures — including  others  of  one's  own 
species — may  be  few  and  far  between. 

In  this  environment,  a  fish's  most  valu- 
able asset  may  be  its  nose,  says  Ronald  C. 
Baird,  director  of  corporate  relations  at  WPI 
and  an  affiliate  associate  professor  of  biolo- 
gy and  biotechnology.  "It 
has  long  been  known  that  a 
number  of  fishes  use 
pheromones  to  attract 
mates  and  that  the  chemi- 
cal sense  is  important  to 
them,"  Baird  says.  "I  have 
been  interested  in  deep- 
sea  ecosystems,  and  it  is 


hatchetfish  and  other  deep-sea  fishes,  he 
decided  that  to  understand  how  these  fish 
use  their  noses  to  locate  food  and  mates,  he 
would  first  need  to  better  appreciate  how 
chemicals  disperse  in  the  open  ocean.  After 
developing  some  rudimentary  mathematical 
models,  he  realized  that  he  would  need  the 
help  of  someone  versed  in  fluid  dynamics 
and  computational  techniques. 

That  someone  was  George  Y.  Jumper, 
then    associate    professor   of 
mechanical  engineering 
at  WPI  and  now  senior 
aerospace  engineer  in 
the   Aerospace   Engi- 
neering Division  of  the 
U.S.  Air  Force  Phillips 
Laboratory  at  Hanscom 
Air  Force  Base  in  Mass- 


clear  that  in  those  environments,  chemical 
reception  must  play  a  very  important  role  in 
the  life  of  many  of  the  species  found  there." 

Baird,  who  holds  a  B.S.  in  zoology  from 
Yale,  an  M.A.  in  zoology  from  the  University 
of  Texas,  Austin,  and  a  Ph.D.  in  biological 
oceanography  from  Harvard,  has  taught  and 
written  extensively  on  deep-sea  fishes,  oce- 
anic ecosystems  and  natural  resources  man- 
agement. He  is  currently  a  courtesy  profes- 
sor of  marine  science  at  the  University  of 
South  Florida's  Marine  Sciences  Institute, 
where  he  taught  for  eight  years,  a  member 
and  past  chairman  of  the  National  Sea  Grant 
Review  Panel,  and  the  National  Oceanic  and 
Atmospheric  Administration  (NOAA)  rep- 
resentative to  the  Gulf  of  Maine  Regional 
Research  Board. 

In  the  mid-1980s,  when  Baird  became 
interested  in  the  olfactory  sense  in  the 


achusetts.  Jumper  brought  to  the  table  a 
broad  technical  background  ranging  from 
chemical  engineering  and  physical  gas 
dynamics  to  target  acquisition  and  system 
optimization  theory  honed  in  his  work  for 
the  Air  Force. 

"I  had  originally  asked  George  to  improve 
the  modeling  of  the  pheromone  dispersion 
in  the  ocean,  which  alone  did  not  seem  to 
yield  meaningful  results,"  Baird  says. 
Jumper  says  he  found  himself  haunted  by 
the  inability  of  the  model  to  explain  the  obvi- 
ous ability  of  the  hatchetfish  to  find  mates. 

"Finally,  one  night  I  began  to  dream 
about  spherical  molecules  moving  about  in 
space,  hitting  each  other  and  the  walls  of 
their  container,"  Jumper  says.  "The  spheres 
then  turned  into  hatchetfish  and  I  awoke 
with  a  start.  I  realized  that  pheromone  dis- 
persion alone  could  not  explain  the  prob- 


WPI  Journal 


15 


lem,  because  the  fish  were  also  moving — a 
lot  faster  than  the  pheromones.  The  next 
day  I  applied  the  equations  for  the  collision 
of  molecules  against  a  wall  to  the  problem  of 
fish  swimming  into  a  patch  of  pheromones, 
and  it  cracked  the  problem." 

In  their  work,  Baird  and  Jumper  also  made 
use  of  encounter  theory,  which  attempts  to 
explain  how  organisms  come  in  contact  with 
each  other.  "We  thought  this  would  be  a 
good  starting  point  for  a  theoretical  analysis 
of  the  problem,"  Baird  says,  "since  fish  have 
to  not  only  detect  an  odor,  but  to 
locate  its  source.  In  the  deep  mid 
ocean,  there  are  no  local  cur- 
rents to  move  pheromones  in  a 
linear  fashion, 
creating  a  scent 
trail.  So  we  had 
to  develop  a 
new  theory 
about  how  an 
organism 
might  locate 
the  source  of 

an  odor  in  the  absence  of  direction- 
al information  from  currents." 

The  model  developed  by  Baird  and 
Jumper  incorporates  an  understanding  of 
how  deep-sea  fishes  detect  chemicals  in  the 
water,  gained  through  knowledge  of  the 
physiology  of  fish  olfactory  systems;  esti- 
mates of  the  abundance  and  vertical  distrib- 
ution of  a  number  of  these  species,  derived 
from  trawl  studies  conducted  by  Baird  and 
others;  and  data  on  how  chemicals  disperse 
in  deep  water,  derived,  in  part,  from  diffu- 
sion theory  and  studies  that  tracked  the 
movement  of  dye  released  hundreds  of 
meters  deep  in  the  ocean.  The  model  was 
enhanced  with  the  help  of  Hamid  Johari, 
assistant  professor  of  mechanical  engineer- 
ing, who  joined  the  research  team  in  1993. 
He  brought  a  wealth  of  knowledge  about  dif- 
fusion processes  and  experimental  tech- 
niques to  the  mix. 

The  analysis  revealed  that  one  of  the 
most  critical  factors  in  determining  whether 
a  fish  is  likely  to  locate  a  potential  mate  or 
meal  (and  whether,  in  turn,  a  species  is  like- 
ly to  survive)  is  a  variable  they  call  the  per- 
ception distance.  This  is  the  distance  at 
which  a  fish  is  able  to  first  recognize  and 
locate  a  target  organism.  The  probability  of 
successful  encounters  with  such  targets 
increases  exponentially  as  the  perception 
distance  increases. 

"Any  factor  that  can  change  the  percep- 
tion distance  can  have  a  profound  effect  on 
the  probability  of  encounter,"  Baird  says. 


"To  enhance  reproductive  success,  for 
example,  females  of  some  species  release 
pheromones  into  the  water,  while  the  males 
have  developed  inordinately  elaborate  olfac- 
tory organs  to  increase  their  ability  to  pick 
up  the  pheromone  scent. 

"Animals  encounter  things  in  real-time 
and  3-D,"  Baird  says,  "so  the  physics  of  real- 
time, 3-D  encounter  is  a  critical  dimension  in 
understanding  aquatic  ecosystems.  It  begins 
to  explain  why  organisms  look  the  way  they 
do — why,  for  example,  some  male  deep-sea 
fish  have  very  large  noses,  or  why  the  larva 
of  pelagic  species  are  often  as  clear  as 
glass." 

A  model  that  accounts  for 
the  many  variables  that 
can  influence  percep- 
tion distance  and 
encounter  proba- 
bilities can  be 
extremely 
complex  and 
require  con- 
siderable com- 
puter power  to 
run,  Baird  says. 
For  this  reason, 

The  hatchetfish 
Sternoptyx  diaphana,  resi- 
dent of  a  strange  deep-sea  world. 

with  funding  from  the  Advanced  Research 
Projects  Agency,  Baird,  Jumper,  Johari  and 
mechanical  engineering  graduate  student 
Michael  J.  Rider  are  adapting  encounter 
algorithms  to  run  on  high-performance,  mas- 
sively parallel  computers  in  collaboration 
with  the  Enterprise  Computing  Institute 
(formerly  WPFs  Center  for  High  Perfor- 
mance Computing). 

In  other  work,  the  researchers  plan  to 
begin  gathering  new  data  on  chemical  dis- 
persal in  simulated  aquatic  environments 
using  a  sophisticated  water  tunnel  and  other 
equipment  in  the  Fluid  Dynamics  Laboratory 
in  Higgins  Laboratories. 

The  research  on  deep-sea  encounter  the- 
ory is  just  one  aspect  of  a  multidisciplinary 
program  in  ecological  engineering  at  WPI 
that  began  in  1989  when  the  Institute 
received  a  multiyear  grant  from  the  Rodney 
Hunt  Co.,  a  maker  of  water-  and  sewage-con- 
trol equipment  in  Orange,  Mass.  The  grant 
has  supported  educational  and  research 
programs  that  apply  the  tools  and  tech- 
niques of  engineering  and  computer  science 
to  environmental  and  ecological  problems. 

"This  program  grew  from  the  recognition 
that  there  are  a  host  of  problems  in  these 


fields  that  are  so  complex  they  don't  lend 
themselves  to  one-discipline  solutions," 
Baird  says.  "Ecologists  are  generally  not 
well-versed  in  engineering  and  computer  sci- 
ence. At  the  same  time,  engineers  and  scien- 
tists have  skills,  exciting  technology  and 
computational  methods  that  can  be  applied 
to  ecological  problems.  As  an  oceanograph- 
er  and  ecologist,  I  saw  all  of  this  expertise 
around  me  at  WPI  and  I  thought,  'Let's  see  if 
we  can  bring  these  people  together  to  work 
on  a  problem  of  real  ecological  interest.'" 

To  date,  more  than  10  graduate  and 
undergraduate  students  have  worked  on 
research  projects  through  the  ecological 
engineering  program.  Their  work  has  con- 
tributed to  four  papers  in  top  ecological  and 
oceanographic  journals  and  to  several  invited 
presentations  at  national  scientific  meetings. 

"These  are  not,  by  and  large,  students 
who  intend  to  pursue  careers  in  the  environ- 
mental field,"  Baird  says.  "Rather,  they  are 
using  engineering  theory  and  tools  they  will 
eventually  employ  in  their  careers  and 
applying  them  to  real  problems  that  just 
happen  to  have  an  ecological  thrust.  In  the 
process,  they're  gaining  a  new  appreciation 
for  the  environment.  That's  the  real  goal  of 
this  program — to  expose  engineering  stu- 
dents to  ecological  issues. 

"In  the  next  century,  the  environment  may 
surpass  the  economy  as  our  principal  nation- 
al concern.  Clearly,  all  engineers  and  scien- 
tists will  find  themselves  dealing  with  issues 
that  relate  to  the  environment  and  the  global 
environmental  implications  of  technology. 
Just  as  important,  future  engineers  and  scien- 
tists must  understand  that  they  will  be  called 
upon  to  play  important  roles  in  solving  the 
environmental  problems  we  face." 

How  Poor  Decisions 
Can  Add  Up  to 
Global  Problems 

In  1982,  James  K.  Doyle,  assistant  professor 
of  social  science  and  policy  studies,  earned 
a  bachelor's  degree  in  environmental  sci- 
ences at  the  University  of  California, 
Berkeley,  and  set  out  to  help  solve  the 
world's  environmental  problems.  But  he 
soon  made  a  fundamental  discovery  that 
would  change  the  course  of  his  career. 

"I  realized  that  the  primary  cause  of 
these  problems  is  human  behavior,"  he  says. 
"I  had  thought  I  could  have  a  fine  career  fix- 
ing environmental  problems,  but  each  time  a 
problem  was  fixed,  people  would  turn 
around  and  create  a  new  one.  So  I  decided 


16 


Winter  1995 


to  go  to  the  source  and  find  out  how  people 
think  about  the  environment  and  how  they 
make  the  decisions  in  their  daily  lives  that 
contribute  to  environmental  problems." 

Doyle  went  back  to  school  and  earned  a 
Ph.D.  in  social  psychology  at  the  University 
of  Colorado  in  1991.  Since  then  he  has  been 
studying  judgement  and  decision  making, 
particularly  the  kinds  of  decisions  individu- 
als make  that  concern  risk  to  themselves 
and  risk  to  the  environment.  As  an  example, 
Doyle  points  to  the  risk  people  face  from 
exposure  to  radon  gas  in  their  homes. 

Working  with  the  Environmental  Protec- 
tion Agency,  Doyle  studied  the  results  of  a 
campaign  in  the  Washington,  D.C.,  area  to 
encourage  people  to  purchase  and  use 
reduced-price  test  kits.  "We  found  that 
about  half  of  the  people  who  went  to  the 
trouble  of  buying  the  kits  never  sent  them  in 
for  testing,"  he  says.  "Of  those  who  did,  only 


Doyle:  going  to  the  source. 

about  half  retested,  which  is  recommended. 
Those  whose  kits  measured  more  than  50 
picocuries  per  liter  were  sent  a  free  kit  for 
retesting.  Half  of  those  never  came  back. 
Only  a  few  percent  of  people  with  a  radon 
problem  followed  through  to  correct  it. 

"Before  this  study,  the  EPA  had  focused  a 
lot  of  its  efforts  on  getting  people  concerned 
about  the  risk  of  radon.  But  that's  not 
enough.  Dealing  with  a  radon  problem  is 
such  a  long  and  technical  process,  most 
people  just  can't  make  it  all  the  way 
through.  So  we  suggested  to  the  EPA  that 
the  time  to  get  people  involved  is  when 
houses  turn  over,  because  then  there  are 
brokers  and  other  professionals  to  make 


"The  environmental 

movement  would  like 

us  to  think  globally, 

but  as  a  social  and 

cognitive  psychologist, 

I  don't  think  we  now 

have  or  will  soon 

develop  the  capacity 

to  do  that" 


sure  things  get  done.  With  that  approach, 
more  than  half  the  people  with  radon  prob- 
lems correct  them." 

In  another  study,  Doyle  tried  to  assess 
whether  people  are  accurate  judges  of  the 
way  some  risks,  like  those  tied  to  radon 
exposure,  accumulate  over  time.  "For  exam- 
ple," he  says,  "if  you  live  in  a  flood  plain,  the 
chance  of  a  hundred-year  flood  occurring  in 
any  one  year  is  one  in  a  hundred.  If  you  live 
there  25  years,  the  odds  of  at  least  one  such 
flood  rise  to  22  in  a  hundred.  If  people  don't 
understand  that,  it  might  explain  why  so  few 
buy  heavily  subsidized  flood  insurance. 

"Previous  studies  had  concluded  that 
people  don't  buy  the  insurance  because 
they  greatly  underestimate  how  risk  accu- 
mulates. We  found  that  people  are  better  at 
making  such  estimates  than  they'd  been 
given  credit  for,  but  they  don't  buy  the 
insurance  anyway.  They  understand  the  risk 
and  they  worry  about  it,  but  these  feelings 
get  lost  in  the  complications  of  everyday  life. 
If  they're  having  trouble  getting  jobs  or  feed- 
ing their  families,  flood  insurance  simply 
goes  to  the  bottom  of  the  priority  list." 

While  people  can  sometimes  think  ration- 
ally about  how  risk  accumulates,  they  are 
less  clearheaded  when  it  comes  to  quanti- 
fying how  much  they  value  the  environment, 
Doyle  has  found.  "It  is  easy  to  get  people  to 
say  they  value  the  environment,  but  it  is 
much  more  difficult  to  get  them  to  say  exact- 
ly how  much  they  value  it,"  he  says. 

"If  you  ask  them  how  much  they'd  be 
willing  to  pay  on  their  water  bill  to  clean  up 
a  toxic  landfill  leaking  chemicals  into  the 
groundwater,  they  might  say  $10  a  month.  If 
you  ask  them  how  much  they'd  pay  to  clean 
up  five  landfills,  they'd  still  say  $10  a  month. 
In  your  methodology,  you  have  to  be  able  to 
deal  with  problems  like  these.  You  also  have 
to  be  wary  of  trying  to  get  a  value  out  of  peo- 


ple when  there  is  no  value  to  be  gotten  until 
you  ask  the  question." 

Often,  people's  impressions  about  the 
environment  and  about  risk  are  shaped  by 
their  own  biases.  For  example,  a  recent  IQP 
advised  by  Doyle  showed  that  people  tend 
to  believe  that  larger  animals,  animals  that 
are  the  most  similar  to  humans,  and  animals 
unlike  those  they  see  every  day,  are  the 
most  likely  to  be  endangered.  "People  have 
trouble  imagining  that  an  insect  can  be 
endangered,"  he  says. 

Often,  biases  are  shaped  or  fueled  by 
reporting  in  the  media,  Doyle  says.  For  ex- 
ample, people  tend  to  overestimate  their 
risk  of  dying  from  causes  that  are  heavily 
reported  (murder,  car  accidents)  and  under- 
estimate the  risk  from  lesser-reported  caus- 
es (diabetes,  cancer).  A  current  IQP  is  look- 
ing at  whether  people's  concern  over  global 
warming  is  shaped  by  the  impressions  they 
get  from  the  media  concerning  how  much 
disagreement  there  is  among  climatology 
experts. 

"There  is  substantial  disagreement  over 
minor  points,  such  as  which  countries  will 
be  most  affected,  but  there  is  almost  com- 
plete agreement  that  global  warming  will 
happen  over  the  next  century,"  Doyle  says. 
"But  do  people  mistake  the  quibbling  over 
details  for  disagreement  on  the  big  picture?" 

Given  the  limitations  of  the  human  mind, 
are  people  up  to  the  task  of  managing  the 
global  environment?  "I'm  certain  that  right 
now,  we  are  not  up  to  the  task,"  Doyle  says. 
"We  have  limits  on  our  working  memory, 
limits  on  the  ways  in  which  we  can  perceive 
the  world,  and  limits  on  our  judgement  and 
problem-solving  abilities  that  make  it  diffi- 
cult for  us  to  comprehend  complicated,  mas- 
sively interconnected  systems,  let  alone 
manage  them.  The  environmental  movement 
would  like  us  to  think  globally,  but  as  a 
social  and  cognitive  psychologist,  1  don't 
think  we  now  have  or  will  soon  develop  the 
capacity  to  do  that." 

Is  there  an  alternative?  Doyle  says  rather 
than  trying  to  manage  the  environment  on  a 
global  scale,  environmental  scientists 
should  focus  on  trying  to  get  people  to  make 
better  decisions  in  their  own  lives — to  help 
them  see  that  their  actions,  while  seemingly 
inconsequential,  help  contribute  to  prob- 
lems on  a  global  scale.  "It's  the  idiosyn- 
crasies of  our  minds  and  the  way  we  think 
that  cause  us  to  make  bad  decisions,"  he 
says,  "and  all  these  little  everyday  decisions 
add  up  to  things  like  global  warming,  ozone 
depletion  and  species  extinction." 

—Michael  Dorsey 


WP1  Journal 


17 


fcWflRDi  f OR  A 


fllanij  UIPI 
f  raduatei  have 
found  that  help- 
in?  protect  the 
environment  can 
make  for  an 
exciting  and 
rewarding 
career. 


By  David  Brooks,  Allison  Chisolm, 

Diane  Benison,  Michael  Dorsey, 

Joan  Killough-Miller  and  Ruth  Trask 

Illustration  by  Robert  G.  Cuoco 


In  the  few  short  decades  since  the  modern  environ- 
mental movement  began,  some  major  achievements 
have  been  recorded.  In  this  country,  these  include 
the  creation  of  the  Environmental  Protection 
Agency  and  a  host  of  other  federal,  state  and  local  gov- 
ernment bodies  dedicated  to  environmental  preservation; 
the  passage  of  myriad  laws  and  regulations  governing 
water  quality,  land  use,  and  the  release  of  hazardous 
materials  into  the  environment;  and  a  sea  change  in  public 
attitudes  about  the  value  of  protecting  the  natural  world. 

As  a  result,  today  we  live  in  a  cleaner  and  safer  world. 
But  the  battle  to  protect  the  environment  is  far  from 
over.  Important  threats  remain  to  our  air,  water  and  land. 
Huge  quantities  of  toxic  materials  still  lie  buried  under- 
ground all  over  the  country,  a  threat  to  human  health  and 
the  fiscal  health  of  those  who  may  unwittingly  purchase 
polluted  land.  And  industry  must  still  grapple  with  the 
best  and  safest  ways  to  deal  with  the  hazardous  byprod- 
ucts of  manufacturing. 

None  of  this  is  news  to  the  several  hundred  WPI 
alumni  who  have  built  careers  in  various  aspects  of  the 
environmental  field.  In  the  pages  that  follow,  we  invite  you 
to  meet  just  a  few  of  these  talented  men  and  women. 

These  eight  stories  were  reported  by  staff  writers 
Michael  Dorsey,  Joan  Killough-Miller  and  Ruth  Trask,  and 
by  David  Brooks,  a  photographer  and  writer  who  lives  in 
Warren,  N.H.,  Allison  Chisolm,  a  Worcester-based  free- 
lance writer,  and  Diane  Benison,  a  former  newspaper  edi- 
tor who  writes  regularly  for  the  WPI  Journal. 


r^^T'T'r^r^r'r'r'r^r^r^r^r^r'r'r^r^r^r^r^r'r^^ 


18 


Winter  1995 


SmALL  Plaiict 


HflRK  flflD  PflULfl  nOUJICK  HtLP 

Companies  im  money  ono 
Protcct  th€  CnviRonmcnT 

In  1959,  when  Henry  ("Hank")  Nowick  '56 
began  his  career  as  a  process  engineer  at 
Monsanto  Chemical  Co.,  protecting  the 
environment  was  not  a  major  focus  for  the 
chemical  industry.  Few  environmental  laws  and 
regulations  were  yet  in  effect,  and  the  impact  of 
pollution  on  the  environment  and  human  health 
was  not  well  understood.  But  all  that  would  soon 
begin  to  change. 

The  publication  of  Rachel  Carson's  Silent 
Spring  in  1 962  alerted  the  world  to  the  dangers  of 
environmental  pollution  by  pesticides,  and  in  the 
process  launched  the  international  environmental 
movement.  The  first  Earth  Day  in  1970  demon- 
strated the  growing  popular  concern  over  pollu- 
tion and  environmental  degradation,  a  concern 
that  helped  fuel  the  creation  of  the  Environ- 
mental Protection  Agency  and  the  subsequent 
passage  of  landmark  environmental  protection 
laws,  such  as  the  Resource  Conservation  and 
Recovery  Act  and  the  Clean  Air  and  Water  acts, 
over  the  following  two  decades. 

Today,  a  different  sort  of  environmental  rev- 
olution is  taking  place.  Where  the  environmental 
movement  of  the  1970s  and  1980s  grew  primarily 
from  a  desire  to  clean  up  the  world's  air,  water 
and  soil,  and  to  find  safer  and  more  reliable  ways 
to  dispose  of  the  products  of  our  industrialized 
society,  today  there  is  a  growing  realization  that 
protecting  the  environment  can  be  good 
business. 

More  and  more,  companies  are  looking  for 
ways  to  reduce  their  production  of  waste  and  to 
reuse  hazardous  materials — strategies  that  not 
only  reduce  the  need  to  dispose  of  chemicals,  but 
lessen  the  risks  involved  in  storing  and  handling 
these  materials.  The  potential  for  significant  savings 
and  improved  safety  are  motivating  many  compa- 
nies to  accelerate  their  environmental  efforts. 


Nowick  says  his  35-year  career  in  chemical 
engineering  has  been  greatly  influenced  by  the 
environmental  movement.  When  he  joined  Mon- 
santo in  1959,  he  was  a  technology  specialist 
whose  primary  responsibilities  were  improving 
the  manufacturing  processes  for  existing  prod- 
ucts and  bringing  new  products  developed  in 
Monsanto's  laboratories  into  full-scale  industrial 
production.  He  also  became  involved  in  starting 
up  new  chemical  production  units  in  Mexico, 
Spain,  Italy,  Germany  and  England. 

In  recognition  of  his  contributions  to  the 
company,  Nowick  in  1979  was  one  of  a  handful 
of  employees  offered  a  full-year  academic  assign- 
ment at  a  university  and  in  a  field  of  his  choice. 
He  elected  to  study  the  emerging  field  of  envi- 
ronmental engineering  at  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia at  Berkeley. 

"My  years  of  varied  industry  experience  gave 
me  a  perspective  that  many  political-action  envi- 
ronmentalists didn't  share,"  Nowick  says,  "name- 
ly, that  American  industry  was  run  by  intelligent, 
well-meaning  and  caring  citizens,  like  me,  who 
had  been  unaware  of  the  long-term  impacts  that 
new  products  and  their  by-products  might  have 
on  the  land,  air  and  water.  The  solutions  to  these 
problems  required  intensive  study  and  strategic 
planning,  not  sloganeering  and  name-calling." 

When  he  returned  to  Monsanto,  he  was 
assigned  to  develop  a  coordinated  hazardous 
waste  management  program  for  the  company's 
Springfield,  Mass.,  plant.  In  that  job  he  developed 
training  programs,  conducted  environmental  audits 
for  several  Monsanto  plants,  and  designed  pro- 
grams that  enabled  the  company  to  meet  environ- 
mental regulations  in  a  cost-effective  manner. 

He  also  became  corporate  Monsanto's  lead- 
ing public  speaker,  concentrating  primarily  on 
environmental  issues  and  industry  compliance 
with  government  regulations.  And  he  was  a  char- 
ter member  of  the  Massachusetts  Hazardous 
Waste  Facility  Site  Safety  Council,  one  of  several 
boards  on  which  he  has  served  over  the  years. 

At  the  many  national  conferences  Nowick 
attended,  he  was  introduced  to  the  new  revolu- 


Hank  and  Paula  Nowick,  founders  of 
Nowick  Environmental  Associates. 
After  a  35-year  career  with  Monsanto, 
Hank  Nowick  set  out  on  his  own.  The 
firm  he  and  Paula  created  helps  compa- 
nies comply  with  environmental  regula- 
tions and  reduce  their  production  of 
hazardous  wastes. 


r 


WPI  Journal 


19 


"ffly  yean  of  varied  industry  experience  ?ave  me  a  perspective  that  many 
political-action  environmentalists  didn't  share,  namely,  that  American 
industry  was  run  by  intelligent,  well-meanin?  and  carin?  citizens/' 


tion  in  environmental  engineering.  He  learned 
that  the  most  effective — and  economical — way 
to  tackle  hazardous  waste  is  to  produce  as  little 
as  possible.  "The  idea  was,"  he  says,  "wherever 
possible,  to  reengineer  your  product  and 
processes  so  as  to  minimize  hazardous  materials. 
Engineers  were  being  asked  to  design  more  effi- 
cient processes,  substitute  materials,  recover, 
recycle,  and  create  new  uses  for  by-products." 

At  Monsanto,  for  example,  Nowick  decided 
there  had  to  be  an  alternative  to  paying  between 
$50  and  $300  per  50-gallon  drum  to  dispose  of 
waste  resins  generated  at  the  plant.  Drawing  on 
his  contacts  at  other  chemical  plants,  he  discov- 
ered that  Polaroid  was  faced  with  similar  costs  for 
disposing  of  waste  solvents.  By  commingling 
Monsanto's  waste  resins  with  Polaroid's  waste  sol- 
vents, Nowick  was  able  to  generate  a  fuel  that 
could  be  sold  to  companies  that  produce  concrete 
shale  aggregate,  replacing  the  more  expensive 
petroleum-based  fuels  they  were  using.  "That  ini- 
tiative produced  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars 
of  savings  for  everyone,"  Nowick  says. 

After  taking  early  retirement  from  Monsanto, 
Nowick  entered  the  consulting  business  in  envi- 
ronmental engineering  and  founded  his  own  com- 
pany, Nowick  Environmental  Associates,  in  January 
1994.  His  wife,  Paula,  is  vice  president  of  the  firm. 
A  major  objective  of  the  company  is  to  help  indus- 
tries that  process  or  handle  hazardous  chemicals, 
or  that  create  hazardous  by-products,  comply  with 
complicated  state  and  federal  regulations. 

"I  read  the  Federal  Register  every  day,"  No- 
wick says.  "It  enables  me  to  keep  my  clients 
abreast  of  amendments  to  environmental  regula- 
tions, pending  legislation,  pertinent  legal  interpre- 
tations and  current  laws  that  may  affect  them. 
This  is  an  ever-changing,  ever-challenging  field." 

Because  each  state  can  add  more  stringent 
amendments  to  the  federal  law,  companies  doing 
interstate  business  must  comply  with  many  varia- 
tions. "We  recently  trained  workers  in  an 
Arizona-based  company  on  the  mandates  they 
must  follow  to  avoid  violating  federal,  Mass- 
achusetts and  Arizona  environmental  regula- 


tions," Nowick  says.  "The  sessions  took  eight 
hours,  including  certifying  exams." 

Nowick  presents  training  and  certification 
programs  in  a  wide  variety  of  environmental  top- 
ics. His  largest  training  group  included  993  Air 
National  Guard  reservists  at  Westover  Air  Re- 
serve Base  in  Chicopee,  Mass.  "It  took  32  ses- 
sions to  train  everyone,"  Nowick  says.  "I  also 
produced  a  video  to  train  absentees  or  newcom- 
ers. By  the  end  of  that  assignment,  I  could  give  a 
five-hour  training  session  with  no  notes." 

In  its  first  year  of  operation,  Nowick  Asso- 
ciates has  developed  toxic  use  reduction  plans  for 
15  industries  in  Massachusetts.  One  such  company 
is  a  printing  plate  producer  that  uses  concentrated 
nitric  acid  in  its  photoengraving  etching  process. 
For  years  the  firm  had  been  disposing  of  the  spent 
acid  in  its  wastewater  discharge  after  first  neutral- 
izing it  with  sodium  hydroxide. 

Nowick  was  asked  to  investigate  whether  it 
was  possible  for  the  company  to  reduce  its  use  of 
nitric  acid  and  sodium  hydroxide,  both  of  which 
are  expensive  and  potentially  hazardous  to  work- 
ers and  the  environment.  Nowick  proposed  the 
use  of  a  recently  developed  acid  recycling  system 
that  uses  diffusion  dialysis.  Trials  in  the  plant 
demonstrated  that  95  percent  of  the  spent  nitric 
acid  could  be  recovered  and  purified  for  reuse. 

"Not  only  was  the  nitric  acid  discharge  cut 
significantly,"  Nowick  says,  "but  the  need  for 
sodium  hydroxide  was  drastically  reduced.  The 
company  was  able  to  realize  its  goal  of  producing 
high-quality  etched  products  while  producing  as 
little  waste  as  possible.  This  strategy  not  only  sig- 
nificantly lowered  the  risk  associated  with  the 
storage  and  handling  of  hazardous  chemicals,  but 
it  will  have  financial  benefits  by  reducing  the  need 
to  purchase  raw  materials,  as  well  as  lowering 
operating  and  waste-disposal  costs." 

"We  have  found  that  many  companies  do  not 
have  the  resources  to  research  alternatives  like 
this,"  Paula  Nowick  says.  "Larger  companies  have 
downsized  their  research  and  development  staffs, 
and  smaller  companies,  especially  in  New 
England,  have  to  focus  their  energies  on  surviving 


in  fiercely  competitive  markets.  Given  strict  envi- 
ronmental regulations  and  today's  economic  cli- 
mate, the  environmental  consultant  has  become  a 
vital  asset  for  many  industries." 

Public  conservation  efforts  can  also  frequently 
benefit  from  the  types  of  services  that  Nowick 
Environmental  Associates  offers.  For  example,  a 
consortium  of  20  high  schools  in  Western  Mass- 
achusetts needed  help  in  finding  the  most  cost- 
effective  way  of  disposing  of  small  quantities  of  the 
many  spent  and  out-of-date  chemicals  purchased 
for  use  in  classroom  demonstrations  and  experi- 
ments. Since  only  licensed  hazardous  waste  dis- 
posers are  authorized  to  deal  with  these  potential- 
ly dangerous  chemicals,  each  school  was  looking  at 
costs  ranging  from  $2,000  to  $5,000  for  disposing 
of  less  than  a  50-gallon  drum  of  waste. 

"First,  we  compiled  a  master  list  of  the  chem- 
icals from  all  20  schools,"  Nowick  says.  "Through 
the  industrial  contacts  I  have  made  over  the 
years,  we  found  companies  that  could  use  many 
of  these  chemicals  in  their  operations.  We  even 
found  a  roofing  contractor  to  take  some  excess 
asphaltic  materials  from  one  of  the  schools." 

Currently,  Hank  and  Paula  are  gearing  up  to 
help  companies  comply  with  regulations  being 
prepared  by  the  Occupational  Safety  and  Health 
Administration  and  the  Environmental  Protection 
Agency  that  will  require  manufacturing  compa- 
nies to  review  and  improve  their  operations  to 
ensure  the  health  and  safety  of  employees  and 
neighboring  communities. 

"Part  of  the  process  of  complying  with  these 
Process  Safety  Management  regulations  will 
require  the  application  of  the  concepts  of  total 
quality  management,  making  sure  everyone  in  the 
company — from  managers  on  down  to  line 
workers — becomes  involved  in  the  decision  mak- 
ing about  processes  that  employ  hazardous  mate- 
rials," Paula  says. 

While  Nowick  Environmental  Associates  is 
their  first  joint  business  venture,  Hank  and  Paula 
Nowick  have  been  partners  since  first  meeting  at 
WPI  in  1958,  becoming  engaged  in  Paris  in  1961, 
and  marrying  in  1963. 


L    *K    *K    *K    **L    *K    *K    *K    **L    **L    **L    *K    9*l    #»    0*l    *K    #»    **     #»    #»    #»    #\    0\.    #*    #*    #\    **    /\  f\t 

%  *.%  *m%  v  ♦  *.*  *m%  n  ±j  .m%  i  %  *.  ♦  w  *m%  if  *m*  *m  +  if  w  .„♦  t  ♦  *m%  .m%  *m%  *m*  w  *.+  ^  ♦  ;,;  •.:! 


20 


Winter  1995 


"Given  strict  environmental  regulation!  and  today's  economic  climate,  the 
environmental  consultant  has  become  a  vital  asset  for  mamj  industries." 


"It's  fascinating  to  look  back  at  the  changes  in 
environmental  awareness  that  have  occurred 
over  that  time,"  Paula  says.  "It's  just  as  fascinating 
to  think  about  how  much  our  life  together  has 
deepened  our  appreciation  of  the  loving  care  that 
needs  to  be  given  to  all  evolving  things — especial- 
ly relationships.  All  beautiful  things  need  protec- 
tion and  reverence." 

—  Michael  Dorsey  and  David  Brooks 

flflncy  Coward  Hclpi  K«p 
th€  Spirit  of  Cartu  Dam  Aliv€ 
in  thc  Pacific  Rim 

Over  the  past  two  decades,  the  annual 
celebration  of  Earth  Day  has  lost  much 
of  its  original  excitement  and  visibility. 
But  in  the  late  1970s,  when  Nancy  S. 
Convard  '80  was  in  high  school,  it  was  still  a  new 
and  powerful  idea,  one  that  influenced  her  choice 
of  college  and  helped  shape  her  career. 

When  Convard  decided  she  wanted  a  career 
that  combined  her  budding  concern  for  the  envi- 
ronment with  her  knack  for  math  and  science,  she 
went  looking  for  colleges  that  would  enable  her  to 
merge  these  interests.  At  the  time,  WPI  was  one 
of  the  few  universities  offering  an  undergraduate 
degree  in  environmental  engineering.  That,  plus 
the  WPI  Plan,  with  its  project-based  approach  to 
education,  led  her  to  enroll  at  WPI  in  1 976. 

What  she  didn't  realize  then  was  how  her 
choice  of  career  and  college  would  help  her 
achieve  another  of  her  goals:  seeing  the  world.  For 
the  first  20  months  after  she  graduated  from  WPI, 
Convard  worked  in  Massachusetts  for  the  U.S. 
Environmental  Protection  Agency.  But  since  then 
she's  pursued  her  career  entirely  in  the  Pacific 
Rim,  working  in  Southeast  Asia,  for  a  small  Pacific 
island  republic  and,  most  recently,  in  Hawaii. 

Her  life  in  the  Pacific  region  began  in  1982 
when  she  left  the  EPA  to  join  the  Peace  Corps  as 
an  environmental  engineer.  She  was  sent  to 
Thailand  to  work  with  the  provincial  government 


in  Roi-Et  on  water  resource  projects.  She  helped 
plan,  design  and  build  small  dams,  spillways  and 
rain  catchment  tanks.  She  also  spent  a  great  deal 
of  time  in  the  village  of  Ban  Payamnom  Noi  help- 
ing out  with  a  variety  of  environmental  projects. 

When  her  two-year  hitch  in  the  Peace  Corps 
was  over,  she  signed  on  for  a  third  year  and  was 
given  the  freedom  to  design  her  own  assignment. 
She  decided  to  go  to  Chiang  Mai  University  in 
northern  Thailand,  where  she  worked  as  a 
researcher  and  instructor  in  the  environmental 
engineering  program.  Fluent  in  Thai,  she  taught 
courses  in  environmental  engineering  and  indus- 
trial wastewater  treatment  to  Thai  students.  She 
also  helped  conduct  water  quality  surveys  in 
northern  Thailand. 

"I  liked  working  in  Thailand,"  she  says,  "and  I 
liked  the  fact  that  my  work  made  a  clear  differ- 
ence in  the  lives  of  people."  She  realized  that  to 
remain  in  the  environmental  field  she  would  need 
an  advanced  degree.  She  was  accepted  by  several 
universities,  but  chose  the  Master  of  Public 
Health  Program  at  the  University  of  Hawaii. 

She  attended  the  university  with  a  prestigious 
scholarship  from  the  East-West  Center  for 
Intercultural  and  Technical  Exchanges.  Funded  by 
the  U.S.  government,  the  East-West  Center  has  a 
staff  of  full-time  researchers,  fellows  and  associ- 
ates and  sponsors  a  cadre  of  graduate  students  at 
the  University  of  Hawaii.  Of  the  150  to  200  stu- 
dents who  conduct  research  through  the  center 
each  year,  about  25  percent  are  from  the  U.S. 
and  the  balance  come  from  various  Asian  and 
Pacific  island  nations. 

Convard  says  her  work  through  the  East- 
West  Center  gave  her  valuable  international  pro- 
fessional ties.  But  the  public  health  program 
focused  more  on  identifying  and  managing  envi- 
ronmental risks,  and  less  on  treating  and  mitigat- 
ing them,  which  were  her  interests.  To  learn 
more  about  the  practical,  hands-on  side  of  envi- 
ronmental work,  she  stayed  on  to  earn  a  second 
master's  degree  in  civil  engineering  in  1987. 

With  her  graduate  work  complete,  she  took 
a  job  as  executive  director  of  the  Environmental 


©  ©  ©  ©  ©  ©  ©  ©  ©  ©  ©  ©  ©  ©  ©  ©  ©  © 


WPI  Journal 


Early  in  her  career,  Nancy  Convard 
worked  as  an  environmental  engineer  in 
Thailand,  where  the  local  fauna  includes 
elephants.  She  has  remained  in  the 
Pacific  Rim  since  then,  running  an 
environmental  agency  for  an  island 
nation  and  working  for  several  con- 
sulting firms  in  Hawaii. 


21 


"I  believe  it  i$  important  to  balance  environmental  and  public 
health  concern)  with  real- world  needs,  such  at  housing  economic 
development  and  $o  on.  Sustainable  development  and  assessing  risks 
to  the  environment  and  human  health  are  both  key  to  'environmental 
management.'" 


David  Ploss,  right,  and  H.  Robert  Nyce 
of  Ploss  Associates.  The  firm,  founded 
by  Ploss  in  1985,  provides  a  range  of 
environmental  services  and  also  offers 
an  on-line  information  service  that 
keeps  clients  up  to  speed  on  the 
latest  news  on  environmental  laws  and 
regulations. 


Quality  Protection  Board  of  the  Republic  of 
Palau.  Palau  was  then  part  of  the  United  Nations 
Trust  Territory  of  the  Pacific  Islands  and  was 
administered  by  the  U.S.  Located  about  800  miles 
southwest  of  Guam,  Palau  is  made  up  of  some 
340  islands  in  the  Caroline  chain,  many  of  which 
are  uninhabited.  Its  15,000  citizens  live  in  an  area 
roughly  twice  the  size  of  Washington,  D.C. 

The  Republic  of  Palau  gained  its  independence 
last  October,  the  last  U.N.  Trust  Territory  in  the 
Pacific  to  do  so.  When  Convard  went  to  Palau  in 
the  late  1980s,  the  U.S.  EPA  was  working  with 
local  officials  to  help  them  prepare  to  manage 
their  own  environmental  programs  after  indepen- 
dence came. 

Convard  says  the  nation's  early  environmen- 
tal program  focused  primarily  on  sanitation  and 
rural  environmental  health.  But  the  newly  estab- 
lished Environmental  Quality  Protection  Board 
was  charged  with  addressing  other  environmental 
issues  and  creating  new  programs  for  the  coun- 
try, whose  small  economy  was  built  primarily  on 
tourism,  subsistence  agriculture  and  fishing.  The 
tourist  industry  is  considered  to  be  of  great 
importance  to  the  nation's  economic  future. 

"When  I  arrived,  the  board  was  not  very  ac- 
tive," she  says.  "Its  staff  was  implementing  the 
program  through  other  government  depart- 
ments. My  role  as  executive  director  was  to  man- 
age the  technical  staff.  I  reported  to  an  appointed 
board  that  made  policy  decisions  based  on  the 
staffs  technical  analysis  and  recommendations." 

For  nearly  three  years,  she  helped  set  the  new 
agency's  scope  and  agenda.  She  and  her  staff 
reviewed  the  nation's  existing  environmental  regu- 
lations, drafted  new  regulations,  and  recommend- 
ed others  to  meet  unaddressed  needs.  Under  her 
direction,  the  board  became  a  quasi-independent 
government  agency,  no  longer  under  the  control 
of  any  other  department  or  ministry.  She  said  this 
helped  the  board  remain  objective  as  it  reviewed 
the  nation's  development  efforts,  which  were 
largely  directed  by  the  national  government. 

"The  board  had  pretty  much  all  of  the  pro- 
gram areas  that  the  U.S.  EPA  has:  water  supply, 


marine  water  quality,  solid  waste  and  hazardous 
waste,  which  in  Palau  primarily  meant  pesticides, 
household  hazardous  waste,  petroleum  products, 
and  so  on,"  she  says. 

"Palau  is  a  wonderful  place.  It  has  some  of  the 
best — if  not  the  best — scuba  diving  in  the  world, 
and  it  has  some  terrific  people.  I  had  a  great  time 
there;  it  was  the  part  of  my  career  of  which  I'm 
most  proud.  But  the  time  came  for  the  Palauans 
to  take  over.  Since  I  left,  I've  stayed  in  touch  with 
many  of  the  people  I  worked  with  there." 

In  the  spring  of  1990,  Convard  began  a  new 
job  with  PRC  Environmental  Management  Inc.,  a 
consulting  firm  in  Honolulu.  A  year  later  she  was 
offered  the  opportunity  to  open  a  Honolulu 
office  for  EnviroSearch  International,  a  small  firm 
based  in  Salt  Lake  City. 

"EnviroSearch  wanted  to  do  international 
work  and  I  had  contacts  in  the  Pacific  region  that 
allowed  me  to  get  project  work,"  she  says.  "I 
worked  on  projects  for  governments  and  agen- 
cies, particularly  the  American  Samoan  govern- 
ment and  the  South  Pacific  Regional  Environment 
Program,  a  regional  international  environmental 
technical  assistance  organization  with  representa- 
tives from  governments  throughout  the  Pacific 
region.  I  also  added  another  continent  to  my 
resume  when  I  was  asked  to  conduct  an  assess- 
ment of  hazardous  waste  management  in 
Botswana." 

After  two  years  with  EnviroSearch  Inter- 
national, she  joined  Parametrix  Inc.,  a  300-person 
consulting  firm  based  in  Washington  state.  While 
Parametrix  is  known  in  the  mainland  U.S.  as  a 
multidisciplinary  environmental  firm,  its  Honolulu 
office  had  focused  largely  on  water/wastewater 
engineering.  Convard  was  asked  to  expand  the 
environmental  practice  in  Hawaii  and  in  the 
Pacific,  which  she  did  until  late  1994,  when  the 
company  decided  to  scale  back  its  Hawaiian 
operation  and  focus  on  the  Pacific  Northwest. 

In  November  1994  she  joined  Barrett  Con- 
sulting Group  Inc.,  which  has  a  300-person  staff 
that  works  in  offices  in  California,  Washington, 
Hawaii  and  Guam.  As  senior  environmental  engi- 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*fy 


22 


Winter  1995 


"Uavin?  the  opportunity  to  tap  into  needed  information  with  a  few 
keystroke!  putt  an  end  to  flipping  and  browsin?  through  mountains  of 
manuals  and  document!." 


neer/project  manager  in  Honolulu,  she  will  con- 
tinue to  work  with  several  clients  she  brought 
with  her  from  her  previous  job  and  further  devel- 
op her  expertise  in  areas  like  toxic  waste  remedi- 
ation and  solid  waste  management — in  Hawaii 
and  in  the  international  arena.  "We're  looking  at 
potential  projects  in  the  Maldives,  Southeast  Asia 
and  the  Cook  Islands,  among  other  areas,"  she 
says.  "A  four-month  assignment  to  develop 
improved  solid-waste  management  and  environ- 
mental agency  strengthening  should  be  complet- 
ed by  this  fall." 

Convard  says  her  work  as  an  environmental 
consultant  has  been  quite  varied.  Her  earlier 
assignments — including  her  Major  Qualifying  Proj- 
ect at  WPI — dealt  with  water  quality.  The  MQP, 
completed  with  Betsy  Steigerwald  Yingling  '80  and 
Grace  (Crooker)  Levergood  '80,  was  a  study  of 
the  Muschopauge  Reservoir  watershed  in  Rutland, 
Mass.  "That  project  was  actually  similar  to  some  of 
the  work  I've  done  as  a  consultant,  where  the 
environmental  impacts  of  development  projects 
are  considered  in  the  planning  process  or  manage- 
ment of  water  resources,"  she  says. 

Today,  many  of  her  assignments  in  Hawaii 
focus  on  the  environmental  assessment,  environ- 
mental audit,  investigation  and  remediation  of 
hazardous  waste  sites.  For  the  foreseeable  future 
she  says  she  will  likely  continue  this  work  on  an 
international  scale,  helping  governments  balance 
economic  development  with  adequate  environ- 
mental controls.  For  her  industrial  clients,  she 
sees  her  work  turning  more  and  more  to  areas 
like  pollution  prevention  and  waste  minimization. 

She  says  her  work  on  international  environ- 
mental projects  has  been  particularly  exciting, 
"because  it  solves  real  problems  and  provides 
proactive  environmental  management.  I  believe  it 
is  important  to  balance  environmental  and  public 
health  concerns  with  real-world  needs,  such  as 
housing,  economic  development  and  so  on.  Sus- 
tainable development  and  assessing  risks  to  the 
environment  and  human  health  are  both  key  to 
'environmental  management.'" 

—  Diane  Benison 


PUM  flSSOCIATCS  Brirgs 

EnviRonmtnTflL  itRvicu  to  thc 

Inf ORdlATIOn  UlGUUHW 

hen  companies  need  more  solid 
footing  as  they  slog  through  the 
quagmire  of  environmental  health 
and  safety  regulations,  they  can  log 
into  an  on-line  service  maintained  by  Ploss 
Associates,  an  environmental  consulting  firm  in 
Northboro,  Mass.  The  service  can  give  them 
answers  around  the  clock,  seven  days  a  week. 

F.  David  Ploss  70,  founder  and  president  of 
Ploss  Associates,  designed  the  new  service,  called 
Ploss  Environmental  and  Safety  Information 
Service.  "We  wanted  businesses  that  had  been 
dependent  upon  trade  journals  or  that  found 
themselves  swamped  with  regulatory  data  to  be 
able  to  get  the  information  they  need  from  a  cen- 
tral source  in  a  concise  form,"  Ploss  says.  "Having 
the  opportunity  to  tap  into  needed  information 
with  a  few  keystrokes  puts  an  end  to  flipping  and 
browsing  through  mountains  of  manuals  and  doc- 
uments." 

Agencies  such  as  the  U.S  Occupational  Safety 
and  Health  Administration  and  the  Environmental 
Protection  Agency  are  going  on-line,  Ploss  says, 
but  it  still  takes  companies  too  much  time  to 
wade  through  all  the  latest  regulations.  And 
smaller  companies,  which  his  firm  serves,  rarely 
have  a  full-time  regulatory  affairs  employee  to  do 
the  work.  Ploss  says  he  and  his  staff  glean  the 
information  they  offer  on-line  on  their  own  for- 
ays into  the  Internet.  "We  get  the  information 
because  we  need  it  in  our  work  with  specific 
clients,"  he  says. 

He  says  he  decided  to  start  the  unique  ser- 
vice about  a  year  ago  when  he  was  downloading 
information  from  OSHA  and  realized  that  his 
client  needed  the  same  information  but  might  not 
know  how  to  find  it.  Now  he  makes  the  informa- 
tion— including  news  about  proposed  legisla- 
tion— available  to  clients  for  a  small  monthly  fee- 


It  can  be  accessed  by  modem  or  through  the 
Internet.  So  far,  more  than  two  dozen  companies 
have  signed  on. 

Michael  Alberts,  director  of  corporate  safety 
and  security  for  Cabot  Safety  Corp.  in  Sturbridge, 
Mass.,  is  one  of  the  service's  clients.  "I  find  that  if 
there's  something  hot  going  on,  I  can  find  it,"  he 
says.  "It  cuts  right  to  the  chase."  Norman  Faucher, 
owner  of  CAC  Industries  Inc.,  says  such  a  service 
has  long  been  needed.  "Before  I  joined,  I  was  often 
unable  to  easily  access  the  latest  regulations,  so  I'd 
follow  the  old  ones  and  hope  for  the  best,"  he 
says.  "I'd  sometimes  find  out  later  that  many  were 
outdated  by  at  least  a  couple  of  months." 

In  addition  to  access  to  information,  the 
monthly  fee  also  gives  clients  on-line  support  and 
two  hours  of  free  phone  consultations  each  quar- 
ter. For  a  higher  fee,  companies  can  set  up  a  bul- 
letin board  system  for  their  employees.  "For 
example,"  Ploss  says,  "a  firm  with  10  manufactur- 
ing plants  around  the  country  might  want  its  own 
internal  memo  system  so  staff  managers  can  dis- 
cuss the  latest  EPA  and  OSHA  regulations  among 
themselves.  Our  service  could,  if  requested,  then 
supply  them  with  the  names  of  key  agency  per- 
sons to  contact  about  regulatory  changes." 

Although  the  budding  on-line  service  is 
presently  on  the  front  burner  at  Ploss  Associates, 
the  firm  also  specializes  in  providing  solutions  to 
environmental,  safety,  industrial  hygiene  and  reg- 
ulatory problems  at  companies — small  and  large 
— around  the  country.  It  conducts  environmental 
site  audits,  environmental  due-diligence  investiga- 
tions, industrial  hygiene  sampling  and  safety 
audits,  and  industrial  program  development, 
among  other  services. 

"We  also  develop  and  assist  in  the  implemen- 
tation of  hazardous  waste  management  programs, 
audit  existing  programs  and  provide  required 
training  for  clients,"  Ploss  says. 

The  firm  has  completed  a  wide  variety  of  pro- 
jects since  Ploss  founded  it  in  1985.  For  example, 
it  evaluated  how  fly  ash  is  handled  at  the  incinera- 
tion facilities  of  a  large  municipality,  prepared  a 
corporate  safety  manual  for  a  large  New  England 


4t4r4r*^**^4t*******>*<******<**>^4r***><< 


WPI  Journal 


23 


"Liabilities  that  are  not  at  first  apparent  in  proposed  mergers  can  cost  a 
firm  millions  of  dollars.  We  can  evaluate  the  potential  liabilities  before 
the  transaction  is  completed  and  can,  possibly,  prevent  a  firm  from 
assuming  significant  financial  responsibilities." 


corporation,  and  prepared  and  implemented  a 
"Worker's  Right  To  Know"  program  at  a  small 
printing  company. 

Ploss  Associates  also  has  experience  in  making 
environmental  risk  assessments  prior  to  business 
acquisition  and  mergers.  Its  clients  currently 
include  a  leading  private  investment  company  in 
New  York  and  a  development  company  and  law 
firm  in  New  England.  "Liabilities  that  are  not  at 
first  apparent  in  proposed  mergers  can  cost  a  firm 
millions  of  dollars,"  Ploss  says.  "We  can  evaluate 
the  potential  liabilities  before  the  transaction  is 
completed  and  can,  possibly,  prevent  a  firm  from 
assuming  significant  financial  responsibilities." 

Ploss  says  he  relies  on  networking  to  build  his 
business.  "When  you  work  for  yourself,  you're 
your  own  salesman.  You  follow  up  on  referrals. 
You  make  cold  calls.  You  ask  people  if  they  have 
any  problems  that  you  can  help  solve.  We've 
been  fortunate  in  being  able  to  get  ahead  on  a  lot 
of  word-of-mouth  and  repeat  business." 

The  "we"  behind  Ploss  Associates  is  a  WPI 
alumni  duo.  Working  with  Ploss  as  a  project 
manager  is  H.  Robert  Nyce  Jr.  '93,  who  has  16 
years  of  environmental  experience,  mostly  in  the 
construction  and  consulting  field.  He  has  man- 
aged air-quality,  safety,  industrial  hygiene  and  reg- 
ulatory projects  for  a  number  of  firms,  including 
an  abrasives  manufacturer,  machine  shops,  con- 
struction businesses,  printing  facilities,  and  trash- 
to-energy  plants. 

Ploss'  own  experience  includes  course  work 
at  the  Harvard  School  of  Public  Health  and  nearly 
two  decades  at  Norton  Co.,  where  he  was  cor- 
porate administrator  of  Environmental,  Health 
and  Safety  Services.  He  has  also  worked  as  a 
chemical  engineer  for  Factory  Insurance  Asso- 
ciation, a  fire  protection  insurance  carrier 
in  Detroit,  and  for  Kemper  Insurance  Co.  in 
Philadelphia. 

He  has  served  on  committees  to  develop 
industrywide  compliance  procedures  and  has 
been  retained  as  an  expert  witness  in  numerous 
environmental-  and  safety-related  legal  cases.  An 
authority  on  Workers  Right  To  Know  legislation 


and  OSHA  compliance,  he  has  been  a  consultant 
to  the  Grinding  Wheel  Institute,  the  Abrasive 
Grain  Association,  the  Smaller  Business  Asso- 
ciation of  New  England,  the  Risk  and  Insurance 
Managers  Society,  and  the  Associated  Industries 
of  Massachusetts.  A  registered  environmental 
assessor,  he  is  also  certified  as  a  safety  profes- 
sional, hazardous  materials  manager,  environmen- 
tal inspector  and  plant  engineer. 

"When  necessary,  we  add  the  services  of 
additional  certified  industrial  hygienists  and  safety 
professionals,  as  well  as  toxicologists,  biologists, 
hydrogeologists,  geologists  and  surveyors,"  Ploss 
says.  "But  most  of  the  time,  it's  just  the  two  of 
us."  And  that's  just  how  he  likes  it.  "You  know," 
he  says  with  a  grin,  "I  really  do  like  being  my  own 
boss  and  calling  the  shots." 

Calling  the  shots  is  something  that  comes  nat- 
urally to  an  experienced  rower,  coxswain  and 
crew  coach  who  once  made  it  to  the  finals  of  the 
Canadian  Nationals  in  the  singles  event.  For  more 
than  13  years,  beginning  in  1972,  Ploss  coached 
the  WPI  Crew  Club,  a  six-day-a-week  job.  Under 
his  guidance,  the  team  won  numerous  titles, 
including  the  Four  With  Coxswain  title  at  the 
National  Championships  in  1978,  the  City  of 
Worcester  Championship  (for  12  years),  and  the 
New  England  Championships  in  1979. 

In  1982  he  led  the  first  alumni  contingent  and 
student  crews  to  row  in  the  Reading  Regatta  in 
England  (a  preliminary  race  to  the  famed  Henley 
Regatta),  where  they  won  three  trophies.  Ploss' 
dedication  as  rowing  coach,  along  with  his  work 
as  a  class  secretary,  a  class  agent,  and  chairman  of 
the  15th  Reunion  of  his  WPI  class,  won  him  the 
1 985  John  Boynton  Young  Alumni  Award  for  ser- 
vice to  WPI. 

Like  rowing,  Ploss  says  he  finds  that  being  an 
entrepreneur  has  its  rewards  and  its  risks.  "I'm  in 
control  of  my  career  now,"  he  says.  "I  didn't  feel 
that  way  when  I  worked  for  a  big  company.  On 
the  other  hand,  I  have  to  think  about  a  lot  of 
other  things  that  I  wouldn't  have  otherwise — like 
meeting  a  payroll." 

—  Ruth  Trask 


f  oRmtR  (HcmicAL  CncinuR 

I)  A  LflllMR  f OR  THC  LARD, 
WATCRAnDSlU 

In  the  mid-1980s,  Paula  (Green)  Curry  '82 
dealt  with  dirty  water.  A  chemical  engineer, 
she  designed  industrial  wastewater  treat- 
ment systems  to  help  companies  meet  clean 
water  requirements.  While  her  clients  now  had 
clean  water,  Curry  discovered  they  didn't  really 
understand  the  host  of  other  environmental  reg- 
ulations their  businesses  faced.  "They  needed 
legal  advice,"  she  says.  And  the  regulations  fasci- 
nated her.  So  she  decided  to  become  a  lawyer. 

A  native  of  Auburn,  Mass.,  Curry  graduated 
from  Boston  College  Law  School  in  1990  and 
joined  the  100-year-old  Boston  law  firm  Bingham, 
Dana  &  Gould  as  an  associate.  A  national  firm 
with  more  than  200  lawyers,  Bingham,  Dana  & 
Gould  offers  its  clients  a  full  range  of  legal  ser- 
vices. Curry  is  a  member  of  a  small  group  that 
offers  counsel  on  environmental  issues. 

While  she  practices  environmental  law,  Curry 
says  she  operates  more  as  a  businessperson.  A 
large  part  of  her  work  is  providing  environmental 
due  diligence,  she  says,  by  arming  businesspeople 
with  the  right  information — both  legal  and  tech- 
nical— to  make  an  acquisition  decision. 

For  Curry,  environmental  issues  are  "not  just 
for  people  who  live  in  Cambridge  and  wear 
Birkenstock  sandals.  These  are  real  business 
issues  people  have  to  deal  with."  On  many  cases, 
she  reviews  technical  data  on  a  piece  of  property, 
including  groundwater  and  soil  tests,  and  under- 
takes literature  searches  on  the  site  and  sur- 
rounding area. 

"My  goal  is  to  get  the  best  possible  outcome 
for  my  clients,"  she  says,  "and  help  them  work 
through  all  kinds  of  messes,"  from  owning  envi- 
ronmentally hazardous  sites  on  the  federal 
Superfund  list,  to  lending  money  to  companies 
who  bought  property  discovered  to  have  been  a 
toxic  dumping  ground  a  generation  ago. 


Winter  1995 


24 


"fTlij  ?oal  i$  to  ?et  the  best  possible  outcome  for  rwj  clients  and  help  them 
work  through  all  kinds  of  messes." 


"What  my  clients  want  to  know  is,  What  is 
the  likelihood  I  will  have  to  pay  for  this?'"  Curry 
says.  "I  help  them  evaluate  the  risk."  And  the 
risks  can  be  significant  if  a  $35  million  to  $40  mil- 
lion transaction  is  at  stake. 

As  for  the  potential  price  tag  for  cleaning  up  a 
hazardous  waste  site,  Curry  refers  her  clients  to 
environmental  consultants.  "I  try  not  to  advise 
my  clients  whether  or  not  to  buy  a  property," 
she  says.  "The  client  picks  a  team  and  we 
approach  the  problems  together." 

Why  should  businesses  worry  about  the  envi- 
ronment? If  they  want  to  buy,  sell  or  build  on 
land,  they  have  no  choice- — especially  if  the  land  is 
in  densely  developed  New  England.  Several  state 
and  federal  laws  enacted  over  the  last  20  years 
have  changed  the  commercial  real  estate  land- 
scape, especially  where  ground  or  water  contam- 
ination is  suspected.  If  tests  reveal  contamination 
from  hazardous  waste,  the  federal  Superfund  Act 
imposes  strict  liability  for  cleanup  costs  on  any 
person  who  ever  owned  or  operated  a  business 
on  the  site,  without  regard  to  fault. 

"Basically,  the  government  can  go  after  any- 
body in  the  chain  of  title,"  Curry  explains,  and  ask 
them  to  clean  up  the  mess.  Other  common 
statutes  businesses  wrestle  to  comply  with  are 
the  revised  federal  Clean  Air  Act,  Massachusetts' 
Chapter  21 E  (Massachusetts'  Superfund  statute), 
and  local  sewer  regulations. 

Since  Curry  first  entered  the  field  of  environ- 
mental law,  she  says  she  has  seen  clients  become 
more  sophisticated  about  environmental  laws  and 
regulations.  "These  statutes  have  been  around  20 
years  now,"  says  Curry.  "People  have  grown 
more  comfortable  with  the  laws  and  are  more 
likely  to  evaluate  the  risks  themselves." 

So  why  switch  from  chemical  engineering?  As 
Curry  has  explained  to  WPI  student  audiences, 
law  and  engineering  careers  have  different  expec- 
tations. Engineering  courses,  she  says,  often  lead 
students  to  solve  a  problem  with  one  right 
answer.  But  law  school  professors  want  to  see 
your  reasoning,  not  your  answers.  Fewer  clear- 
cut  solutions  may  bother  engineers,  she  says,  but 


she  doesn't  mind  working  through  gray  areas. 

There  are  also  more  women  in  law,  Curry 
notes,  particularly  in  the  first  years  of  practice. 
"That's  one  less  hurdle  to  overcome,"  she  says. 
As  an  engineer,  she  often  found  herself  the  sole 
woman  on  a  plant  floor  and  had  trouble  convey- 
ing her  competence  to  her  male  colleagues.  "That 
made  it  difficult  to  do  the  job,"  she  recalls. 

In  an  environmental  law  practice,  Curry  is  con- 
stantly challenged  by  a  wide  variety  of  tasks. 
Emergencies  arise  where  she  must  evaluate  mater- 
ial quickly.  For  example,  a  company  on  the  verge 
of  signing  a  deal  may  suddenly  uncover  a  box  of 
papers  with  environmental  information.  Inspectors 
from  the  Environmental  Protection  Agency  may 
appear  on  a  company's  doorstep.  At  any  one  time, 
she  may  juggle  eight  to  1 0  different  projects. 

"You  have  to  be  up  on  a  lot  of  various  stat- 
utes," she  says.  "You've  got  to  be  a  generalist 
within  your  specialty." 

Curry  and  her  husband,  Scott  Curry  '82, 
recently  acquired  a  new  specialty — parenting.  She 
took  a  five-month  maternity  leave  last  September 
to  welcome  their  son,  Davis,  into  the  world — a 
world,  she  hopes,  that  will  be  a  little  cleaner  for 
his  generation. 

—  Allison  Chisolm 

PtTCR  Tunnicufft  Hm  Built  a 

CflRttRinfrwiRonmtnTAL 
Project  ConjTRuaion 

I  hen  Peter  W.  Tunnicliffe  74  decid- 
I  ed  to  enroll  at  WPI,  the  field  of 
I  environmental  engineering  was 
^^^0   new,  as  was  the  WPI  Plan.  He  says 
he  was  willing  to  gamble  on  one,  but  not  on  both. 
As  a  member  of  one  of  the  early  Plan  classes,  he 
was  free  to  choose  the  Plan  or  WPI's  more  tradi- 
tional curriculum.  Concerned  that  the  Plan's  lack 
of  grades  might  hamper  his  ability  to  get  a  job,  he 
opted  for  the  traditional  route  to  a  degree  in  civil 
engineering  with  an  environmental  emphasis. 


Paula  Curry  began  her  career  as  a  chemi- 
cal engineer  specializing  in  wastewater 
treatment.  In  1990  she  earned  a  law 
degree  and  now  is  an  associate  at  a 
Boston  law  firm,  where  she  counsels 
clients  on  environmental  issues,  includ- 
ing those  surrounding  the  purchase  of 
real  estate. 


fotfzfofofatiifafatbfofofofofo^fafofo 


WPI  JOURNAL 


25 


"We're  ?oin?  to  tee  an  auiful  lot  of  global  environmental  opportunities  at 
more  underdeveloped  countries  be?in  to  ?et  their  water  * ijstemt  up  to 
the  current  state  of  the  art." 


Having  worked  for  a  number  of  years 
in  environmental  construction  for  the 
firm  of  Camp  Dresser  &  McKee,  Peter 
Tunnicliffe  was  named  head  of  a  CDM 
subsidiary,  CDM  Engineers  and  Con- 
structors, in  1993.  The  group  specializes 
in  undertaking  environmental  projects 
on  a  design-build  basis. 


Now  president  of  CDM  Engineers  and  Con- 
structors, a  subsidiary  of  Camp  Dresser  &  McKee 
Inc.,  Tunnicliffe  says  environmental  engineering 
appealed  to  him  because  it  enabled  him  to  blend 
his  interests  in  chemistry,  the  life  sciences,  engi- 
neering and  the  environment.  It  also  offered  good 
prospects  for  employment. 

At  that  time,  the  focus  of  environmental  engi- 
neering was  water  quality  and  wastewater  treat- 
ment. Under  the  Clean  Water  Act,  the  federal 
government  was  funneling  large  amounts  of  con- 
struction money  into  state  and  local  government 
projects  like  sewer  systems  and  water  treatment 
plants.  There  was  a  growing  need  for  engineers 
with  expertise  in  design  and  construction. 

Having  received  his  degree  in  civil  engineer- 
ing, Tunnicliffe  decided  to  take  a  job  with  Camp 
Dresser  &  McKee,  one  of  several  firms  that  made 
offers.  He  says  the  company's  varied  portfolio  of 
environmental  projects  appealed  to  him.  "Some 
of  the  other  offers  would  have  pigeonholed  me," 
he  says.  "One  company  wanted  me  to  be  an  ion 
exchange  specialist.  That  seemed  too  limiting." 

Starting  in  Camp  Dresser's  construction 
group,  Tunnicliffe  worked  on  a  wide  range  of  con- 
struction projects,  including  water  treatment 
plants,  wastewater  plants,  transmission  mains,  and 
sewer  lines.  "I  learned  an  awful  lot  about  construc- 
tion very  quickly,"  he  says,  "faster,  in  fact,  than  I 
could  have  in  many  alternate  career  paths.  That 
exposure  shaped  the  rest  of  my  career." 

In  1979  he  was  assigned  to  the  company's 
New  York  City  office,  where  he  worked  on 
some  heavy  construction  projects  designed  by  a 
firm  acquired  by  Camp  Dresser.  "They  had  a  lot 
of  problems,"  he  says.  "I  rolled  up  my  sleeves, 
began  to  resolve  them,  and  ended  up  relocating 
to  New  York  and  taking  over  the  heavy  con- 
struction group." 

While  in  New  York,  he  earned  a  law  degree  at 
Brooklyn  Law  School,  something  he  felt  would  be 
an  asset  in  his  work  in  construction  management. 
In  1981  he  was  named  head  of  the  reorganized 
New  York  office,  which  was  working  on  major 
design  jobs,  including  projects  for  wastewater 


plants  and  landfills.  Over  the  next  several  years,  as 
Camp  Dresser  became  an  important  consultant 
and  contractor  in  the  field  of  hazardous  waste, 
Tunnicliffe  began  managing  projects  in  that  area,  as 
well,  including  work  for  the  U.S.  Environmental 
Protection  Agency  and  industrial  clients. 

In  1 99 1 ,  as  part  of  a  companywide  reorgani- 
zation, Camp  Dresser  established  several  prac- 
tice-oriented groups  focused  on  national  market 
trends.  In  1993,  one  of  those,  created  to  meet  a 
growing  interest  of  industrial  and  municipal 
clients  in  design-build  projects  in  the  environ- 
mental field,  became  CDM  Engineers  and 
Constructors. 

Traditionally,  clients  have  contracted  sepa- 
rately with  designers  and  builders  to  get  environ- 
mental projects  constructed.  But  with  design- 
build,  an  approach  now  common  in  Europe,  a  sin- 
gle contractor  is  responsible  for  the  entire  pro- 
ject, which  can  often  save  money.  Tunnicliffe  says 
he  believes  this  design-build  concept  will  become 
prevalent  throughout  the  environmental  field. 

CDM  Engineers  and  Constructors'  14-mem- 
ber  staff  consists  largely  of  construction  project 
managers  and  superintendents.  For  specific  pro- 
jects, the  subsidiary  works  with  professionals 
from  other  Camp  Dresser  units,  particularly  peo- 
ple with  design  or  construction  experience. 

"Our  mission  contemplates  further  growth  in 
the  areas  of  responsibility  assigned  to  our  project 
managers  and  superintendents,"  Tunnicliffe  says. 
"It  doesn't  contemplate  growing  a  series  of 
redundant  services  that  would  compete  with  the 
parent.  One  of  the  core  philosophies  of  Camp 
Dresser  is  to  function  as  one  team  throughout  all 
the  operating  units.  We're  not  set  up  to  compete 
among  ourselves.  That's  different  than  many 
firms  that  are  set  up  on  a  localized  profit-center 
basis.  Our  goals  are  structured  to  promote  team- 
work between  units." 

Tunnicliffe  says  he  is  optimistic  about  the 
future  of  environmental  engineering.  In  particular, 
he  says  the  international  market  will  provide  a 
great  deal  of  work  for  firms  like  his.  "We're  going 
to  see  an  awful  lot  of  global  environmental 


26 


^ Jl   ajJ\   aaJ\   4fJ|   4fJJ   aaJ\   aaJ\   aaJ\   aaJ\   aaJ\   aaJ\   aaJ\   aaJ\   aaJ\   aaJ\   aaJ\   aaJ\   aa^\   ^\  0 

Winter  1995 


"Business  and  industry  are  learning  through  experience  that  pollution 
prevention  and  the  safe  disposal  of  hazardous  waste  reduce  the  exposure 
of  workers  to  toxic  materials  and  help  them  stay  healthy." 


opportunities  as  more  underdeveloped  countries 
begin  to  get  their  water  systems  up  to  the  cur- 
rent state  of  the  art,"  he  says. 

"This  is  happening  now  on  the  Pacific  Rim. 
Water  system  upgrades  will  be  followed  by 
wastewater  treatment  and,  ultimately,  by  solid 
waste-  and  hazardous  waste-related  work.  There 
are  tremendous  water  treatment  and  wastewater 
needs  in  Eastern  Europe  because  of  uncontrolled 
industrialization.  Drinking  water  is  in  trouble 
there  and  basic  wastewater  needs  are  not  being 
met  well.  All  around  the  world,  there  are 
tremendous  environmental  needs  that  will  have 
to  be  addressed  in  the  next  decade  or  two." 

—  Diane  Benison 

Still  An  Activist  at  Hcart, 

f  ORCCLLA  HCLPS  OOfMtCTKUT 

fllAnAGc  Hazardous  Wash 

The  development  of  hazardous  waste  sites 
is  controversial  and  unpopular,  and  even 
more  so  for  low-level  radioactive  waste- 
disposal  facilities,"  says  Domenic  Forcella 
70.  "But  in  this  initiative,  the  community,  not 
some  outside  agency,  makes  the  decision  as  to 
whether  or  not  it  will  participate  in  the  selection 
of  a  local  site." 

Forcella  is  chairman  and  executive  officer  of 
the  Connecticut  Hazardous  Waste  Management 
Service  (CHWMS)  in  Hartford,  an  independent, 
quasi-public  agency  created  by  the  Connecticut 
Legislature  in  1983  to  promote  the  responsible 
management  of  hazardous  waste  to  help  safe- 
guard the  state's  air,  water  and  land.  It  also  helps 
business  operate  more  efficiently  by  providing 
technical  assistance  in  pollution  prevention. 

In  1987  the  agency's  scope  was  broadened  to 
include  low-level  radioactive  waste.  Through  an 
innovative  voluntary  siting  program,  CHWMS 
hopes  a  community  will  volunteer  to  host  a  facili- 
ty for  the  management  of  the  low-level  radioac- 
tive waste  generated  in  the  state.  He  says  the 


new  approach  gives  more  control  and  bigger 
incentives  to  a  community  to  establish  a  site  than 
traditional  state  siting  programs. 

Under  the  program,  local  governments  make 
the  decision  to  begin  discussions  about  hosting  a 
facility.  "It  is  not  imposed  on  them  as  has  tra- 
ditionally been  done,"  Forcella  says.  The  commu- 
nity can  design  criteria  for  the  site  to  meet  its 
needs,  and  with  the  state  it  develops  a  "facility 
development  agreement"  that  spells  out  the 
responsibilities  of  each  party  and  carries  the 
weight  of  contract  law.  For  its  participation,  and 
to  offset  its  costs,  the  community  receives  finan- 
cial compensation  from  the  state  that  it  can  use 
in  any  way  it  sees  fit.  Other  states  are  studying 
the  program,  Forcella  says. 

The  activities  of  CHWMS  and  its  20  employ- 
ees are  guided  by  a  10-member  board  of  direc- 
tors. Its  members  include  Gerald  R.  Backlund  '55, 
manager  of  regulatory  affairs  at  the  Stamford 
(Conn.)  Research  Laboratories  of  Cytec  Indus- 
tries Inc.  Another  WPI  graduate,  Joseph  M. 
Amarello  '82,  is  assistant  manager  for  policy  and 
regulation  for  CHWMS. 

Forcella  says  that  one  of  CHMWS's  most 
important  current  missions  is  promoting  waste 
minimization  and  pollution  prevention  among  the 
state's  industries.  Through  the  Connecticut 
Technical  Assistance  Program  (ConnTAP),  it  pro- 
vides companies  that  wish  to  reduce  their  waste 
output  with  financial  and  technical  assistance. 

Attitudes  about  pollution  prevention  have 
changed  over  the  last  few  years,  Forcella  says. 
Once  thought  of  merely  as  "the  right  thing  to  do, 
environmentally,"  today  it  is  seen  as  a  more  eco- 
nomical and  efficient  way  to  manage  a  manufac- 
turing operation.  "Business  and  industry  are  also 
learning  through  experience  that  pollution  pre- 
vention and  the  safe  disposal  of  hazardous  waste 
reduce  the  exposure  of  workers  to  toxic  materi- 
als and  help  them  stay  healthy,"  he  says.  "A 
healthy  work  force  can  mean  increased  produc- 
tion and  profits." 

Forcella  says  managing  Connecticut's  waste 
disposal  problems  is  becoming  more  difficult  all 


the  time  as  other  states  attempt  to  close  their 
borders  to  out-of-state  waste.  The  lack  of  ade- 
quate disposal  sites  for  waste  leaves  Connecticut 
facing  the  potential  for  the  loss  of  industry  and 
jobs  and  increases  the  potential  for  irresponsible 
disposal  and  illegal  dumping,  he  says. 

All  this  makes  the  need  for  in-state  waste  dis- 
posal solutions  more  critical,  although  no  less 
complex  or  controversial,  he  says.  "While  simple 
solutions  are  desirable,  they  are  increasingly 
more  unlikely.  Solutions  to  the  technical  and 
environmental  problems  of  waste  disposal  are 
within  reach,  but  they  will  not  come  without 
some  expense,  and  there  will  be  complex  political 
and  social  hurdles  to  surmount." 

Forcella's  interest  in  public  service  began 
when  he  was  a  student  at  WPI.  He  was  instru- 
mental in  setting  up  a  program  called  the 
Worcester  Area  Free  University,  which  was 
open  to  anyone  without  age  restrictions  or  resi- 
dence requirements.  "Our  goal  was  to  bring  peo- 
ple from  institutions  of  higher  learning  together 
with  people  from  the  community  at  large  who 
were  seeking  solutions  to  problems,"  he  says. 
"We  placed  more  emphasis  on  practice  than  on 
theory." 

He  also  became  interested  in  environmental 
issues  as  a  student,  serving  on  the  Worcester 
Chamber  of  Commerce's  Beautification  Council 
and  Environmental  Committee  and  helping  orga- 
nize the  Institute's  observance  of  the  first  Earth 
Day  in  1970.  After  receiving  his  degree  in  civil 
engineering  and  starting  a  job  in  the  Worcester 
City  Planning  Department,  he  began  his  graduate 
work  in  civil  engineering  and  environmental  plan- 
ning at  WPI  and  founded  the  Worcester  Ecology 
Action  Center,  which  used  radio  shows,  political 
lobbying,  speakers  and  advisors  in  its  efforts  to 
improve  Worcester's  environment. 

In  1974  he  interrupted  his  graduate  work  to 
become  the  first  chairperson  of  the  Inland 
Wetlands  Commission  in  his  hometown  of  Plain- 
ville,  Conn.  During  the  next  several  years  he 
worked  at  a  variety  of  jobs,  including  substitute 
teacher  in  the  Plainville  schools,  instructor  at 


yjjjjjjjjljjjljjljljjjjjljjjjjjjljljj 


WPI  Journal 


27 


"Solutions  to  the  technical  and  environmental  problems  of  waste 
disposal  are  within  reach,  but  they  will  not  come  without  some 
expense,  and  there  will  be  complex  political  and  social  hurdles 
to  surmount." 


Briarwood  College  in  Southington,  Conn.,  justice 
of  the  peace,  photographer,  feature  writer  for 
the  Plainville  News,  and  consultant  for  an  environ- 
mental studies  program  at  Central  Connecticut 
State  College  in  New  Britain. 

Long  active  in  Connecticut  politics  (he  is  a 
past  chairman  of  the  Plainville  Democratic  Town 
Committee  and  a  former  vice  president  of  the 
state's  Young  Democrats),  he  was  nominated  in 
1978  to  run  (unsuccessfully,  as  it  turned  out)  as 
the  Democratic  Party  choice  for  the  22nd  State 
Assembly  District,  which  includes  Plainville.  He 
also  worked  on  the  political  campaigns  of  his 
father,  a  former  mayor  of  Plainville,  and  former 
WPI  professor  Carl  H.  Koontz,  who  served  as  a 
city  councilor  in  Worcester. 

"I  started  my  first  important  post  in  1979," 
he  says,  "when  I  was  appointed  by  Connecticut 
Governor  Ella  Grasso  as  executive  director  of 
the  Connecticut  Council  on  Environmental 
Quality."  For  five  years  he  served  as  an  ombuds- 
man for  the  state,  overseeing  environmental 
issues  and  legislation  and  addressing  citizens' 
problems.  Under  his  direction,  the  council 
became  involved  in  such  potentially  thorny  issues 
as  hazardous  waste  siting,  drinking  water  contam- 
ination and  solid-waste  disposal.  It  also  investigat- 
ed the  impact  of  the  construction  of  large  shop- 
ping malls  on  the  environment. 

In  1983  he  received  a  Mellon  Fellowship  for 
Academic  Research  and  enrolled  at  Yale 
University's  School  of  Forestry  and 
Environmental  Studies  to  complete  work  on  a 
master's  degree  in  environmental  policy.  Three 
years  later  he  stepped  down  from  his  executive 
director's  post  to  pursue  a  Ph.D.  in  environmen- 
tal design  and  planning  at  Virginia  Polytechnic 
Institute  and  State  University  under  a 
Cunningham  Fellowship  for  Dissertation 
Research. 

"Dom's  work  with  the  Council  on 
Environmental  Quality  has  emphasized  citizen 
concerns,  and  his  efforts  to  solve  problems  that 
were  varied  and  complicated  have  made  us  that 
much  more  effective,"  attorney  Donald  Mackie, 


then  chairman  of  the  council,  said  at  the  time. 
"His  concern  let  the  public  know  that  the  council 
is  a  unique  government  agency  that  has  a  man- 
date to  follow  through  on  citizen  complaints." 

At  Virginia  Polytechnic,  Forcella  conducted 
research  on  facility  siting  procedures,  small-quan- 
tity waste  generators,  household  hazardous 
waste,  and  emergency  response.  He  prepared 
reports  on  hazardous  waste  issues  for  local  offi- 
cials in  Virginia  cities  and  towns.  For  two  years  he 
was  a  facility  siting  consultant  to  the  National 
League  of  Cities. 

In  1987  he  was  named  a  senior  policy  analyst 
for  the  Natural  Resources  Center  of  the  National 
Governors'  Association.  In  that  post  he  directed 
a  pollution  prevention  study,  staffed  the 
Governors'  Task  Force  on  Solid  Waste,  coordi- 
nated a  Superfund  policy  forum,  directed  work 
for  the  Waste  Capacity  Assurance  Project,  and 
assisted  in  a  survey  of  areas  closed  or  restricted 
due  to  toxic  contamination.  This  work  required 
close  collaboration  with  state  environmental 
staffs,  the  EPA,  industry  representatives,  and  envi- 
ronmental groups. 

Over  the  years,  Forcella's  know-how  and  cre- 
ative approach  to  problem  solving  have  made  him 
a  much-sought-after  committee  member  and 
speaker.  Among  the  many  committees  on  which 
he  serves  are  the  U.S.  Environmental  Protection 
Agency/NGA  Environmental  Justice  Work 
Group,  the  State  and  Territorial  Solid  Waste 
Management  Officials  Pollution  Prevention  Task 
Force,  and  the  U.S.  Department  of  Energy's 
Federal  Facilities  Compliance  Act  Task  Force. 

He  has  written  extensively  about  environ- 
mental issues  and  has  presented  the  results  of  the 
work  of  CHWMS  at  national  conferences  and  to 
work  groups  at  the  National  Governors'  Asso- 
ciation. He  is  listed  in  Who's  Who  in  American 
Politics  and  Who's  Who  in  Pollution  Prevention. 

Forcella  was  appointed  to  his  current  post  at 
CHWMS  in  1992  by  Governor  Lowell  R. 
Weicker  Jr.  In  this  highly  visible  job  he  says  he 
draws  on  the  varied  experience  he  has  gained 
over  the  years.  Particularly  useful,  he  says,  is  the 


political  sensibility  he  began  building  more  than 
20  years  ago  while  an  undergraduate  at  WPI. 

Active  in  a  campus  protest  of  the  U.S.  military 
invasion  of  Cambodia,  he  earlier  had  found  him- 
self, as  a  member  of  the  Student  Activities  Board, 
voting  against  a  motion  to  spend  student  govern- 
ment money  to  rent  a  bus  to  carry  students  to 
Washington,  D.C.,  for  a  moratorium  in  late  1969. 
He  says  he  opposed  using  general  student  funds 
to  support  the  political  views  of  one  segment  of 
the  student  body,  "even  though  I  may  have 
agreed  with  those  views. 

"From  that  experience  I  learned  the  value  of 
compromise,"  he  says.  "You  have  to  push  as  far 
as  you  can  for  yourself,  but  you  can't  be  inflexi- 
ble. You  need  to  work  hard  to  get  things  done, 
especially  in  the  environmental  arena  where  so 
many  people  hold  diverse  views.  Sometimes,  such 
as  with  our  voluntary  community  siting  program, 
we  win  one." 

—  Ruth  Trask 


(RoMflnTO  CnGinuR 
Hm  a  fflcstAGC  f  or  Toofly's 
$TUD«m:  CnviRonmcnTflL 
CncinttRinG  fm 

Cdward  Jamro  '73  learned  early  on  the  value 
of  environmentalism.  He  grew  up  in  Cen- 
tral Falls,  R.I.,  in  the  1950s,  long  before 
recycling  was  fashionable.  When  his  mother 
made  Ed  and  his  brothers  bundle  rags  and  news- 
papers and  cart  them  to  the  junk  dealer,  he  found 
out  that  there  was  money  in  conservation — often 
enough  for  a  movie  or  a  hot  fudge  sundae. 

Now,  as  manager  of  environmental  protec- 
tion for  Monsanto  Co.'s  Indian  Orchard  Plant  in 
Springfield,  Mass.,  he  is  in  a  good  position  to  get 
that  same  message  out  to  today's  young  people. 
Environmental  engineering  pays,  he  says,  and  not 
just  for  those  who  work  in  the  discipline,  but  for 
companies  and  communities. 


28 


Winter  1995 


"never  lose  s  i?ht  of  the  fact  that  this  really  applies.  Every  time  you  help  a 
worker  do  his  or  her  job  better,  sou  are  also  helping  the  environment." 


Jamro  loves  to  talk  about  his  work  and  to 
promote  the  field  of  environmental  engineering 
to  students  at  WPI,  where  he  earned  a  bachelor's 
degree  in  chemistry,  and  at  the  University  of 
Massachusetts,  Amherst,  where  he  earned  a  mas- 
ter's degree  in  environmental  engineering  in 
1975.  "In  the  late  '60s  and  early  70s,  when  I  got 
interested  in  this  field,  we  had  red  rivers,  white 
rivers,  green  rivers — rivers  catching  on  fire,"  he 
says.  "I  know  Institute  Pond  near  campus  isn't  a 
good  place  to  swim,  but  you  should  have  seen  it 
when  I  was  a  student." 

The  first  Earth  Day  in  1 970  had  Jamro,  then  a 
freshman,  on  his  hands  and  knees,  picking  up  lit- 
ter in  Institute  Park  with  some  of  his  Sigma  Alpha 
Epsilon  fraternity  brothers.  As  a  junior,  he  got  his 
feet  wet  in  the  environmental  field  by  monitoring 
carbon  monoxide  levels  in  the  streets  of 
Worcester  through  WPI's  Environmental  Sys- 
tems Study  Program,  a  precursor  of  today's  stu- 
dent projects.  He  says  this  work  gave  him  cre- 
dentials to  break  into  his  chosen  career. 

Jamro  has  spent  the  past  20  years  working  to 
minimize  Monsanto's  negative  impact  on  rivers, 
groundwater,  air  quality  and  the  environment  in 
general.  Since  1988  he  has  been  responsible  for 
compliance  with  federal,  state  and  local  regula- 
tions at  the  company's  Indian  Orchard  Plant,  the 
largest  chemical  plant  in  the  state  of  Mass- 
achusetts, which  produces  resins  and  plastics.  He 
played  a  leading  role  in  the  plant's  voluntary 
waste-reduction  effort,  which  halved  total  waste 
generation  and  cut  toxic  air  emissions  by  89.8 
percent  between  1987  and  1993.  Two  MQPs  by 
WPI  students  have  helped  to  further  reduce 
waste  generation  at  Monsanto;  a  third  project  is 
planned  for  1995. 

Jamro's  professional  accomplishments  and  his 
dedicated  volunteer  activism  earned  him  a  1991 
Environmental  Award  from  the  Springfield  Con- 
servation Commission  and  the  1994  Environ- 
mental Excellence  Award  from  the  National 
Association  for  Environmental  Management.  In 
his  spare  time,  he  mobilizes  volunteer  forces  in 
the  Greater  Springfield  community  and  among 


Monsanto  employees.  He  helps  organize 
Springfield's  annual  Earth  Day  Fair,  and  he  helped 
found  the  nonprofit  Local  Emergency  Planning 
Corporation  to  raise  funds  for  local  emergency 
needs. 

Jamro  has  been  recognized  locally  for  starting 
a  citizens'  project  to  monitor  water  quality  on 
the  Chicopee  River,  and  for  sustaining  a  similar 
project  on  the  Mill  River,  both  in  Western  Mass- 
achusetts. On  Saturday  mornings  he  can  be  found 
with  his  18-year-old  son,  Terry,  dipping  sample 
jars  into  the  tea-colored  water  to  assess 
dissolved  oxygen  levels,  biochemical  oxygen 
demand,  phosphates,  organic  and  total  carbon 
levels,  fecal  coliform  counts,  and  pH. 

He  predicts  that  the  job  of  the  environmental 
engineer  will  get  tougher  and  tougher,  as 
stronger  environmental  protection  standards  are 
passed  and  as  the  drama  of  burning  rivers  and 
pea-green  lakes  passes  from  the  public  conscious- 
ness. He  acknowledges  that  the  first  steps  in 
addressing  an  environmental  problem  are  often 
the  easiest;  it's  eliminating  the  last  bits  of  pollu- 
tants that  demands  the  most  of  an  environmental 
engineer.  That,  he  notes,  accounts  for  the  cur- 
rent focus  on  "source  reduction,"  which  seeks 
more  efficient  manufacturing  processes  that 
reduce  the  need  for  hazardous  reactants  and 
avoid  the  creation  of  toxic  by-products  in  the 
first  place. 

The  environmental  engineer's  most  important 
charge,  he  stresses,  is  to  make  sure  that  environ- 
mental awareness  trickles  down.  "If  it's  3  a.m.  and 
a  scrubber  stops  working,  what  can  you  do?"  he 
asks.  "The  operator  has  to  have  the  motivation 
and  the  know-how  to  get  it  working  or  halt  pro- 
duction." 

He  points  to  a  diagram  of  the  water  cycle  as 
he  addresses  a  group  of  students  at  a  recent  WPI 
lecture.  "Never  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  this 
really  applies,"  he  tells  them.  "Every  time  you 
help  a  worker  do  his  or  her  job  better,  you  are 
also  helping  the  environment." 

Jamro  reminds  skeptics  that  what  was  accept- 
able for  industry  just  a  generation  ago  is  unthink- 


Domenic  Forcella,  right,  and  Joseph 
Amarello  '82  watch  a  videotape  pro- 
duced by  the  Connecticut  Hazardous 
Waste  Management  Service  for  local 
communities.  The  agency,  headed  by 
Forcella,  runs  an  innovative  voluntary 
siting  program  for  hazardous  waste 
facilities  in  the  state. 


Edward  Jamro  with  an  Earth  Day  display 
about  emergency  planning  and  response 
projects  in  Springfield,  Mass.,  in  1992. 
Jamro,  who  is  manager  of  environmental 
protection  for  Monsanto's  Springfield, 
Mass.,  plant,  is  also  active  in  environ- 
mental organizations  in  the  area. 


WPI  Journal 


29 


"A  lite  may  look  like  a  deli  or  a  hairdrenin  ?  talon  today,  but  you  mi?ht 
find  underground  storage  tanks  that  were  paved  over,  or  floor  drains  from 
a  prior  occupant  that  leaked  industrial  solvents  or  oils." 


Lisa  and  Geoff  Wadge  look  over  site  plans 
in  the  offices  of  EnviroAudit  Ltd.  and 
EnviroCheck  Ltd.,  which  they  founded  in 
Connecticut.  EnviroAudit  specializes  in 
due  diligence  work,  while  EnviroCheck  is 
a  computerized  resource  that  provides 
clients  with  copies  of  government 
records. 


able  today.  As  an  example,  he  cites  an  environ- 
mental impact  study  from  the  1960s  that,  in 
essence,  concluded,  '"Discharge  into  this  river  is 
OK  because  the  river  is  so  polluted  already,  it 
won't  know  the  difference.'  You  weren't 
brought  up  the  way  we  were,"  Jamro  tells  today's 
students,  who  will  be  tomorrow's  environmental 
engineers.  "I  think  we  need  one  more  generation 
of  dedicated  environmentalists  to  really  make 
things  change." 

—  Joan  Killough-Miller 

GcTTinG  CnviRonmcnTAL 
Inf  ORmflTion  to  t«€  Pcoplc 
Is  tuc  Goal  of  Lisa  aiid 
Geoff  UIadgc 

If  you  were  thinking  about  buying  a  $5,000 
used  car,  you  might  have  a  mechanic  look  it 
over  to  make  sure  you  weren't  about  to  get 
stuck  with  a  lemon.  If  you  were  about  to 
sink  $1  million  into  a  piece  of  commercial  real 
estate,  you  might  want  to  hire  a  different  kind  of 
expert  to  save  you  from  jumping  into  the  pur- 
chase of  an  environmental  nightmare — a  sort  of 
"environmental  detective"  who  could  dig  up  any 
dirt  on  the  site's  past,  run  background  checks  on 
its  previous  uses,  and  cross-reference  the  findings 
with  data  from  local,  state  and  federal  agencies. 

That's  precisely  what  Lisa  (Katz)  Wadge  '82 
and  Geoff  Wadge  '81  do.  They  are  a  husband- 
and-wife  team  of  private  environmental  investiga- 
tors with  the  scientific  and  legal  know-how  to 
evaluate  the  potential  liabilities  of  any  type  of  real 
estate — residential,  commercial  or  industrial. 
Their  clients  may  be  prospective  buyers  or  sell- 
ers and  include  businesses,  hospitals  and  universi- 
ties, as  well  as  banks  and  investors.  Their  services 
are  vital  to  those  who  need  to  know  exactly 
what  they're  getting  into  before  embarking  on  a 
real  estate  transaction. 

The  Wadges,  who  met  at  WPI  and  were 


married  on  the  lawn  of  Higgins  House  in  1982, 
have  launched  two  successful  businesses  that 
work  together  to  offer  clients  peace  of  mind. 
EnviroAudit  Ltd.,  founded  in  1988,  is  an  environ- 
mental consulting  firm  that  performs  customized 
site  assessments.  These  may  range  from  looking 
up  records  at  the  local  town  hall,  to  testing  soil 
and  groundwater  samples  for  contaminants,  to 
locating  and  removing  underground  oil-storage 
tanks.  "Our  market  niche  is  clearly  the  investiga- 
tive side,  as  opposed  to  the  cleanup  and  remedia- 
tion sides,"  says  Geoff. 

The  need  for  such  services  comes  from 
recent  "transfer  trigger  laws,"  such  as  Connec- 
ticut's 1985  Transfer  and  Superlien  Act.  "It's  a 
kind  of  lemon  law  for  real  estate  transactions," 
Lisa  says.  "If  the  seller  doesn't  disclose  certain 
conditions,  the  new  owner  has  the  right  to  seek 
recompense  from  the  previous  owner. 

"The  intent  is  to  encourage  parties  who  are 
coming  together  in  a  purchase-and-sale  environ- 
ment to  'fess  up'  about  environmental  conditions. 
The  transfer  trigger  regulations  have  encouraged 
all  people  to  understand  and  clean  up  even  the 
smallest  environmental  liabilities.  Under  the  con- 
text of  these  provisions,  we're  able  to  short-cir- 
cuit and  resolve  issues  that  the  government  has 
been  unable  to  manage  for  years." 

To  date,  1 1  states  have  enacted  similar  regu- 
lations, including  chapter  21 E  in  Massachusetts 
and  ECRA  in  New  Jersey.  The  findings  in  some 
cases  suggest  that  purchasers  must  show  that 
they  have  performed  "due  diligence"  and  made 
"all  appropriate  inquiry"  to  determine  if  environ- 
mental factors  might  impact  the  value  of  the 
property  or  human  health. 

"EnviroAudit  is  due  diligence,"  says  Lisa.  "If 
you  can  show  that  you  made  the  proper  inquir- 
ies, you  may  have  the  right  to  go  back  after  the 
prior  owner,  should  something  new  come  up." 
The  company  offers  customized  services  pack- 
ages, with  fees  ranging  from  $300  for  a  simple 
database  search,  to  $10,000  and  up  for  soil  and 
groundwater  sampling  using  a  large  drilling  rig. 
Although  clients  sometimes  grumble  at  the  initial 


30 


.•_      _  *  _      _  •  _      m*a      S*0      M*W      •* W     •*€  W 

Winter  1995 


"We  believe  that  environmental  information  belongs  to  the  people. 
The  more  people  understand  about  what't  happening  in  their  community, 
the  more  real  action  we'll  tee  in  manavin?  environmental  itsuet ." 


expense,  the  value  of  the  information  can  be 
priceless. 

"A  site  may  look  like  a  deli  or  a  hairdressing 
salon  today,"  Lisa  cautions,  "but  you  might  find 
underground  storage  tanks  that  were  paved  over, 
or  floor  drains  from  a  prior  occupant  that  leaked 
industrial  solvents  or  oils."  Other  common  find- 
ings include  the  presence  of  lead-based  paint, 
asbestos  or  radon,  as  well  as  soil  and  groundwa- 
ter contamination  resulting  from  ancient  septic 
systems. 

"Not  all  problems  spell  total  disaster,"  says 
Geoff.  "The  solution  could  be  as  simple  as 
removing  a  leaking  tank  and  some  contaminated 
soil.  On  the  other  hand,  a  groundwater  pollution 
problem  that  requires  pumping  and  treating  can 
cost  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  to  clean 
up."  Armed  with  this  kind  of  information,  a  buyer 
can  outline  cleanup  actions  and  negotiate  costs 
with  the  seller — before  it's  too  late. 

EnviroAudit  grew  out  of  Lisa's  previous  work 
in  groundwater  investigations  for  a  small  civil 
engineering  firm.  With  her  employer's  encour- 
agement, she  struck  out  on  her  own,  working 
out  of  a  small  room  in  the  couple's  Killingworth, 
Conn.,  home.  Geoff  was  working  as  a  mechanical 
engineer  for  Union  Carbide  Corp.  at  the  time,  a 
job  he'd  taken  after  graduating  from  WPI. 

After  seven  months,  EnviroAudit  sales  grew 
to  the  point  where  "things  were  too  crazy 
around  the  house,"  he  says.  Geoff  quit  his  job  and 
the  Wadges  rented  an  office  and  hired  their  first 
two  employees.  Their  dream  of  meeting  a  sales 
quota  of  $30,000  in  the  first  year  was  surpassed 
with  a  whopping  $90,000  worth  of  business. 

In  the  course  of  running  a  consulting  business 
with  current  annual  sales  of  $700,000  to  $1  mil- 
lion, the  Wadges  found  that  obtaining  govern- 
ment records  was  a  constant  obstacle.  "We 
started  to  copy  the  records  and  keep  them  in 
our  office.. .never  realizing  what  we  were  start- 
ing," recalls  Lisa.  "Six  years  and  a  half-million 
pages  later,  we  created  a  database  that  grew  into 
a  second  company." 

EnviroCheck  Ltd.  is  a  computerized  informa- 


tion library  that  provides  access  to  a  database 
with  hard  copies  of  government  records.  Using  a 
newly  programmed  search  routine  created  under 
Geoffs  guidance,  the  Wadges  can  type  in  the 
name  and  address  of  any  location  in  New  England 
and  search  for  relevant  environmental  data.  They 
can  provide  clients  with  hard  copies  of  environ- 
mental regulations,  historical  documents  and  lists 
of  hazardous  waste  sites. 

How  important  is  this  type  of  information? 
Lisa  relates  the  story  of  a  state  historical  society 
that  was  planning  an  archaeological  dig.  "They  put 
a  Styrofoam  cup  into  the  water  to  get  a  sample, 
and  the  cup  dissolved.  We  called  the  location  up 
on  the  computer  and  found  out  they  were  work- 
ing on  a  heavily  contaminated  Superfund  site  and 
didn't  know  it.  We're  trying  to  get  data  out  to 
people  who  might  not  be  aware  that  this  type  of 
information  is  important  to  them." 

Tracking  down  information  can  consume 
more  time  and  effort  than  many  clients  can  spare. 
Environmental  records  are  typically  separated  by 
environmental  media  (air,  water,  solid  waste)  and 
can  be  stored  at  numerous  locations.  Some  gov- 
ernment offices  are  only  open  a  limited  number 
of  hours  each  week.  Although  one  is  often 
required  to  make  an  appointment  in  advance  and 
wait  on  line,  there's  no  guarantee  of  locating  the 
needed  information  before  closing  time.  The 
records  may  be  misfiled,  missing  or  filed  under  a 
previous  owner.  With  their  computerized  search 
facility  and  in-house  records,  EnviroCheck  can 
find  information  faster  and  more  cost-effectively 
than  a  manual  search  though  bulging  file  cabinets 
at  state  and  local  offices. 

Clients  of  EnviroCheck  might  include  a  home- 
owner, the  local  dry  cleaner,  a  Fortune  500  com- 
pany, local  planning  and  zoning  authorities,  or 
lawyers  and  engineers  representing  any  of  the 
above.  One  of  EnviroCheck's  best  customers  is 
EnviroAudit,  which  consults  the  database  for 
advice  every  day. 

In  December  1994,  the  Wadges  sold  Enviro- 
Audit to  a  large  New  England  utility  company  and 
retained  ownership  of  EnviroCheck.  Lisa  remains 


as  president  of  EnviroAudit  and  works  one  day  a 
week  for  EnviroCheck;  Geoff  now  works  full 
time  for  EnviroCheck.  Lisa  describes  herself  as 
the  "outside  person,"  doing  the  marketing, 
obtaining  records  and  responding  to  legal  issues. 
Geoff  is  the  "inside  man,"  managing  EnviroCheck. 
Until  the  recent  transfer,  he  managed  field  activi- 
ties, such  as  drilling  and  sampling,  as  vice  presi- 
dent of  EnviroAudit. 

The  Wadges  say  they  enjoy  their  business 
partnership.  "A  lot  of  people  shy  away  from 
working  with  their  spouses,"  says  Lisa,  "but  I 
think  engineers  are  well-suited  to  work  together, 
because  we  are  pragmatic  and  problem-solving. 
We've  had  our  tense  moments,  but  I  wouldn't 
trade  working  with  Geoff  for  anything  in  the 
world."  The  flexibility  of  working  together  allows 
them  to  share  in  the  care  of  2  1/2-year-old  son, 
Justin,  as  well.  Both  companies  are  located  close 
to  their  home,  in  the  scenic  Connecticut  River 
valley  community  of  Centerbrook. 

The  uniqueness  of  EnviroCheck,  and  the 
wealth  of  the  information  the  Wadges  have 
acquired,  offer  exciting  possibilities,  such  as  link- 
ing up  with  on-line  computer  services,  or  plotting 
the  data  by  location,  so  that  it  can  be  searched 
and  displayed  in  map  form,  rather  than  by  typing 
in  words.  They  intend  to  maintain  their  database 
in  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts, 
while  expanding  into  Maine,  New  Hampshire  and 
Vermont. 

"There  are  other  private  companies  that 
broker  federal  data,  but  there's  no  one  else  in 
New  England  that  has  what  we  have,"  Lisa  says. 
"There's  no  one  else  crazy  enough  to  do  what 
we  did!  It's  very  time-consuming.  Everything  that 
we  have  is  available  to  the  public  (under  the  fed- 
eral Freedom  of  Information  Act),  but  it's  more 
cost-effective  for  clients  to  get  it  through  us. 

"We  believe  that  environmental  information 
belongs  to  the  people.  The  more  people  under- 
stand about  what's  happening  in  their  community, 
the  more  real  action  we'll  see  in  managing  envi- 
ronmental issues." 

—  Joan  Killough-Miller 


WPI  Journal 


31 


FINAL  WORD 


The 

Search  for 

Everett 

Leach 


By  Joan  Killough-Miller 


IN  THE  SUMMER  OF  1945, 
a  twin-engine  plane  fell  from  the  sky  and 
crashed  at  the  edge  of  a  cornfield  on  the 
Isle  of  Wight.  The  pilot,  a  young 
American  major  in  the  Army  Air  Force,  was 
killed  instantly.  From  the  next  field,  a 
farmer  watched  in  horror  as  the  plane 
caught  fire  and  exploded. 

The  news  was  relayed  to  the  pilot's 
family.  His  civilian  boss,  Luther  Martin 
'25,  sent  word  to  Alumni  Secretary 
Herbert  Taylor,  who  reported  the  death 
in  the  WPI  Journal.  "EVERETT  W.  LEACH, 
'38:  Fourth  graduate  of  the  class  to  lose 
his  life  during  the  war,  Ev  Leach  was  its 
acknowledged  leader.  He  was  elected  per- 
manent class  president  after  having  served 
in  that  capacity  during  the  senior  year.  He 
was  also  president  of  Skull...." 

Leach  was  only  one  of  many  alumni  of 
the  1930s  and  1940s  reported  dead,  missing 
or  wounded  during  the  war.  In  those  days, 
the  Journal  devoted  as  many  pages  to  a 
column  called  "From  the  War  Theaters"  as  it 
did  to  "Around  Boynton  Hill."  In  1950, 
Leach's  photo  appeared  again  in  the  Journal, 
when  he  was  awarded  a  posthumous  Distin- 
guished Flying  Cross. 

His  wife,  the  former  Idella  Muir,  remar- 
ried and  moved  to  the  West  Coast.  Another 
classmate  took  on  his  duties  as  class  presi- 
dent and  agent.  His  alumni  file  was  closed, 
and  eventually  came  to  rest  in  the  archives 
in  Gordon  Library. 

But  one  person  could  not  forget  Everett 
Leach.  Nils  Askman,  who  trained  with  Leach 
at  Standard  Oil  (later  ESSO,  and  now  Exxon), 
was  filled  with  questions  about  his  friend's 
death.  Where,  exactly,  did  his  plane  go 
down?  Why  was  he  flying  the  training  plane 
over  the  English  Channel  that  day?  What 
happened  to  his  remains? 

Askman  and  Leach  became  fast  friends 
when  they  met  in  Standard  Oil's  student 
engineers  training  course  and  were  later 
assigned  to  work  in  the  same  division.  Both 
men  enlisted  in  1941.  The  Army  split  them 
up  for  training,  but  they  were  happily  reunit- 
ed at  Turner  Field  in  Georgia.  In  an  amazing 
series  of  coincidences,  Askman  and  Leach 
found  themselves  posted  to  the  same  loca- 
tions over  and  over  again  through  most  of 
the  war. 

In  1945  Leach  was  sent  to  England  to 
work  on  a  jet  engine  for  a  newly  developed 
fighter  plane.  Askman  was  awaiting  overseas 
assignment,  but  got  only  as  far  as  Long 
Island,  N.Y.,  when  the  war  ended.  He  was 
there  when  he  got  the  call  from  Delia  Leach 


informing  him  of  his  best  friend's  death. 

Askman's  career  with  ESSO  took  him  to 
Europe  and  Asia,  including  several  assign- 
ments in  England.  It  was  there  that  he  met 
his  wife,  Daphne,  a  nurse  from  New  Forest, 
not  far  from  the  Isle  of  Wight.  While  living  in 
England,  the  couple  investigated  Leach's 
death,  but  uncovered  very  little,  since  most 
information  was  still  classified.  After  retire- 
ment in  1978,  they  returned  to  Askman's 
hometown  of  Beverly,  Mass.,  and  had  more 
time  to  devote  to  their  search.  Time  had 
soothed  the  grief,  and  the  transcontinental 
research  project  became  a  hobby. 

"It's  been  rather  fun,  really,"  says  Daphne 
Askman  of  their  long-distance  detective 
work.  A  major  breakthrough  occurred  sever- 
al years  ago,  when  the  Askmans  tracked 
down  Leach's  grave  in  Worcester.  Through 
correspondence  with  the  RAF's  Ministry  of 
Defence,  they  learned  that  Leach  had  been 


One  person 

could  not  forget 

Everett  Leach. 

Nils  Askman . . .  was 

filled  with  questions 

about  his  friend's 

death. 


buried  in  a  small  cemetery  outside  of  Lon- 
don, but  that  the  remains  of  all  Americans 
buried  there  had  been  moved  in  1948,  some 
to  the  United  States. 

A  fire  had  destroyed  the  relevant 
records,  but  on  a  hunch  Askman  wrote  to  the 
Worcester  Department  of  Parks,  Recreation 
and  Cemeteries  and  struck  gold.  In  1993  he 
and  Daphne  received  a  map  of  the  plot  in 
Hope  Cemetery  and  were  able  to  pay  their 
respects  to  Everett  Leach. 

It  was  the  brother  of  an  English  friend 
who  finally  led  them  to  the  site  of  the  plane 
crash.  When  Daphne's  mother  died,  she 
inherited  a  cottage  near  her  childhood 
home.  Neighbors  David  and  Mary  Hall  took 
Nils  and  Daphne  on  a  tour  of  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  led  by  Mary's  brother,  Canon  John 


32 


Winter  1995 


y'\ 


Bean,  the  retired  pastor  of 
a  church  on  the  island. 

After  lunch,  the  Canon 
drove  them  to  Newport, 
Isle  of  Wight's  capital  city. 
Without  explanation,  he 
dispatched  the  ladies  to  a 
tea  shop  and  led  Askman 
across  the  street  into  the 
offices  of  the  Isle  of  Wight 
County  Press.  They 
searched  microfilm  of  the 
newspaper  starting  from 
July  1945.  It  wasn't  long 
before  Askman  reeled  to  a 
brief  report  of  the  acci- 
dent. 

A  one-inch  story  gave 
the  time,  date  and  street 
location  of  the  crash.  Of 
some  consolation  was  the  g 
final  sentence:  "The  Ryde 
ambulance  and  the  N.F.S.  '■ 
were  promptly  on  the  | 
scene,  but  the  pilot  was  1 
beyond  all  human  aid  and  f 
must  have  died  instantly." 

With  those  questions  ~ 
answered,  a  new  one 
arose.  How  to  commemo- 
rate the  big,  good-looking  guy,  who  didn't 
seem  to  have  an  enemy  in  the  world?  On  a 
subsequent  visit,  Bean  took  Askman  to 
Havenstreet  Shrine,  a  monument  erected  in 
1917  by  a  farmer  who  lost  his  son  in  World 
War  I.  Over  time  it  had  become  a  memorial 
to  all  the  local  war  dead,  including  those  lost 
in  battle  over  the  Falkland  Islands  near 
Argentina  in  1982. 

After  viewing  the  shrine,  relentless 
Askman  stopped  at  a  dairy  farm  across  the 
street  to  ask  if  anyone  remembered  the 
plane  crash.  The  farmer  had  been  a  baby 
during  the  war,  but  he  directed  the  couple 
to  94-year-old  Fred  Aylett,  a  former  owner.  It 
was  Aylett  who  had  stood  in  his  cornfield  50 
years  ago  and  watched  Everett  Leach's 
plane  plummet  and  burn. 

Aylett's  eyewitness  account  confirms  the 
RAF's  report  of  the  crash:  Leach  took  off 
from  Boscombe  Down  at  1130  hours  to  con- 
duct stability  trials  on  the  Airspeed  Oxford 
NM247  at  an  altitude  of  5,000  feet.  Askman 
remembers  that  Leach  was  always  looking 
for  something  to  do,  and  what  he  loved  most 
was  to  take  up  planes  with  a  "red-cross  con- 
dition" (having  just  been  repaired)  to  check 
them  out.  "He  always  had  his  nose  in  fly- 


hard-headed  Swede,  does 
not  make  many  friends. 
And  when  he  does,  they 
really  count." 

Last  fall,  the  Askmans 
visited  WPI  for  the  first 
time.  They  toured  Ev's 
campus  and  shared  their 
memories  and  the  scrap- 
book  of  their  quest. 
Leach's  alumni  folder  was 
unearthed  from  the  ar- 
chives in  Gordon  Library 
so  they  could  page 
through  photographs, 
news  clippings,  and  let- 
ters in  his  familiar  hand- 
writing. 

Although  Everett  Leach 
was  a  WPI  alumnus  for 
only  seven  years,  the  frag- 
ile pages  reveal  a  dedicat- 
ed Tech  man,  who  signed 
his  class  newsletters, 
"Your  Humble  Servant." 


Above,  Askman,  left,  and  Canon  Bean  at  the 
Havenstreet  Shrine;  right,  the  memorial  to  Leach. 


ing — and  the  mechanics  of  it,  the  engineer- 
ing, and  the  technology  behind  it." 

Aylett  had  seen  the  plane  flying  over  the 
area  for  a  while  before  it  suddenly  started  to 
act  up.  "He  said  Ev  just  fought  it  all  the  way 
down,"  Askman  relates.  "And  the  fact  wasn't 
lost  on  him  either,  that  Ev  was  up  around 
5,000  feet  and  could  easily  have  bailed 
out. ..but  he  stayed  with  the  plane."  The 
young,  life-loving  engineer,  with  a  wife  and  a 
promising  career  waiting  for  him  back  home, 
stayed  with  his  plane  and  steered  for  the 
edge  of  the  field,  thus  sparing  the  residents 
of  the  farm  and  village  the  fireball  that  took 
his  life. 

Askman  says  that  while  finding  the  clip- 
ping in  the  County  Press  morgue  brought 
tears,  it  also  brought  peace.  "When  I  went  to 
that  newspaper  office  and  I  ran  across  that 
thing  on  the  screen. ..it  was  just  like  when  I 
heard  it  back  in  '45,  when  Delia  called  me," 
he  says.  "Now,  the  sadness  of  his  death  has 
pretty  much  healed,  and  the  memories  of  his 
life  are  always  pleasant." 

Why  did  he  search  all  these  years?  Like 
Don  Quixote's  loyal  sidekick,  Sancho  Panza, 
Askman  has  a  simple  answer:  "I  liked  him." 
Daphne  elaborates:  "My  husband,  being  a 


The  wartime  correspondence  was  posted 
from  different  bases,  but  Leach  doggedly  filed 
his  class  fund-drive  reports.  In  one  appeal,  he 
chides  his  classmates  for  neglecting  their 
alma  mater:  "Hell,  man,  I'm  busy  too.  Seven 
days  a  week  and  flying  from  four  to  twelve 
hours  a  day,  and  these  letters  take  every- 
one's time.  Please  give  us  a  break,  will  you?" 

It's  been  50  years  since  Nils  Askman  lost 
his  friend.  He's  found  his  grail  and  paid 
homage,  with  a  bronze  plaque  dedicated  to 
Leach's  memory  that  was  mounted  at  the 
Havenstreet  Shrine  in  1993.  Canon  Bean  con- 
ducted a  dedication  ceremony  with  three 
prayers  of  friendship.  Askman  is  at  peace. 
"When  a  close  friend  or  relative  dies  sudden- 
ly, you  feel  like  you  never  had  a  chance  to 
say  good-bye.  I  figured  this  was  kind  of  like 
saying  good-bye  to  him." 


SPRING  1995 


T?*^ 


•>    • 


Riding  the 

Surviving  the  Quake 
in  Kobe 


Putting  Light  Through 
Its  Paces 

Listening  to  Sounds 
and  Siience 


'TWlw'Tli 


Tracy  Silva.  Photo  of  model  by  John  Ferrarone.  This  page:  Todd  A. 
Picthall  '95,  left,  and  Mark  R.  Paulsdn  195,  students  in  WPI's 
acoustics  course,  take  measurements  m  Trinity  Lutheran  Church  in 
Worcester.  Story  on  page  12.  Photo  by  Jonathan  Kannair.  Back 
Cover:  From  left,  Peter  Quinn  '89,  Ned  LaFortune  '90  and  Kevin 
Buckler  '89,  founders  of  Wachusett  Brewing  Co.,  with  LaFortune's 
golden  retriever  Molson.  Behind  them  is  the  barn  on  the  LaFortune 
family  farm  in  Westminster,  Mass.,  and  behind  that  Wachusett 
Mountain.  This  is  the  scene  that  appears  on  the  company's  truck 
and  the  half-gallon  growlers  in  which  it  bottles  Wachusett  Country 
Ale.  Story  on  page  29.  Photo  by  John  Ferrarone. 


i  in  T iiiii»iii«iiiiiiiniiiiiiiiimiiiTMTirniMnniHTlHWiHnT> 


WH  Journal 


VOLUME  XCVIII  NO.  2    SPRING  1995 


* 


8 

10 

12 
26 

29 


»  i 


26 


•o,"*1*' 


■*%^> 


FEATURES 


Blowing  Away  Goose  Tatum    John  F.  Zeugner 

The  earthquake  that  shook  Kobe,  Japan,  in  January  left  thousands  dead.  It  also  had 
a  profound  effect  on  the  lives  of  those  who  survived,  as  this  remarkable  first-person 
account  makes  clear. 

The  Light  Fantastic     Michael  W.  Dorsey 

Grover  Swartzlander  Jr.,  WPI's  newest  NSF  Young  Investigator,  is  a  rising  star  in  the 
science  of  nonlinear  optics,  a  field  poised  to  revolutionize  the  way  we  store,  process 
and  transmit  information. 

Good  Vibrations    Michael  W.  Dorsey 

Since  the  early  days  of  radio,  the  WPI  Acoustics  Lab  has  been  quietly  exploring  the 

science  of  sound  and  preparing  new  generations  of  audio  and  acoustical  engineers. 

Swimming  Against  the  Odds    John  Gearan 
As  a  disabled  swimmer,  Jason  Wening  '97  is  already  behind  at  the  start  of 
every  race.  But  through  grit  and  talent,  he's  become  the  second  best  competitor 
on  the  WPI  swim  team. 

The  Entrepreneurial  Spirit:  Brewing  Success  Joan  Killough-Miller 
For  three  WPI  graduates,  leaving  good  jobs  to  found  a  microbrewery  meant  taking 
a  big  risk.  But  the  gamble  paid  off,  and  today  Wachusett  Brewing  Co.  is  a  hit. 


DEPARTMENTS 


9    Advance  Word    Michael  Dorsey 
The  power  of  waves. 

Q    Communique    John  Lott  Brown 

Bringing  a  WPI  education  into  the  Information  Age. 

A    Letters 

Will  the  "New  WPI"  be  a  downsized  university?;  neighbor  faults  West  Street  closing 
plans;  make  a  new  pool  part  of  the  campus  center;  thoughts  on  Ev  Leach  and  the 
F.E.  Exam;  a  note  on  the  title  "Engineer." 

7    Innovations    Michael  Dorsey 
Serving  the  adult  learner. 

32    Final  Word    Joan  Killough-Miller 
Did  Indiana  Jones  go  to  WPI? 


Staff  of  the  WPI  Journal:  Editor,  Michael  W.  Dorsey  •  Contributing  Writers,  Bonnie  (Jelbwasser.  Joan  Killough-Miller.  Neil  Norum  and  Ruth  Trask  •  Art  Director/Designer,  Michael  J.  Sherman  • 
Alumni  Publications  Committee:  Samuel  Mencow  '37,  chairman  •  James  S.  Demetry  '58  •  William  J,  Firla  Jr.  '60  •  William  R.  Grogan  '46  •  Robert  C.  Labonte  '54  •  Roger  N.  Perry  Jr.  '45  • 
Harlan  B.  Williams  '50  •  The  WPI  Journal  (ISSN  0148-6128)  is  published  quarterly  for  the  WPI  Alumni  Association  by  the  Office  of  University  Relations.  Second-class  postage  paid  at  Worcester, 
Mass..  and  additional  mailing  offices.  Printed  by  The  Lane  Press,  Burlington.  Vt.  Printed  in  the  U.S.A. 

Diverse  news  presented  in  this  magazine  do  not  necessarily  relied  the  opinions  of  the  editors  or  ofhcial  WPI  policies.  We  welcome  letters  to  the  editor  Address  correspondence  to  the  Editor,  WPI  Journal. 
WPI.  100  Institute  Road  Worcester,  MA  01609-2280.  Phone:  (508)  831-5609.  Fax:  (508)  831-5604.  Electronic  Mail  (Internet),  mwdorsey@wpi.edu  World  Wide  Web: 
http:,-  www  wpi  edu,  Ahoul_us/News/Journal/  Postmaster  If  undeliverable,  please  send  Form  .1579  to  the  address  above.  Do  not  return  publication  Entire  contents  ©  1995,  Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute. 


ADVANCE  WORD 


The  Power  of  Waves 


By  Michael  Dorsey 


[n  this  issue,  we  present  readers  with  three  very 
different  takes  on  the  idea  of  waves.  In  "Blowing 
Away  Goose  Tatum"  (page  8)  we  witness  the 
almost  unimaginable  destruction  wrought  by  the 
brutal  pounding  of  seismic  waves  on  the  city  of 
Kobe,  Japan.  In  "The  Light  Fantastic"  (page  10)  we 
explore  the  strange  and  beautiful  dances  light 
waves  can  be  made  to  per- 
form. And  in  "Good  Vibra- 
tions" (page  12)  we  look  back 
on  the  WPI  Acoustics  Lab- 
oratory's five  decades  of  work 
with  sound  waves. 

The  concept  of  the  wave  is 
a  powerful  one.  Periodic 
motion  is  at  the  heart  of  many 
natural  phenomena,  from  the 
transmission  of  light  and 
sound,  to  the  tugging  of  gravi- 
ty, to  the  movement  of  the 
planets,  to  the  beat  of  our 
pulse,  to  the  interactions  of 
the  infinitesimal  particles  that 
compose  all  matter.  Waves 
are  primal  symbols  in  philoso- 
phy, religion,  literature  and 
art,  standing  in  for  the  cyclic 
nature  of  life  or  for  the 
upwelling  of  new  ideas  and 
new  technologies  that  change 
the  course  of  history. 

The  wave  can  also  be  a 
powerful  metaphor  for  human 
interactions.  Like  ships  plying 
a  sea  of  space  and  time,  we  all  cast  off  ripples  that 
touch  many  other  lives,  often  without  our  even 
knowing  it.  Certainly,  Everett  Leach  '38  could  not 
have  fully  understood  how  powerfully  the  wake  of 
his  young  life  would  change  the  lives  of  those  who 
knew  him. 

In  the  Winter  1995  WPI  Journal,  Joan  Killough- 
Miller  wrote  about  Leach,  the  young  airman  who 
died  in  a  crash  of  a  twin-engine  plane  on  the  Isle  of 
Wight  in  the  summer  of  1945  ("The  Search  for 
Everett  Leach").  Leach  clearly  made  an  impression 
on  Nils  Askman,  who  trained  with  Leach  at 
Standard  Oil  and  then  repeatedly  found  himself 
assigned  to  the  same  bases  with  his  friend  after 
both  enlisted  in  the  Army.  After  Leach's  death, 
Askman  was  filled  with  questions.  He  spent  more 
than  50  years  tracking  down  the  story  of  Leach's 
last  moments. 

Since  that  story  was  published,  the  Journal  has 
heard  from  several  of  Leach's  classmates  and 


friends,  who  not  only  remembered  the  young  and 
energetic  class  president,  but  who  were  immeasur- 
ably enriched  by  their  brief  association  with  him. 
You  will  find  a  letter  from  one  of  those  alumni  on 
page  6.  Another  letter  arrived  just  as  this  issue  was 
going  to  press.  It  was  from  John  Rushton  '39,  who 
also  began  his  career  at  Standard  Oil  and  who 
retired  to  Oregon  in  1993  after  working  for  many 
years  in  the  lumber  and  forest  products  industry. 

The  story  about  Leach  "hit  me  right  in  the  gut," 
Rushton  wrote.  Leach  and  Rushton  did  not  become 
friends  until  after  both  had  graduated  from  WPI. 
When  Rushton  took  a  job  at  Standard  Oil's  Bayview 
Refinery  in  Elizabeth,  N.J.,  Leach  took  him  under  his 
wing.  "In  fact,  I  found  out  after  a  while  that  he  was 
the  one  who  recommended  me  to  the  fellow  who 
had  interviewed  me  at  WPI,"  Rushton  says.  "I  didn't 
find  that  out  from  Ev,  but  from  the  group  leader.  I 
owe  Ev  a  lot  just  for  that." 

Rushton  visited  Leach  often.  "I  became  real 
close  to  Ev  and  considered  him  one  of  my  best  and 
closest  friends,"  Rushton  says.  "He  was  a  fine  man, 
and  easy  to  bond  with.  I  loved  him  like  a  brother." 

When  World  War  II  began,  Rushton  (whose 
height  and  nearsightedness  disqualified  him  from 
flight  training)  enlisted  with  the  first  group  of  non- 
flying  engineering  officers  in  the  U.S.  Air  Corps. 
After  his  commissioning,  he  was  stationed  at 
Cochran  Field  in  Macon,  Ga.,  as  engineering  officer 
for  a  squadron  of  Vultee  Vibrator  BT-13A  trainers. 
While  there  he  learned  that  Leach  had  been  posted 
to  Turner  Field,  not  far  from  Macon. 

He  drove  down  to  visit  Leach  on  Saturday,  Dec. 
6,  1941.  The  next  day,  Leach  took  Rushton  up  for  a 
look  around.  "We  were  out  over  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
when  we  were  contacted  and  told  to  return  to 
base,"  Rushton  remembers.  "When  we  got  back  we 
were  told  of  the  attack  on  Pearl  Harbor.  I  took  off 
posthaste  to  return  to  my  post  in  Macon." 

Rushton  and  Leach  stayed  in  contact.  Rushton 
was  transferred  to  Blythville,  Ark.,  as  technical 
inspector  for  a  new  training  base.  Both  he  and 
Leach  were  married,  Rushton  to  the  former  Fran 
Young  of  Tacoma,  Wash.  They  met  up  one  last  time 
in  early  1943,  when  Leach  and  his  wife,  Delia, 
stopped  off  in  Blythville  on  the  way  to  Dayton, 
where  Leach  would  work  in  flight  testing. 

"That  was  the  last  I  saw  or  heard  of  Ev  until  we 
got  the  bad  news  about  the  accident  in  England," 
Rushton  says.  "It  sure  shook  us  up,  and  we  have 
also  wondered  exactly  what  happened."  This  win- 
ter the  answer  to  that  question  finally  arrived,  like 
the  reverberations  from  a  distant  thunder  crash, 
echoing  across  the  vast  reaches  of  space  and  time. 


Spring  1995 


COMMUNIQUE 


Bringing  a  WPI  Education  Into 


the  Information  Age 


By  John  Lott  Brown  '46 


Twenty-five  years  ago,  the 
faculty  of  WPI  created  an 
innovative,  project- 
based  approach  to  tech- 
nological education.  Today,  the 
WPI  Plan  remains  the  core  of 
our  highly  regarded  undergrad- 
uate educational  program.  This 
year  I  have  called  upon  WPI's 
faculty  once  again  to  display 
their  creativity,  this  time  by 
aggressively  exploring  and 
experimenting  with  today's 
communications  and  computer 
technologies — technologies  that 
may  have  the  power  to  greatly 
improve  the  effectiveness  and 
the  ease  with  which  we  deliver  a 
WPI  education. 

WPI  is  certainly  no  newcom- 
er when  it  comes  to  using  mod- 
ern technology  to  enhance  edu- 
cation. Not  long  after  the  Plan 
was  implemented,  Kenneth  E. 
Scott  '48,  now  professor  emeri- 
tus of  mechanical  engineering, 
created  the  Instructional  Media 
Center  to  capitalize  on  the  edu- 
cational potential  of  television. 
Many  of  the  videotapes  pro- 
duced by  the  IMC  over  the 
years,  including  some  made  20 
years  ago,  are  still  being  used  to 
augment  classroom  instruction. 
But  since  then,  while  computer  use  has 
permeated  the  campus,  the  investigation  of 
the  educational  use  of  new  technologies 
seems  to  have  stagnated.  We  have  re- 
mained, essentially,  a  chalkboard  culture. 

The  time  seems  ripe  for  getting  back  on 
track.  Today  we  are  seeing  an  explosion  of 
new  technologies,  from  multimedia,  to  virtu- 
al reality,  to  the  World  Wide  Web.  Clearly, 
these  are  developments  that  have  the  ability 
to  transform  the  way  we  teach  and  learn. 
Already,  many  colleges  and  universities  are 
devoting  a  great  deal  of  time  and  energy  to 


"WPI  may  actually 
be  better  positioned 
to  move  toward  the 
introduction  of  new 
educational  tech- 
nologies than  any 
of  its  competitors. 
Iready,  computers 
play  a  bigger  role  in 
supporting  the  educa- 
tional process  at  WPI 
than  at  any  other 
institution  with  which 
I'm  familiar." 


IN 


finding  ways  to  use  these  technologies  in 
their  teaching  programs.  Many  engineering 
institutions,  for  example,  have  formed  coali- 
tions, funded  by  the  National  Science  Foun- 
dation, with  the  major  goal  of  restructuring 
engineering  education  by  developing  innova- 
tive curricula,  delivery  systems,  settings  and 
pedagogies.  Use  of  information  technologies 
is  a  prime  component  of  these  efforts. 

WPI  must  move  vigorously  to  do  the 
same  kind  of  exploration,  lest  we  be  left  in 
the  shadow  of  competing  institutions.  If  we 
don't  act.  we  also  risk  losing  credibility  in 


the  eyes  of  our  most  important 
constituency,  our  students. 
Prospective  and  entering  stu- 
dents are  increasingly  sophisti- 
cated in  the  use  of  computers. 
It's  reasonable  to  expect  that 
they  will  also  be  enthusiastic 
about  exploring  ingenious 
"learning  adventures"  that 
make  full  use  of  ever  more  pow- 
erful computers  and  software. 
As  we  dedicate  ourselves  to 
this  mission,  we  will  reap  bene- 
fits, both  in  attracting  these 
students  and  in  engaging  their 
drive  to  learn. 

WPI  may  actually  be  better 
positioned  to  move  toward  the 
introduction  of  new  education- 
al technologies  than  any  of  its 
competitors.  Already,  comput- 
ers play  a  bigger  role  in  sup- 
porting the  educational  pro- 
cess at  WPI  than  at  any  other 
institution  with  which  I'm  famil- 
iar. Computers  are  available  to 
students  in  virtually  every  resi- 
dence hall  room  and  hundreds 
1  of  PCs  and  workstations  are 
|  available  in  general  access  labs 
1  all  over  campus.  But  with  few 
.  exceptions,  the  use  of  these 
I  machines  is  limited  to  the 
working  of  problems,  the  send- 
ing of  electronic  mail,  and  the  preparation 
of  reports. 

There  are  only  a  few  computer  applica- 
tions at  WPI  that  can  be  said  to  replace  the 
traditional  role  of  the  teacher.  But  these  few 
examples  prove  that  we  have  the  facilities 
and  the  imagination  to  succeed  in  this  new 
business  of  technology-enhanced  education. 
What's  more,  these  innovators  are  prepared 
to  share  their  experiences  and  insights — 
won  at  no  small  expense — with  the  rest  of 
our  community.  We  already  have  at  hand 
the  experience,  talent  and  facilities  to  make 


WPI  Journal 


LETTERS 


it  happen.  We  just  need  to  bring  these  ele- 
ments to  the  forefront. 

No  doubt,  there  will  be  obstacles  to 
the  broad  implementation  of  educational 
technologies.  And  there  will  be  significant 
delays  before  we  see  the  benefits  of  this 
work  in  the  form  of  improved  education 
and  reduced  costs.  Nonetheless,  I  am  con- 
vinced that  we  should  begin  actively  to 
explore  broader  use  of  educational  tech- 
nology at  WPI.  That  is  why  I  asked  our  fac- 
ulty and  staff  to  undertake  three  projects: 

1.  A  compilation  of  advanced  learning 
materials  that  are  already  available — 
both  hardware  and  software.  These  in- 
clude those  that  are  free  to  anyone 
with  access  to  the  Internet  and  those 
that  are  sold  commercially.  We  will 
also  compile  a  list  of  consortia  that 
have  been  formed  to  address  the  sub- 
ject of  new  educational  technologies 
and  a  bibliography  of  related  materi- 
als, books  and  journal  articles. 

2.  A  preliminary  effort  to  determine  if 
suppliers  of  specialized  equipment  for 
learning  technologies  and  software 
appropriate  to  education  at  WPI  might 
be  attracted  to  an  instructional  tech- 
nology conference  at  WPI.  (A  confer- 
ence is  planned  for  October  1995.) 

3.  The  formation  of  a  committee  to  ener- 
getically explore  the  practicality  of  im- 
plementing a  broad  technologically 
based  approach  to  education. 

The  committee  has  been  formed  and  is 
moving  ahead  with  all  due  speed.  I  have 
given  its  members  my  assurance  that 
their  efforts  will  be  supported  by  me  and 
my  cabinet  to  the  best  of  our  ability.  1 
believe  that  I  can  also  assure  them  that 
the  WPI  Board  of  Trustees  will  support 
this  endeavor  (financially,  if  need  be), 
because,  if  successful,  it  could  prove  dra- 
matically beneficial  to  the  Institute. 

Implementation  of  sophisticated,  state- 
of-the-art  teaching  and  learning  technolo- 
gies could  preclude  the  erosion  of  quality 
education  that  would  almost  surely  occur 
if  we  were  to  continue  passively,  under 
the  pressure  of  budgetary  constraints, 
our  traditional  classroom  methods.  Most 
important  of  all,  we  could  make  our  edu- 
cational process  more  effective,  and  align 
that  learning  process  with  the  interactive 
learning  experiences  of  our  21st  century 
students.  What  a  dramatic  complement 
that  would  be  to  the  25th  anniversary  of 
the  WPI  Plan! 

— Brown  is  interim  president  of  WPI. 


Will  the  "New  WPI" 
Be  a  Downsized 
University? 

To  the  Editor: 

We  have  just  finished  reading  the  WPI 
Journal  article  titled  "Repositioning  the 
Institute"  (Fall  1994).  As  both  alumni  and 
parents  of  an  incoming  freshman,  we  feel 
we  must  respond. 

We  have  been  contributing  alumni  since 
graduating  more  than  20  years  ago.  We 
have  followed  the  development  of  WPI  over 
these  years  and  agree  with  the  six  goals 
outlined  in  the  Institute's  strategic  plan. 
Even  the  recommendations  of  the  Blue 
Ribbon  Task  Force  show  insight  into  the 
need  for  keeping  WPI  current  with  the 
broadening  needs  of  technology  by  includ- 
ing more  humanities  and  social/political 
sciences.  Our  impression  was  that  the 
focus  was  always  on  engineering  and 
applied  sciences:  to  provide  the  leaders  for 
tomorrow's  technology. 

After  reading  the  above-mentioned  arti- 
cle, we  are  concerned  that  the  Institute's 
"new  direction"  will  be  that  of  a  downsized 
"university."  In  other  words,  it  will  be  a 
place  for  those  who  choose  to  achieve  a 
mediocre  education  in  a  wide  variety  of  dis- 
ciplines. This  is  not  to  say  that  a  university 
cannot  have  an  excellent  engineering  pro- 
gram. Many  do,  but  only  because  they  are 
so  large  that  they  can  find  both  the  people 
and  the  resources  to  have  some  excellent 
core  programs.  Please  don't  fool  your- 
selves into  believing  this  can  be  done  on  a 
campus  of  2,700  undergraduates! 

It  is  interesting  that  the  basis  of  these 
recommended  changes  is  a  survey  looking 
at  why  students  who  applied  didn't  choose 
WPI.  This  was  followed  by  the  rationale 
that  if  WPI  can  be  more  appealing  to  a 
wider  variety  of  students,  then  it  can  be 
more  selective  and  choose  more  students 
who  can  pay.  What  about  the  students  who 
did  choose  WPI?  Do  you  really  believe  it 
was  because  WPI  offered  better  financial 
aid?  We  certainly  don't!  Most  likely  their 
reasons  were  based  on  curriculum,  reputa- 
tion and  campus  amenities.  Experience 
tells  us  that  large  changes  in  programs  will 
turn  more  students  of  "paying  caliber" 
away  than  they  will  attract.  Who  wants  to 
go  to  a  college  (or  "university"  )  that  is 
unsure  of  its  purpose? 

Reviewing  the  five  hypotheses  of  "The 
New  WPI,"  we  believe  that  items  2  and  3 
[offering  a  professionally  oriented  master's 
degree  students  could  earn  with  one  addi- 


tional year  of  study;  developing  preferred 
supplier  relationships  with  employers  of 
WPI  graduates]  are  very  important  to  WPI. 
Item  1  [developing  programs  in  pre-health 
professions,  environmental  studies  and 
other  high-demand  areas]  is  already  being 
done,  but  just  needs  to  be  emphasized 
more  during  recruitment. 

Item  4  [accelerating  efforts  to  build  a 
campus  center;  improving  the  gender, 
racial  and  cultural  balance  among  stu- 


"Experience 
tells  us  that  large 
changes  in  programs 
will  turn  more  stu- 
dents of  'paying  cali- 
ber9 away  than  they 
^-  will  attract." 


m 


ft 


dents,  faculty  and  staff]  is  a  social  mandate 
that  could  overshadow  all  other  efforts  of 
WPI  if  it  is  given  too  much  importance; 
besides,  WPI  already  has  a  good  cultural/ 
racial/gender  balance  for  a  private  techno- 
logically oriented  school.  Item  5  [changing 
the  Institute's  name  to  WPI  University]  is 
simply  a  marketing  ploy  that  could  easily 
do  much  more  harm  than  good.  It  could 
turn  off  potential  "paying  students"  who 
are  searching  for  a  smaller  technological 
school.  From  reading  the  section  of  the 
article  titled  "Comprehensive  Campaign," 
we  feel  that  the  main  emphasis  of  the  next 
campaign  will  be  a  building  program 
focused  on  item  4.  (We  get  the  impression 
that  you  feel  appearance  is  worth  more 
than  content.) 

Finally,  our  personal  concern  centers 
around  our  son's  recent  decision  to  attend 
WPI.  He  chose  it  as  an  engineering  and 
applied  science  college.  He  will  receive  no 
financial  aid  (in  other  words,  he  will  be  a 
true  paying  student).  He  is  not  attending  to 
participate  in  a  "quality  of  life"  experience. 
He  could  have  gotten  that  much  cheaper, 
and  much  closer  to  home.  We  attended 
WPI  during  the  transition  to  the  WPI  Plan 
(as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  were  both  on  plan- 
ning committees  our  freshman  year.)  We 
saw  firsthand  how  this  change  caused  con- 
siderable turmoil  and  division  on  campus. 


Spring  1995 


The  change  was  right  then,  though  it  hurt 
many  who  could  not  cope.  We  fear  that  this 
time  you  will  have  more  turmoil  and  divi- 
sion, and  no  good  results  to  justify  it.  The 
end  result  of  this  could  very  well  be  the  fail- 
ure of  WPI  to  provide  students  with  the 
technological  education  that  both  they  and 
the  world  need. 

This  article  has  caused  us  to  be  con- 
cerned that  WPI's  emphasis  has  changed 
from  providing  a  quality  specialized  educa- 
tion to  simply  making  money  and  appealing 
to  the  "in"  crowd.  If  this  direction  had  been 
set  a  year  earlier  we  believe  our  son  would 
have  chosen  a  different  school.  We,  most 
definitely,  would  not  have  been  as  support- 
ive in  his  pursuing  WPI. 

Needless  to  say  we  hope  we  are  wrong  in 
our  assessment  of  WPI's  direction,  and  that 
WPI  will  continue  to  be  a  leader  in  develop- 
ing high-quality  graduates  to  be  leaders  in 
the  technological  arena. 

—  Bruce  and  Allison  (Huse)  Nunn  73 
Spokane,  Wash. 

Neighbor  Faults  West 
Street  Closing  Plans 

To  the  Editor: 

As  a  citizen  of  the  city,  a  neighbor  of  WPI 
approaching  one-half  a  century,  and  a  for- 
mer paid  consultant  of  WPI,  I  read  with 
much  interest  the  president's  article  on 
"Repositioning  the  Institute"  (Fall  1994). 

WPI  must  be  complimented  on  finally 
developing  a  master  plan.  Just  a  few  years 
ago  the  neighbors  were  invited  individually 
to  have  a  conversation  with  WPI  executives 
and  their  consultant  concerning  neighbor- 
hood problems  and  the  future  goals  of  the 
college.  When  asked  to  discuss  their  master 
plan,  the  astonishing  reply  was  that  none 
existed.  This  appeared  to  us  at  the  time  to  be 
a  reflection  on  WPI's  credibility  or  lack  of 
long-range  planning.  Thus  it  is  most  reassur- 
ing to  know  that  this  great  college,  as  recog- 
nized each  year  in  U.S.  News  &  World  Report, 
has  a  vision  and  a  plan  for  the  future. 

It  should  be  stated  that  WPI,  to  a  large 
extent,  has  been  an  excellent  neighbor.  It 
maintained,  under  President  Jon  C.  Strauss, 
an  open  dialogue  with  neighbors,  kept  us 
informed  of  all  activities,  and  included  us  in 
a  number  of  campus  events.  The  Institute, 
by  its  presence,  has  also  maintained  the  val- 
ues in  the  neighborhood  and  provided  us 
with  additional  security  by  means  of  con- 
stant police  patrols. 

The  neighbors  support  WPI  as  it  pro- 
gresses to  university  status  and  will  cooper- 


ate in  every  manner  possible.  However,  we 
ask  that  you  review  your  master  plan,  not 
from  an  insulated  vested  interest  viewpoint, 
but  rather  from  the  broad  viewpoint  of  the 
common  good.  Off-street  parking  and  the 
closing  of  West  Street,  as  suggested  in  the 
plan  to  create  a  safer  campus  and  an  attrac- 
tive pedestrian  mall,  must  be  addressed  con- 
sidering the  concerns  and  interest  of  WPI, 
the  neighbors  and  the  community. 

The  automobile  age  has  been  with  us 
since  the  beginning  of  the  century  and  traffic 
congestion  increases  with  each  year.  WPI  is 
aware  from  past  futile  attempts  to  close 
West  Street  that  it  is  a  major  concern  of  the 
neighbors  and  the  city.  One  must  consider 
that  West  Street  is  the  only  street  from  Park 
Avenue  to  the  West  Side  Artery  that  con- 
nects Salisbury  Street  with  Pleasant  Street. 
To  petition  to  close  a  short  section  of  the 
street  to  enhance  the  beauty  of  the  campus 
and  to  permit  students  to  cross  West  Street 
between  periods  (for  a  total  of  an  hour  a 
day),  120  days  a  year,  and  deny  the  taxpay- 
ers the  use  of  their  street  for  the  other  23 
hours,  365  days  a  year,  I  submit  is  short- 
sighted and  definitely  not  in  the  best  inter- 
est of  the  community. 

Additional  traffic  will  be  forced  onto  the 
other  side  streets  surrounding  WPI.  Other 


"While  the 
need  for  a  center  for 
student  communion 
is  indeed  genuine,  the 
need  for  a  new  pool  is 
just  as  important  and 
should  not  go  _j 

ignored. " 


solutions  to  this  problem  should  be  obvious, 
serving  at  the  same  time  WPI's  interests. 

The  other  problem  that  exists  in  the 
neighborhood  is  street  parking.  As  WPI 
addresses  the  problem  of  eliminating  park- 
ing in  the  central  campus  and  regreening  the 
quadrangle,  it  must  also  address  the  number 
of  automobiles  that  employees,  faculty  and 
students  bring  to  the  campus  each  day.  City 
regulations  require  business  and  profession- 
al offices  and  apartment  complexes  to  pro- 
vide off-street  parking.  Should  WPI  be 
exempt  from  this  regulation  either  by  law  or 


community  obligation?  The  other  nonprofit 
schools  and  hospitals  in  the  city  have  solved 
this  problem  by  providing  off-street  parking. 

The  use  of  resident  parking  permits,  as 
suggested  by  the  college,  is  not  a  solution.  It 
only  identifies  the  problem.  The  only  solu- 
tion is  sufficient  off-street  parking  for  the 
WPI  community.  This  priority  should  be  as 
high  on  the  list  of  capital  improvements  as 
the  suggested  student  center.  By  the  acqui- 
sition of  a  few  additional  parcels  of  land  and 
the  use  of  existing  acreage,  this  problem 
could  easily  be  solved. 

As  we  approach  the  millennium,  we  look 
forward  to  cooperating,  as  good  neighbors, 
finding  solutions  to  these  problems  in  order 
that  WPI  may  implement  its  plan  and  vision. 
Then  WPI  will  become  the  great  university 
that  is  its  destiny. 

—  John  J.  O'Malley 
Worcester,  Mass. 

Make  a  New  Pool  Part 
of  the  Campus  Center 

To  the  Editor: 

One  of  the  lasting  experiences  of  my  under- 
graduate career  at  WPI  was  being  a  member 
of  the  WPI  swimming  team  for  four  years  and 
having  the  opportunity  to  swim  at  the  New 
England  Championship  meet  three  of  those 
years.  Swimming  was  something  1  enjoyed, 
worked  hard  at,  and  got  a  lot  out  of.  The  key 
training  facility  for  a  swim  team  is,  of  course, 
a  pool.  A  university  swimming  pool  should 
serve  as  a  practice  and  competition  facility 
for  the  swim  team  and  as  a  venue  for  physi- 
cal education  and  extracurricular  activities. 
It  should  be  a  place  for  students  to  gather 
and  enjoy  recreational  swimming. 

In  recent  years,  much  discussion  has 
revolved  around  the  need  for  a  campus  cen- 
ter at  WPI.  While  the  need  for  a  center  for 
student  communion  is  indeed  genuine,  the 
need  for  a  new  pool  is  just  as  important  and 
should  not  go  ignored.  Indeed,  these  need 
not  be  separate  issues.  It  would  be  feasible 
to  make  a  new  pool  a  keystone  of  a  campus 
center.  This  would  be  a  way  for  the  Institute 
to  remedy  one  of  its  greatest  inadequacies. 

The  current  WPI  pool  is  a  grossly  anti- 
quated pit  located  in  the  basement  of 
Alumni  Gym.  It  was  built  in  1926,  which 
means  its  70th  anniversary  is  fast  approach- 
ing. Back  in  the  1920s,  20  yards  was  consid- 
ered a  good  length  for  a  pool.  But  today, 
pools  must  be  at  least  25  yards  to  be  consid- 
ered adequate  by  NCAA  standards.  Even  the 
crudest  pools  are  a  minimum  of  25  yards 
long  and  have  at  least  six  lanes.  That  is  a 


WPI  Journal 


"bottom-of-the-line"  pool.  What  WPI  has  is 
less  than  that.  To  put  it  simply,  WPI's  pool  is 
an  embarrassment  to  the  swimming  team 
and  the  WPI  community  as  a  whole. 
The  problems  with  WPI's  pool  include 

•  its  size:  The  pool's  20-yard  length  has  sev- 
eral consequences.  WPI  is  the  only  univer- 
sity in  New  England  that  has  a  swimming 
program  and  a  substandard  pool. 
Practicing  in  this  pool  is  one  thing;  being 
forced  to  compete  in  it  is  another.  Other 
universities  refuse  to  travel  to  WPI  be- 
cause our  pool  is  of  insufficient  length. 
This  means  the  WPI  team  has  to  travel 
more.  Home  meets  must  be  held  at  Clark 
University,  which  has  a  regulation  pool. 
Were  WPI  swimmers  to  compete  in  their 
own  pool,  they  could  never  hope  to  quali- 
fy for  the  NCAA  New  England  Champi- 
onship, the  pinnacle  of  the  swimmer's  sea- 
son. The  honor  of  attending  this  meet 
depends  on  achieving  qualifying  times. 
The  more  opportunities  a  swimmer  has  to 
qualify,  the  better  his  or  her  chances  of 
making  the  championship. 

•  its  age  and  location:  Because  it  is  buried 
in  the  bowels  of  Alumni  Gym,  many  peo- 
ple at  WPI  have  never  seen  the  pool  or 
even  know  of  its  existence.  WPI  doesn't 
try  to  show  the  pool  off  to  visitors;  guides 
wouldn't  dare  take  campus  tours  down 
there.  In  fact,  this  inadequacy  has  turned 
away  a  good  number  of  students — possi- 
bly more  than  can  be  readily  quantified — 
who  wanted  to  swim  at  a  school  with  a 
"real"  pool.  A  new  pool  would  be  an 
extremely  attractive  feature  to  prospec- 
tive freshmen,  even  if  they  never  used  it.  It 
would  resonate  the  school's  commitment 
to  the  total  education  of  the  individual. 

WPI's  swimming  program  has  great 
potential.  We  have  good  athletes  and  a  dedi- 
cated coach,  but  we  cannot  expect  to  attract 
quality  swimmers  with  our  current  pool.  Our 
divers  travel  to  Holy  Cross  to  train;  our 
swimmers  travel  to  Clark  to  compete.  While 
every  school  we  compete  against  has  been 
afforded  the  proper  facilities,  we  have 
become  a  laughingstock.  (Even  Assumption 
College,  which  doesn't  even  support  a  swim- 
ming program,  has  a  new  pool.) 

With  WPI's  emphasis  on  academics,  it  is 
imperative  that  the  Institute  not  overlook 
the  social,  athletic  and  extracurricular  activ- 
ities that  are  so  important  to  the  total 
human  equation.  With  all  the  hype  about  a 
campus  center,  please  do  not  ignore  the  fact 
that  we  need  a  new  pool  just  as  desperately. 
It  is  my  plea  that  the  next  large  construction 
project  at  WPI  include  a  campus  center  with 


a  new  25-yard,  six-lane  pool.  Such  a  facility 
would  provide  a  new  dramatic  focus  for 
campus  athletic  and  social  life. 

—  Sean  Donohue '93 
Worcester,  Mass. 
The  writer,  now  a  graduate  student  in  fire  pro- 
tection engineering  at  WPI,  was  captain  of  the 
men 's  swimming  team  in  1992-93. 

Thoughts  on  Ev  Leach 
and  the  F.E.  Exam 

To  the  Editor: 

It  was  with  considerable  interest  that  I  read 
the  Winter  1995  issue  of  the  WPI  Journal, 
which  included  an  article  about  my  class- 
mate Ev  Leach  and  Nils  Askman,  with  whom 
I  shared  structural  engineering  classes  at 
Lafayette  College  in  1936-37.  I  spent  two 
years  at  WPI  and  then  transferred  to 
Lafayette,  where  I  took  a  reduced  credit  load 
due  to  a  severe  brain  injury  suffered  while  I 
was  at  WPI.  Thus  I  went  into  the  sophomore 
class  with  advanced  standing  that  allowed 
me  to  take  some  junior-year  subjects  in 


mm 


"In  the  future 
I  hope  to  see  engin- 
eers have  mandatory 
jurisdiction  over  all 
manufactured  pro- 
ducts to  ensure  the 
public  safety. " 


m 


* 


structures.  It  was  there  that  1  met  Nils 
Askman  and  thus  had  the  privilege  of  study- 
ing with  both  of  the  men  mentioned  in  the 
article  ("The  Search  for  Everett  Leach").  1 
did  not  again  meet  up  with  either  Ev  or  Nils 
after  graduation.  That  these  two  men  who 
had  briefly  touched  my  life  should  become 
close  friends — what  a  strange  quirk  of  fate! 

My  other  comment  deals  with  the  letter 
of  George  A.  Dainis  79  in  the  same  issue 
concerning  an  article  by  Mort  Fine  '37  on 
mandating  F.E.  examinations  before  gradua- 
tion ("Academia  is  Shortchanging  New 
Engineers,"  Summer  1994).  1  must  take  issue 
with  Mr.  Dainis,  who  wrote  that  industry 
engineers  do  not  require  P.E.  registration.  It 
is  true  that  currently  such  registration  is  not 
required  in  Massachusetts,  but  that  is  not 


true  throughout  the  entire  United  States.  In 
addition,  it  is  only  a  matter  of  time  before 
industry  engineers  will  have  to  be  registered 
to  practice  engineering,  as  more  and  more 
law  suits  are  filed  by  consumers  who  have 
been  injured  by  products  produced  by 
industry.  The  fact  that  a  designer  of  an  engi- 
neering project  was  not  registered  as  a  pro- 
fessional engineer  is  often  a  fact  that  juries 
take  into  account  when  it  comes  to  awarding 
damages  to  plaintiffs. 

I  believe  George  Dainis  is  living  in  a 
dream  world  of  25  or  30  years  ago  and  not  in 
today's  litigious  society,  where  lawyers  file 
"shotgun"  suits  against  anyone  connected 
with  a  case.  Often  it  is  the  manufacturer  who 
has  the  "deep  pockets"  that  finally  pays  the 
settlement  or  judgement.  Let  the  seniors 
take  the  F.E.  exam  as  part  of  their  finals  and 
be  done  with  it.  In  fact,  most  seniors  are 
smart  enough  to  do  so. 

—  George  Mallis  '38  P.E. 

WlLBRAHAM,  MASS. 

A  Note  on  the  Title 
"Engineer" 

To  the  Editor: 

I  enjoyed  reading  George  A.  Dainis'  letter  to 
the  editor  (Winter  1995).  All  the  facts  in  his 
letter  are  correct.  However,  I  would  like  to 
add  that  although  an  engineer  may  use  the 
title  B.S.,  M.S.  or  Engineer  after  his  name,  he 
cannot  legally  use  the  title  Mechanical  Engi- 
neer, Electrical  Engineer,  etc.,  without  regis- 
tration. In  the  past,  all  efforts  to  restrict  the 
use  of  the  title  Engineer  met  with  defeat  due 
to  the  objection  of  special  interest  groups, 
such  as  contractors,  designers,  draftsmen, 
etc.  Support  is  needed  from  all  engineers  to 
solve  this  dilemma. 

I  believe  the  most  important  reason  for  all 
engineers  to  register  is  not  for  immediate 
career  advancement,  but  for  future  increase 
in  the  status  of  our  profession.  I  predict  that 
with  enough  engineers  registered,  thus 
obtaining  legal  status,  they  will  get  more 
authority  in  critical  corporate  decision  mak- 
ing. Right  now,  in  most  companies,  people 
other  than  engineers  are  determining  the  final 
design,  safety,  price  and  so  on  of  products. 
Sometimes  their  decisions  are  based  on  com- 
pany profit,  rather  than  on  engineering.  The 
Challenger  disaster  and  the  Los  Angeles  MTA 
subway  tunnel  fiasco  are  just  two  cases  in 
point.  In  the  future  I  hope  to  see  engineers 
have  mandatory  jurisdiction  over  all  manufac- 
tured products  to  ensure  the  public  safety. 

—  Victor  Chun '51  P.E. 
Los  Angeles,  Calif. 


Spring  1995 


INNOVA  TIONS 


Serving  the  Adult  Learner 


By  Michael  Dorsey 


If  you  teach  it,  they  will  come. 
That's  what  WPI's  Office  of 
Continuing  Education  discov- 
ered last  year  when  it  decided 
to  offer  a  certificate  program  in 
UNIX  and  C  programming. 

UNIX  is  an  operating  system 
commonly  found  on  time-sharing 
computers  in  industry  and  academia;  C  is  a 
programming  language  well  suited  for  a  wide 
range  of  engineering,  science  and  business 
applications.  While  UNIX  and  C  have  long 
been  popular  among  computer  science 
majors  and  technical  professionals,  the 
Continuing  Education  Office  wondered  if 
there  might  be  an  untapped  market  for 
courses  on  these  topics  among  New 
England's  high-tech  work  force. 

"We  did  a  feasibility  study  in  Massa- 
chusetts and  discovered  that  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  interest  among  manufacturing  and 
service  companies,  financial  services  firms, 
hospitals  and  other  employers  in  migrating 
from  other  operating  systems  to  UNIX," 
notes  Arlene  Lowenstein,  director  of  contin- 
uing education.  "Since  UNIX  runs  on  distrib- 
uted workstations,  it  can  lower  a  company's 
investment  in  computer  hardware,  and  it 
requires  less  support  staff  than  other  sys- 
tems. There  appeared  to  be  a  real  demand 
for  high-end  training  programs  to  prepare 
working  professionals  for  this  shift." 

In  1994  the  Certificate  Program  in  UNIX 
System  and  C  Programming  became  the 
inaugural  offering  at  WPI's  Technology 
Education  Center  in  Westboro,  Mass.,  a  new 
satellite  facility  established  to  serve  the  high 
concentration  of  information  system  pro- 
fessionals in  the  Greater  Boston  and  Central 
Massachusetts  areas.  More  than  130  people 
enrolled  in  the  first  year  of  the  program,  in 
either  the  eight-week  full-time  or  the  26-week 
part-time  classes. 

The  UNIX/C  program  is  just  one  of  the 
ways  WPI  is  responding  to  a  significant 
change  in  the  demographics  of  the  American 
college  population,  Lowenstein  says. 
"According  to  the  College  Board,  part-time 
students  now  make  up  45  percent  of  all  stu- 
dents enrolled  in  colleges  across  the  coun- 
try. Students  25  and  older  account  for  half  of 


"To  stay  current  in  their  fields, 
men  and  women  today  need  to 
continually  renew  their  knowledge." 


all  college  credit  students  and  half  of  all 
graduate  students." 

In  part,  this  shift  reflects  the  rapid 
turnover  in  technology,  which  makes  even 
the  best  technical  education  a  perishable 
commodity,  notes  WPI  Provost  Diran  Apelian. 
"The  'shelf-life'  of  a  science  or  engineering 
education  grows  shorter  every  year,"  he  says. 
"To  stay  current  in  their  fields,  men  and 
women  today  need  to  continually  renew  their 
knowledge.  WPI  has  always  placed  a  great 
emphasis  on  lifelong  learning — it  is,  in  fact, 
one  of  the  hallmarks  of  the  WPI  Plan.  A  few 
years  ago,  we  made  meeting  the  lifelong 
learning  needs  of  the  region's  professionals 
one  of  our  highest  priorities  and  codified  it  as 
Goal  5  of  the  Institute's  strategic  plan." 

To  serve  those  needs,  WPI  now  offers  a 
wide  range  of  programs,  including  the 
evening  graduate  program,  the  School  of 
Industrial  Management  (now  in  its  46th 
year),  and  courses  and  workshops  offered  at 
remote  sites  with  "live"  instructors  or  by 
videotape.  WPI  also  delivers  programs  at 
several  corporate  sites  using  compressed 
video  technology. 

The  Continuing  Education  Office  offers 
more  than  80  public  seminars  annually  in 
three  broad  areas:  product  management, 
quality  improvement  and  management 
development.  "Our  most  popular  quality 
programs  today  include  statistical  process 
control,  failure  mode  and  effects  analysis, 
and  geometric  dimensioning  and  toleranc- 
ing,"  Lowenstein  says.  "And  as  more  and 
more  companies  go  to  team-based  manage- 
ment, our  courses  in  leadership,  team-build- 
ing, coaching  and  management  skills  will  be 
in  greater  and  greater  demand." 

More  and  more,  she  adds,  corporations, 
recognizing  the  benefits  of  having  an  up-to- 
date  work  force,  are  asking  the  Continuing 
Education  Office  to  organize  workshops 


specifically  for  their  employees. 
This  year  Lowenstein's  office  will 
run  at  least  60  such  corporate 
training  programs.  One  of  the 
longest  running  is  the  Nypro 
Leadership  Institute,  a  weeklong 
workshop  held  at  WPI  that  has 
been  attended  by  more  than  150 
employees  of  the  Clinton,  Mass.,  company. 

The  newest  initiative  of  the  Continuing 
Education  Office  is  a  series  of  technical 
short  courses  to  be  offered  on  campus  this 
summer.  "The  short  course  series  is  an  exci- 
ting new  direction  for  us,"  Lowenstein  says. 
"Like  our  public  seminar  series,  the  short 
courses  are  designed  to  help  working  pro- 
fessionals update  their  knowledge  and  skills. 
But  they  will  also  showcase  WPI's  outstand- 
ing faculty  and  focus  on  new  developments 
in  technology  and  science." 

In  all,  19  courses  in  civil  and  environmen- 
tal engineering,  computer  and  information 
sciences,  electrical  and  computer  engineer- 
ing, fire  protection  engineering,  manage- 
ment, manufacturing  engineering  and  mate- 
rials science,  and  mechanical  engineering 
will  be  offered  between  early  June  and  late 
August.  The  leading-edge  topics  include 
design  and  construction  integration,  ultra- 
sound in  medicine  and  industry,  design  for 
manufacturing  and  assembly,  and  the 
mechanical  properties  of  biological  tissues. 
A  special  one-day  course  on  using  the 
Internet  will  also  be  offered. 

"The  market  for  lifelong  learning  is  grow- 
ing, and  more  and  more,  professionals  will 
be  demanding  new  and  innovative  pro- 
grams— like  this  short-course  series — to 
help  them  be  successful  in  this  rapidly 
changing  world,"  Lowenstein  says.  "This  is 
truly  an  exciting  time  to  be  in  this  business." 
For  more  information  on  WPI's  continu- 
ing education  programs,  call  508-831-5517.  A 
full  schedule  for  the  summer  short  course 
series,  along  with  detailed  descriptions  of 
any  of  the  19  courses,  will  be  mailed  or 
faxed  upon  request.  Information  on  con- 
tinuing education  programs  is  now  on  the 
World  Wide  Web.  Point  your  browser  to 
http://www.wpi.edu/Depts/Admin/CE/  to 
reach  the  Continuing  Education  Home  Page. 


WPI  Journal 


AM$i 


On  Jan.  17,  a  massive,  7.2 
magnitude  earthquake  devastated 
the  city  of  Kobe,  Japan.  Haifa 
million  buildings  and  homes  were 
destroyed,  5,422  people  were 
killed,  and  the  lives  of  many 
thousands  of  others  were  thrown 
into  turmoil.  Among  those 
who  felt  the  wrath  of  the  Earth 
that  day  was  a  WPI  history 
professor.  Here  is  his  first- 
person  account  of  life  during 
and  after  the  Kobe  quake. 


By  John  Zeugner 


The  Kobe  earthquake  toppled  the  Hanshin 

Expressway,  which  connects  Kobe  to 

Osaka.  Inset:  the  room  in  the  Kobe  College 

Alumni  Building  where  Zeugner  and  his 

family  spent  several  days  after  the  quake. 


8 


Proper  Prayers 


It  is  about  8  p.m.  on  the  fourth  day  after  the  quake.  We're  on  the 
second  floor  <>l  the  Alumni  Building  at  Kobe  College,  where  we 
were  moved  after  our  house  was  condemned.  .Mice  and  1  and  the 
children,  Emily,  Max  and  Laura  Ruth,  have  been  sleeping  on  the 
floor  of  a  classroom,  where  the  desks  have  been  shoved  into  one  cor- 
ner and  carefully  roped  together  in  case  of  severe  aftershock.  Nov 
five  more  refugees  have  joined  us  in  this  room.  We  step  around  the 
futons  on  the  linoleum. 

Mary  Ewald,  a  missionary  teacher  at  Kobe  College  High  School, 
has  come  back  from  Kyoto  with  another  missionary,  a  friend  who  has 
been  putting  her  up  for  the  past  few  nights.  The  friend  suggests  we 
pray  together.  We  form  a  circle  and  the  friend  leads  us  in  prayer: 
"Oh,  Heavenly  Father,"  she  begins,  "we  give  you  praise  and  thanks 
for  sparing  us  in  this  time  of  trouble." 

Alice  and  I  look  at  each  other.  Praise  and  thanks?  Who,  after  all, 
sent  this  time  of  trouble?  "Oh,  Father,  in  your  endless  goodness  you 
have  seen  fit  to  bring  us  here  together  and  to  provide  us  widi  food 
and  water  and  safety.  We  thank  you  profoundly  for  diat  succor  in  the 
midst  of  this  tragedy."  The  theme  is  uniform:  praise  and  thanks, 
thanks  and  praise.  The  litany  runs  on  and  on.  My  children  shift  from 
foot  to  foot.  I  begin  to  wonder  if  the  missionary  visitor  has  gotten 

^^^^^^^^     into  some  kind  of  rhetorical  bind,  or 
does  she  sense  a  certain  resistance  to 
her  message  and  hopes  to  wear  us 
down  through  repetition? 

Later  I  ask  Mice,  "WTiat  did  \  <  >u 
think  of  the  prayer?"  She  answers, 
"Heavenly  Fadier,  get  a  grip!  You've 
almost  sacrificed  your  most  loyal  ser- 
vants. What  is  going  on  here?  ( iet  a 
grip! 

And  there  is  survivor  guilt— 
|p     ,  5,400  died  and  we  did  not.  Why? 

Over  the  green  pay  phone  in  the 
building  lobby  my  colleague  at 
International  University  of  Japan  senses  my  unease.  "John,"  he  says 
calmly,  "you  want  to  know  why  you  survived  and  others  didn't?  Is  that 
what's  bothering  you?  Well,  I'll  tell  you  why.  Your  house  was  stronger 
and  had  more  rock  under  it.  That's  why,  and  that's  all  it  means." 

The  Gymnasium  Shivers 

Four  hours  after  the  quake,  we,  along  widi  die  students  who  resided 
in  the  collapsing  dormitories,  were  required  to  move  to  the  gymnasi- 
um, perhaps  the  sturdiest  building  on  the  Kobe  College  campus. 
About  300  female  students  and  the  five  of  us  took  up  resilience  on 
the  polished  wood  floor.  Overhead  there  were  immense  white  paint- 
ed girders  holding  up  the  roof. 

How  quickly  we  adjusted.  I  decided  that  if  this  was  to  be  our  new 
home,  we  should  stake  out  a  section  along  the  side  wall.  At  least  then 
we'd  be  able  to  sit  on  the  floor  and  lean  back  against  something.  The 
students,  still  in  their  pajamas  and  wrapped  in  blankets,  formed 
eddies  on  the  floor.  Plastic  liter  bottles  of  orange  juice  were  passed 
around  periodically  and  a  plastic  bag  of  rolls  went  from  hand  to  hand. 

At  the  entrance  to  the  gym  were  two  kerosene  heaters,  but  thev 
were  inadequate  for  the  job  of  keeping  the  vast  space  warm.  Of 
course  there  was  no  water  or  electricity,  and  the  only  operating 

(Continued  on  page  14) 


BilBvr'1/,"- 


Z/  L«  0.0 


The  progression  above  shows  a  laser  beam  rapidly  diffracting  in  a 
"defocusing"  material,  a  phenomenon  that  may  help  protect  eyes 
and  sensors  from  laser  damage.  The  background  pattern  is  part  of  a 
computer-generated  spiral  phase  profile  of  an  optical  vortex  soliton, 
one  of  Swartzlander's  discoveries.  Portrait  photo  by  Patrick  O'Connor. 


Spring  1995 


FANTASTIC 


In  Grover  Swartzlander's 

lab,  light  can  alter  the 

properties  of  materials, 

it  can  be  molded  into 

stable  stripes  and  grids — 

it  can  even  be  twisted 

into  corkscrew-like 

vortices.  Welcome  to 

the  brave  new  world 

of  nonlinear  optics. 

By  Michael  W.  Dorsey 


n  the  early  1980s,  Grover  A.  Swartzlander  Jr.  was  a  research  assistant  at 
Purdue  University,  working  in  a  laboratory  he  set  up  with  Alexander 
Kaplan,  a  Russian-born  professor  of  electrical  engineering.  Under  Kaplan's 
supervision,  Swartzlander  was  passing  beams  of  high-intensity  laser  light 
through  sodium  vapor  and  looking  for  unusual  optical  phenomena. 
"Sodium  vapor  is  a  good  medium  for  studying  optics,"  he  says.  "In  high 
school  and  college  physics  labs,  students  often  study  die  sodium  spectrum 
because  it  radiates  an  exceptionally  brilliant  orange  color.  We  were  looking 
for  nonlinear  phenomena  and  were  seeing  some  strange  and  beautiful  patterns 
of  light.  We  began  placing  different  materials  in  front  of  the  laser  and  watch- 
ing how  they  affected  the  diffraction  of  light  in  the  sodium  vapor.  We  saw 
some  weird  things — shapes  that  looked  like  lobsters  or  guitars.  It  was  like 
taking  a  Rorschach  Inkblot  Test. 

"At  one  point  we  put  a  very  fine  mesh  screen  in  front  of  the  laser.  This 
time  we  didn't  see  a  crazy  pattern.  Instead,  we  saw  an  amazingly  well-orga- 
nized array  of  square  spots  separated  by  dark  lines.  I  found  it  quite  beautiful 
and  intriguing.  Under  low-intensity  light  it  would  appear  to  be  a  simple  dif- 
fraction pattern.  But  under  high -intensity  laser  light  it  would  form  an  arrange- 
ment of  spots  diat  was  unusual  and  distinct.  We  figured  there  had  to  be  some- 
thing fundamental  going  on  inside  that  material." 

What  Swartzlander  had  observed  would  come  to  be  called  dark  soliton 
stripes  and  grids,  a  new  twist  to  the  already  twisty  field  of  nonlinear  optics. 
Just  two  decades  old,  nonlinear  optics  is  die  study  of  what  happens  when  high- 
energy  beams  of  light  pass  through  materials.  Unlike  the  low-power  light  we 
encounter  in  everyday  life,  the  intense  beams  from  lasers  can  alter  the  proper- 
ties of  the  materials  they  pass  through.  Those  altered  properties,  in  turn,  can 
affect  the  characteristics  of  light  in  an  intricate  pas  de  deux  that  produces  some 
remarkable  results. 

But  the  byproducts  of  nonlinear  optics  are  far  more  than  laboratory 
curiosities,  hi  fact,  the  field  is  poised  to  revolutionize  the  computer  and 
telecommunications  industries.  By  playing  some  of  the  same  tricks  widi  light 
diat  semiconductors  play  with  electrons,  nonlinear  optics  should  drastically 
increase  the  capacity  of  phone  lines,  produce  much  faster  and  more  efficient 
computers,  and  pave  the  way  for  a  host  of  other  2 1st  century  technologies. 

In  this  hot  new  field,  Swartzlander  is  considered  a  rising  star.  The  signifi- 
cant and  often-cited  work  of  his  first  decade  in  the  research  lab,  coupled  widi 
his  potential  for  future  achievement,  earned  him  a  1994  National  Science 
Foundation  Young  Investigator  Award.  He  was  one  of  only  about  1 80  ot  the 
nation's  top  scientists  and  engineers  to  receive  die  honor  last  year.  In  addition 
to  prestige  and  national  recognition,  die  award  can  bring  recipients  up  to 
$500,000  in  government  and  corporate  matching  funds  over  a  five-year  period. 
Swartzlander  joins  three  odier  WPI  faculty  members  in  receiving  the  NSF 
award,  which  was  previously  known  as  the  Presidential  Young  Investigator 
Award.  James  E.  Rollings,  associate  professor  of  chemical  engineering,  won 
the  honor  in  1985.  In  1991  it  went  to  Tahar  El-Korchi,  associate  professor 
of  civil  engineering,  and  Peter  L.  Levin,  associate  professor  of  electrical  and 
computer  engineering. 

(Continued  on  page  1 7) 


11 


^^J^^  n  ;l  pleasant  spring  afternoon,  three  men  gather  inside  the  large, 
m    W  M  ornate  garage  next  to  Higgins  House  on  the  WPI  campus.  For 
I     ^m    more  than  two  decades,  the  garage  has  been  home  to  the  \\  PI 
^■1^^       Acoustics  I  ,aboraton  .  Today  the  small  lab  is  packed  with  the 
tools  of  the  acoustical  engineer,  from  a  huge  steel  reverberant  chamber  to  a 
state-of-the-art  digital  tape  recorder  smaller  than  a  paperback  book. 

One  side  of  the  lab  is  dominated  by  a  rack  of  oscilloscopes  and  elec- 
tronic instruments.  Before  the  rack  is  a  table,  over  which  the  three  men 
now  hover.  On  the  table  sit  several  plastic  cups,  their  lids  carefully  fas- 
tened with  white  tape.  A  larger  cylinder  is  attached  to  the  end  of  a  small 
boom  that  is,  in  turn,  secured  to  a  tripod.  Both  ends  of  the  cylinder  are 
covered  with  a  fine  mesh  and  three  small  holes  in  its  side  have  been 
sealed  with  overlapping  layers  of  latex.  The  business  end  of  a  small 
microphone  has  been  inserted  into  the  cylinder  through  one  of  these 
latex  valves.  When  everyone  is  still,  the  room  grows  exceedingly  quiet 
and  you  can  just  detect  the  high-pitched  whine  of  a  mosquito. 

Sam  Martin,  an  entomologist  with  the  U.S.  Army  Walter  Reed 
Medical  Institute,  pushes  a  plastic  tube  through  a  latex  valve  on  one 
of  the  plastic  cups.  He  places  the  other  end  of  the  tube  between  his 
lips  and  draws  in  some  air.  When  he  withdraws  the  tube  a  few 
seconds  later,  it  contains  a  small,  grey,  wriggling  mass.  He  pushes 
the  tube  into  the  larger  cylinder  and  blows  gently  to  flush  out  the 
mosquito.  "This  is  Anopheles  freboni,"  he  announces.  "This  one 
transmits  malaria." 

With  the  tiny  insect  isolated,  Richard  Campbell  '58,  adjunct 
professor  of  electrical  and  computer  engineering,  and  William 
Michalson  ('85  M.S.;  '89  Ph.D.),  associate  professor  of  electrical 
and  computer  engineering,  turn  on  a  tape  recorder.  For  more 
than  an  hour,  the  recorder  turns  while  the  mosquito,  prodded  by 
taps  and  puffs  of  air,  takes  brief,  buzzing 
flights.  The  recording  is  one  of  many 
the  three  men  will  make  of  sev- 
eral mosquito  species  that 
together  comprise  a  sort  of 
medical  "most  wanted" 
list.  They  include 


fynotn  ea/unu^i  tUat  bUut  out  the, 
nxtGA,  ojjjet  GHXfiH&i  ta  lucjlt-teolt 
buovpA  that  Ina/ie  mbbcjjiui&i, 


thUttfi  with  Aausull  y&i  mote 
titan  50  ifeafoi. 


12 


Spring  1995 


the  insects  that  are  the  prime  vectors  for  malaria,  yellow  fever  and  encephali- 
tis, among  other  diseases. 

The  project,  funded  as  a  pilot  smdy  with  a  $10,000  grant  from  Walter 
Reed,  has  two  goals.  One  is  to  find  a  way  to  use  the  mosquito's  own  homing 
ability  against  it  by  building  a  high-tech  sound  trap.  The  other  is  to  auto- 
mate the  process  of  identifying  mosquitos  in  the  field — essentially  capturing 
the  expertise  of  an  entomologist  in  a  hand-held  device.  "The  female  of  every 
mosquito  species  has  a  unique  wing-beat  sound,"  Campbell  says.  "It's  this 
sound  that  attracts  the  males  for  mating.  If  you  can  reproduce  this  sound 
accurately  and  play  it  through  a  loudspeaker,  you  can  draw  all  the  males  in 
and  kill  them  or  send  them  back  to  their  nests  dusted  with  poison,  where 
they  can  kill  even  more  mosquitos. 

"Perfecting  an  aural  mosquito  trap  has  been  a  dream  of  medical  scien- 
tists for  more  than  50  years.  While  there  have  been  some  successes  during 
that  time,  we  believe  that  with  state-of-the-art,  multimedia,  direct-to-disk 
recording  and  editing  technology,  and  the  sound-synthesizing  equip- 
ment we  have  today,  we  can  probably  build  a  much  more  effective 
mosquito  trap." 

Just  as  exciting,  Campbell  says,  is  the  ability  to  identify  a  mosquito 
species  solely  from  its  sound  signature.  To  avoid  spending  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars  manufacturing  and  transporting  perishable  vac- 
cines it  doesn't  need,  the  U.S.  Army  sends  advance  teams  of  entomol- 
ogists to  sites  of  likely  future  military  engagements  to  sample  the  local 
insect  life  and  determine  which  diseases  will  pose  threats.  "But  as  a 
result  of  cutbacks,"  he  says,  "the  Army  doesn't  have  enough  ento- 
mologists to  do  this  work.  So  Bill  Michalson  and  I  diought  that  we 
could  build  a  hand-held  box  into  which  you  could  place  a  mosquito, 
push  a  button,  and  see  a  display  identifying  the  species.  That's 
something  any  lieutenant  could  do."  f 

Central  to  the  success  of  bodi  projects  is  the  application  of 
modern  acoustical  engineering  techniques.  With  their  digital 
tapes  of  mosquito  sounds  in  hand,  Campbell  and  Michalson  head 
for  a  lab  on  the  second  floor  of  Atwater  Kent  Laboratories  to 
feed  the  data  into  a  computer.  Using  sophisticated  software, 

(Continued  on  page  21) 


Opposite,  William  Wadsworth  with  test  subject 
Richard  Beschle  '50,  who  founded  WPI's  Biomedical 
Engineering  Program.  Above,  Richard  Campbell. 
Below,  a  graph  of  a  mosquito  wing-beat  sound. 


By  Michael  \Y.  Dorsey 


WPI  Journal 


13 


Blowing  Away  Goose  Tatum  (Continued  from  page  9) 


Fires  rage  throughout 
Kobe  in  the  immedi- 
ate aftermath  of  the 
magnitude  7.2  quake. 


toilets  were  those  outside,  adjacent  to  the  swimming 
pool.  You  took  a  bucket  and  filled  it  up  from  the 
pool,  and  dien  used  that  water  to  flush  the  toilet. 

Some  of  the  students  enjoyed  talking  Japanese 
with  my  youngest  daughter,  Laura  Ruth,  who 
attended  a  Japanese  kindergarten.  For  about  an 
hour  we  sat  dazed  on  the  floor  listening  to  the  con- 
versations. Periodically,  Chaplain  Shigeru  came  in 
to  announce  that  now  it  seemed  that  1,800  were 
dead,  but  that  the  number 
was  climbing;  diat  the 
Hanshin  highway  had  turned 
on  its  side;  that  the  Hankyu 
railway  was  totally  out  from 
our  city,  Nishinomiya,  all  the 
way  to  Kobe  Center;  or  that 
fires  everywhere  were  out  of 
control.  But  mostly  there 
was  the  hubbub  of  300  stu- 
dents explaining  to  each 
other  what  had  happened 
and  listening  to  each  other's 
amazement. 
And  after  a  while,  the  brilliant,  crisp  sunshine 
outside  seemed  to  indicate  that  nothing  further 
could  happen — that  after  this  initial  dark  massacre, 
all  would  eventually  be  repaired.  We  thought  about 
just  leaving  the  gym  and  going  back  home;  there 
was  no  water,  gas  or  electricity  there  either,  but  at 
least  there  were  chairs,  a  well  stocked  refrigerator, 
and  familiar,  if  broken,  dishes.  And  we  would  have 
done  so,  but  at  9:52  a.m.  came  the  first  aftershock. 

The  girders  overhead  shivered.  Frosted  glass  lin- 
ing the  left  side  of  die  entry  to  the  gym  simply  splin- 
tered outward  and  fell  onto  the  floor  near  the 
heaters.  The  girders  lifted,  settled,  shivered  again, 
and  then  stopped  moving.  The  gym  grew  stone 
silent.  The  orange  juice  and  rolls  stopped  circulating. 
No  one  spoke.  Laura  Rudi  curled  in  a  fetal  position 
on  the  floor,  put  her  hands  over  the  back  of  her 
head,  and  then  turned  her  face  to  me.  "Is  this  when 
we  die?"  she  asked.  "I  don't  think  so,"  I  answered. 

Technology's  Insane  Juxtapositions 

On  the  third  day  we  discover  that  die  Hankyu  Rail- 
way has  opened  a  line  from  Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi 
to  downtown  Osaka,  Japan's  second  largest  city. 
Colleagues  have  found  a  public  bath  in  Osaka  and 
the  lure  of  hot  running  water  is  irresistible.  It  is  a  20- 
minute  walk  through  nibble  to  get  to  Nishinomiya- 
Kitaguchi,  and  the  crowds  there  are  dense,  unfriend- 
ly, shoving.  But  soon  enough  all  five  us  are  on  a 
familiar,  clean,  velveteen  maroon  Hankyu  train  and 
moving  swiftly  toward  Osaka. 

At  Umeda  Station  the  platforms  are  familiar 
and  crowded,  and  the  hordes  familiar  and  normal. 
The  swift  passage,  the  moving  walkways,  the  gleam- 
ing neon,  the  buildings  intact — all  normal,  as  usual. 
It  is  like  Christmas  morning;  everydiing  works.  The 
restaurants  and  coffee  shops  are  filled.  There  is  no 
damage  here;  nodiing  has  been  interrupted. 


Only  a  few  refugees  in  the  public  bath  can  share 
our  sense  of  the  realities  40  minutes  away.  No  one 
cares  about  life  in  the  "zone  of  destruction"  to  the 
west.  This  is  the  Japan  we  used  to  know — safe,  clean, 
sparkling,  rich,  sophisticated,  self-possessed,  hard  to 
penetrate,  but  boundless  in  its  rewards  for  that  pene- 
tration. What  quake  and  where?  We  soak  in  the  hot 
tubs,  splash  the  hot  water,  triple-rinse  our  hair.  We 
towel  off  in  the  thick  mist;  dry  in  the  hot  air.  We 
dress  again  and  have  tonkatsu,  a  breaded  pork  dish, 
in  our  second  favorite  tonkatsu  restaurant. 

In  Umeda  Station  we  stop  off  at  Kinokuniya 
Bookstore,  browse  the  English  magazines  and 
books,  and  buy  a  few,  pretending  the  "zone"  isn't 
there.  And  then,  22  minutes  on  the  local  train  and 
20  minutes  walking  brings  us  back  to  no  heat,  no 
water,  no  light,  no  food,  no  life.  Max  and  I  put 
down  the  magazines  and  books,  take  up  the  empty 
pots  and  pans,  and  walk  down  to  get  in  line  for 
water  from  a  broken  main  in  the  roadway  running 
along  the  foot  of  the  campus. 

Media  Games 

At  2:30  a.m.  on  the  morning  after  the  quake  a 
phone  call  got  through  from  Dennis  Benton,  an  old 
friend  at  London's  BBC  World.  He  wanted  to 
know  how  we  were,  but  his  boss  wanted  to  know, 
"How  was  it,  and  what  will  you  do?"  After  Dennis, 
I  got  passed  to  an  "interviewer"  who  "prepared"  me 
for  "the  presenter." 

"He  will  ask  essentially  the  same  questions  I'm 
asking,  so  let's  just  run  through  them,  shall  we?"  the 
interviewer  said.  "Yes,"  I  answered.  "I  was  in  my 
underwear  when  we  sprinted  outside,  afraid  the 
house  might  explode.  Alice  was  up  cooking,  using 
the  stove,  and  she  had  turned  on  all  the  gas  space 
heaters.  Yes  it's  quite  cold;  in  the  30s,  in  fact.  Of 
course  there  is  no  heat,  no  water,  no  electricity." 
Just  this  odd  phone,  I  thought.  I  recounted  the  trip 
to  the  gymnasium,  the  return  to  the  house,  the 
appearance  of  the  house  and  those  of  several  col- 
leagues that  were  damaged  far  worse  than  ours. 

All  this  was  familiar,  a  glib  recitation.  The  first 
two  interviews  with  presenters  went  off  easily.  The 
BBC  called  about  every  three  hours  after  that. 
When  I  was  out  they  talked  to  Alice  or  to  die 
Bannerjees,  colleagues  who  teach  at  Kobe  College 
and  who  moved  in  after  dieir  house  collapsed. 

But  by  the  third  interview  I  sensed  a  certain 
edge  in  the  presenter's  voice,  and  the  questions 
grew  more  direct.  "Are  you  angry  with  the  Japanese 
government  for  not  doing  more?"  I  was  asked.  "Not 
really,"  I  answered.  "They  seem  to  be  doing  as 
much  as  anyone  could  under  the  circumstances." 
"Don't  you  know  Japanese  who  are  angry  with  the 
government?  Is  there  no  resentment  against  the 
lack  of  water,  the  lack  of  fire-fighting  facilities?" 
"Not  really.  The  Japanese  are  resilient  and  self- 
possessed,  above  all  dogged  in  their  determination 
not  to  complain."  "Well,  dianks  for  talking  to  us. 
We'll  call  again  later." 


14 


Spring  1995 


Afterwards,  in  discussions  with  Alice  and  the 
Bannerjees,  I  decided  die  media  was  not  happy  with 
our  responses — it  was,  in  fact,  beginning  to  filter 
out  our  data,  our  modest  contributions,  since  the 
data  did  not  match  the  on-going  story  of  incompe- 
tence and  resentment.  So  here  was  die  "Braestrup 
Thesis"  illustrated  once  again.  In  Big  Story,  Peter 
Braestrup  argued  that  media  analysts,  editors,  com- 
mentators, reporters  and  writers  tend  to  coalesce  on 
a  scaffolding  of  a  story,  and  by  the  third  or  fourth 
day  want  only  data  that  supports  the  story.  Accuracy 
is  not  the  issue;  support  for  the  story  is  the  issue. 

Thus,  Braestrup  argued,  the  Tet  Offensive  dur- 
ing the  Vietnam  War  was  actually  a  victory  for  the 
Americans  and  the  South  Vietnamese,  hut  by  the 
third  day  the  media  had  decided  the  "story"  was 
defeat — catastrophe  for  the  Americans  and  die  South 
Vietnamese.  The  counter  data  was  shut  out.  The 
media  convinced  the  public  that  Tet  was  a  disaster. 
Support  for  the  war  evaporated;  the  President,  in 
effect,  abdicated;  the  opposition  party  won  the  elec- 
tion; and  the  war  concluded  with  an  ignominious 
American  exit.  All  because  die  media  understood  the 
"story"  to  be  disaster. 

The  story  of  the  quake  in  the  U.S.  media 
became,  apparendy,  the  story  of  incompetence  and 
resentment — a  new  variant  of  Japan  bashing.  The 
absence  of  looting;  the  infinite  Japanese  patience 
through  adversity;  the  determination  to  stick  by  dead 
relatives;  the  civility  in  the  midst  of  despair — these 
were  peripheral  to  the  "story"  of  incompetence  and 
resentment.  The  Western  lens  wanted  to  see  rage 
and  it  tirelessly  swung  back  and  forth  above  the 
action  to  fix  on  confirming  anger.  They  sought  a 
mother  lode  of  rage,  and  not  finding  it  in  conversa- 
tions with  us,  moved  on  to  more  manageable  news. 

The  Japaneseness  of  the  Response 

The  government  did  make  errors — predictable, 
horrible  errors.  Government  by  consensus  means 
government  by  delay,  by  irresponsibility,  by  failure 
to  lead,  by  bureaucratic  standard  operating  proce- 
dures. No  one  expected  a  Kansai  quake.  No  one 
planned  for  Kobe  to  be  the  center  of  such  a  disaster. 
Everyone  knew  the  great  quake  would  be  in  Tokyo, 
and  will  still  be  in  Tokyo.  Tokyo,  someday, 
inevitably,  will  be  destroyed.  Unlike  San  Francisco, 
which  plans  ahead  for  its  doom,  Kobe  had  no  inde- 
pendent water  system.  It  had  not  enforced  Japan's 
1981  earthquake  construction  codes  on  older  hous- 
es, especially  in  areas  traditionallv  shunned  by 
Japanese,  such  as  the  Korean  ghettos  and  those 
places  occupied  by  Japanese  Eta  or  Burakumin, 
descendants  of  butchers  and  leather  tanners. 

Kansai  did  not  have  severe  quakes.  Kanto  had 
them.  Hokkaido  had  them.  Kansai  did  not  have 
them.  When  I  lived  in  Tokyo  in  the  early  1980s, 
I  knew  the  big  one  was  coming  because  small  ones 
occurred  so  frequendy.  Earthquake  directions  were 
printed  on  posters  everywhere — in  English  and  in 
Japanese.  In  Kansai  it  was  not  an  issue.  It  could  not 


happen  diere.  Even  when  it  actually  did,  it  still 
could  not  happen. 

Right  away,  Switzerland  offered  its  trained  dogs 
to  sniff  out  survivors  in  the  rubble.  Japan  declined, 
but  then  12  hours  later  realized  the  error  of  that 
decision  and  rescinded  it.  Switzerland  sent  the  dogs 
and  handlers.  They  landed  at  Kansai  International 
Airport,  where  they  ran  amuck  of  die  Ministry  of 
Health  and  Welfare,  which  insists  that  all  dogs 
coming  into  Japan  be  quarantined  for  a  very  long 
time.  Another  day  passed  before  the  rule  was 
waived.  The  Swiss  dogs  found  corpses,  not  sur- 
vivors, in  the  nibble. 

And  then  there  was  the  refusal  of  American  flu 
vaccine.  Refugees  living  in  school  shelters  were  vul- 
nerable to  infection.  Flu  soon  enough  flooded  over 
them,  but  the  Japanese  turned  down  American  flu 
vaccine  as  "inappropriate  for  Japanese."  In  Japan  the 
key  distinction  is 
always  between  the 
inside  and  the  outside. 
Those  inside  share, 
support,  consent; 
those  outside  merit 
nothing.  Public  rude- 
ness astounds  Wester- 
ners, just  as  private 
graciousness  amazes 
them.  But  in  catas- 
trophe, Japan  is  the 
inside  and  everything 
else  is  the  outside. 
The  Americans  were 
dumbfounded  to  have 
their  flu  vaccine  refused.  But  it  was  as  if  Rumania 
had  sent  special  vaccines  for  the  Northridge,  Calif., 
victims.  Who  in  America  would  have  embraced 
Rumanian  vaccine?  Who  in  Japan  would  have 
embraced  American  vaccine? 


A  member  of  Japan's 
Self-Defense  Force 
stands  guard  over  a 
devastated  section 
of  Kobe. 


Necessary  Denials 


In  the  first  eight  hours  after  the  quake,  Chaplain 
Shigeru  becomes  the  sole  authority  figure.  He 
comes  to  the  gym  to  tell  us  what  is  happening.  The 
work  crews  report  damage  to  him  and  he  reports  to 
the  multitudes  without  homes  on  campus.  By  early 
afternoon  he  indicates  to  us  that  our  home  has  been 
inspected  and  has  been  pronounced  safe.  We  should 
return  to  it  and  await  further  developments. 

The  prospect  of  days  in  the  gymnasium  have 
become  grim  and  it  is  welcome  news  that  we  can  go 
back  home.  Soon  enough,  our  house,  as  the  only 
standing  unit  of  faculty  housing,  becomes  a  refugee 
center.  The  Bannerjees  move  in,  as  do  Lisa  and 
Brian,  Misa  and  Mary,  and  sometimes  Greg  and  Vic 
andjozef. 

Twice  a  day  for  three  days,  I  ask  Shigeru  if  the 
house  is  safe.  I  point  out  that  the  pillars  holding  the 
upper  balcony  and  roof  of  the  house  have  shifted 
half  off  their  pilings.  I  mention  the  cracks  opening 
in  the  walls.  I  note  that  ceilings  seem  to  be  lower- 


WPI  Journal 


15 


Blowing  Away  Goose  Tatum  (Continued  from  prawns  page) 


Quake  survivors  pass 
rail  tracks  in  the  city 
of  Nishinomiya  that 
were  twisted  by  the 
force  of  the  quake. 


ing,  so  that  sliding  doors  on  the  first  floor  become 
harder  and  harder  to  open.  Is  it  wise  to  have  1 3  peo- 
ple sleeping  in  such  a  structure?  And  always, 
Shigeru  is  prompt,  authoritative  and  reassuring:  the 
house  has  been  inspected — it  is  entirely  safe. 

I  keep  asking  when  the  inspectors  came  by, 
because  we  have  nearly  always  been  in  the  house. 
We  surely  saw  no  such  inspectors.  If  they  had 
inspected  while  we  were  at  the  gym,  might  they  not 
need  to  reinspect  now?  It  is  not  necessary,  Shigeru 
insists.  The  house  is  safe,  and  it  is  continuously 
being  monitored.  By  whom  and  when?  I  wonder. 

Then  on  Thursday,  the  fourth  day  after  the 
quake,  two  youngish  Japanese  in  hard  hats  show  up. 
Structural  engineers.  They  walk  through  the  house, 
pausing  at  die  shifted  pillars  along  die  front,  paus- 
ing even  longer  at  the  fissure  line  in  the  foundation, 
measuring  the  widening  cracks  in  the  rooms,  and 
tell  us,  "Get  out  of  die  house  immediately.  It  may 
very  well  come  down  in  the  next  aftershock." 

We  gather  a  few  things  and  move  back  to  die 
Alumni  Building.  On  the  way  there  I  see  Shigeru 
near  the  gymnasium.  I  run  over  to  him.  I  am  carry- 
ing my  futon  and  some  oranges  in  a  plastic  bag. 
"House  inspectors  finally  came  today,"  I  say  in  my 
most  chastising  tone,  "and  they  said  the  place  is 

unsafe.  They  ordered  us  out 
immediately.  There  hadn't 
been  any  inspection.  When 
they  finally  inspected,  they 
said  the  building  was  com- 
pletely unsafe.  But  there 
were  12  or  13  of  us  sleeping 
there.  You  said  the  place  was 
safe,  but  it  wasn't  safe.  So 
you  just  li...." 

Shigeru,  eyebrows 
bunched,  cuts  me  off  with  a 
single  word,  uttered  with 
amazing  equanimity  and 
panache.  "Good!"  he  says.  It  is  a  silencing  response, 
made  up,  I  decide  later,  of  several  parts:  One  por- 
tion is  the  sentiment  that  whatever  is  standing  is 
safe.  Another  is  his  desire  not  to  have  these  gaijin 
underfoot  and  within  infecting  proximity  of  Kobe 
College  students.  Yet  another  portion  consists  of 
simply  saying  whatever  it  is  these  gaijin  need  to  hear 
to  be  done  with  them.  There  is  also  a  portion  that 
admits  that  at  some  level,  what  is  spoken  in  English 
to  gaijin  need  not  conform  to  truth. 

Over  the  next  several  days  it  also  becomes  clear 
that  damage  recognition  is  not  an  easy  issue  for 
educational  institutions  that  want  to  remain  com- 
petitive for  a  declining  student  pool.  Admitting 
heavy  damage  could  undermine  the  college's  attrac- 
tiveness. I  hear  indirectly  that  the  administration  is 
furious  when  a  Japanese  magazine,  within  a  week  of 
the  quake,  produces  a  picture  book  that  features  an 
aerial  photo  showing  the  collapsed  roof  of  the  liter- 
ature building,  where  my  office  had  been.  Such  pic- 
tures discourage  applicants. 


Sirens  and  Helicopters 

From  the  second  hour  after  the  quake  until  we  got 
to  Kansai  International  Airport  in  Osaka  Bay,  there 
was  a  continuous  sound  of  sirens.  Only  their  loud- 
ness varied;  they  never  stopped.  In  retrospect,  the 
wailings  were  an  announcement  and  endless  itera- 
tion of  pain — die  squealing  of  crushed  and  torched 
humanity  made  bearable  by  the  mechanical,  elec- 
tronic distancing  of  the  noise.  From  the  fifth  hour, 
the  sirens  were  joined  by  a  more  ominous  thud- 
ding— helicopters  endlessly  churning  overhead. 

For  most  of  the  first  day  I  believed  that  the 
copters  had  to  be  media-related.  Their  whirlings 
jiggled  the  house,  but  seemed  a  pale  imitation  ot  the 
7.2  roar  some  hours  before.  By  the  third  day  we  had 
adjusted  to  the  noise — filtered  it  out,  partially.  We 
knew  we  could  get  some  kind  of  water,  some  kind  of 
electricity,  and,  because  of  Osaka's  proximity,  some 
kind  of  food.  "We  survived,"  Alice  said,  "but  I  won- 
der how  we'll  live." 

My  daughter  Emily,  because  she  had  turned  1 6 
and  knew  she  was  immortal,  because  she  had  no 
phone  access  to  her  friends,  because  it  was  becoming 
clearer  and  clearer  diat  she  would  not  get  a  chance  to 
go  back  to  her  school  in  Kobe,  because  she  was 
bored  and  edgy,  begged  to  use  one  of  our  bikes  to  try 
to  reach  classmates  about  an  hour  away.  When  Misa, 
a  missionary  teacher  who  had  temporarily  come  to 
stay  in  the  house  with  us,  also  needed  to  bike  to 
Ashiya,  we  let  Emily  go  with  her.  It  was,  after  all,  a 
wanner,  brilliandy  clear  day,  and  in  the  sunshine,  in 
the  mucid  soft  caressing  nature  of  Japan's  mild  win- 
ter, it  seemed  that  aftershocks  were  impossible — all 
damage  over,  all  destruction  done. 

It  was  an  idiotic  decision,  one  we  regretted  the 
minute  Emily  was  out  of  sight.  Time  passed  quickly 
enough.  Mr.  Hata  came  in  from  Kyoto  with  a 
dozen  Egg  McMuffins,  manna  itself.  Professor 
Ueno  came  in  from  Osaka  and  dropped  off  three 
gas  canisters  for  die  portable  burner.  Eaura  Ruth 
played  outside  on  the  concrete  apron  fronting  the 
house,  despite  the  shifted  pillars.  The  house  shud- 
dered in  the  copter  passings.  Each  siren  seemed  to 
chastise  a  parent  for  letting  a  young  girl  go  off  on  a 
bicycle  in  such  circumstances. 

Emily  had  planned  to  be  back  by  4  p.m.;  5:30 
came  and  went.  If  she  had  had  an  accident,  I 
thought,  diere  would  be  no  way  to  help  her.  More 
sirens,  more  helicopter  thuddings.  And  then  the 
blessed  sound  of  tire  spin  on  the  roadway  and  onto 
our  driveway.  Emily  and  Misa  were  back.  "Dad," 
she  said,  "you  thought  they  were  part  of  the  media." 
She  pointed  to  the  noise  overhead.  "They're  not. 
They're  taking  bodies  out  in  bags  and  coffins. 
That's  what  they're  doing.  We  saw  them  loading 
and  loading."  She  burst  into  tears. 

Blowing  Away  Goose  Tatum 

Forty-five  years  ago  I  lived  to  watch  die  Harlem 
Globetrotters,  hi  particular,  I  followed  the  gyra- 


16 


Spring  1995 


The  Light  Fantastic  (Continued  from  page  U) 


dons  of  Goose  Tatum.  Sometime  midway  through 
the  first  quarter  of  every  game  he'd  drop  back  and 
begin  to  do  his  astounding  dribbling  act,  clipping 

the  ball  alon<>  at  about  tour  inches  oft  the  floor. 
( )pposing  guards  made  inevitable  challenges,  but 
(  loose  simply  dribbled  through  them,  around  them, 
between  his  legs  and  theirs,  circling,  doubling  back, 
always  with  the  rat-tat-tat  of  that  microdribble, 
machine  gunning  the  ball,  in  amazing  control,  in 
dazzling  figure  eights  across  an  expanse  that  clearly 
was  entirely  his  domain. 

At  5:46  a.m.  on  Jan.  17,  a  jet-engine,  superdeci- 
bel  roar  from  the  center  of  the  Earth  spiked 
upward,  liquefying  the  man-made  islands  in  Japan's 
inland  sea  off  the  city  of  Kobe,  spiked  upward 
beyond  7.2  on  the  Richter  scale,  spiked  upward  to 
throttle  the  fault  line  that  ran  six  straight  miles  from 
the  center  of  Kobe  to  die  center  of  Nishinomiya,  a 
city  almost  equally  as  large,  spiked  upward  to  clump 
500,000  buildings  flat  down,  and  spiked  upward  to 
bounce  the  house  where  we  were  living.  Often 
enough  we'd  heard  the  Japanese  say  of  earthquakes, 
when  diey  are  side  to  side,  no  problem;  but  when 
they  are  up  and  down,  very  big  problem,  indeed. 

I  was  asleep  on  a  futon  in  the  tatami  room 
downstairs;  Laura  Ruth  was  asleep  beside  me;  Alice 
was  already  up  in  the  gallej  kitchen,  making  a 
brown  sugar  and  butter  frosting  for  a  coffee  cake 
she  was  about  to  put  in  die  warming  oven.  The 
house,  in  the  sudden,  10,000-jet-engine  roar, 
bounced,  lifted  and  fell  back,  lifted  and  fell  back, 
bounced  and  bounced  and  bounced  as  God  bullet- 
dribbled  it  in  a  20-second  demonstration  that  blew 
away  Goose  Tatum. 

I  heard  Alice's  call  above  the  roar,  shouting  to 
Emily  and  Max  upstairs.  I  hunched  over  Laura 
Ruth,  aware  in  the  mad  torque  of  the  moment  that 
the  windows  above  our  futon  would  have  to  bulge 
and  splinter  soon.  And  I  wondered,  and  still  do,  in 
terror's  empty  chamber,  why  does  the  infinitely- 
greater-than-(  loose  God  dribble  houses,  cities? 

About  the  Author — 

On  Jan.  10,  1994,  John  Zeugner,  professor  of  history  at 
11  PI,  moved  to  Kobe,  Japan,  with  his  wife,  Alice 
I  alentine,  who  teaches  Japanese  literature  and  culture  at 
Chirk  University,  and  their  children,  Emily,  16,  Max, 
10,  and  Lit ii rii  Ruth,  >.  For  the  next  three  months  he 
directed,  from  Japan,  II  TPs  Asian  project  centers  in 
Bangkok  and  Hong  Kong. 

On  .  Ipril  10  he  took  up  his  duties  as  Bryant  Drake 
Guest  Professor  of  Contemporary  American  History  at 
Kobe  College,  the  third  oldest  women's  college  in  Japan. 
His  contract  with  Kobe  College  called  for  three  semesters 
of  teaching,  concluding  in  July  1995.  But  six  days  after 
the  Kobe  earthquake,  which  collapsed  40  percent  of  the 
structures  at  Kobe  College,  Zeugner  and  his  family  were 
asked  to  return  to  the  i  nited  States,  which  they  did  the 
following  day.  He  wrote  Blowing  Away  Goose  Tatum, 
which  he  describes  as  a  "meditation"  on  his  experiences 
during  and  after  the  quake,  upon  his  return  to  11  PI. 


n  1978  Swartzlander  enrolled  as  an  undergraduate 
physics  majorat  Drexel  University.  Already  fasci- 
nated by  the  Geld  of  optics,  he  found  inspiration 
in  courses  taught  by  Lorenzo  Narducci,  an  early 
pioneer  in  nonlinear  optics.  A  native  of  Italy, 
Narducci  earned  his  Ph.D.  at  the  University  of 
Milan  ,\nd  taught  physics  at  WPI  tor  10  years 
before  joining  Drexel  in  1976. 

In  his  sophomore  year,  Swartzlander  began 
work  as  a  co-op  student  at  the  Naval  Air  Develop- 
ment Center  (now  part  of  the  Naval  Air  Warfare 
Center)  in  Warminster,  Penn.,  just  north  of 
Philadelphia.  1  Ie  started  out  as  a  research  assistant 
in  the  Avionics  Division  and  moved  on  to  work  in 
the  Remote  Sensing  Division. 

"I  worked  on  nonlinear  optics  research,"  he 
says.  "We  were  taking  infrared  light  and  turning  it 
into  green  light  by  doubling  the  frequency — some- 
thing physicists  call  second  harmonic  generation." 
The  quest  for  efficient  blue  and  green  laser  light  is 
one  of  the  hot  topics  in  modern  optics.  Blue  and 
green  wavelengths,  the  shortest  in  the  visible  spec- 
trum, are  important  because  they  should  make  it 
possible  to  pack  more  bits  onto  CD-ROM  disks. 

After  graduating  from  Drexel,  Swartzlander 
enrolled  at  Purdue  University  to  begin  work  on  a 
master's  degree  in  physics.  "I  attended  a  department 
seminar  given  by  Alexander  Kaplan,  who  was  a  pro- 
fessor of  electrical  engineering  and  a  renowned 
Soviet  emigre,"  he  says.  "Kaplan  knows  how  to 
make  his  work  sound  exciting.  He  was  doing  pio- 
neering theoretical  research  in  nonlinear  optics,  a 
field  that  interested  me.  I  found  his  talk  quite  inter- 
esting and  I  asked  if  I  could  do  a  Ph.D.  with  him." 

Swartzlander  transferred  to  the  Electrical 
Engineering  Department  and  ended  up  earning  a 
joint  master's  in  that  discipline  and  physics  in  1985. 
When  Kaplan  later  moved  to  Johns  Hopkins 
University,  Swartzlander  followed  him  and  com- 
pleted the  requirements  for  a  doctorate  in  electrical 
engineering  in  1991. 

While  working  in  Kaplan's  lab  at  Purdue, 
Swartzlander  deepened  his  immersion  in  nonlinear 
optics.  In  physics,  the  term  "nonlinear"  is  applied  to 
systems  in  which  die  output  is  not  proportional  to 
the  input — in  other  words,  where  the  system  some- 
how changes  the  input  in  a  nonlinear  manner.  One 
classic  example  is  the  transistor. 

A  transistor  is  a  sandwich  made  of  three  layers  of 
a  semiconducting  material,  such  as  silicon.  The  lay- 
ers are  connected  to  an  electrical  circuit  in  such  a 
way  that  a  small  current  flowing  between  the  first 
layer  and  die  middle  layer  induces  a  much  larger  cur- 
rent between  the  middle  layer  and  the  third  layer,  hi 
diis  way,  the  transistor  amplifies  the  original  current. 

Nonlinear  effects  in  optical  materials  were  not 
observed  until  the  advent  of  die  laser  in  the  1960s. 
Suddenly,  materials  like  glass,  which  was  once 
thought  of  as  a  passive  transmitter  of  light,  began  to 
exhibit  some  strange  behavior.  "One  of  the  first 


"Beauty  is  truly  a  guide 

in  this  work.  There  are 

many  things  in  nature 

that  are  difficult  to 

understand  because 

they  are  so  complex. 

But  with  optics, 

the  way  things  look 

provides  a  clue  to 

what  is  going  on. " 


WPI  Journal 


17 


THE  LIGHT  FANTASTIC  (Continued  from  previous  page) 


\  w 


Top,  a  diffraction  pattern 
produced  with  a  fine  mesh 
and  a  low-intensity  light 
beam.  At  a  higher  intensity, 
a  new  pattern  emerges.  As 
a  result  of  nonlinear  effects, 
refraction  is  minimized  and 
destructive  interference  is 
concentrated  into  narrow, 
stable  bands.  These  are 
called  dark  soliton  stripes. 
Discovered  by  Swartz- 
lander,  these  were  the 
first  spatial  solitons  ever 
observed. 


effects  scientists  saw  was  damage,"  Swartzlander 
says.  "The  laser  would  destroy  glass  lenses  and 
other  transparent  materials  that  seemed  to  have 
very  little  capacity  to  absorb  light." 

When  scientists  began  looking  for  the  cause  of 
their  fried  lenses,  they  found  that  the  laser  light  was 
inducing  a  localized  change  in  the  refractive  index 
of  the  glass.  The  skewed  refractive  index,  in  turn, 
caused  the  beam  to  focus  down,  concentrating  all  of 
its  energy  into  a  tiny  section  of  the  lens.  "The 
intensity  would  get  so  high  it  would  start  ripping 
electrons  off  the  atoms,"  Swartzlander  says. 

Since  the  narrowing  of  the  light  beam  was 
caused  by  the  beam  itself,  the  phenomenon  was 
dubbed  the  self-focusing  effect.  As  researchers  con- 
tinued to  probe  such  nonlinear  behavior,  they  dis- 
covered that  other  materials  can  cause  light  to  self- 
defocus,  or  rapidly  spread  out  into  a  diffuse,  dim 
blob.  In  his  work  at  Purdue,  Swartzlander  experi- 
mented with  yet  another  unusual  nonlinear  behav- 
ior (which  Kaplan  had  predicted):  self-bending. 

Kaplan  had  shown  that  a  laser  beam  with  an 
asymmetrical  spatial-intensity  profile  (in  other 
words,  a  beam  that  is  more  intense  at  its  center  than 
at  its  edges)  will  alter  the  refractive  index  of  a  non- 
linear material  in  such  a  way  as  to  induce  a  nonlin- 
ear prism  in  the  material.  Like  an  ordinary  glass 
prism,  the  nonlinear  prism  causes  the  laser  beam  to 
change  direction.  Since  the  effect  occurs  continually 
along  the  beam's  path,  the  result  is  a  gradual  curv- 
ing of  the  beam's  course. 

Because  of  limitations  in  the  materials  used,  the 
earliest  examples  of  self-bending  were  observed 
with  pulsed  lasers.  This  made  it  difficult  to  deter- 
mine whether  the  bending  effect  could  be  main- 
tained as  a  steady  state,  something  that  would  be 
critical  if  the  bending  were  to  be  used  in  a  practical 
application.  Knowing  that  sodium  vapor  has  a  larger 
nonlinear  effect  than  most  materials,  Swartzlander 
and  Kaplan  set  up  an  experiment  using  this  gas  and 
became  the  first  researchers  to  observe  a  continuous 
self-bending  effect. 

One  of  the  most  intriguing  products  of 
nonlinear  optics  is  the  soliton,  or  solitary 
wave.  Although  they  were  not  observed 
with  light  until  the  1970s,  water  solitons  have  been 
known  to  exist  for  more  than  150  years.  In  1838, 
while  riding  his  horse  beside  a  barge  canal  in 
Scotland,  J.  Scott  Russell  noticed  that  when  a  canal 
boat  came  to  an  abrupt  stop,  it  pushed  a  large,  soli- 
tary mound  of  water  down  the  canal.  Russell  fol- 
lowed this  lone  wave  for  more  than  half  a  mile  and 
was  surprised  to  see  that  its  height  and  speed 
remained  undiminished. 

Six  years  later,  Russell  published  a  report  on  his 
observation  in  a  journal  of  the  British  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  becoming  die  first 
person  to  describe  a  soliton.  Exactly  a  century  ago, 
two  Dutch  mathematicians,  DJ.  Korteweg  and  G. 
de  Vries,  published  a  nonlinear  partial  differential 


equation  (the  KdV  equation)  that  captured  the 
mathematics  of  waves  in  shallow  waters,  an  equation 
that  also  described  the  inner  workings  of  solitons. 

In  water,  a  soliton  occurs  when  two  properties 
of  traveling  waves  exactly  counterbalance  one  other. 
The  first  is  the  relationship  between  a  wave's  speed 
and  its  height  (tall  waves  travel  faster  than  squat 
waves).  A  wave's  speed  also  depends  on  its  frequen- 
cy (waves  of  longer  wavelength  travel  faster  than 
waves  of  shorter  wavelength). 

With  a  tall  wave  of  short  wavelength — like  the 
wave  created  by  the  canal  boat — the  two  opposing 
influences  on  the  wave's  speed  can  exactly  balance 
each  other  and  also  work  against  the  natural  ten- 
dency of  the  wave  to  dissipate  over  time.  The  result 
is  a  wave  that  will  travel  long  distances  with  no 
change  in  speed  or  height.  One  extreme  example  is 
the  "tidal  wave,"  or  tsunami. 

In  1973  it  was  predicted  that  solitons  could  be 
produced  in  an  optical  fiber  if  the  tendency  of  a 
beam  of  laser  light  to  spread  out  in  a  fiber  could  be 
counterbalanced  by  the  ability  of  the  beam  to 
increase  the  fiber's  refractive  index  (a  phenomenon 
physicists  call  the  Kerr  nonlinearity). 

The  first  optical  solitons  were  produced  with 
pulses  of  infrared  light.  When  a  pulse  of  white  light 
is  sent  into  a  glass  fiber,  it  tends  to  disperse  in  such  a 
way  that  the  longer  wavelengths,  which  travel  the 
fastest,  outpace  the  shorter  wavelengths  and  end  up 
at  the  front  of  the  pulse.  Over  time,  the  frequencies 
spread  out  and  the  pulse  dissipates. 

At  infrared  frequencies  longer  than  1 .3 
micrometers,  things  get  turned  upside  down,  and 
shorter  wavelengths  travel  the  fastest.  Physicists  call 
this  phenomenon  negative  group  velocity  disper- 
sion. At  high  intensities,  the  change  in  refractive 
index  caused  by  the  Kerr  nonlinearity  alters  the 
arrangement  of  the  frequencies  of  the  pulse,  so  that 
the  longer,  slower  frequencies  end  up  at  the  front 
and  the  shorter,  faster  frequencies  move  to  the  rear, 
something  known  as  self-phase  modulation. 

When  the  negative  group  velocity  dispersion 
and  self-phase  modulation  are  in  balance,  the  pulse 
will  not  disperse  and  instead  propagates  as  a  soliton. 
In  fact,  solitons  can  travel  for  great  distances  in 
optical  fibers  with  no  change  in  size  or  speed. 
Solitons  are  also  quite  stable.  Two  soliton  pulses 
traveling  at  different  speeds  or  in  different  direc- 
tions can  pass  through  one  another  and  emerge 
from  the  collision  unchanged. 

Because  of  their  robustness,  solitons  have  long 
been  of  considerable  interest  to  the  telecommunica- 
tions industry.  While  they  can  carry  far  greater  vol- 
umes of  information  than  conventional  metal  wires 
(and  carry  it  much  faster),  fiber-optic  systems,  be- 
cause they  gradually  disperse  light,  require  frequent 
amplification  and  reshaping.  Placing  repeaters  every 
12  to  60  miles  along  a  lengthv  fiberoptic  cable  can  be 
expensive,  and  the  frequent  need  for  amplification 
(often  by  electronic,  rather  than  optical  devices)  lim- 
its the  amount  of  data  the  fibers  can  carry. 


18 


Spring  1995 


Solitons,  on  the  other  hand,  can  travel  for  great 
distances  with  less  need  for  amplification.  In  labora- 
tory experiments,  soliton  pulses  have  gone  well  over 
3,500  miles  with  no  signal  degredation.  Currently, 
Swart/.lander  says,  Bell  Laboratories  is  building  a 
trans-Atlantic  fiber  cable  that  will  use  solitons.  The 
designers  are  hoping  for  data  rates  of  10  gigabits  per 
second,  nearly  10  times  taster  than  conventional 
fiber-optic  lines. 

The  solitons  that  will  speed  across  the  Atlantic 
are  called  temporal  solitons  because  they  exist  in 
time.  But  solitons  can  also  exist  in  space.  Spatial 
solitons  can  generate  patterns  discernable  by  the 
eye,  as  Swartzlander  discovered  in  his  experiments 
with  die  fine  mesh  and  sodium  vapor  at  Purdue. 

hitrigued  by  his  results,  Swartzlander  did  some 
numerical  simulations  of  die  system  he  was  using 
and  determined  that  the  regular  array  of  dots  he- 
observed  was  actually  a  grid  of  dark  solitons.  Tt  was 
the  first  time  anyone  had  observed  a  stationary, 
two-dimensional  optical  soliton  array.  "It  was 
thought  that  such  patterns  could  not  exist," 
Swartzlander  says,  "because  the  theory  dien  avail- 
able could  only  account  for  one  transverse  degree 
of  freedom.  We  found  numerically  that  we  could 
get  regular  arrays  of  these  grids  and  that  they  were 
stable.  The  criterion  for  stability  is  important  in 
nonlinear  systems;  without  it,  chaos  may  develop." 

Swartzlander  says  the  screen  he  placed  in  front 
of  the  laser  created  a  two-dimensional  diffraction 
pattern.  "If  you  look  dirough  a  screen  window  on  a 
moonlit  night,  you  can  see  multiple  images  of  the 
moon — a  nice  regular  pattern — because  the  screen 
diffracts  the  moonlight.  That's  linear  diffraction. 

"When  you  add  in  nonlinear  refraction,  you  get 
a  counterbalancing  between  diffraction  and  refrac- 
tion. In  the  process,  you  create  destructive  interfer- 
ence that  tends  to  get  concentrated  in  distinct  areas. 
These  areas,  where  the  light  waves  cancel  each 
other  out,  are  the  dark  solitons." 

After  receiving  his  Ph.D.  from  Johns 
Hopkins,  Swartzlander  went  to  work  for 
the  Laser  Physics  Branch  of  the  Naval 
Research  Laboratory  as  a  postdoctoral  fellow. 
Working  with  branch  head  Anthony  J.  Campillo, 
another  pioneer  in  nonlinear  optics,  Swartzlander 
began  exploring  whether  nonlinear  optical  effects 
might  become  the  basis  for  devices  that  can  protect 
eyes  and  delicate  optical  sensors  from  direct  expo- 
sure to  high-intensity  laser  beams.  With  the  advent 
of  laser  weapons  and  the  frequent  use  of  lasers  in 
range  finders  and  targeting  systems,  the  potential 
for  such  exposure  on  the  battlefield  has  grown 
tremendously  in  recent  years. 

To  further  his  research,  Swartzlander  indepen- 
dently applied  for  and  received  a  two-year, 
$2 1 0,000  grant  from  the  Advanced  Research 
Projects  Agency  (ARPA).  With  the  funds,  he  set  up 
some  experiments  and  computer  simulations  aimed 
at  demonstrating  that  the  nonlinear  self-defocusing 


effect  might  be  just  the  ticket  for  creating  a  practical 
laser  protection  device.  The  idea  was  to  find  nonlin- 
ear materials  that  are  clear  in  regular  light,  so  as  not 
to  impair  normal  vision,  but  that  have  the  ability  to 
instantly  react  to  and  defocus  laser  light,  lowering 
its  intensity  to  harmless  levels  before  it  can  damage 
an  eye  or  a  sensor. 

The  underlying  goal  of  the  laser-protection  pro- 
ject  was  to  find  a  way  to  get  light  away  from  a  region 
of  space.  In  the  process  of  testing  systems  that 
accomplished  just  that,  Swartzlander  discovered  a 
new  phenomenon  that  dispatches 
light  in  an  most  unusual  manner. 
Called  the  optical  vortex,  it  is  essen- 
tially a  light  wave  diat  has  a  spiral 
phase  profile,  rather  than  the  sinu- 
soidal or  sine  wave  profile  one  nor- 
mally associates  with  light,  sound  and 
water  waves. 

When  light  is  twisted  into  this 
corkscrew  shape,  something  remark- 
able happens.  Through  destructive 
interference,  light  waves  entering  the 
center  of  a  beam  made  up  of  optical 
vortices  cancel  each  other  out,  leaving 
a  dark  core  or  filament  at  the  heart  of  the  beam. 
Seen  from  head  on,  the  beam  appears  as  a  bright 
doughnut  of  light. 

Swartzlander  realized  that  these  hollow  light 
beams  might  do  some  interesting  and  potentially 
useful  things  when  directed  into  nonlinear  materi- 
als. He  sent  them  into  materials  that  defocus  laser 
beams — that  is,  materials  that  have  a  high  refrac- 
tive index  when  exposed  to  low-intensity  light,  but 
that  develop  a  low  refractive  index  when  exposed  to 
high-intensity  light. 

"That  means,"  he  says,  "that  in  these  materials, 
the  refractive  index  is  actually  higher  inside  the  dark 
core  of  the  beam,  where  there  is,  for  all  intents  and 
purposes,  no  light,  than  in  the  bright,  outer  part  of 
the  beam.  The  refractive  index  is  what  guides  light. 
If  you  have  a  region  of  high  refractive  index  sur- 
rounded by  a  region  of  low  refractive  index,  what 
you  have,  in  essence,  is  a  waveguide.  This  is  how 
optical  fibers  work." 

What  Swartzlander  had  discovered  was  a  way  of 
inducing  an  optical  fiber  inside  an  otherwise  uni- 
form material.  Experimentally  and  using  computer 
simulations,  he  demonstrated  that  the  dark  core  of 
an  optical  vortex  shrinks  to  a  constant,  unchanging 
diameter  when  it  passes  through  a  defocusing  mate- 
rial. The  opposing  effects  of  refraction  in  the  core 
and  diffraction  in  the  light  areas  result  in  a  stable 
vortex  that  is  highly  resistant  to  change.  It  is,  in  fact, 
a  soliton. 

Swartzlander's  first  report  on  the  optical  vortex 
soliton  appeared  in  the  journal  Physical  Review 
Letters  in  1992  and  immediately  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  physicists  around  the  world.  In  the  article,  he 
reported  that  in  experiments  at  the  Naval  Research 
Laboratory,  he  had  been  able  to  introduce  a  laser 


-1000    -750     -300     -SO     ,0  ,     20 

An  image  of  an  actual 
optical  vortex  soliton. 
Twisted  into  a  spiral 
shape  and  passed 
through  a  nonlinear 
material,  a  light  beam 
forms  a  narrow  dark 
region  (the  dip  in  the 
intensity  profile  graph) 
that  behaves  like  an 
optical  fiber.  These  sta- 
ble fibers  can  be  used  to 
guide  other  light  beams. 


WPI  Journal 


19 


The  Light  Fantastic  (Continued  from  previous  page) 


Above,  Swartzlander  with 
graduate  student  Xiaoming 
Zhang.  Below,  under  the 
right  conditions,  an  optical 
vortex  (A)  can  become 
unstable  and  generate  tur- 
bulence (B-D).  Swartzlander 
says  optical  turbulence  may 
produce  potentially  useful 
changes  in  materials. 


(A) 


(B) 


(C) 


beam  into  the  dark  core  of  an  optical  vortex  soliton 
and  guide  it  through  a  nonlinear  material.  This  abil- 
ity to  control  light  with  light  may  open  the  door  to 
some  important  applications. 

One  of  the  most  tantalizing  is  called  an  optical 
interconnection.  Now  in  development  are  new  gen- 
erations of  massively  parallel  computers  that  will  use 
thousands — and  potentially  mil- 
lions— of  individual  processors  to 
solve  complex  problems  quicklv  by 
dividing  them  into  pieces  and  assign- 
ing the  pieces  to  separate  processors 
that  work  in  tandem. 

"The  interconnections  between 
these  processors  are  potential  bottle- 
necks," Swartzlander  says.  "You're 
talking  about  connecting  planes  of 
information  with  millions  of  different 
data  channels.  If  you  were  to  do  that 
electronically,  you'd  get  cross  talk  as 
the  electric  fields  of  all  of  those  cir- 
cuits interfered  with  each  other.  It's  very  hard  to  fil- 
ter out  that  much  cross  talk." 

Replacing  the  wires  with  optical  fibers  can  elim- 
inate the  cross  talk,  Swartzlander  says,  though  run- 
ning optical  fibers  between  thousands  of  processors 
also  represents  a  major  challenge.  But  if  one  uses 
optical  vortex  solitons,  the  light  will  make  its  own 
path  from  one  processor  to  another.  In  fact,  by  talk- 
ing advantage  of  the  unique  properties  of  vortices,  it 
may  be  possible  to  continually  reroute  data  through 
a  nonlinear  "bus,"  making  and  breaking  connections 
between  processors  as  needed. 

"When  you  have  two  vortices  in  water,  they 
tend  to  spiral  around  one  another,"  Swartzlander 
says.  "They  actuallv  produce  a  force  on  each  other 
that  can  change  their  orientation  in  space.  We  want 
to  see  if  we  can  do  the  same  thing 
with  two  optical  vortices.  If  we  can 
get  them  to  interact  with  each  other, 
we  may  be  able  to  start  playing  some 
games,  creating  optical  fibers  that  go 
where  we  want  them  to  go. 

"You  would  start  with  a  block  of 
nonlinear  material.  You  would  then 
send  two  intensity  profiles  into  one 
end,  where  they  would  create  inter- 
acting dark  channels.  If  you  could 
control  the  inputs,  it  should  be  possi- 
ble to  make  the  light  come  out  where 
you  want  it  to.  Optical  vortices  might 
also  be  employed  in  optical  logic. 
With  vortices,  you  have  two  states — 
a  vortex  by  itself  that  stays  put,  and 
two  vortices  that  spiral  around  one 
another.  That's  a  binary  system,  and  binary  systems 
are  what  make  digital  computers  possible." 

The  tantalizing  prospects  for  optical  intercon- 
nections and  optical  logic  point  the  way  to  a  brave 
new  world  where  photons  may  one  day  replace 
electrons  in  all  sorts  of  computer  and  communica- 


tions applications.  But  to  make  this  photonic  world 
a  reality,  it  may  be  necessary  to  create  an  optical 
equivalent  of  the  semiconductor,  which  is  the  foun- 
dation for  modern  computer  technology. 

In  his  experiments  with  dark  solitons,  Swartz- 
lander may  have  found  the  basis  for  such  an  optical 
semiconductor.  "When  we  think  of  dark  solitons, 
we  tend  to  think  in  terms  of  a  small  number  of 
them,"  he  says.  "But  by  using  mirrors  and  reflective 
boundary  conditions  in  the  laboratory,  we  can  cre- 
ate what  is  essentially  an  infinite  number  of  solitons. 
The  result  is  very  much  like  a  semiconductor.  With 
a  semiconductor,  you  have  a  periodic  array  of 
atoms;  here  we  have  a  periodic  array  of  solitons. 

"In  semiconductors,  you  have  bands  and  gaps — 
very  broad  energy  levels  separated  by  gaps  in  the 
energy  spectrum.  This  notion  of  band  gaps  is  what 
revolutionized  the  semiconductor  industry  and 
made  possible  computer  chips.  Now  we  can  do 
something  similar  in  optics  using  these  dark  soli- 
tons. That  may  open  up  opportunities  to  do  what  is 
being  called  photonic  band-gap  engineering." 

While  much  of  the  excitement  over  solitons  has 
focused  on  their  potential  to  revolutionize  comput- 
ing and  telecommunications,  there  is  another  fron- 
tier that  also  intrigues  Swartzlander.  Using  optical 
vortices,  he  says,  it  may  be  possible  to  fine-tune  the 
properties  of  materials.  "This  is  already  being  done 
experimentally,  but  it  hasn't  yet  become  a  real  sys- 
tems approach,"  he  says.  "We  know  that  turbulence 
changes  the  state  of  any  system  where  it  exists — it's 
sort  of  a  fourth  or  fifth  state  of  nature.  If  you  can 
produce  optical  turbulence  in  a  material,  you  should 
be  able  to  generate  some  interesting  and  potentially 
useful  new  properties." 

Optical  interconnections.  Photonic  semi- 
conductors. Optically  engineered  mate- 
rials. Swartzlander  says  applications  like 
these  may  well  result  from  his  research,  but  they  are 
not  the  main  reason  he  spends  late  nights  in  his  lab. 
"I'm  not  trying  to  make  a  device,"  he  says.  "So 
whether  or  not  something  like  an  optical  intercon- 
nect works  is  not  paramount.  What  is  important  is 
that  we  explore  the  frontiers  for  beauty  in  physics. 
The  concept  of  vorticity,  for  example,  has  funda- 
mental significance  in  many  areas  of  physics." 

In  fact,  vortices  are  at  the  center  of  many  con- 
temporary areas  of  the  physical  sciences,  including 
some  of  the  "grand  challenges"  of  modern  science — 
long-range  weather  forecasting,  wind  shear  predic- 
tion, turbulence  and  chaos,  and  superconductivity, 
for  example.  "Superconductors  exclude  the  magnetic 
field  and  remain  in  a  superconducting  state  by  gener- 
ating vortices,"  he  says.  "There  are  also  superfluids 
that  tend  to  go  up  the  sides  of  a  glass  and  try  to 
escape.  They  produce  something  called  quantum 
vortices,  which  are  similar  to  the  vortices  we're  look- 
ing at.  Vortices  are  also  precursors  to  turbulence." 

To  study  the  relationship  between  vortices  and 
phenomena  like  turbulence  and  superconductivity, 


20 


Spring  1995 


Good  VIBRATIONS  (Continued  from  page  I '/ 


scientists  need  good  models.  Water  waves  are  a 
common  system  studied,  hut  Swartzlander  says 
optical  vortices  may  provide  a  better  model.  "Light 
waves  are  the  same  as  any  other  type  of  wave,"  he 
says.  "But  since  optical  systems  are  very  easy  to  con- 
trol and  observe,  they  should  serve  as  ideal  plat- 
forms for  experiments  involving  vortices." 

In  recent  work,  Swartzlander  and  his  longtime 
collaborator,  Chin  Thi  Law  at  the  University  of 
Wisconsin,  have  discovered  that  die  classical  physics 
of  vortices  may  link  two  of  his  most  significant  dis- 
coveries— dark  soliton  stripes  and  optical  vortices. 
"We've  found  in  observations  of  dark  soliton  stripes 
that  there  is  an  instability  that  can  be  excited  in 
them,"  he  says.  "When  diat  happens,  the  dark  soli- 
tons  break  up  into  vortices.  So  there  appears  to  be  a 
profound  relationship  between  these  two  phenome- 
na. People  who  work  in  hydrodynamics  would  espe- 
cially appreciate  this,  because  it  is  similar  to  some- 
thing they  call  a  flow  boundary. 

"When  you  have  two  layers  of  moving  water 
passing  one  another,  the  interface  will  remain  stable 
unless  there  is  a  small  perturbation.  Then  the  inter- 
face starts  to  form  rolls  and  breaks  up  into  vortices. 
In  hydrodynamics  this  phenomenon  was  observed 
as  far  back  as  the  19th  century.  Now  in  optics,  we're 
just  beginning  to  see  it.  That's  very  enjoyable." 

With  the  Young  Investigator  Award  from 
the  NSF,  Swartzlander,  who  joined  the 
WPI  faculty  in  1993,  says  he  will  be 
able  to  expand  his  laboratory  and  delve  further  into 
uncharted  domains  of  physics.  With  NSF  funds  and 
corporate  matching  gifts  and  discounts,  he  has 
already  added  a  25-watt  argon  laser  and  a  new  opti- 
cal table  to  his  store  of  equipment,  and  a  supermini- 
computer for  crunching  numbers  may  be  added 
soon.  (Currently,  Swartzlander  runs  the  complex 
computer  models  he  uses  to  enhance  and  guide  his 
laboratory  work  on  computers  at  the  Lmiversity  of 
Wisconsin,  working  in  collaboration  with  Law.) 

He  also  hopes  to  bring  more  students  in  as  part- 
ners in  his  research.  Currently,  two  Ph.D.  candi- 
dates, a  master's  candidate  and  an  undergraduate 
smdent  work  in  his  lab.  Swartzlander  has  also 
worked  with  four  undergraduates  completing  Major 
Qualifying  Projects;  two  have  been  co-authors  on 
published  papers  and  one,  Dennis  Drugan,  has  pre- 
sented a  paper  at  a  major  international  meeting. 
But  most  of  all,  the  NSF  award  will  enable 
Swartzlander  to  spend  more  time  doing  what  he 
enjoys  most — watching  the  dazzling  dances  light 
can  perform.  "Beauty7  is  truly  a  guide  in  this  work," 
he  says.  "There  are  many  things  in  nature  that  are 
difficult  to  understand  because  they  are  so  complex. 
But  with  optics,  the  way  tilings  look  provides  a  clue 
to  what  is  going  on.  You  get  a  gut  feeling  about 
whether  something  is  worth  looking  into.  You  see 
something  with  a  certain  symmetry  and  you  say, 
"Aha!  That  must  be  something  fundamental.  It's 
like  nature  trying  to  speak  to  you." 


diey  scan  through  graphical  displays  of  the  wing 
sounds  and  electronically  snip  and  save  the  best 
ones.  These  are  then  looped  into  long  segments  and 
processed  until  the)  exactly  match  the  pattern  and 
modulations  of  a  female  mosquito  ready  to  mate. 

^^^J  lie  mosquito  project  is  but  the  latest 
m    episode  in  the  long  and  rich  history  of 
Jg      acoustics  research  and  education  at  WPI, 
a  history  that  dates  back  more  than  half  a  centurj . 
Over  those  five  decades,  three  faculty  members 


have  directed  an  educational  program  that  has  pre- 
pared hundreds  of  WPI  graduates  for  careers  in  the 
fields  of  audio  engineering  and  acoustics.  They've 
also  conducted  a  wide-ranging  research  program 
that  has  touched  on  topics  as  diverse  as  hearing  pro- 
tection, sound  attenuation  in  spacecraft,  and  the 
sound  quality  of  major  concert  halls.  Today,  under 
the  direction  of  Richard  Campbell,  the  program  is 
poised  to  further  expand  its  scope  and  capabilities  as 
it  makes  plans  for  a  new  undergraduate  project  lab- 
oratory and  a  new  global  project  center,  both  dedi- 
cated to  audio  and  acoustical  engineering. 

Campbell  traces  the  origin  of  the  program  to 
Hobart  Newell  '18,  who  taught  electrical  engineer- 
ing at  WPI  from  192 1  to  1965.  Before  coming  to 
WPI  he  helped  set  up  radio  station  KDKA  in 
Pittsburgh,  one  of  the  nation's  first  commercial 
broadcasters.  He  also  worked  with  Edwin  Howard 
Armstrong,  the  inventor  of  frequency  modulation, 
and  helped  Armstrong  build  the  first  FM  transmit- 
ter in  New  Jersey.  In  Worcester,  Newell  helped  set 
up  the  world's  second  FM  transmitter. 

The  clarity  of  the  FM  signal  demanded  the 
development  of  high-quality  loudspeakers,  some- 
thing that  intrigued  Newell.  He  and  a  colleague 
formed  a  company  to  manufacture  a  high-fidelity 
speaker.  "That  was  really  die  beginning  of  WPI's 
involvement  with  audio,"  Campbell  says.  To  further 
his  research,  Newell  set  up  an  audio  lab  in  the  base- 
ment of  Atwater  Kent  Laboratories  (named  for 


In  the  WPI  Acoustics 
Lab,  William  Michalson, 
left,  and  entomologist 
Sam  Martin  record  the 
sound  of  a  mosquito  as 
it  buzzes  around  a  test 
chamber. 


WPI  Journal 


21 


GOOD  VIBRATIONS  (Continued  from  previous  page) 


A  subject  equipped  for 
a  test  of  Wadsworth's 
hearing  protectors. 
The  head  gear  kept 
the  head  properly 
aligned  and  a  "bone 
driver"  securely 
pressed  against  the 
subject's  forehead. 


another  WPI  alumnus  and  radio  pioneer)  where  he 
built  an  anechoic  chamber,  a  room  where  all  sounds 
are  absorbed  by  special  material  on  the  walls,  ceiling 
and  floor. 

The  program  that  Newell  started  flourished 
under  its  second  director,  William  Wadsworth  '40, 
a  student  of  Newell's  who  earned  his  bachelor's  and 
master's  degrees  in  electrical  engineering  at  WPI. 
Growing  up  in  a  wealthy  family,  "Waddy,"  as  he 
was  known  to  students  and  colleagues  alike,  was 
immersed  in  classical  music  as  a  child  and  developed 
a  passion  for  fine  music  and  music  reproduction. 
Like  Newell,  he  was  drawn  to  loudspeakers;  he 
developed  a  unique  graphical  approach  to  solving 
electrical  problems,  largely  to  tackle  the  complex 
feedback  problems  associated  with  speaker  design. 

Throughout  his  43  years  as  an  instructor, 
Wadsworth  taught  students  to  solve  problems 
through  the  use  of  his  "Waddygrams,"  even  after 
sophisticated  electronic  calculators  made  most 
graphical  analysis  systems  historical  curiosities. 
"Waddy  believed  that  an  engineer  should  be  able  to 
solve  a  problem  on  a  mountaintop  with  pencil, 
paper  and  a  straightedge,"  Campbell  says. 

Mm^  the  early  1950s,  Newell  moved  from  his 
M  spacious  house  on  West  Street  and  donated 
t^     it  to  the  Institute.  It  promptly  became  the 
new  Acoustics  Laboratory.  The  lab  returned  briefly 
to  Atwater  Kent  in  1964,  when  the  Newell  House 
was  razed  to  make  way  for  Goddard  Hall,  and  then 
found  a  new  home  in  the  three-story  unit  opera- 
tions lab  in  Salisbury 
Laboratories,  left  vacant 
when  the  Chemical 
Engineering  Department 
moved  into  Goddard. 

During  those  years  the 
lab  acquired  a  Mauler 
Reverberant  Chamber  from 
Raytheon  Co.,  which  had 
used  the  steel-walled  room 
and  its  three  huge  speakers 
to  rattle  air-to-air  missiles 
with  simulated  jet  engine 
noise.  The  growing  space 
demands  of  the  biology  and 
biomedical  engineering  pro- 
grams forced  a  final  move  for  the  Acoustics  Lab  in 
the  mid-1970s,  this  time  to  the  Higgins  House 
garage. 

In  1952  the  Acoustics  Lab  received  a  challenge 
that  would  occupy  Wadsworth  and  a  small  phalanx 
of  undergraduates  and  graduate  students  for  the 
good  part  of  a  decade.  The  gauntlet  was  thrown 
down  by  the  David  Clark  Co.  in  Worcester,  famous 
then  for  the  anti-G  suits  it  was  making  for  military 
jet  pilots  (the  company  would  go  on  to  make  pres- 
sure suits  for  every  manned  U.S.  space  endeavor). 
David  Clark  had  been  asked  by  die  U.S.  Air  Force 
and  Navy  to  find  a  way  to  protect  the  hearing  of  air- 


men and  sailors  who  work  near  the  ear-shattering 
roar  of  jet  engines.  Not  knowing  where  to  begin, 
the  company  came  to  Wadsworth. 

"It  was  impossible  to  work  on  the  flight  line  or 
on  a  carrier  deck  without  realizing  that  you  were  in 
a  very  unhealthy  place,"  Campbell  says.  "Any  med- 
ical man  or  woman  of  the  day,  or  any  commanding 
officer,  would  have  paid  anything  for  a  solution." 

Wadsworth  developed  a  basic  plan  for  a  muff- 
type  hearing  protector  that  consisted  of  a  hard 
fiberglass  shell  lined  with  plastic  foam,  sponge  and 
chamois.  He  also  designed  and  built  an  equivalent 
electric  circuit  that  substituted  resistors,  capacitors 
and  inductors  for  these  materials.  The  circuit 
enabled  the  design  to  be  fine-tuned  and  tested  with- 
out the  need  to  constantly  fabricate  new  earmuffs. 

A  number  of  protocols  were  devised  to  test  the 
prototype  protectors.  The  experimental  work  was 
funded  by  yearly  grants  of  $10,000  to  $12,000  from 
David  Clark.  Campbell,  who  joined  the  lab  as  a 
research  assistant  in  1957,  served  as  a  test  subject  in 
many  of  these  experiments. 

For  one  of  the  tests,  the  subject  sat  in  a  convert- 
ed dentist  chair  inside  the  anechoic  chamber  with 
his  head  resting  in  a  cradle  to  keep  it  pointed  in  the 
right  direction.  The  hearing  protectors  covered  his 
ears  and  a  "bone  driver"  (a  speaker  that  delivered 
sound  direcdy  to  the  bones  in  the  head)  was  fas- 
tened to  his  forehead.  Over  all  this  was  placed  a 
shell  resembling  an  ancient  diver's  helmet  (see 
photo,  page  12),  which  enabled  very  loud  sounds  to 
be  delivered  directly  to  the  subject's  head. 

The  test,  called  the  pure-tone  loudness-balance 
method,  enabled  Wadsworth  to  compensate  for  the 
occluded  ear  effect,  in  which  covering  or  partially 
blocking  die  ears  artificiallv  reduces  a  subject's  ability 
to  detect  die  direshold  level  for  a  sound.  It  worked 
well,  Campbell  says,  "but  what  a  price  we  paid!  You 
could  tell  an  Acoustics  Lab  staff  member  by  the  red 
impression  in  the  center  of  his  forehead  caused  by 
wearing  the  bone  driver  for  hours  on  end." 

Hundreds  of  hours  of  tests  and  dozens  of  modi- 
fications of  the  muff  design  produced  a  hearing  pro- 
tector that  suited  the  needs  of  the  Navy  and  Air 
Force.  It  also  earned  a  patent  for  David  Clark, 
although  it  would  take  six  years  for  the  application  to 
win  approval.  Says  Campbell,  "Waddy  made  the 
mistake  of  calling  die  device  an  ear  protector,  so  the 
Patent  Office  sent  it  to  the  wearing  apparel  division. 
Those  poor  patent  examiners!" 

On  the  decks  of  carriers,  the  hearing  protectors 
worked  so  well  they  made  it  impossible  for  sailors  to 
talk  to  each  other.  The  Navy  came  back  to 
Wadsworth  and  asked  him  to  come  up  with  a  way 
for  carrier  deck  personnel  to  communicate — one 
that  would  not  permit  any  radio  signals  to  travel 
beyond  the  confines  of  the  ship,  where  they  might 
be  intercepted  by  the  enemy. 

"The  transistor  had  been  invented  just  a  few 
years  earlier,  so  there  was  no  miniaturization — and 
nothing  ran  on  batteries,"  Campbell  says.  "We  built 


22 


Spring  1995 


small  FM  receivers  into  the  hearing  protectors, 
using  some  of  the  12  or  so  transistors  then  on  the 
market.  We  ran  thick  cables  around  the  perimeter 
of  the  deck  and  sent  about  100  amperes  of  audio 
through  them.  The  signals  reached  the  receivers 
through  inductive  coupling.  We  also  designed  a 
special  antenna  that  provided  good  reception  no 
matter  which  way  the  head  was  oriented." 

^r  Campbell  earned  his  undergraduate  degree  in 
m    ~  electrical  engineering  at  WPI  in  1958  and 
^^^    stayed  on  for  two  years  as  a  graduate  stu- 
dent, working  all  the  while  as  a  research  assistant  in 
the  Acoustics  Lab.  In  1960  he  decided  the  time  was 
right  to  launch  his  own  career  as  an  acoustical  con- 
sultant. For  more  than  a  decade  he  did  most  of  his 
consulting  for  the  David  Clark  Co.  and  the  WPI 
Acoustics  Lab.  Much  of  that  work  was  tied  to  the 
tremendous  demand  for  new  technology  generated 
by  the  rapidly  evolving  U.S.  space  program. 

Campbell's  introduction  to  aerospace  research 
came  while  he  was  still  a  graduate  student.  In  the 
late  1950s  NASA  began  flying  the  X-15,  the  sleek, 
black  rocketplane  built  to  test  the  performance  of 
aircraft  at  extremely  high  speeds  and  altitudes. 
David  Clark  built  the  pressure  suits  for  the  X-15 
pilots,  including  the  suit  communications  systems. 
The  company  asked  Campbell  and  Wadsworth  to 
improve  the  performance  of  the  pilot's  microphone. 

During  the  project,  Wadsworth  was  offered  the 
chance  to  measure  the  noise  generated  by  the  X- 
15's  powerful  liquid-fueled  engine.  "He  brought  the 
best  experimental  hearing  protectors  we  had," 
Campbell  says,  "including  a  supra-aural  model 
made  from  glass  jelly  jars  (glass  is  the  perfect  mater- 
ial for  a  hearing  protector  shell)." 

Wadsworth  stood  about  150  feet  from  the  rock- 
et during  a  test  firing.  "He  nearly  collapsed  from 
the  enormous  sound  pressure  on  his  body,  his  mea- 
suring instruments  failed,  and  he  turned  and  ran 
away  from  the  sound,"  Campbell  says.  "Though 
shaken,  he  was  quite  pleased  with  the  performance 
of  his  experimental  design." 

Campbell,  as  a  consultant  to  David  Clark,  went 
on  to  design  the  electronics  and  communications 
systems  tor  the  Gemini  space  suit.  Because  of  the 
exceedingly  high  noise  produced  by  the  Titan  rock- 
et that  would  lift  the  Gemini  spacecraft  into  orbit, 
NASA  was  concerned  that  noise  inside  the  capsule 
would  prevent  the  two  astronauts  from  hearing 
voice  communications  during  launch. 

David  Clark  and  the  WPI  Acoustics  Lab  agreed 
to  measure  the  ability  of  the  Gemini  suit  to  attenu- 
ate sound.  The  measurements  would  enable  the 
researchers  to  predict  the  ability  of  the  astronauts  to 
hear  and  be  heard.  "I  worked  16-hour  days  for  a 
week  to  rebuild  the  anechoic  chamber  in  Atwater 
Kent,  replacing  the  sound-absorbing  material, 
which  was  falling  apart,  upgrading  the  lighting,  and 
preparing  the  room  for  all  of  the  wires  and  tubes  we 
would  have  to  run  in  to  support  the  suit. 


"It  looked  like  Launch  Control  just  outside  the 
sound  room  door,  as  we  juggled  gas  valves,  signal 
settings,  ventilation  pipes  and  what  all.  Waddy  him- 
self insisted  on  being  one  of  the  subjects.  In  the  end 
we  got  really  good  data  and  showed  the  gang  in 
Houston  that  if  their  predictions  about  sound  pres- 
sure in  the  cabin  were  correct,  there  would  be 
acceptable  communication — and  there  was." 

By  1963,  when  early  design  work  for  the  Apollo 
spacecraft  began,  Campbell  was  spending  most  of 
his  time  working  for  David  Clark.  He  did  much  of 
the  design  work  for  the  electrical  systems  in  the 
sophisticated  new  flight  suit  Clark  designed  for  the 
Apollo  astronauts.  Another  firm  was  designing  die 
communications  gear  for  the  "Snoopy  hat"  the 
astronauts  would  wear  in  the  capsule,  and  North 
American  Aviation  was  doing  the  communications 
system  for  the  command  module,  itself. 

"There  were  some  problems  with  this  equip- 
ment," Campbell  says.  "After  I  made  a  few  visits 
to  North  American's  Downey,  Calif.,  plant,  where 
the  command  module  was  being  assembled,  I 
approached  NASA  and  told  them  the  equipment 
being  put  into  the  spacecraft  wasn't  going  to  work. 
They  were  in  for  some  nasty  surprises." 

David  Clark  had  already  developed  a  successful 
communications  system  for  pressure  suits  used  in 
the  huge  chambers  where  the  Apollo  spacecraft  was 
tested  in  a  simulated  space  environment.  "As  a 
result  of  that  success,  we  got  the  contract  to  do  the 
communications  for  the  Block  1  spacecraft,  which 
was  intended  solely  for  Earth  orbital  test  flights," 
Campbell  says. 

"There  were  a  lot  of  things  in  that  capsule  that 
made  my  job  difficult,  including  a  new  computer  that 
produced  a  lot  of  electrical  noise,  and  it  took  a  great 
deal  of  work  to  get  everything  to  work  right.  I 
remember  delivering  some  newly  potted  headsets  to 
Downey  one  weekend  and  then  spending  half  a  day 
in  the  spacecraft  hooking  up  wires  and  trying  to  trace 
down  a  noise.  That  was  AS  204,  the  one  that  burned 
three  months  later." 

The  fire  in  Apollo  1 ,  during  a  launch  rehearsal 
in  1967,  an  accident  that  killed  astronauts  Virgil 
"Gus"  Grissom,  Edward  White  and  Roger  Chaffee, 
was  devastating  to  everyone  who  had  worked  on 
Apollo,  Campbell  says.  Later,  as  work  on  the  design 
of  the  Apollo  hardware  came  to  a  close  and  the  pro- 
gram moved  forward  to  send  27  men  to  the  moon 
and  back,  Campbell  says  "a  period  of  postpartum 
depression"  set  in  for  those  who  had  been  heavily 
involved  with  the  design  work.  "There's  only  one 
project  like  that  in  a  lifetime,"  he  says. 

Campbell,  sometimes  in  collaboration  with  the 
WPI  Acoustics  Lab,  continued  to  design  electronics 
for  space  projects.  He  also  designed  large  and  com- 
plicated intercom  systems  for  manufacturing  plants 
where  huge  airplanes  like  the  C5  and  the  Bl 
Bomber  were  built,  as  well  as  communications  sys- 
tems for  the  National  Football  League.  For  the 
Navy's  Sealab  project,  he  designed  the  first  carbon 


A  Titan  rocket  lifts  a 
Gemini  spacecraft  off  the 
launch  pad.  Tests  by  the 
Acoustics  Lab  proved  that 
the  noise  from  the  rocket 
would  not  prevent  astro- 
nauts from  hearing  voice 
communications. 


WPI  Journal 


23 


GOOD  VIBRATIONS  (Continued  from  previous  page) 


"The  best  acoustical 
instruments  in 
existence  are  the 
human  ears  and  the 
human  brain.  Ym 
certain  that  100  years 
from  now,  people  will 
be  saying  exactly  the 
same  thing. " 


dioxide  scrubber  capable  of  diving  to  1,200  feet. 
And  he  had  time  to  design  "the  world's  most  popu- 
lar aviation  noise-attenuating  headset,  still  manufac- 
tured by  David  Clark,"  he  says. 

"The  headset  is  the  most  instantly  recognizable 
piece  of  audio  equipment  in  history,"  Campbell 
says,  "as  it  appears  in  nearly  every  motion  picture 
and  television  show  where  a  helicopter  is  involved. 
Occasionally  I  will  hear  the  clean  output  of  my  old 
noise-cancelling  boom  microphone  over  the  broad- 
cast channel  with  great  satisfaction." 

m  mn  1972  Campbell  bought  some  property  in 

m   Woods  Hole,  Mass.,  and  began  a  second 
i^     career  as  a  boat  yard  owner.  He  continued 
his  interest  in  audio  electronics  and  acoustics, 
though,  designing  intercom  systems  for  television 
studios  and  power  plants  (he  also  designed  the  com- 
munications system  that  CBS  Television  News  used 
in  its  broadcasts  from  the  floor  of  die  1976  presi- 
dential conventions). 

A  few  years  later  he  wrote  a  white  paper  for  the 
Audio  Engineering  Society  of  America  on  the  need 
for  international  standardization  in  audio  equip- 
ment and  testing  procedures.  As  a  result,  the  AES 
formed  a  standards  committee,  on  which  Campbell 
served.  "The  AES  Standards  Committee  now  cov- 
ers virtually  everything  in  audio  engineering,"  he 
says.  Campbell's  white  paper  earned  him  a  fellow- 
ship in  die  AES.  He  is  also  a  fellow  of  the  Found- 
ation Les  Treilles  in  France  and  has  twice  received 
the  Citation  of  Outstanding  Service  from  the  Radio 
Technical  Commission. 

Throughout  this  period,  he  remained  in  close 
touch  with  the  WPI  Acoustics  Lab,  and  from  1 964 
to  1974  he  was  an  invited  lecturer  in  acoustics  and 
audio  engineering  at  WPI.  By  1981,  Waddy 
Wadsworth  was  ready  to  retire.  "He  said  to  me, 
'There's  nobody  to  teach  acoustics.  Why  don't  you 
do  it,"  Campbell  says.  "I  thought  it  was  a  neat  idea. 
Waddy  and  I  taught  the  course  together  in  1981, 
and  I've  been  teaching  it  ever  since." 

Wadsworth  was  still  teaching  students  his 
"Waddygrams"  and  he  hadn't  changed  the  content 
of  the  course  much  over  the  vears,  even  as  the 
switch  to  seven-week  terms  in  the  early  1970s 
changed  the  demands  on  classroom  instructors  at 
WPI,  Campbell  recalls.  "The  students  were  coming 
out  of  class  with  their  eyes  glazed  over,"  he  says. 

Campbell  set  to  work  to  revamp  the  course, 
building  a  detailed  study  of  acoustical  principals  and 
audio  electronics  around  the  premise  of  creating  a 
public  address  system  for  a  specific  hall.  "We  have  a 
few  components — a  human,  a  microphone,  a  loud- 
speaker, an  audience  and  an  auditorium — and  we 
analyze  every  bit  of  that  to  widiin  a  gnat's  eye- 
brow," he  says.  "In  the  process,  the  students  come 
to  learn  a  lot  about  engineering." 

Students  delve  into  a  broad  range  of  topics,  from 
how  speech  works,  to  employing  band-pass  filters,  to 
die  principles  of  digital  signal  processing,  to  architec- 


tural acoustics,  to  transducers  and  loudspeakers. 
Along  the  way  they  measure  the  acoustics  of  a  large 
church,  learn  about  sound  from  the  point  of  view  of 
a  musical  performer,  and  visit  Worcester's  Mech- 
anics Hall,  including  its  state-of-the-art  digital 
recording  studio. 

"Students  take  this  course  because  they  have  an 
abiding  interest  in  audio,"  Campbell  says.  "Most  of 
them  play  music.  They  all  have  hi-fi  equipment. 
Many  have  an  interest  in  pursuing  this  kind  of  work 
as  a  career."  Serious-minded  juniors  and  seniors 
may  also  take  an  extensive,  two-term  course  in  elec- 
troacoustics  offered  by  the  Bose  Institute,  an  educa- 
tional effort  of  Bose  Corp.,  a  manufacturer  of  loud- 
speakers and  other  audio  equipment.  For  the  past 
three  years,  Bose  has  opened  its  course  to  WPI  stu- 
dents at  no  charge  and  has  even  provided  vans  to 
transport  the  students  to  the  company's  Framing- 
ham,  Mass.,  headquarters. 

Undergraduates  with  an  interest  in  audio  also 
frequently  choose  Major  Qualifying  Projects  in 
acoustics.  Campbell  and  other  professors  in  the 
Electrical  and  Computer  Engineering  Department 
serve  as  advisors  to  these  projects,  which  in  recent 
years  have  included  the  design  of  lightweight  loud- 
speakers for  outdoor  concerts,  an  acoustical  model 
of  WPI's  Alden  Memorial,  and  a  portable  16-bit 
audio  sampler  for  musicians.  The  advisor  for  the 
audio  sampler  group  was  William  Michalson,  whose 
research  interests  include  satellite  navigation  using 
the  Global  Positioning  System,  real-time  embedded 
computer  architecture,  and  system  simulation  and 
modeling.  In  recent  years  Michalson  has  also 
become  active  in  the  work  of  the  acoustics  program. 

Students  completing  such  projects  have  access 
to  the  facilities  of  the  Acoustics  Lab,  as  well  as  to  a 
high-end  PC  in  Atwater  Kent  equipped  with  digital 
sound  editing  and  acoustical  engineering  software. 
But  this  equipment  is  not  sufficient  to  meet  the 
needs  of  interested  students,  Campbell  says.  With 
Michalson  and  Frederick  W.  Bianchi,  associate  pro- 
fessor of  music  and  director  of  WPI's  computer 
music  program,  he  would  like  to  create  a  laboratory 
dedicated  to  acoustics  and  audio  projects.  To  that 
end  they  have  laid  the  groundwork  for  LAM!,  the 
Laboratory  for  Acoustics,  Music  and  Multimedia. 

The  new  lab  will  have  at  least  six  IBM-compati- 
ble PCs  and  at  least  one  high-end  Macintosh  com- 
puter. There  will  also  be  keyboards,  equipment  to 
hook  electronic  musical  instruments  to  computers, 
loudspeakers,  amplifiers,  portable  digital  tape 
recorders,  and  networking  hardware.  A  $25,000 
bequest  from  Professor  Wadsworth,  who  died  in 
1993,  was  the  first  of  several  major  gifts  needed  to 
make  the  lab  a  reality. 

Developing  in  parallel  with  the  new  laboratory 
is  an  international  project  center  dedicated  primari- 
ly to  student  projects  in  musical  acoustics.  Campbell 
says  he  and  others  at  WPI  are  currently  working 
with  officials  at  the  Institut  de  Recherche  et 
Coordination  Acoustique/Musique  (IRCAM),  part 


24 


Spring  1995 


of  the  Pompidou  Center  in  Paris,  which  Campbell 
calls  the  "center  of  gravity  of  research  in  music  and 
acoustics,"  to  establish  a  program  that  will  enable 
students  to  spend  seven  weeks  at  a  stretch  conduct- 
ing MQPs  and  Interactive  Qualifying  Projects  with 
IRCAM  faculty  members. 

One  of  the  primary  areas  of  research  at  IRCAM 
is  concert  hall  acoustics — in  particular,  how  the 
acoustics  of  concert  halls  affects  die  ability  of  musi- 
cians to  perform,  a  subject  Campbell  says  has  long 
been  neglected  by  acousticians  and  architects  alike. 
"You  can't  make  good  music  in  a  bad  space — it's 
just  not  possible,"  he  says.  To  understand  what 
audiences  and  performers  hear  during  a  concert  it  is 
necessary  to  make  detailed  acoustical  studies  of  per- 
forming spaces. 

Using  binaural  microphones  that  simulate  the 
human  ears  and  specially  designed  speaker  arrays, 
acousticians  send  bursts  of  sound  into  a  hall  and 
then  record  the  reverberating  sound  at  several 
points  around  the  auditorium.  In  a  well-designed 
hall,  the  reverberations  die  out  smoothly  in  about 
two  seconds.  In  addition,  there  are  no  architectural 
features  that  cause  sound  to  reflect  unpredictably  or 
to  get  lost. 

To  accurately  chart  the  acoustics  of  a  hall,  one 
must  do  measurements  while  it  is  empty  and  while  it 
is  full  of  people,  for  the  presence  of  an  audience 
gready  affects  die  reverberation  decay  rate — general- 
ly for  the  better.  Over  the  years  such  measurements 
have  been  made  in  a  number  ot  major  concert  halls, 
but  Campbell  says  a  lack  ot  uniformity  in  the  mea- 
surement techniques  and  equipment  used  has  made 
analyzing  the  data  and  comparing  halls  difficult. 

That  lack  of  uniformity  was  the  motivation  for 
the  creation  in  1990  of  the  Concert  Hall  Research 
Group,  founded  by  Leo  Beranek  of  the  renowned 
acoustical  consulting  firm  Bolt  Beranek  & 
Newman.  With  funding  from  the  Acoustical 
Society  of  America  and  several  private  organizations 
and  corporations,  the  group  has  begun  to  compile  a 
database  of  concert  hall  measurements.  So  tar,  sev- 
eral halls  in  Europe  and  1 1  auditoriums  in  the  U.S. 
and  Canada  have  been  recorded. 

Campbell,  a  contributor  to  the  group,  maintains 
a  public  collection  of  acoustical  data  gathered  by  the 
Concert  Hall  Research  Group  on  the  Internet 
(ftp://ee.wpi.edu/acoustics/)  and  plans  to  make  the 
huge  store  of  data  available  on  a  CD  ROAI  disk  in 
the  future.  He  also  supervised  the  sampling  done  in 
Worcester's  Mechanics  Hall  in  1993  and  the 
Portland  (Maine)  City  Hall  Auditorium  in  1994. 
This  and  other  data  is  already  playing  an  important 
role  in  one  of  the  most  active  and  critically  impor- 
tant areas  of  modern  acoustics,  the  computer  mod- 
eling ot  auditorium  acoustics. 

Good  computer  models  should  enable  acousti- 
cians to  predict  the  acoustical  quality  of  a  hall 
before  it  is  constructed,  preventing  costly  mistakes, 
such  as  the  much  publicized  first  version  of 
Philharmonic  Hall  (later  renamed  Avery  Fisher 


Hall)  in  New  York  City.  The  original  hall's  acousti- 
cal deadness  was  lambasted  b\  critics,  audiences  and 
musicians  when  it  opened  in  1%2.  Ultimately,  the 
hall  was  completely  rebuilt. 

The  best  existing  computer  models  are  still  no 
match  for  the  experience  and  judgement  of  the  best 
acoustical  engineers,  Campbell  says,  but  they  are 
getting  better  all  the  time.  I  laving  complete  and 
consistent  data  from  major  concert  halls  will  enable 
the  models  to  be  validated  and  improved. 
Currently,  Campbell  is  testing  a  model  of  the 


Portland  auditorium  devel- 
oped by  an  acoustical  consul- 
tant to  see  if  it  can  help 
explain  an  unusual  feature  of 
the  hall. 

"In  our  measurements 
we  found  a  seat  in  the  diird 
row  of  the  second  balcony 
that  has  a  big  anomaly,"  he- 
says.  "You  would  think  a  seat 
is  a  seat  is  a  seat,  but  this  seat 
is  different.  It  has  a  funnv 

reflection  coming  from  the  stage,  and  another  one 
coming  from  a  wall  on  the  right-hand  side.  We  can 
see  this  as  clear  as  a  bell  in  the  data,  but  does  the 
model  see  it?  So  far,  it  looks  pretty  good." 

What  is  interesting,  Campbell  says,  is  that  the 
area  around  the  anomalous  seat  is  where  everyone 
wants  to  sit.  "Whatever  the  anomaly  is,  people  like 
it,"  he  says.  "That  just  goes  to  show  you  that  the 
best  acoustical  instruments  in  existence  are  the 
human  ears  and  the  human  brain.  I'm  certain  that 
100  vears  from  now,  people  will  be  saying  exactlv 
the  same  thing. 

"There  is  so  much  to  human  perception,  and 
so  much  we  simply  don't  understand.  It's  not  just 
the  nuts  and  bolts  of  frequencies  and  reverberation 
times.  There  are  also  things  like  emotion  and  cre- 
ativity. That's  what  makes  this  field  so  much  fun." 


Top,  Campbell  explains 
the  acoustics  of  Trinity 
Lutheran  Church  in 
Worcester  to  students 
in  his  acoustics  course. 
Bottom,  Campbell  and 
Theodore  Woehnker  '95, 
in  the  balcony  of  the 
church,  examine  the 
speaker  array  used  to 
test  the  acoustics  of 
indoor  spaces. 


WPI  Journal 


25 


Editor's  note:  This  story  first  appeared  in  the  Jan.  22,  1995,  edition  of 
the  Worcester  Sunday  Telegram.  It  is  reprinted  here  by  permission  of 
the  Worcester  Telegram  and  Gazette  and  the  author. 


jjJhnuUiK- 


«%» 


Congen/to/  abnorma/it/es  left 

jason  Wening  '97  with  legs  amputated 

below  the  knee.  But  with  raw  talent 

and  equal  measures  of  courage  and 

determination,  he  has  become 

a  world-renowned  swimmer. 

By  John  Gearan 


26 


He  slips  out  of  his  artificial  legs  as  if  they  were  a  comfort- 
able pair  of  old  slippers,  resting  them  against  a  bench.  He 
slides  across  the  tile  floor  of  the  pool's  apron,  handpress- 
es  himself  onto  the  elevated  starting  blocks,  and  sets 
himself  square  on  his  knees.  The  race  has  not  yet  begun, 
but  Jason  Wening  '97  knows  he  is  already  well  behind. 

In  a  sport  measured  in  fractions  of  seconds,  Wening  will  hit  the 
water  at  the  feet  of  fellow  competitors  in  adjacent  lanes,  behind 
from  the  start  by  at  least  a  full  body  length.  On  his  knees  he  is  decid- 
edly shorter  than  his  competitors  and  unable  to  propel  himself  from 
the  blocks.  When  he  surfaces  he  will  be  trailing  them  by  about  10 
feet.  He  knows  that  at  every  turn  he  will  lose  another  half  a  body 
length  because  he  has  no  lower  legs  to  push  off  the  pool  wall  as 
other  swimmers  flip  and  explode  in  the  opposite  direction. 

He  knows  there  are  39  turns  in  his  specialty,  the  1,000-yard 
freestyle.  You  do  not  need  to  be  an  applied  mathematics  major — 
which  Wening  happens  to  be — to  figure  out  that  he  is  losing  1.5 
lengths  at  the  start  and  a  half-length  at  each  of  the  39  turns.  That 
means  Wening  must  make  up  21  body  lengths  (or  126  feet  for  a  six- 
footer)  just  to  get  even.  That  equals  42  yards,  almost  two  lengths  of 
a  regulation  25-yard  pool. 

Spring  1995 


What  is  far  easier  to  calculate  is  that  Wening — 4-foot-6  without 
his  artificial  legs — competes  against  his  peers  at  a  distinct  disadvan- 
tage. Nonetheless,  Wening  does  not  whine  about  uneven  playing 
fields  or  anything  else.  Instead  he  swims  hard  and  sometimes  wins. 
Without  lower  legs  with  which  to  make  a  final  kick  to  victory,  with  a 
deformed  left  hand,  structural  problems  in  his  hips  and  thighs,  and 
no  feet,  Wening  goes  all  out  against  all  odds. 

Among  other  handicapped  athletes,  Wening  is  a  world  record 
holder  and  gold  medal  winner.  In  the  fall  of  1994,  while  captain  of 
the  U.S.  Swim  Team,  he  brought  home  one  gold  and  two  bronze 
medals  from  the  World  Championships  for  Disabled  Swimmers  in 
Malta.  During  the  1992  World  Disabled 
Games  in  Barcelona,  Wening  set  three  world 
records  while  capturing  gold  medals  in  the 
400-meter  and  200-meter  individual  medley 
(breaststroke,  backstroke,  butterfly  and 
freestyle). 

Against  collegiate  competition,  Wening  is 
flat-out  good.  "Currently,  Jason  is  the  second 
best  on  the  team,"  says  WP1  swimming 
coach  Whit  Griffith.  "We  make  no  exceptions 
for  him.  He  received  a  varsity  letter  as  a 
freshman  and  earned  all  his  points.  He's  an 
outstanding  person  and  an  outstanding 
swimmer." 

Indeed,  Wening  is  WPl's  top  swimmer  in 
his  two  best  events:  the  500-yard  and  1, 000- 
yard  freestyles.  Everywhere  he  races  he 
draws  cheers  from  appreciative  crowds, 
whether  he's  winning  the  1,000  freestyle  in  a 
time  of  1 1:49.88  against  Wheaton  or  finishing 
second  against  Connecticut  College  in  a  time 
of  11:49.91.  Think  back  to  that  21-length 
handicap,  and  then  contemplate  the  three- 
hundredths  of  a  second  difference  between 
his  first-  and  second-place  finishes. 

What  would  Wening's  time  be  without 
the  birth  defects  that  have  left  him  "a  bilat- 
eral, below-knee  amputee,"  as  he  casually 
describes  himself?  Wening  doesn't  approach 
swimming  or  life  from  that  point  of  view.  He 
says  he  accepts  what  is. 

"Long  ago  I  made  that  mental  leap  on  my 
own,"  he  says.  "I  asked  myself  all  the  ques- 
tions: 'What's  going  on  here?  Why  am  I  dif- 
ferent? What  freak  of  nature  caused  me  not 
to  have  legs?'  1  really  did  fight  that  one  for  a 
long  time.  You  never  really  get  over  it 
because  it's  a  constant  learning  experience." 

Matter-of-factly  he  discloses  how  he  was 
born  deformed  for  no  known  medical  rea- 
son. "My  mother  wasn't  taking  any  drugs, 
prescription  or  otherwise,  during  her  preg- 
nancy. Doctors  have  no  explanation.  My  par- 
ents consulted  genetic  specialists  and 
nobody  has  any  idea  where  I  came  from,"  he 
explains  with  a  disarming  smile. 

In  1974  Wening  was  born  with  abnormal  or  missing  parts.  Lower 
leg  bones  were  not  there.  "On  my  legs  I  had  sort  of  two  toes  pointed 
down  and  no  ankle.  Since  I  couldn't  walk  on  them,  they  had  to 
amputate  (the  toes)  to  make  my  legs  accessible  to  prostheses." 

When  he  was  3  years  old,  surgeons  trimmed  his  legs  below  his 
knees.  What  Wening  remembers  about  the  operation  and  his  hospi- 


tal stay  is  indicative  of  his  positive  outlook  and  upbeat  attitude.  "I 
recall  my  grandmother  painting  Winnie  the  Pooh  on  one  of  my  leg 
casts,"  he  says. 

Physical  adjustments  soon  became  secondary  to  psychological 
challenges.  He  had  to  overcome  the  stares  of  other  youngsters  and 
that  nagging  inner  question  of  why.  His  parents,  retired  Lt.  Col.  John 
Wening  and  Charlotte  Wening  of  Jefferson  City,  Mo.,  were  support- 
ive, as  was  the  military  enclave  that  surrounded  him  much  of  the 
time.  His  parents  brought  him  for  swimming  lessons  in  the  third 
grade.  "But  they  couldn't  force-feed  me  the  answers.  I  had  to  draw 
my  own  conclusions,"  he  says. 


Wening,  seen  at  poolside  and  in  the  locker  room,  leaves  behind  his  pros- 
thetic legs  when  he  enters  the  water.  Despite  his  physical  disadvantage, 
he  is  WPl's  second  best  swimmer,  a  tribute  to  his  fierce  competitiveness. 


Entering  the  ninth  grade  in  O'Fallon,  111.,  Wening  had  come  to 
terms  with  his  disabilities.  "But  in  a  sense  you  really  never  do, 
because  something  can  always  pop  up."  In  a  military  family,  there 
would  be  relocations,  new  friends  to  make,  new  cliques  to  encoun- 
ter, more  explanations  to  give.  And  he  had  to  keep  pace  with  his 
younger  brothers,  Brian  and  Gregory. 


WPI  Journal 


27 


Between  the  ninth  and  10th  grades, 
swimming  became  a  passion  and  provided 
him  with  personal  goals.  He  had  competed 
against  his  friends  on  the  Seahawks  Swim 
Team  and  done  OK.  When  he  discovered 
competition  for  the  disabled,  Wening  real- 
ized that  he  was  not  so  slow  and  had  more 
talent  than  he  had  thought.  His  self-esteem 
and  confidence  blossomed. 

During  his  junior  and  senior  years,  he 
attended  Patch  American  High,  a  Department 
of  Defense  system  school  in  Stuttgart, 
Germany.  He  became  a  prize  student-athlete, 
winning  All-Europe  honors  for  his  swimming 
achievements.  He  chose  WPI  for  its  academic 
reputation  and  because  he  thought  he  could 
compete  at  the  Division  III  level. 

Though  he  starts  from  his  knees,  thus  far  he  has  finished  with 
his  head  high.  Though  he  knows  he  will  often  be  second  best  or 
lower,  he  has  not  become  discouraged — even  in  an  arduous  and 
demanding  sport  like  swimming.  "It's  not  demoralizing  to  lose, 
because  1  learned  a  long  time  ago  there  were  some  swimmers  I 
would  never  catch,"  he  says.  "I  learned  to  swim  my  own  race.  As 
long  as  I'm  beating  my  own  time,  I'm  happy." 

This  is  the  philosophy  he  spreads  as  the  captain  of  the  U.S. 
Disabled  Swim  Team  and  when  he  hollers  encouragement  as 
coxswain  of  WPI's  women's  crew  team.  "I  tell  them  as  long  as  you  do 
your  best  and  lose,  you  can't  be  disappointed  with  yourself." 

He  is  remarkably  consistent  and  has  unusual  endurance.  "My  dis- 
abled team  coach  once  said  he  loves  to  watch  me  'go  fishing.'  He 
calls  it  fishing  because  when  I  leave  the  blocks,  I'm  behind  everyone 
and  oftentimes  I  just  reel  them  back  in.  I  really  can't  swim  50-yard 
races  because  I  don't  have  the  time  to  make  it  up.  But  in  the  1,000, 
I  have  enough  time." 


"When  I  leave  the 
blocks,  Vm  behind 
everyone  and  often- 
times I  just  reel 
them  back  in....in 
the  l9000  I  have 
enough  time." 


When  Wening  talks  about  swimming,  the 
little  devil  dances  in  his  eyes.  Clearly  he  wel- 
comes the  challenge  he  faces  in  the  pool.  He 
also  has  a  marvelous  sense  of  humor. 
"Swimming  is  my  drug  of  choice,"  he  quips, 
only  half-kidding.  Recently,  when  Griffith 
had  the  team  play  "follow-the-leader,"  he 
ordered  Wening's  teammates  to  start  off  the 
diving  blocks  from  a  kneeling  position,  as 
Jason  just  had  done.  Down  at  the  other  end 
of  the  pool,  Wening  looked  back  and  yelled, 
"You've  got  to  be  kidding,  Coach.  What  is 
this,  Disabled  Awareness  Day?"  When  asked 
for  his  height  on  information  forms,  Wening 
will  sometimes  write,  "4  feet  6  inches  and  5 
feet  8  inches  with  legs." 
But  mostly  he  is  serious  about  swimming.  Nobody  outworks  him, 
Griffith  says,  and  nobody  stays  in  better  shape.  He  has  tremendous 
stamina  and  discipline,  even  designing  his  own  more  demanding 
workout  schedules.  He  has  simple  needs  and  reachable  goals.  He 
wants  to  make  a  good  enough  time  to  qualify  him  for  the  New 
England  regional  meet.  He  wants  to  lower  his  world  records  for  dis- 
abled athletes.  And  now  that  he's  stopped  growing,  he'd  like  to  buy 
better  high-tech  legs  to  replace  the  relatively  cheap  pair  he's  worn 
daily  for  almost  three  years. 

Wening  knows  there  will  always  be  curious  stares  and  that  some 
questions  will  never  be  answered.  "But  I've  matured  enough  now  that 
I  can  look  ahead  and  see  a  time  when  I'm  married  and  have  kids  and 
have  to  explain  to  my  kids  why  their  father  doesn't  have  legs,"  he  says. 
"And  what  will  you  tell  your  kids?"  Wening  is  asked  solemnly. 
Without  hesitation,  he  quips,  "I  figure  I'll  wing  that  one  when  the 
time  comes."  As  we've  said,  it's  hard  to  stay  ahead  of  Jason  Wening. 

— Gearan  is  a  columnist  for  the  Worcester  Telegram  and  Gazette. 


28 


Spring  1995 


The  Entrepreneurial  Spirit:  Fifteenth  in  a  series 


Brewing  ^ 


The  Story  of 
Wachusett  Brewing  Co. 

By  Joan  Killough-Miller 


Peter  Quinn  inspects  the  mash  wort  for  a  new  batch  of  ale. 

"Our  goal  is  to  be 
the  predominant 

brewery  of 
Worcester  County. " 


t  26,  Edward  "Ned"  LaFortune  III  is  a  happy  man.  Even  after 
the  first  blizzard  of  the  new  year,  with  a  forklift  stranded  on 
the  ice  outside  his  brewery,  with  the  temperature  inside 
almost  below  freezing  ("We  can  step  into  the  cooler  to 
warm  up,"  he  jokes),  and  with  nary  a  drop  of  bottled  beer  to 
offer  a  visitor,  the  president  of  Wachusett  Brewing  Co.  seems 
relaxed,  even  pleased,  with  how  things  are  going.  As  his  two  part- 
ners struggle  to  tow  the  forklift  back  into  the  converted  garage  at 
Westminster  Place,  his  father  drops  by  with  the  mail.  "My  father 
went  into  shock  when  I  first  told  him  I  was  going  to  open  a  brewery. 
Now  he  works  for  me,"  says  the  younger  LaFortune. 

Only  six  years  ago,  all  three  WBC  owners  were  sitting  behind  stu- 
dent desks  at  WP1,  wondering  what  they  would  do  with  their  lives.  "I 
figured  1  would  start  my  own  business  someday,"  says  LaFortune, 
"but  I  thought  I  would  be  doing  something  more  along  the  lines  of 
what  we  were  doing  down  in  Kaven  Hall."  When  he  graduated  in 
1990  with  a  degree  in  civil  engineering,  LaFortune  found  a  job  as  a 
project  engineer  with  Camp  Dresser  &  McKee.  His  friends  Kevin 

Buckler  and  Peter  Quinn  had  graduated  the 
year  before  and  were  already  working  at 
General  Dynamics  and  Advanced  Environ- 
mental Technology  Corp.,  respectively. 
LaFortune  and  Buckler  both  started  making 
beer  at  home  as  a  hobby,  and  soon  found 
themselves  engaged  in  a  friendly  competi- 
tion for  the  ultimate  brew.  They  experiment- 
ed with  different  hops  and  yeasts,  honing 
their  skills  on  store-bought  malt  extracts, 
then  advancing  to  more  elaborate  concoc- 
tions based  on  hand-ground  grains. 

As  they  visited  with  microbrewers 
around  New  England  and  their  chats  became 
more  and  more  technical,  it  dawned  on 
them  that  with  their  engineering  back- 
ground, they  could  build  their  own  brewery. 
The  two  friends  knew  they  would  need  some- 
one with  biology  and  chemistry  expertise, 
and  they  turned  to  Pete  Quinn.  Quinn  had 
resisted  the  home  brewing  bug  all  along, 
arguing  that  if  he  started,  he  would  get  too 
involved.  It  took  six  months  to  convince  him 
that  their  dream  could  be  a  viable  business. 
Next  came  an  apprenticeship  at  Ipswich  Brewing  Co.,  where 
they  spent  weekends  learning  the  trade  firsthand  while  continuing 
in  their  engineering  jobs.  "We  did  everything,  from  brewing  and 
mashing  in,  to  cleaning  floors  and  filling  bottles,"  LaFortune  says.  By 
the  end  of  1992,  they  were  ready  to  begin  building  their  brewing 
apparatus  from  salvaged  equipment:  a  thousand-gallon  stainless 
steel  dairy  vat  became  a  fermenter;  two  tanks  from  a  pharmaceuti- 
cal manufacturer  were  converted  to  a  hot  water  heater  and  a  brew 
kettle;  and  an  industrial-size  pressure  cooker  is  used  to  mix  grain 
with  hot  water  to  make  the  mash. 

Business  plan  in  hand,  the  three  brewmeisters  incorporated  in 
August  1993  and  sought  financing  from  family,  friends  and  fans  of 
their  home  brew.  LaFortune  says  outside  financing  might  have  been 
an  option,  because  venture  capitalists  are  intrigued  by  the  brewing 
industry  and  New  England  microbreweries  have  a  success  rate  of  90 
percent  or  better.  But  the  trio  was  committed  to  designing  and 


WPI  Journal 


29 


building  their  own  brewery,  no  matter  how  unconventional.  They 
wanted  to  be  independent  of  the  terms  and  repayment  costs  of  out- 
side financiers.  In  December  1994  they  did  borrow  some  capital 
from  a  commercial  bank  to  begin  operations  and  finance  a  Phase  II 
expansion. 

Part  of  their  financial  strategy  was  to  keep  risk  at  a  minimum  by 
paying  off  their  personal  debts  and  keeping  their  lifestyles  simple.  All 
three  are  single,  and  their  standard  of  living  hasn't  changed  much 
since  they  were  students.  "I  own  a  pick-up  truck,  a  mountain  bike  and 
a  snow  board,"  says  LaFortune.  "That's  all  they  can  come  get  from 
me."  WBC's  market  research  was  simple  and  direct.  An  intern  from 
Fitchburg  State  College  compiled  a  database  of  all  establishments 
with  liquor  licenses,  both  container  sales  and  pouring.  The  partners 
then  called  each  one  to  ask  what  microbrews  were  being  sold,  and 
were  able  to  narrow  down  the  database  to  a 
list  of  likely  prospects.  LaFortune  visited  with 
samples,  simply  asking  the  owner  to  take 
home  a  bottle  and  try  the  ale. 

In  September  1994  he  dropped  a  bomb- 
shell at  CDM,  where  he  was  still  a  full-time 
employee,  by  resigning  and  revealing  that  he 
had  been  president  of  his  own  company  for 
more  than  a  year,  albeit  without  drawing 
salary.  Buckler  and  Quinn  followed  suit. 
Although  their  original  plan  was  to  keep 
their  engineering  jobs  and  brew  after  hours 
in  10-barrel  runs,  they  made  a  last-minute 
decision  to  go  for  broke.  Buckler  found  a 
way  to  reconfigure  the  brewing  apparatus  to 
double  its  capacity.  This  allowed  them  to 
market  the  ale  to  liquor  stores  in  half-gallon 
glass  jugs  called  "growlers,"  as  well  as  to 
bars  by  the  half-keg.  Suddenly,  they  were  all 
self-employed. 

Chemical  engineering  Professor  Robert 
Thompson,  a  dedicated  home  brewer,  visit- 
ed WBC  in  October  1994,  during  the  final 
days  before  start-up.  "There  were  pipes  all 
over  the  floor,  and  lumber  being  cut.  No 
tank  was  connected  to  any  other  tank.  But 
they  swore  they  were  going  to  start  brewing 
in  a  week — and  they  did!" 

"It  was  a  living  MQP,"  says  LaFortune  of 
the  18-hour  days  that  preceded  the  start  of 
production.  "We  worked  around  the  clock  for  a  month  and  even  ate 
off  a  Coleman  stove  at  the  brewery.  It  was  the  wisest  thing  we  ever 
did."  The  trio  got  out  the  first  batch  of  Wachusett  Country  Ale  just  a 
week  before  Christmas,  and  it  has  been  a  sell-out  ever  since. 

Wachusett  Country  Ale  is  best  described  as  a  "blonde"  ale,  says 
LaFortune — pale  in  color,  with  medium  body  and  a  creamy  texture. 
The  flavor  is  well-balanced,  with  its  bitterness  offset  by  sweetness. 
The  intent  was  to  create  a  brew  that  would  appeal  to  anyone  who 
likes  beer.  "It's  not  bitter,  not  overly  hoppy,  and  it  pleases  a  wide 
variety  of  palates — including  ours! 

"Dark  color  sets  people  off,"  he  continues,  observing  that  a  lot  of 
beer  drinkers  are  convinced  that  they  don't  like  dark  beers.  "They 
say  they  want  beer  that  is  pale,  very  carbonated — what  the  industry 
makes  you  think  beer  is."  Unlike  mass-produced  beers,  WBC's  ales 
are  unfiltered,  giving  them  a  fresh,  distinct  flavor. 

The  second  product  off  the  line  is  Wachusett  IPA,  an  India  pale 
ale  (a  bitter,  aromatic  style  of  beer  that  LaFortune  describes  as 
"highly  hopped"). "This  beer  is  designed  for  drinkers  looking  for 
something  a  little  more  aggressive,"  he  says.  The  name  for  the  new 


Top,  Wachusett  Brewing  Co.  employ- 
ee James  Krauss  prepares  the  fer- 
menter  to  receive  the  wort.  Bottom, 
head  brewer  Quinn  checks  the  pH  of 
the  mash  in  the  mash  "tun"  (see 
"Brewing  by  the  Numbers,"  opposite) 


brew,  which  recently  went  on  sale,  reflects  the  growing  name  recog- 
nition WBC's  products  are  earning.  The  WBC  team  plans  to  stick 
with  ales  (their  personal  favorites)  for  the  next  few  years.  The  ale 
family  has  many  varieties,  from  porter  and  stout  to  wheat  blends. 
They  hope  to  offer  specialty  seasonal  brews  as  well,  and  might 
branch  out  to  lagers,  if  they  can  acquire  the  appropriate  tanks. 

As  small  business  owners,  the  three  partners  have  naturally 
assumed  the  roles  best  suited  to  their  undergraduate  backgrounds, 
although  there  is  considerable  crossover.  LaFortune,  the  civil  engi- 
neer, manages  the  business,  but  also  sells,  promotes  and  delivers 
the  ale.  He  makes  a  point  of  being  on  hand  when  bar  owners  tap 
their  kegs  and  draw  the  first  draft. 

Buckler,  a  mechanical  engineer,  purchases  and  designs  the  brew- 
ing apparatus.  His  resourceful  innovations  have  saved  the  company 

tens  of  thousands  of  dollars  over  the  cost  of 
new  equipment.  Buckler  works  closely  with 
several  contractors  who  handle  technical 
operations  such  as  welding  and  electrical, 
plumbing  and  refrigeration  work. 

Quinn,  the  biologist,  serves  as  head 
brewer,  designing  all  WBC  products  and 
ordering  the  raw  materials.  He  is  the  only 
one  allowed  in  the  sanitary  fermentation 
room,  and  he  operates  an  on-site  laboratory 
with  extensive  quality-control  procedures. 
WBC's  brewing  process  is  time-consuming 
and  labor  intensive  (see  table,  next  page), 
involving  many  transfers  from  tank  to  tank, 
with  the  tanks  being  sanitized  at  each  step. 
LaFortune  says  it's  worth  the  effort  to  create 
a  beer  with  a  good,  clear  flavor.  "As  long  as 
Pete's  mind  is  involved  with  yeast,  he's  all 
fired  up,"  he  remarks.  Quinn  is  also  respon- 
sible for  the  biweekly  federal  and  state 
reports  and  tax  payments. 

To  keep  up  with  customer  demand,  WBC 
purchased  the  contents  of  a  defunct  New 
Hampshire  winery  and  used  the  equipment 
to  boost  their  original  20-barrel-a-week 
capacity  to  75  barrels — almost  quadrupling 
their  output  less  than  four  months  after  the 
brewery  opened.  Wachusett  Country  Ale  is 
the  second  best  selling  beer  at  Wachusett 
Mountain  Ski  Area  in  Princeton,  Mass. 
(WBC's  largest  customer),  and  it  has  been  popular  at  O'Connors 
Restaurant  &  Bar  in  Worcester  and  at  the  Boynton  near  the  WPI 
campus.  The  resealable  growlers,  despite  their  unconventional 
appearance,  disappear  quickly  from  store  shelves. 

Neil  Coleman,  assistant  manager  of  Austin  Liquor  Co.  in 
Worcester,  says  the  ale  is  popular  with  home  brewers  and  beer 
drinkers  who  might  not  have  initially  considered  a  microbrew. 
"Because  it's  local,  people  try  it  on  a  whim.  The  package  itself  is 
attractive  enough  for  people  to  at  least  buy  one  and  try  it."  He  says 
repeat  sales  have  been  tremendous,  and  he  hasn't  had  a  single  cus- 
tomer come  back  disappointed.  The  growlers  are  also  available  at 
many  other  area  stores.  WBC  plans  to  proffer  its  ales  in  12-ounce 
bottles  at  some  point  in  the  future,  but  the  automated  bottling 
equipment  is  costly. 

LaFortune  speaks  of  a  "microbrew  revolution"  sweeping  the  coun- 
try, though  he  shrugs  off  the  word  "trend."  "People's  tastes  are  chang- 
ing and  they  are  starting  to  demand  quality  and  flavor."  The  taste  for 
premium  beer  brewed  locally  in  small  amounts  (by  definition,  a 
microbrewery  produces  less  than  15,000  barrels  a  year)  will  not 


30 


Spring  1995 


— ™* 


The  Single-Infusion  Mash  Brewing  Befho^Msed  for  Wachusett  Country  Ale 


Ingredient  1  —  Water 

Water  from  a  groundwater  well  is  heated 

overnight  to  the  proper  temperature 

in  the  brew  kettle. 

Ingredient  2  —  Malted  Barley 

Cracked  malted  barley  (four  types  of  malts  are 
used)  is  mixed  with  the  hot  water  in  the  mash  "tun." 
creating  the  mash.  The  mash  is  held  at  a  constant  tem- 
perature for  90  minutes.  Hotter  water  is  then  sparged, 
or  forced,  through  the  mash  bed.  The  resulting  liquid 
"wort"  is  collected  in  the  brew  kettle. 

Ingredient  3  —  Hops 

The  wort  is  brought  to  a  boil  and  two  types  of  hops  are  added 

at  different  intervals  during  the  90-minute  boil  (early  hop 
adding  for  bitterness,  late  for  aroma).  After  the  boil,  the  wort  is 


whirlpooled  in  the  kettle,  which  brings  the 

proteins  and  solids  to  the  center  of  tank.  The 
wort  is  chilled  with  a  plate-frame  heat  exchanger, 
lowering  its  temperature  from  200°  to  63°  F.  It  is  then 
transferred  to  the  fermenter. 

Ingredient  4  —  Yeast 

Yeast  is  pitched  into  the  fermenter  and  fermentation  begins. 
The  ale  remains  in  the  fermenter  for  one  week  and  then  is 
transferred  to  a  conditioning  tank  for  another  week.  The  yeast 
is  collected  from  the  fermenter  for  use  with  the  next  batch.  The 
ale  is  transferred  to  a  second  tank  for  an  additional  week  of  con- 
ditioning. The  last  transfer  is  to  a  bright  tank  for  a  week  of  mat- 
uration. It  is  here  that  carbon  dioxide  levels  are  adjusted  to  the 
proper  level.  Kegs  and  growlers  are  packed  from  the  bright 
tank;  the  ale  is  delivered  fresh  within  hours  of  packing  to 
accounts  in  Central  Massachusetts. 


Above,  Kevin  Buckler,  center,  and 
Ned  LaFortune  III,  right,  prepare  a 
conditioning  tank,  while  James 
Krauss  looks  on.  Right,  Ned's  father, 
Edward  LaFortune  Jr.,  fills  half-gallon 
"growlers"  from  the  bright  tank,  the 
final  step  in  the  brewing  process. 

decline,  despite  the  higher  price,  LaFortune 
insists.  "Once  you've  become  accustomed  to 
tasting  beer  for  quality  and  flavor,  you  cannot 
go  back  to  something  that  does  not  have  fla- 
vor, texture,  color,"  he  says. 

"At  $1  more  per  six-pack  over  mass-pro- 
duced premiums,"  he  continues,  "you're  get- 
ting more  alcohol,  more  flavor,  more  enjoy- 
ment." LaFortune  refuses  to  stereotype  con- 
sumers of  small-label  beers,  since  he  sees 
devotees  from  different  income  brackets  and 
all  walks  of  life.  He  adds  that  microbrews  are 
designed  to  be  enjoyed  and  are  actually  in  tune  with  the  current  mes- 
sage of  alcohol  awareness,  because  quality  beer  encourages  people 
to  "drink  less,  drink  better." 

The  Northwest  is  a  boiling  pot  of  microbrewing,  says  LaFortune, 
and  New  England  is  just  beginning  to  see  some  action.  He  predicts 
that  in  five  years  the  region  will  be  inundated  with  microbreweries. 
In  the  Worcester  area,  another  microbrewery  is  in  the  planning 
stages,  along  with  several  "brew  pubs"— establishments  (often  with 
restaurants)  that  make  small  quantities  of  beer  to  be  served  on  the 
premises.  WBC  welcomes  the  competition.  "It  just  fuels  us,"  says 
LaFortune,  predicting  that  brew  pub  patrons  will  go  to  the  liquor 
stores  looking  for  equally  high-quality  products.  "We  look  forward 
to  having  the  brew  pubs  come  to  Worcester,  because  it  creates  a 
taste  for  handcrafting  and  an  awareness  of  the  microbrew  revolu- 
tion. That's  what  Worcester  County  needs." 


LaFortune  returned  to  the  classroom  last 
January,  at  the  invitation  of  WPI's 
Entrepreneurs  Collaborative,  to  address  stu- 
dents in  a  course  titled  Introduction  to 
Entrepreneurship.  He  was  billed  as  the 
youngest  speaker  in  the  series,  and  his  com- 
pany was  undoubtedly  the  newest  venture, 
the  first  kegs  and  bottles  having  rolled  out 
barely  a  month  before. 

Standing  behind  the  lecturer's  desk, 
which  was  decorated  with  green  cardboard 
"table  tents"  and  gleaming  growlers  full  of 
Wachusett  Country  Ale,  LaFortune  literally 
donned  each  of  the  three  hats  he  wears  as  a 
company  president— sales  rep,  distributor 
and  assistant  brewer.  He  earnestly  shared 
the  trials  and  tribulations  of  launching  a 
business,  from  dealing  with  regulatory  agen- 
cies and  the  high  cost  of  insurance,  to 
watching  the  print  on  the  first  batch  of  growlers  rub  off  in  his  hands. 
LaFortune's  advice  to  those  who  want  to  follow  in  his  footsteps: 
"Pick  your  area,  define  it,  and  be  the  brewery  of  that  area."  Although 
they  would  consider  expanding  into  the  Boston  area  (and  have 
already  been  approached  by  establishments  that  want  to  carry  their 
products),  WBC's  owners  have  no  immediate  intention  of  leaving 
Worcester  or  expanding  beyond  Massachusetts.  "Our  goal  is  to  be 
the  predominant  brewery  of  Worcester  County,"  says  LaFortune. 
"We  want  to  have  our  ales  in  every  establishment  that  wants  to 
carry  them— whatever  size  that  takes  us  to." 

Ned,  Kevin  and  Pete  say  students  and  alumni  are  welcome  to  visit  the 
brewery  and  sample  their  ales.  Tours  are  run  at  175  State  Road  East 
(Route  2A),  Westminster,  Mass.,  on  Saturdays  at  1  and  3  p.m.  Call  508- 
874-9965  for  information. 


WPI  Journal 


31 


FINAL  WORD 


Did  Indiana  Jones  Go  to  WPI? 


When  filmmaker  George  Lucas  first 
dangled  the  idea  of  an  adventure 
film  with  a  swashbuckling  archae- 
ologist hero  before  director 
Steven  Spielberg,  it's  not  likely 
that  either  one  spoke  of  Edward  Thompson. 
Yet  the  notion  that  Thompson,  who  first 
made  waves  in  archaeological  circles  back 
in  1879  while  still  a  WPI  student,  is  part  of 
the  fictional  character  of  Indiana  Jones  is  as 
tantalizing  and  elusive  as. ..well,  as  the  Lost 
Ark  of  the  Covenant  that  Indy  risks  his  life  to 
uncover  in  Raiders  of  the  Lost  Ark. 

The  Discovery  Channel  has  no  trouble 
seeing  Thompson  as  Indiana  Jones — or  at 
least  as  one  of  several  "real  life  Indiana 
Joneses"  who  will  be  portrayed  in  a  four- 
part  documentary  scheduled  to  air  this  sum- 
mer. Seekers  of  the  Lost  Treasure,  filmed  by 
Atlantic  Productions  of  London,  tells  the  sto- 
ries of  "four  daring  adventurers  who  braved 
the  challenges  of  the  unknown  to  bring 
home  priceless  artifacts  from  far  off  lands" 
(see  box  for  broadcast  details).  Episode  2, 
"Thompson  and  the  Well  of  Sacrifice,"  is 
bound  to  have  its  share  of  venomous 
snakes,  superstitious  natives,  poisoned 
arrows,  and  other  occupational  hazards  of 
working  in  remote  jungles. 

Had  Lucas  or  Spielberg  heard  of 
Thompson?  Lucas  biographers  trace  the  ori- 
gins of  the  archaeologist-adventurer  charac- 
ter to  anthropology  courses  the  filmmaker 
took  at  Modesto  Junior  College,  but  no  spe- 
cific individuals  are  named.  Deborah  Fine, 
director  of  research  at  Skywalker  Ranch, 
insists  that  there  is  no  "real"  Indiana  Jones 
and  denies  that  any  anthropologist  or  other 
scientist  was  the  model  for  the  character. 
She  says  she  has  heard  from  many,  many 
people  who  believe  they  knew  who  the  inspi- 
ration was,  or  who  have  claimed  the  honor 
for  themselves. 

Edward  H.  Thompson  of  Falmouth, 
Mass.,  and  his  sister,  Virginia  Kirkendall  of 
Upton,  Mass.,  are  the  last  survivors  of  the 
archeologist's  17  grandchildren.  Their  aunt 
Alice  traveled  to  Mexico  in  1885  as  a  2- 
month-old  infant;  their  father,  Edward,  was 
born  there,  followed  by  two  more  sons  and 
another  daughter,  all  raised  by  Henrietta 


By  Joan  Killough-Miller 


Edward  Thompson 

Thompson  in  the  remote  Yucatan  jungle. 
Mexico  was  the  family's  home  for  40  years, 
although  Kirkendall  says  her  father  was  sent 
back  to  Cambridge  at  age  16,  speaking  only 
Spanish,  to  get  a  proper  education.  The 
senior  Edward  Thompson,  sometimes  called 
"Don  Eduardo,"  returned  to  New  England  at 
age  65,  a  leading  authority  on  Mayan  relics 
and  civilization. 

Edward  Herbert  Thompson  was  born  in 
Worcester  in  1860  or  1857,  depending  on 
whether  one  believes  him  or  the  family 


Seekers  off  the 
Lost  Treasure 

At  press  time,  the  four-part  documen- 
tary, narrated  by  Jeremy  Irons,  was 
scheduled  to  air  on  the  Discovery 
Channel  in  late  July.  Episode  2, 
"Thompson  and  the  Well  of  Sacrifice," 
was  set  to  premiere  on  Sunday, 
July  30,  between  10  and  11  p.m.,  and 
to  be  rebroadcast  Aug.  6  between  1  and 
2  a.m.  Readers  are  encouraged  to  check 
their  local  listings,  as  last-minute 
changes  are  possible. 


Bible.  His  earliest  memories  were  of  search- 
ing for  arrowheads  in  the  brooks  of  Athol, 
Mass.,  where  he  spent  summers,  and  by  the 
banks  of  Lake  Quinsigamond.  Thompson 
entered  WPI  in  1875,  failed  at  the  end  of  his 
first  year,  and  returned  in  1876  with  little 
better  success.  He  studied  Japanese,  with 
the  intention  of  going  to  Japan  to  investigate 
the  Ainus,  "that  mysterious  white  race  of  the 
Flowery  Kingdom,"  but  was  sidetracked  by 
his  fascination  with  the  lost  continent  of 
Atlantis. 

In  1879  he  published  an  essay  called 
"Atlantis  Not  a  Myth,"  in  which  he  claimed 
that  descendants  of  the  race  that  once 
inhabited  the  sunken  kingdom  migrated 
through  the  Americas  and  formed  the 
Mayan  civilization.  Although  he  later  dis- 
credited his  theory,  the  article  brought  the 
WPI  student  to  the  attention  of  the  American 
Antiquarian  Society  in  Worcester  and  its 
vice  president,  Stephen  Salisbury  II. 
Salisbury,  who  was  also  president  of  the  WPI 
Board  of  Trustees,  invited  Thompson  to 
dine  with  him  and  U.S.  Senator  George 
Frisbee  Hoar,  who  was  also  on  WPI's  found- 
ing board.  Salisbury  had  been  asked  by  the 
Antiquarian  Society  to  find  someone  to 
search  for  remnants  of  the  Mayan  civiliza- 
tion in  the  Yucatan  Peninsula.  He  thought 
Thompson  was  the  right  man. 

Thompson  was  thrilled  at  the  prospect. 
After  the  meeting,  Hoar  arranged  for 
Thompson  to  be  posted  to  the  Yucatan  as 
American  Consul  to  Mexico.  From  his  base 
at  Merida,  Thompson  explored  Mayan  ruins 
and  immersed  himself  in  the  culture  of  the 
natives,  "descendants  of  the  ancient 
builders  and  calendar  makers."  He  learned 
their  language,  ate  their  food,  and  participat- 
ed in  their  sacred  rites.  Thompson  later  pur- 
chased and  restored  an  abandoned  planta- 
tion, which  included  the  ruined  city  of 
Chichen  Itza,  ancient  capital  of  the  Mayan 
civilization  and  site  of  the  Sacred  Well  of 
Sacrifice. 

Thompson  bade  farewell  to  the  Yucatan 
in  1925,  in  the  face  of  mounting  troubles.  His 
plantation  had  been  burned  by  Mexican  rev- 
olutionaries and  rebuilt  at  his  own  expense, 
minus  priceless  artifacts  and  irreplaceable 


32 


Spring  1995 


research  materials.  The 
Mexican  government 
then  attached  his  prop- 
erty under  a  lawsuit  that 
claimed  he  had  illegally 
removed  valuable  arti- 
facts from  their  country 
of  origin.  Thompson  re- 
tired to  West  Falmouth, 
where  spent  his  last 
decade  lecturing  and 
writing  his  memoirs. 

Having  published  the 
scientific  details  of  his 
findings  in  academic 
journals,  Thompson  reserved  the  highlights 
of  his  action-packed  career  for  People  of  the 
Serpent,  his  autobiography.  Lurking  behind 
the  vivid  descriptions  of  Mayan  rites  and 
ruins  is  a  playful  storyteller  with  a  love  for 
drama.  His  tales  of  derring-do  rival  the 
adventures  of  Indiana  Jones,  who  has  been 
called  "an  archaeologist  hero  with  the  grit  of 
Bogart,  the  dash  of  Gable  and  the  fearless- 
ness of  Superman." 

Thompson's  descent  into  a  cistern  in  the 
ruined  city  of  Labna,  for  example,  bears  a 
strong  resemblance  to  one  of  the  most  mem- 
orable scenes  in  Raiders  of  the  Lost  Ark. 
Moviegoers  who  recall  Indiana 
Jones  trapped  in  the  Well  of 
Souls  with  thousands  of  slith- 
ering snakes  will  delight  at 
the  image  of  Thompson,  wear- 
ing a  high-crowned,  narrow- 
brim  hat,  a  hunting  knife 
clenched  between  his  teeth, 
being  lowered  by  rope  into  a 
cavernous  chamber.  The 
explorer  lands  softly  on  a  pile 
of  debris  that  turns  out  to  be 
a  very  large  rattlesnake. 

"The  situation  grew  rapid- 
ly acute,"  he  writes,  "for  his 
eyes  were  turning  bottle  green, 
his  jaws  dripped  saliva,  and  a  strong  odor 
like  musk  filled  the  unventilated  space  of  his 
chamber,  and  gave  me  a  feeling  of  nausea.  It 
was  clearly  time  for  me  to  make  a  move." 

There  are  no  rocks  handy  for  defense, 
and  Thompson  fears  that  a  bullet  from  his 
revolver  might  start  a  cascade.  "A  still  better 
reason  for  not  using  my  revolver  was  that  I 
did  not  have  it  with  me,"  he  tells  us,  adding 
that  in  the  jungle  he  was  rarely  parted  from 
his  gun.  Backed  up  against  the  wall,  our  hero 
feels  a  buckling  in  the  mortar  of  the  well, 
which,  he  takes  time  to  note,  has  been 
caused  by  centuries  of  settling  soil  and  the 
growth  of  tree  roots.  Thompson  is  able  to 


He  left  the  Yucatan  lame 
in  one  leg  from  a  brush 
with  a  poisoned  arrow, 
bald  from  jungle  fever, 

and  partially  deaf 
from  his  descent  into 
the  Well  of  Sacrifice. 


w 

Top,  the  temple  of  Kukil  Can  (the 
feathered  serpent),  the  heart  of  the 
city  of  Chichen  Itza.  Bottom,  the  Date 
Stone,  an  aid  in  working  out  the 
chronology  of  the  Mayan  civilization. 

work  loose  a  chunk  of  mortar  with  which  to 
crush  the  rattler's  head.  Other  chapters  of 
his  book  are  packed  with  sharks,  pythons 
and  jaguars,  as  well  as  runaway  horsecarts 
and  death-traps  set  by  desperadoes. 

When  Thompson  writes,  "I  have  squan- 
dered my  substance  in  riotous  explo- 
rations," he  means  it  literally.  He  left  the 
Yucatan  lame  in  one  leg  from  a  brush  with  a 
poisoned  arrow,  bald  from  several  bouts  of 


jungle  fever,  and  partial- 
ly deaf  from  descending 
into  the  Well  of  Sacrifice 
in  a  19th  century  diving 
suit.  (Hearing  of  his  plan 
to  dive  into  the  well,  his 
colleagues  said,  "No  per- 
son can  go  down  into  the 
unknown  depths  of  that 
great  water  pit  and 
expect  to  come  out  alive. 
If  you  want  to  commit 
suicide,  why  not  seek  a 
less  shocking  way  of 
doing  it?") 

Thompson  downplayed  the  monetary 
value  of  the  fragments  of  jade,  gold  and 
bone  he  brought  to  the  surface,  insisting 
that  he  quested  only  after  knowledge.  "The 
historian  delves  into  the  past  as  the  engi- 
neer digs  into  the  ground,  and  for  the  same 
reason,  to  make  the  future  secure."  The 
Mexican  government  disagreed.  Only  after 
his  death  in  1935  was  Thompson's  name 
finally  cleared.  The  Mexican  Supreme  Court 
ruled  in  1944  that  the  archaeologist  had 
not  violated  any  laws  that  were  in  existence 
at  the  time  he  removed  the  goods.  In  1976 
Harvard  University  agreed  to  return  to 
Mexico  Thompson's  contri- 
butions to  the  Peabody 
Museum's  collection  of  pre- 
Columbian  jade. 

The  Thompson  grandchil- 
dren say  their  grandfather 
was  one  of  the  few  archaeolo- 
gists of  his  time  who  worked 
for  scientific  advancement, 
and  not  for  profit.  They  have 
no  treasures  in  the  attic  or 
cellar  from  the  Mayan  Empire, 
only  trinkets — and  memories 
of  a  talkative  but  modest  man. 
The  living  Edward  Thompson 
says  he  learned  more  about 
his  grandfather  from  the  research  and  film- 
ing of  the  Discovery  documentary  than  he 
had  ever  known.  "I  couldn't  figure  out  why 
they  were  bothering  to  portray  a  relatively 
obscure  archaeologist,"  he  says.  "No  one  in 
the  family  perceived  him  as  being  famous. 
He  was  just  Grandfather." 

As  for  Edward  Herbert  Thompson,  he 
was  clearly  content  with  own  reputation  and 
deeds.  "...I  am  altogether  satisfied,"  he  wrote 
in  People  of  the  Serpent.  "The  reward  of  a 
labor  of  love  lies  in  the  performing  of  it,  and 
I  can  look  back  upon  a  career  as  full  of  inci- 
dent and  adventure  as  any  man  has  the  right 
to  expect." 


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WPI  JOURNAL 


CONTENTS 


Stepping  Into  the  Spotlight  by  Michael  W.  Dorsey 

As  WPI's  14th  president,  Kdward  Parrish  wants  to  remove  the  bushel 

from  WPI's  light,  letting  the  world  know  what  he  himself  has 

discovered  about  WPI's  profoundly  effective  educational  program. 

Page  4 

Hail  and  Farewell  by  Michael  II'.  Dorsey 

Nine  months  is  hardly  enough  time  to  effect  change  on  a  college 

campus,  but  as  interim  president,  John  Lott  Brown  '46  did  just  that, 

leaving  a  legacy  of  good  will  and  excitement  about  WPFs  future. 

Page  6 

One  of  a  Kind  by  Donald  /•'.  Berth  '57 

Architect  Wallace  Harrison  learned  about  structural  engineering  from 

WPI's  "Pa"  French.  He  went  on  to  design  some  of  the  most  important 

and  visually  striking  buildings  of  the  20th  century. 

Page  8 

Great  Expectations  by  Joel  J.  Brattin 

Robert  Fellman  never  intended  to  become  a  serious  collector  of  material 

related  to  Charles  Dickens.  But  through  serendipity  and  diligence,  he 

built  a  first-rate  collection.  Now  he's  given  his  life's  work  to  WPI. 

Page  10 

The  Stuff  Dreams  Are  Made  Of  by  Ruth  Tmsk 

If  you've  seen  Crimson  Tide,  you've  enjoyed  the  digital  special  effects 

work  of  Peter  Travers  '93.  Here's  how  this  mechanical  engineering 

major  joined  the  ranks  of  Hollywood's  "techno-wizards." 

Page  24 

DEPARTMENTS 


Advance  Word  WPI  Alumni  Find  a  (Cyber)Space  All  Their  Own,  by  Michael  Dorsey.  Page  2 

Letters  Small  Does  Not  Mean  Mediocre;  "University  Plan"  May  Harm  WPI's  Reputation;  Good  Schools  Thrive 

Without  Name  Changes.  Page  3 

Explorations  Projects  Aim  to  Save  the  World,  by  Bonnie  Gelirwasser.  Page  30 

Final  Word  Travels  with  Alex,  by  Alex  Thorp  ^92.  Page  32 

Staff  of  the  WPI  Journal:  Editor,  Michael  W.  Dorsey  •  Art  Director/Designer,  Michael  J.  Sherman  •  Contributing  Writers,  Bonnie  Gelbwasser,Joan  Killough-Miller  and  Ruth  Tni*.k  • 

Alumni  Publications  Committee:  Samuel  Mencow  '37,  chairman,  Kimberly  A.  (Lemoi)  Bowers  '90,  Sberri  L.  Curria  '93,  James  S.  Demetry  '58,  William  J.  Firla  Jr.  '60,  Joel  P.  Greene  '69, 

William  R.  Grogan  '46,  Robert  C.  Labonte  '54,  Roger  N.  Perry  Jr.  '45,  Harlan  B.  Williams  '50  •  The  WPI  Journal  (ISSN  0148-6128)  is  published  quarterly  for  the  WPI  Alumni  Association 

by  the  Office  of  University  Relations.  Second-class  postage  paid  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  additional  mailing  offices.  Printed  by  The  Lane  Press,  Burlington,  Yt.  Printed  in  the  U.S.  V 

Diverse  views  presented  in  this  magazine  Jo  not  necessarily  reflect  the  opinions  of  the  editors  or  official  (I  PI policies.  We  welcome  letters  to  the  editor.  Address  correspondence  to  the  Editor. 

WPI  Journal,  117'/.  lOOInstitute  Road,  Worcester.  MA  01609-2280  •  Phone:  (508)  831-5609,  Fax:  (508)  831-5604  •  Electronic  Mail  (Internet),  fmvdorsey@wpi.edu  •  World  Wide  Web: 

http://www.wpi.edu/,  Iboutl  Js/News/Journal/  *  Postmaster:  Ifundelroerable,  please  send  Form  1579  to  the  address  above.  Do  not  return  publication.  Entire  contents  ©  1 995,  Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute. 


ADVANCE      WORD 


Alumni  Find  a  (Cyber)Space 

All  Their  Own 


When  last  we  visited 
the  brave  new 
world  of  cyber- 
space ("Another  Spin  on  the 
Information  Highway,"  Win- 
ter 1995),  the  WPI  Alumni 
Association  was  engaged  in  a 
search  for  the  best  way  to  link 
its  members  to  the  Institute 
and  the  association  through 
the  Internet.  Under  the  lead- 
ership of  Harlan  Williams  '50, 
an  ad-hoc  committee  of  the 
association  had  begun  looking 
for  cost-effective  ways  to  get 
alumni  connected  to  the  Net, 
and  through  it,  to  WPI. 

The  committee  conducted 
a  survey  of  younger  alumni 
that  showed  that  about  nearly 
three  quarters  have  computers  with  modems 
in  their  homes  or  offices  and  are  interested 
in  using  them  to  stay  in  touch  with  their 
alma  mater.  The  group  also  looked  at  how  a 
number  of  other  colleges  and  universities 
have  opened  Internet  doorways  to  their 
graduates  and  talked  to  potential  Internet 
"providers." 

Along  the  way  it  became  clear  that  the 
on-line  communications  landscape  is  chang- 
ing rapidly.  Companies  and  on-line  services 
that  provide  access  to  the  Internet  are  pro- 
liferating, and  the  cost  of  getting  connected 
is  becoming  more  affordable  all  the  time. 
Given  these  changes,  and  the  tact  that  so 
many  alumni  already  use  the  Internet,  it  no 
longer  seemed  necessary  to  wony  about 
finding  alumni  a  suitable  on-ramp  for  the 
information  highway.  Instead,  the  commit- 
tee decided  to  look  at  what  alumni  might 
like  to  find  once  they  get  connected. 

Last  year,  the  Institute  launched  a  ser- 
vice on  the  World  Wide  Web  that  offers 
easy  access  to  a  variety  of  information  about 
the  university  (http://www.wpi.edu/).  The 
Alumni  Office  and  the  Alumni  Association 
are  represented  there  with  pages  of  informa- 
tion that  describe  the  association's  programs 
and  events.  While  alumni  who've  visited 
WPI's  Web  pages  have  been  enthusiastic 


Netscape  -  [WPI  Alumnet  Service] 


File     Edit     View     60     Bookmarks     Options     Directory 


Help 


Location:    hllp'/Mpi  alumnet.com/ 


13 


Open  Everywhere 


I  ricnds,  News  and  1  nn 


about  being  able  to  roam  our  virtual  campus 
and  check  in  on  what's  happening  on  the 
Hill,  they've  also  expressed  an  interest  in 
services  that  WPI  does  not  currently  offer 
on  its  Web  site,  notes  Williams. 

"Alumni  want  access  to  the  kinds  of 
information  WPI  maintains  in  its  alumni 
database,  so  they  can  look  up  their  classmates 
and  friends,"  he  says.  "They  want  to  be  able 
to  talk  to  fellow  graduates  on-line  and  send 
them  e-mail.  They  also  want  to  be  able  to 
buy  products  from  the  college  bookstore.  But 
WPI  can't  put  confidential  information  about 
its  graduates  on  a  network  freely  accessible 
to  millions,  and  it  doesn't  have  the  computer 
or  human  resources  to  offer  a  special  on-line 
service  just  for  its  alumni." 

The  committee  found  a  solution  to  these 
and  other  problems  in  a  service  offered  by 
Alumnet  Services,  a  communications  and 
networking  company  in  Austin,  Texas. 
Alumnet  Services  enables  colleges  and  uni- 
versities to  create  secure  sites  on  the  World 
Wide  Web  for  use  solely  by  their  graduates. 
Alumni  pay  a  modest  annual  fee  and  receive 
a  password  that  allows  them  to  access  the 
service.  Among  the  creators  of  Alumnet  was 
Mihran  Aroian,  who  earned  a  bachelor's 
degree  in  life  sciences  at  WPI  in  1980. 

"Alumnet  is  about  communications," 


Aroian  says.  "It  makes  it  easy 
for  alumni  to  communicate 
with  each  other,  and  for  the 
college  to  keep  in  touch  with 
its  graduates.  Graduates  who 
sign  up  will  be  able  to  talk  to 
one  another  via  e-mail  and  in 
public  and  private  chat  rooms; 
leave  messages  on  electronic 
bulletin  boards  about  topics 
that  interest  them;  and  search 
an  on-line  alumni  directory. 
They  will  also  find  a  secure 
way  to  shop  for  WPI  products 
or  sign  up  for  events  and  trav- 
el programs  on-line.  As  a  WPI 
graduate  myself,  I  feel  these 
are  the  kinds  of  services  that 
other  graduates  will  find 
useful  and  fun." 
WPI's  Alumnet  service  is  scheduled  to 
debut  by  the  end  of  the  year,  according  to 
Sharon  Davis,  director  of  alumni  programs. 
"For  just  $45  a  year,"  she  says,  "alumni  will 
get  all  of  the  services  Alumnet  provides. 
These  include  an  on-line  'auditorium' 
where  alumni  can  talk  to  special  guests  from 
WPI  and  our  alumni  body,  the  opportunity 
to  create  an  on-line  'profile'  for  other  users" 
to  read,  job  listings  from  WPI's  Career 
Development  Center,  and  a  hot  link  to  the 
WPI  Web  home  page." 

To  get  more  information  about  WPI 
Alumnet  call  the  WPI  Alumni  Office  at 
(508)  831-5600  or  send  an  e-mail  message  to 
scdavis@jake.wpi.edu.  Readers  can  also  send 
a  message  to  subscribe03@wpi.alumnet.com, 
or  use  their  Web  browsers  to  fill  out  an 
on-line  subscrption  form.  The  address  is 
http://wpi.alumnet.com/. 

A  FINAL  NOTE:  You  may  have  noticed 
something  different  about  the  WPI  Journal. 
From  a  bolder,  more  attention-getting 
cover,  to  a  new  contents  page,  to  a  new  for- 
mat for  our  department  pages,  we've  given 
the  magazine  a  new  look.  To  celebrate, 
we've  included  some  extra  color  in  this 
issue.  We'd  love  to  hear  what  you  think. 

— Mici  iael  Dorset 


Summer  1995 


LETTERS 


Small  Does  Not 
Mean  Mediocre 

TO  THE  EDITOR: 

In  a  letter  in  the  Spring  1995  WPI  Journal, 
Bruce  and  Allison  Nunn  implied  that, 
because  of  its  size,  WPI  could  offer  no  more 
than  a  "mediocre  education"  as  a  university. 
Let  me  tell  you  about  my  undergraduate 
alma  mater. 

I  was  one  of  about  1,800  undergraduates 
then;  it's  a  little  larger  now — about  the  size  of 
WPI,  in  feet,  both  the  College  of  Engineer- 
ing and  the  College  of  Arts  and  Sciences 
were  then,  and  are  today,  among  the  best 
in  the  world.  The  professors  who  taught 
my  biology  and  chemistry  courses  were  all 
world-class  research  scientists.  Several 
had  authored  the  textbooks  that  I 
and  thousands  of  other  stu- 
dents across  the  coun- 
try used,  and  a  few  were 
members  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences. 
Many  of  the  faculty  in  the 
various  liberal  arts  depart- 
ments were  also  internation- 
ally renowned  scholars. 

Size  is  no  impediment  to  an 
institution  that  has  the  will,  the 
wisdom  and  the  leadership  to  be  a 
first-class  university.  During  the  10 
years  that  I  served  as  head  of  WPFs 
Department  of  Biology  and  Biotech- 
nology, I  often  told  prospective  students 
and  their  parents  that  my  goal  for  the 
department  was  to  provide  an  undergradu- 
ate education  as  good  as  mine  at  The  Johns 
Hopkins  University. 
—JOSEPH  C.  BAGSHAW,  HOLDEN,  M  \SS. 

Bagshaw  is  professor  of  biology  iind 
biotechnology  at  1 1  PL 

"University  Plan" 
May  Harm  WPFs 
Reputation 

T()  THE  EDITOR: 

When  I  read  "Repositioning  the  Institute" 
in  the  Fall  1994  issue  of  the  WPI  Journal  I 
was  tempted  to  write  a  letter  to  the  editor. 
I  did  not  do  so,  for,  I  thought,  "Who  am  I 
to  tell  WPI  how  to  run  the  Institute."  Upon 
reading  the  letter  to  the  editor  by  Bruce 
and  Allison  Nunn  in  the  Spring  1995  issue 
("Will  the  New  WPI  Be  a  Downsized  Uni- 
versity?"), I  changed  my  mind.  I  would  now 
like  to  make  a  few  comments. 


I  received  a  B.S.  degree  in  civil  engi- 
neering from  WPI  in  the  spring  of  1942. 
I  spent  my  freshman  year,  not  at  WPI,  hut 
at  Tufts  University,  as  I  had  the  idea  of 
becoming  a  doctor.  Motivated  by  the  fact 
that  my  mother  was  dying  of  cancer,  medi- 
cine seemed  an  appropriate  avenue  of  study. 
About  the  second  week  into  my  first  semes- 
ter, I  realized  that  for  me,  that  decision  was 
a  mistake.  Mv  Inst  love  was  engineering, 
and  a  transfer  to  the  school  of  engineering 
was  arranged  with  little  problem. 

My  freshman  year  was  a 
breeze.  Most  of  my 
courses  were 
repeats  of 


courses  I  had 
taken  in  my  senior 
year  at  Williston  Acade- 
my. Life  was  great.  I  was  initi- 
ated  into  Delta  Upsilon  fraternity. 
I  played  on  the  soccer  team  in  the  fall,  the 
wrestling  team  in  the  winter,  and  the  golf 
team  in  the  spring  (on  the  university's  own 
nine-hole  course). 

Why  did  I  transfer  to  WPI?  It  was 
because  WPI  had  the  reputation  of  being 
one  of  the  finest  engineering  schools  in  the 
East.  It  was  my  moneyr,  I  thought,  so  why 
not  go  to  an  outstanding  engineering 
school?  Had  I  wanted  a  more  liberal  edu- 
cation, I  would  have  stayed  at  Tufts. 

WPI's  reputation  was  great  enough 
that,  even  though  I  was  a  civil  engineering 
graduate,  I  landed  a  job  with  the  U.S.  Bu- 
reau of  Ships  as  a  junior  engineer;  later. 


1  became  an  engineering  officer  in  the  U.S. 
Naval  Reserve.  In  1947  I  started  a  small 
readj  -mbi  concrete  conipam  .  (  her  the  next 
^~  years,  the  training  I  received  at  WPI 
stood  me  well. 

What  I  am  trying  to  say  is  that,  yes,  WPI 
might  attract  a  greater  variety  of  students 
with  a  "university  plan,"  hut  would  it  rather 
become  just  another  school  offering  a  hodge- 
podge ol  courses,  or  would  it  rather  maintain 
its  reputation  as  one  ol  the  finest  engineering 
schools  in  the  Past  and  the  prestige  that  goes 
along  with  receiving  a  degree  from  Worces- 
ter Polytechnic  Institute? 

-robert  w.  searles  '42 
brookj  \\,  Conn. 

Good  Schools 
Thrive  Without 
Name  Changes 

TO  THE  EDITOR: 

Congratulations  on  a  superb  issue 
of  the  II  PI  Journal  (Spring 
1995).  It  was  extraordinarily 
illustrative  of  the  diverse 
nature  of  the  excellent  edu- 
cation students  may  obtain 
at  WPI. 

With  the  current 
effort  to  portray  WPI 
as  more  than  a  nar- 
row engineering 
school,  I  wonder  if 
copies  of  the  Journal  are 
)eing  sent  to  advisors  of  high  school 
students.  Perhaps  this  is  already  being 
done,  but  if  not,  it  should  be  sent  to  some  of 
the  prime  sources  of  engineering  students, 
such  as  Brooklyn  Tech  (my  high  school), 
Lane  in  Chicago,  and  all  the  schools  that 
have  produced  Westinghouse  Scholars. 

Obviously,  it  is  not  possible  to  send  a 
copy  to  every  high  school  in  the  country. 
Perhaps  those  of  us  who  live  outside  of  the 
larger  population  centers  could  pass  our 
copies  on  to  the  local  high  school. 

It  seems  that  one  of  the  changes  being 
considered  to  emphasize  the  diverse  educa- 
tion available  at  WPI  is  a  new  name  for  the 
Institute.  I  would  like  to  point  out  that  there 
are  several  institutions  (MIT  and  Cal  Tech 
come  to  mind)  that  have  avoided  such  a  cos- 
metic change  and  are  still  perceived  as  pro- 
viding  a  pretty  good  education.  Even  the 
first  engineering  school  in  the  country, 
Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute,  manages  to 
thrive  on  its  original  name. 
— EUGENE  Y.  KOSSO  '46.  (,L  \|  \|  V,  CALIF. 


VTI  JOURNAL 


Stepping  Into  the  Spotli 


Edward  A.  Parrish  has 

chaired  an  electrical  engineering 

department  at  a  large  university  and 

served  as  a  dean  at  another.  He  holds 

positions  of  national  prominence  in  the 

engineering  and  educational  communities. 

He  is  widely  regarded  as  a  researcher,  an 

educator  and  an  administrator.  Now,  as  WPI's 

1 4th  president,  he  hopes  to  bring  the 

Institute  the  national  recognition  it 

deserves. 

By  Michael  Dorsey 


m 

.0: 


Parrish,  right,  starts  his  first  week  on  the  job  with  a  tour  of  the  campus  given 
by  Stephen  Hebert  '66,  vice  president  for  administration  and  treasurer. 


Summer  1995 


** 


This  spring,  when  he  learned  that  WPI  had  selected  him  to  he  its 
14th  president,  Edward  A.  Parrish  was  delighted,  although  he 
realized  it  meant  taking  on  a  host  of  challenges,  not  the  least  of 
which  was  learning  how  to  say  the  name  of  his  new  employer. 
"I  still  can't  pronounce  Worcester,"  he  says,  "although  I  am  working  on 
it.  People  from  around  the  countrj  have  been  calling  to  congratulate  me, 
and  I  hear  them  say  Worcester  all  sorts  of  ways.  I  try  not  to  listen, 
because  I  really  do  want  to  be  able  to  pronounce  it  correctly." 

A  native  of  Newport  News,  Va.,  who  has  spent  all  of  his  working 
life  below  the  Mason-Dixon  line,  Parrish  can  he  forgiven  if  he  finds  it 
difficult  to  get  the  hang  of  pronouncing  the  jumble  of  letters  that  adds 
up  to  WPI's  home  city.  But  he  is  ahead  of  many  people  outside  of  the 
Northeastern  United  States  in  recognizing  Worcester  Polytechnic 
Institute  as  an  innovative  and  high-quality  institution  for  technological 
higher  education.  Doing  something  to  expand  WPI's  reputation- 
removing  the  bushel  that  covers  WPI's  light,  as  he  has  put  it— will  be 
one  of  the  highest  priorities  of  his  administration. 

WPI  needs  to  be  better  known  for  a  number  of  reasons,  Parrish 
says.  Most  important,  a  broader  reputation  can  translate  into  a  larger 
pool  of  potential  students  and  an  easier  time  in  obtaining  funds  from 
government  agencies,  philanthropic  foundations  and  corporations. 
But  it  is  also  true,  he  says,  that  the  Institute  truly  deserves  to  be  widely 
recognized  for  the  innovative  approach  to  technical  education  that  it 
pioneered  a  quarter  century  ago.  It  is  an  approach,  Parrish  savs  from 
personal  experience,  that  is  little  known  even  among  educators 

"  I  he  National  Science  Foundation  is  funding  several  consortia 
of  technological  institutions  that  are  seeking  to  re-engineer  the  engi- 
neering curricula,"  he  says.  "I  serve  on  the  board  of  directors  of  one  of 
those  coalitions.  The  big  surprise  for  me,  as  I've  learned  more  about 
WPI  these  past  few  months,  is  that  these  groups  are  hoping  to  design 
the  WPI  Plan.  They're  trying  to  do  what  WPI  has  been  doing  for  25 
years,  and  they  don't  realize  it." 

Since  WPI  may  already  have  invented  the  solution  other  educators 
are  seeking  for  integrating  engineering  with  the  liberal  arts  (educating 
engineers  and  scientists  with  an  appreciation  for  the  humanities  and  the 
social  sciences  and  humanists  who  understand  technology),  Parrish  says 
he  thinks  the  engineering  community  should  spend  some  time  getting 
to  know  the  university  and  its  undergraduate  program  better.  "I'd  like 
to  get  the  National  Science  Foundation  to  hind  a  study  of  how  WPI's 
graduates  have  done  in  their  careers  and  lives,  compared  to  the  gradu- 
ates of  more  conventional  technological  programs,"  he  says.  "WTI  is 
about  the  only  university  in  a  position  to  conduct  such  a  longitudinal 
study.  I  think  the  results  will  not  only  establish  the  value  of  the  Plan, 
but  provide  a  vehicle  for  bringing  it  national  attention." 

Along  with  an  NSF  study,  Parrish  says  the  best  tools  at  his  disposal 
for  spreading  the  word  about  WTI  may  well  be  his  own  experience  as 
a  scholar,  educator  and  administrator,  and  his  own  national  visibility 
within  the  engineering  and  educational  communities.  For  the  past  six 
years,  for  example,  he  has  served  on  the  Engineering  Accreditation 
Commission  (EAC)  of  the  Accreditation  Board  for  Engineering  and 
Technology,  the  association  that  accredits  engineering  programs  at  the 
nation's  colleges  and  universities  (including  WTI's  programs  in  chem- 
ical, civil,  electrical,  manufacturing  and  mechanical  engineering).  He 
recently  became  chairman  of  the  EAC,  which  gives  him  responsibility 
for  overseeing  the  teams  that  visit  campuses  to  evaluate  engineering 
programs  tor  continued  accreditation.  For  someone  who  hopes  to 
educate  the  engineering  education  community  about  the  value  of  the 
WPI  Plan,  the  position  should  be  a  bully  pulpit,  he  saj  s. 

Within  the  ranks  of  electrical  engineers,  Parrish  is  also  a  well-known 
name.  He  has  held  more  than  six  dozen  posts  within  the  Institute  for 

(Continued  on  page  12) 


J  P  LANGLANDS 


WTI  Journal 


/ 


I 


f, 


r 


% 


% 


rl 


The  Interim  Presidency  of  John  Lot 


■■^HHI 


I      I 


Summer  1995 


i.n.miMlM 


This  summer, 
John  Lott  Brawn  '46 
retired  yet  again,  after 
nine  months  as  WPFs 
interim  president. 
In  that  short  time,  he 
helped  WPI  maintain 
its  forward  momen- 
tum, inspired  a  new 
spirit  of  enthusiasm  for 
educational  innovation, 
and  made  a  great  many 
friends.  Before  he 
left  office,  President 
Brown  was  asked  by  the 
Journal  to  look  back  on 
his  administration. 


. 


By  Michael  Dorsey 


It  was  a  splendid  summer  day  in  Worcester  as  K4  young  men,  all 
but  eight  in  Navy  blues,  marched  over  the  Karle  Bridge  and  into 
Aklen  Memorial.  They  were  the  members  of  WPFs  Class  of 
1946 — those  who  had  not  left  early  to  serve  the  war  effort — graduating 
a  year  early  as  part  of  the  U.S.  Navy's  accelerated  V-12  program.  For 
most  of  those  84,  the  ceremony  would  inspire  mixed  emotions. 

"The  war  in  Europe  was  over,"  says  John  Lott  Brown  '46,  "but  we 
did  not  blow  that  nuclear  weapons  would  soon  bring  about  a  rather 
rapid  end  to  the  war  in  the  Pacific.  We  didn't  know  how  much  longer 
we'd  be  in  the  Navy  when  we  left  WPI.  So  while  it  was  a  happy  time,  it 
was  also  a  time  of  some  anxiety,  because  we  didn't  know  what  the 
future  held  for  us." 

Five  decades  later,  Brown  attended  another  WPI  graduation  exer- 
cise. Once  again,  it  was  a  grand,  sunny  day,  and  once  again,  the  audi- 
ence (now  filling  most  of  the  Quadrangle)  included  many  young  gradu- 
ates wondering  what  the  future  would  bring  them.  But  this  time,  Brow  n 
was  not  among  them.  As  interim  president  of  WPI,  he  presided  over 
the  ceremony  from  the  stage,  an  experience  he  says  was  "a  real  kick." 

"It  was  a  great  experience  to  be  there,  50  years  after  my  own  gradu- 
ation," he  says.  "You  can't  really  describe  the  emotions  you  feel  in  a  sit- 
uation like  that.  It  was  just  thoroughly  delightful.  I  had  the  privilege  to 
shake  hands  with  some  800  people  as  I  handed  out  the  diplomas. 

"Now  I  would  have  settled  for  half  that  number,  in  terms  of  the 
thrill  involved,  but  I  enjoyed  every  minute  of  it,"  he  adds.  (Having  suf- 
fered a  shoulder  separation  earlier  in  the  year  while  skiing,  Brown  had 
been  exercising  his  right  arm  for  several  weeks  prior  to  the  ceremony 
by  squeezing  a  hard  rubber  ball.  "That  exercise  didn't  hurt  a  bit," 
he  says,  "because  there  are  always  a  few  students  who  really  want  to 
put  the  squeeze  on  the  president's  hand  to  see  how  far  they  can  get. 
With  the  exercise — and  getting  the  proper  grip — I  was  able  to  hold 
my  own,  though.") 

The  spring  Commencement  marked  the  end  of  the  1994-95  acade- 
mic year,  a  year  that  began  with  the  departure  of  Jon  C.  Strauss,  WPFs 
13  th  president,  and  the  subsequent  search  for  a  person  with  the  right 
background — and  the  willingness — to  take  on  the  responsibility  of  lead- 
ing the  Institute  for  the  year  or  more  that  would  be  needed  to  conduct 
a  formal,  national  search  for  a  new  chief  executive  officer. 

The  Executive  Committee  of  the  WTI  Board  of  Trustees  consid- 
ered a  number  of  candidates  and  narrowed  the  list  to  a  few  finalists. 
Prominent  on  that  short  list  was  the  name  John  Lott  Brown.  "I  was 
approached  in  late  August  and  asked  if  I  wanted  to  be  a  candidate,"  he 
says.  "I  didn't  have  to  think  about  it  very  long.  I've  been  involved  with 
WPI  for  a  long  time,  as  a  student,  an  alum  ami  a  member  of  the  board. 
As  an  educator  myself,  I've  taken  great  pride  in  the  WTI  Plan,  more  so 
because  my  friend  and  classmate  Bill  Grogan  '46  had  such  a  significant 
role  in  making  it  work.  I  told  them  that,  if  they  believed  me  to  be  the 
best  person  for  the  job,  I  would,  without  reservation,  accept." 

After  interviewing  the  finalists  in  Boston,  the  Executive  Committee 
voted  unanimously  on  Sept.  12,  1994,  to  offer  the  job  to  Brown.  True 
to  his  word,  he  accepted  immediately.  "1  didn't  even  ask  them  how 
much  it  would  pay,"  he  says. 

The  committee  was  impressed  widi  Brown's  experience  as  a  college 
president  and  his  knowledge  of  and  endiusiasm  for  WTI  (see  story,  page 
22).  "We  have  a  very  significant  person  here  who  is  willing  to  serve  us  as 
long  as  it  takes  us  to  conduct  our  permanent  search,"  M  Howard  Jacob- 
son,  then  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  told  the  Worcester  Telegram 
&  Gazette.  "He's  a  distinguished  scholar,  academician,  teacher  and 
administrator.  We  are  thrilled  that  he  is  willing  to  step  in  at  this  time.... 
He  will  be  a  great  credit  to  this  institution  and  this  community." 

(Continued  on  page  20) 


WPI  Journal 


o 

^^^  ept.  28  marks  the  100th  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Wallace 
Va^  K.  Harrison,  one  of  the  most  important  architects  of  the 
20th  century.  Harrison,  like  Frederick  Law  Olmstead,  the  first 
great  landscape  architect,  was  born  and  raised  in  Worcester.  Unlike 
( )lmstead,  who  created  one  of  his  great  legacies,  Elm  Park,  in 
Worcester,  Harrison  was  never  to  have  a  commission  in  his  home 

city.  Both,  however,  had  a  major  impact  on 
the  way  we  see  our  modern  world,  and  both 
1^^^  «^^i        left  enduring  legai  ies,  particularl)  in  New 
I  ■  York  City. 

■I      ■  ^^"  Olmstead's  greatest  work  was  Central 

Park.  For  Harrison,  the  choice  could  be 
made  from  among  several  monumental  building  projects,  including 
Rockefeller  Center,  the  United  Nations  Headquarters,  the  Metro- 
politan Opera  House,  and  the  Trylon  and  Perisphere,  which 
formed  the  centerpiece  for  the  1939  World's  Fair.  Harrison's 
reputation  as  an  architect  rested  as  much  on  his  ability  to  oversee 
and  coordinate  such  big  projects  as  it  did  on  the  visual  impact  of 
the  architecture  itself. 

Though  Harrison's  work  is  familiar  to  most  everyone,  what 
readers  of  the  WP1  Journal  may  not  know  is  that  this  internationally 
renowned  architect  received  some  of  his  seminal  training  in  struc- 
tural engineering  from  Arthur  W.  "Pa"  French,  professor  of  civil 


The  Life  and  Career  of  Wallace  K.  Harrison 


The  Metropolitan  Opera 
House.  U.N.  Headquarters. 


Rockefeller  Center.  What 


do  these  landmarks  have 


in  common?  They  were  all 
designed  by  Wallace 
Harrison,  who  began  his 


formal  education  at  WPI. 


Here  is  the  story  of  one  of  the 
century's  greatest  architects. 


Summer  1995 


SB 


engineering  at  WPI.  Harrison  took  night  courses  taught  by  French, 
who  himself  had  worked  extensively  on  problems  ot  flat-slab  rein- 
forced concrete  buildings.  Many  of  I  Iarrison's  greatest  projects 
made  use  of  this  technology. 

What  is,  perhaps,  most  remarkable  about  I  Iarrison's  career  was 
the  purposefulncss  with  which  he  pursued  it.  I  Iarrison's  parents, 
Rachel  and  James  I  [arrison,  both  traced  their  roots  to  Yorkshire, 
England.  Rachel  was  in  her  early  40s  and  James  was  50  when  Wal- 
lace, their  only  child,  was  born.  The  family  lived  in  a  three-decker 
home  on  Hathaway  Street  in  Worcester,  not  far  from  the  Clark 
University  campus.  When  Wallace  was  14,  his  mother  died;  not 
long  after  that,  his  father  disappeared,  leaving  the  high  school 
freshman  to  fend  for  himself. 

To  get  by,  Harrison  went  to  work  as  an  office  boy  at  O.W. 
Norcross,  one  of  the  nation's  leading  construction  companies,  for 
a  salary  of  $3  per  week.  He  rented  a  room  from  the  mother  of 
Norcross'  head  office  boy  and  began  his  long  climb  to  the  ranks 
of  America's  pre-eminent  architects.  The  job  at  Norcross  he  owed 
to  Louis  W.  Wilson,  librarian  at  Clark  University,  whom  he  had 
met  at  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Worcester.  In  1910  Wilson  advised 
Harrison  to  consider  two  careers:  architecture  and  chemistry,  both 
of  which  were  set  to  mushroom  in  the  decades  ahead. 

O.W.  Norcross  was  founded  in  1864,  just  a  year  before  John 
Boynton  made  his  gift  to  establish  WPI.  Founders  James  and 
Orlando  Norcross,  natives  of  Maine,  built  virtually  all  of  architect 
II. II.  Richardson's  major  works,  including  one  of  his  earliest,  the 
former  Classical  High  School  in  Worcester,  which  now  houses  the 
administrative  offices  of  the  Worcester  school  system.  The  firm  was 
also  the  general  contractor  for  Worcester's  City  Hall,  and  it  was 
the  contractor  for  the  New  York  Public  Library.  It  was  a  remark- 
able and  fortuitous  setting  for  Harrison  to  find  himself  in,  despite 
Orlando's  attempt  to  throw  cold  water  on  his  ambitions  by  advising 
him  that  "only  fools  practice  architecture." 

In  March  1913,  at  age  17,  Harrison  left  O.W.  Norcross  for  a 
job  paying  $9  a  week  at  Frost  &  Chamberlain,  then  Worcester's 
leading  architectural  firm.  Coincidentally,  1913  was  the  year  that 
Stephen  C.  Earle,  the  city's  greatest  architect,  died.  Earle  was  the 
dominant  architect  during  Worcester's  greatest  period  of  develop- 
ment, and  he  also  designed  most  of  the  19th-century  buildings  on 
the  WPI  campus  (Boynton  Hall  was  his  first  significant  commis- 
sion). While  at  Frost  &  Chamberlain,  Harrison  took  his  night 
courses  with  Professor  French.  During  working  hours,  he  put  what 
he  learned  at  WPI  to  use  as  he  designed  concrete  frames  for  large 
mill  structures  at  Niagara  Falls. 
(Continued  on  piige  16) 


PHOTO  COURTESY  OF  THE  UNITED  NATIONS 


From  left,  the  magnificent  bell 
tower  Harrison  designed  to 
accompany  his  stunning  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Stam- 
ford, Conn,  (see  back  cover); 
Harrison  seated  before  a  model 
of  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
House  interior;  exterior  of  the 
opera  house;  the  interior  of 
Radio  City  Music  Hall,  part 
of  the  Rockefeller  Center 
complex;  U.N.  Headquarters 
in  New  York. 


WPI  Journal 


ii 


'A 


Thanks  to  a  generous  gift  from  a  California  educator  and  enthusiast, 

WPI  is  now  home  to  a  major  collection  of  artifacts  and  scholarly  material  related 

to  Charles  Dickens.  Here's  a  look  at  what  scholars  and  students  will  find  in 

the  new  Robert  D.  Fellman  Dickens  Collection. 


\>\  Joel  J.  Brati  i\ 


hrough  his  brilliant  novels,  Charles 
Dickens  defined  the  Victorian  era 
and  helped  shape  our  understand- 
ing of  this  important  period  in 
British  history.  This  may  explain 
why,  alter  Shakespeare,  Dickens  is 
the  most  studied  writer  in  English.  Dickens  is  also 
one  ot  the  most  widely  read  of  all  authors,  and  for 
excellent  reasons.  His  brilliant  characterizations, 
ebullient  humor,  vivid  and  colorful  style,  and  keen 
observation  and  deep  understanding  ot  the  way 
people  think,  feel,  talk  and  behave  resonate  pow- 
erfully with  readers.  Novels  like  The  Pickwick 
Papers,  David  Copperfield,  Little  Dorrit  and  Great 
Expectations — and  characters  like  Scrooge,  Fagin, 
I  ittle  Nell  and  Pecksniff — take  their  place  among 
our  culture's  greatest  literary  treasures. 

WPI  recently  received  a  remarkably  rich  col- 
lection ot  Charles  Dickens  materials  as  a  gift  from  a 
private  collector,  Robert  D.  bellman  of  Palo  Alto, 
( lalif.  This  generous  donation,  which  -izs&s 

will  ultimately  be  housed  in  a  spe- 
cial room  in  Gordon  Library  to 
be  know  n  as  the  Robert  D.  Fell- 
man  Dickens  Room,  establishes 
WPI  as  the  premier  source  for 
Dickens  material  in  Central 
Massachusetts.  The  Fellman 
Collection  contains  valuable 
first  editions,  unique  manu- 
scripts, original  and  rare  illus- 
trations, and  fascinating  sec- 
ondary sources  from  the  19rh 
and  20th  centuries — all  of  extra- 
ordinary value  to  scholars  and 
students  of  Dickens. 

The  collection  includes 
more  than  100  volumes  of  Dickens' 
writings,  more  than  35  manuscripts  and  auto- 
graph letters,  246  volumes  in  sets  (including  the 
National,  Gadshill  and  Heritage  Press  editions  of 
Dickens),  168  volumes  of  Dickens-related  period- 
icals, about  150  volumes  of  letters,  biographies 
and  illustrations,  and  about  250  volumes  of  refer- 
ence works,  criticism,  and  commentary  on  the 
novel,  Dickens'  England,  the  Victorian  period, 
and  related  English  authors.  Also  available  to 
scholars  are  a  variety  of  art  objects  and  a  valuable 
set  of  Dickens-related  slides  and  videotapes. 

This  outstanding  collection  features  rare  first 
editions  of  almost  all  of  Dickens'  major  works.  All 
of  Dickens'  novels  were  originally  published  seri- 
ally, in  weekly  (or  more  usually  monthly)  install- 
ments, and  collections  of  those  original  "parts"  are 
of  great  scholarly  interest.  The  first  19th-century 
purchasers  of  such  works  as  Nicholas  Nickleby, 
Dombey  and  Sou,  David  Copperfield,  Bleak  House, 
Little  Dorrit  and  The  Mystery  of  Edwin  Drood  read 
these  works  not  in  bound  volumes,  but  in  paper- 


bound  booklets,  issued  monthly,  cub  number  of 
which  included  32  pages  ot  Dickens'  remarkable 
text,  two  engraved  illustrations,  and  a  number  of 
advertisements  that  reveal  much  about  the  habits 
and  preoccupations  of  Victorian  England.  The 
Fellman  collection  includes  copies  of  all  the 
above-named  works  in  the  original  monthly 
installments. 

Some  of  Dickens'  novels  originally  appeared 
in  other  periodical  forms.  Oliver  Twist  was  first 
published  in  Bentleys  Miscellany,  a  periodical 
edited  for  publisher  Bentley  by  a  youthful  (diaries 
Dickens.  The  Old  Curiosity  Shop  and  Barnaby  Rudge 
appeared  first  in  Master  Humphrey's  (Jock:  ;i  week- 
ly serial  ot  Dickens'  Hard  Tunes  was  published 
in  the  Dickcns-'Vonducted"  Household  Words;  and 
A  Tale  of  Two  Cities  and  Great  Expectations  made 
their  debut  in  All  the  Year  Round,  the  last  of  the 
journals  Dickens  edited.  With  the  Fellman  gift, 
WPI  now  has  runs  of  all  of  these  valuable  19th- 


century  periodicals  complete  through  1870, 
the  year  of  Dickens'  death. 

In  addition  to  the  original  part  publications, 
the  Fellman  collection  boasts  fine  bound  first  edi- 
tions (usually  bound  from  periodical  issues,  or 
printed  from  the  same  plates)  of  Pickwick  Papers, 
Oliver  Twist,  Nicholas  Nickleby,  The  Old  Curiosity 
Shop,  Barnaby  Rudge,  Martin  Chuzzlewit,  Dombey 
,/ nd  Son,  David  Copperfield,  Bleak  House. .  Imerican 
Notes,  The  Life  of  Our  Lord,  Little  Dorrit  and  Our 
\lut mil  Friend, 

But  the  first  editions  are  only  the  beginning  of 
the  riches  in  this  outstanding  collection.  As  part  of 
bellman's  extraordinary  gift,  WPI  received  eight 
original  autograph  Dickens  letters — several  of  sub- 
stantial length  and  significance.  Four  of  these  letters, 
published  only  recently,  were  written  to  Joseph  C. 
King,  a  London  schoolmaster,  and  discuss  the  edu- 
cation of  Dickens'  sons  Walter  and  Charley.  In  the 
earliest  of  these,  dated  Feb.  24,  1849,  Dickens  tells 

(Continued  on  page  26) 


Left,  George  Cruikshank's 
famous  illustration  of 
"Oliver  asking  for  more" 
from  the  original  edition 
of  Dickens'  Oliver  Twist. 
A  bound  first  edition  of 
the  novel  is  among  the 
hundreds  of  items  in  the 
Robert  Fellman  Dickens 
Collection.  Opposite 
page,  a  portrait  of 
Dickens  from  1859. 


WP I  Journal 


II 


Parrish  meets  the  press 
on  May  19,  1995,  just 
after  his  election  as 
president  by  the  WPI 
Board  of  Trustees. 


Stepping  Into  the  Spotlight 

(Continued  from  page  5) 

Electrical  and  Electronics  Engineers,  many  at  the 
national  level.  In  1988  he  served  as  president  of 
the  IEEE  Computer  Society.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  IEEE  board  of  directors  from  1990  to  1993 
and  has  been  vice  president  of  educational  activi- 
ties. He  served  as  an 
IEEE  delegate  to 
the  U.S.S.R.  in  1977 
and  to  the  People's 
Republic  of  China 
in  1978.  In  1980  he 
returned  to  China 
as  the  co-director  of 
an  IEEE  Computer 
Society  delegation. 
He  went  to  China 
again  in  1983  and 
1984  as  general  chair- 
man of  the  First  Inter- 
national Conference  on  Computers  and  Applica- 
tions. In  1990  he  returned  to  Russia  as 
part  of  a  three-person  group  invited  by  the  Popov 
Society.  Earlier  this  year,  he  was  named  editor  in 
chief  of  IEEE  Computer,  the  journal  of  the  IEEE 
Computer  Society.  For  his  contributions  to  pictor- 
ial pattern  recognition  and  to  engineering  educa- 
tion, he  was  named  a  fellow  of  the  IEEE  in  1986. 
Parrish's  own  road  to  a  career  as  an  engineer 
and  educator  began  as  a  teenager  in  Newport 
News,  where  he  delighted  in  poking  around  the 
insides  of  the  family  television  set  to  see  how  it 
worked.  With  the  encouragement  of  his  parents, 
Molly,  a  director  of  remedial  reading  in  the  public 
schools,  and  Edward  Sr.,  a  real  estate  appraiser, 
he  decided  to  join  the  service  after  high  school. 
In  1954,  after  a  brief  stint  in  the  Naval  Reserve, 
he  enlisted  in  the  Air  Force  and  found  himself 
assigned  as  an  air  traffic  control  instructor  in 
Biloxi,  Miss. 

After  an  honorable  discharge  in  1958,  he 
enrolled  as  a  freshman  electrical  engineering  major 
at  the  University  of  Virginia  at  Charlottesville. 
During  his  junior  year  he  left  the  university  to  take 
a  job  as  a  senior  programmer  and  project  head  at 
Amerad  Corp.  in  Charlottesville.  Over  the  next 
three  years,  he  headed  a  team  that  developed  soft- 
ware for  modeling  and  computer  graphics.  A  fellow 
programmer  at  Amerad,  Shirley  Johnson,  a  1961 
Vanderbilt  graduate  in  mathematics,  would 
become  Parrish's  wife  a  few  years  later.  They  have 
two  sons:  Troy,  a  systems  analyst  who  graduated 
from  the  University  of  Virginia,  and  Greg,  who  is 
majoring  in  electronic  art  and  computer  animation 
at  Mississippi  State  University. 

Parrish  returned  to  the  University  of  Virginia 
and  completed  his  bachelor's  degree  in  1964.  He 
decided  to  stay  on  at  the  university  to  earn  a  mas- 
ter's and  a  doctorate.  During  his  first  two  years  of 


graduate  study  he  served  as  a  research  assistant  in 
the  Research  Laboratory  for  the  Engineering  Sci- 
ences within  the  school  of  engineering  and  applied 
sciences,  where  he  worked  on  computer  models  of 
silicon-controlled  rectifiers,  devices  that  convert 
alternating  current  to  direct  current.  From  1966 
to  1968  he  held  a  National  Aeronautics  and  Space 
Administration  Fellowship,  which  funded  his 
research  in  the  area  of  pattern  recognition,  a  field 
dedicated  to  research  on  computer  systems  that 
search  for  patterns  in  data,  including  visual  data. 

Parrish  received  his  Sc.D.  in  1968  and  accepted 
an  offer  to  join  the  faculty  of  the  department  of 
electrical  engineering  as  an  assistant  professor.  He 
continued  to  expand  his  work  in  pattern  recogni- 
tion and  image  processing,  publishing  nearly  50 
papers  in  scholarly  journals  over  the  next  10  years 
and  serving  as  principal  investigator  or  co-investi- 
gator on  some  25  research  contracts  and  awards 
from  the  Department  of  Defense,  the  NSF,  NASA 
and  several  corporations.  He  was  also  a  consultant 
to  several  high-technology  firms  and  the  U.S. 
Army  Foreign!  Science  and  Technology  Center 
and  he  directed  three  university  research  labs. 

In  1978,  Parrish,  now  a  full  professor,  was 
named  chair  of  the  department,  a  position  he 
would  hold  lor  the  next  eight  years.  Over  that  peri- 
od he  hired  several  new  faculty  members,  many  of 
whom  have  taken  on  positions  of  leadership  in  the 
department  and  within  the  university.  He  devel- 
oped several  new  courses  that  are  still  being  taught. 
He  led  the  development  and  enhancement  of  the 
graduate  research  program,  and  he  took  on  the 
responsibility  for  developing  and  deploying  a  dis- 
tributed computing  environment  for  the  entire 
university.  Despite  the  administrative  demands  of 
the  job,  he  maintained  an  active  research  program, 
publishing  more  than  25  additional  articles  (his  list 
of  publications  now  totals  more  than  100)  and 
obtaining  more  than  15  new  contracts  and  awards 
from  government  and  corporate  sponsors. 

Parrish  says  he  felt  quite  content  with  his  pro- 
fessional and  personal  life  in  Charlottesville.  He 
routinely  turned  down  inquiries  from  other  univer- 
sities— until  Vanderbilt  University  came  calling  in 
1986.  He  had  become  familiar  with  the  university 
through  his  wife  and  through  his  own  contacts 
with  the  Vanderbilt  school  of  engineering.  He  was 
impressed  with  the  quality  of  the  faculty  and  with 
the  university's  commitment  to  increasing  the  size 
and  quality  of  the  engineering  school  in  order  to 
propel  it  to  national  prominence. 

Parrish  set  out  immediately  to  achieve  that 
goal.  In  his  first  two  years  he  hired  24  new  faculty 
members;  in  his  eight  years  on  the  job  he  would  fill 
a  total  of  45  faculty  positions,  including  six  new 
named  faculty  chairs,  increasing  the  size  of  the 
school's  professorate  by  more  than  40  percent. 
Included  among  those  new  hires  were  five  women, 
four  blacks  and  one  Hispanic.  "I  consider  building 
the  quality  faculty  that  the  Vanderbilt  University 


12 


Summer  1995 


School  of  Engineering  now  enjoys  my  biggest 
accomplishment  as  dean,"  lie  says. 

During  his  term  as  clean,  sponsored  research 
in  the  school  of  engineering  more  than  doubled, 
from  $4.3  million  in  1987  to  more  than  $10  million 
in  1994.  The  school  raised  more  than  $18  million 
in  the  university's  recent  fund-raising  campaign. 
And  the  engineering  program  led  the  university  in 
the  acquisition  of  computer  technology  tor  teach- 
ing and  research. 

Among  his  most  significant  accomplishments 
as  dean — ones  he  hopes  to  replicate  at  WPI 
were  the  significant  growth  in  interest  in  and  appli- 
cations to  the  undergraduate  and  graduate  pro- 
grams, and  an  increase  in  enrollment  by  students 
able  to  pay  Vanderbilt's  full  tuition.  The  latter 
trend  enabled  the  school  of  engineering  to  cap  the 
exponential  growth  it  had  been  experiencing  in  its 
financial  aid  expenditures. 

Between  1989  and  1994,  undergraduate  enroll- 
ment in  the  school  grew  by  more  than  200  to  just 
over  1,200.  Not  only  did  the  school  not  have  to 
sacrifice  selectivity  to  achieve  that  growth,  it  was 
forced  to  institute  a  waiting  list  two  years  ago  to 
avoid  enrolling  excessivelv  large  freshman  classes. 
While  most  engineering  programs — including 
WPI's — are  struggling  to  enhance  their  appeal 
to  women  and  minorities,  the  Vanderbilt  school 
of  engineering  can  now  boast  that  25  percent  of 
its  students  are  women  and  1 5  percent  are  from 
underepresented  minorities  (9  percent  are  black). 
The  geographic  diversity  of  the  student  body 
has  also  expanded,  as  the  school  has  built  up  a 
national — and  international — pool  of  applicants. 

A  number  of  initiatives  combined  to  produce 
those  impressive  numbers,  Parrish  says.  For  exam- 
ple, he  says  the  school  ramped  up  its  national  mar- 
keting efforts  and  got  faculty  members,  students 
and  alumni  involved  in  helping  to  convert  accepted 
students  into  matriculated  freshmen.  For  example, 
every  admitted  student  receives  two  or  three  phone 
calls  from  faculty  members.  A  largely  student- 
driven  open  house  on  campus  shows  off  the 
school's  facilities  and  the  high  level  of  achievement 
of  its  student  body-  And  alumni  clubs  around  the 
country  hold  functions  for  accepted  students  and 
their  parents,  which  faculty7  members  attend. 

Parrish  credits  three  summer  programs  devel- 
oped in  the  school  with  helping  boost  applica- 
tions— particularly  from  students  able  to  pay  full 
tuition.  One  program  brings  sophomores  and 
juniors  from  primarily  private  high  schools  to 
campus  for  five  weeks  to  participate  in  research, 
to  learn  about  computers  and  the  Internet,  to 
experience  college  life,  and  to  see  firsthand  what 
engineers  actually  do.  Starting  with  fewer  than  20 
students  four  years  ago,  the  program  now  attracts 
nearly  90  students  each  summer,  75  to  80  percent 
of  whom  go  on  to  enroll  at  Vanderbilt. 

A  more  recent  summer  program  aimed  at 
transfer  students  has  also  been  highly  successful, 


particularly  in  attracting  students  from  overseas 
(like  WPI,  Vanderbilt  does  not  offer  financial  aid 
to  foreign  students).  The  school  has  also  worked 
directly  with  foreign  embassies  in  Washington, 
D.C.,  to  build  its  international  student  enrollment. 
Between  the  two  summer  programs  and  the  contact 
with  embassies,  Parrish  says  the  school  of  engineer- 
ing has  brought  in  an  average  of  about  50  full- 
tuition-paving  freshmen  each  year  out  of  a  fresh- 
man class  that  typically  numbers  330.  To  increase 
graduate  enrollment — particularly  in  a  non-thesis 
master  of  engineering  program  that  brings  in  most- 
ly  full-Uiition-paving  students — the  school  started  a 
summer  program  for  prospective  graduate  students. 

All  of  these  efforts  have  combined  to  level  off 
the  growth  in  the  school's  financial  aid  budget. 
"When  I  became  dean,  we  were  spending  1  1  per- 
cent of  our  tuition  revenue  on  financial  aid,"  he 
says.  "Five  years  later 
that  figure  had  dou- 
bled. It  didn't  take  a 
rocket  scientist  to  fol- 
low that  trajectory — 
it  was  going  to  double 
again  in  three  years. 
These  programs  have 
made  all  the  differ- 
ence in  the  world. 

"At  WPI,  devel- 
oping a  large,  quality 
pool  of  potential 
undergraduates  will 
also  be  a  high  priority  for  me.  This  will  take  time 
and  effort  by  all  concerned.  The  good  news  is  that 
WPI  has  an  outstanding  product  to  market.  As  we 
did  at  Vanderbilt,  I  hope  to  involve  the  faculty, 
students  and  alumni  in  recruiting  efforts.  And  I 
want  to  increase  contact  with  good  high  schools 
across  the  countiy.  Increasing  transfer  students  is 
also  possible,  as  is  bringing  in  more  international 
students  who  can  add  diversity  to  the  student  body 
and  bring  in  tuition  revenue.  And  all  of  these 
things  can  be  done  with  an  eye  to  the  financial  aid 
implications." 

By  the  time  the  phone  call  came  from  Korn/ 
Ferry  International,  the  search  firm  WPI  used  in  its 
national  effort  to  recruit  a  new  president,  Parrish 
was  already  thinking  about  the  next  direction  his 
career  might  take.  He  had  been  a  university  dean 
for  eight  years,  and  he  believed  that  anyone  in  such 
a  demanding  administrative  post  needs  to  change 
gears  after  10  vears  to  avoid  getting  in  a  rut. 

He  considered  various  opportunities  at  other 
universities  and  was  offered  the  job  of  provost  at 
one  school.  But  Parrish  felt  that  his  experience  at 
Vanderbilt  had  also  prepared  him  tor  the  demands 
of  a  more  senior  position — college  president. 

"The  school  of  engineering  is  an  autonomous 
unit  of  the  universitv,"  he  says.  "As  a  result,  the 
financial  aspects  of  running  the  school,  in  particu- 
lar, are  similar  to  those  of  running  the  university, 


"At  WPI, 

developing  a  large, 
quality  pool  of 
potential  under- 
graduates will  also 
be  a  high  priority 
for  me.  This  will 
take  time  and 
effort  by  all 
concerned. " 


WPI  Journal 


13 


"If  you  try  to  survive 
as  a  university  over 
the  next  20  years 
purely  on  the  basis 
of  programs  in  sci- 
ence and  engineering 
—  particularly  engi- 
neering —  it  will  be 
interesting  to  see  if 
you  make  it.  I  don  yt 
think  you  will." 


Stepping  Into  the  Spotlight 

(Continued  from  previous  page) 

except  for  a  scale  factor.  I  had  to  deal  with  enroll- 
ment and  financial  aid  problems.  The  faculty  and  I 
developed  a  strategic  plan  for  the  school  that  I  dien 
carried  out  via  the  creation  of  new  faculty  positions, 
new  facilities  and  so  on.  I  had  responsibility  for 
development  and  fund-raising  activities,  based  on 
our  independent  needs,  which  were  integrated  with 
those  of  the  university.  I  also  had  to  deal  with  a 
number  of  personnel  issues  associated  with  manag- 
ing a  faculty  and  staff.  These  are  not  all  that  differ- 
ent than  the  responsibilities  of  a  president,  though 
the  time  demands  on  a  president  are  more  intense." 

While  the  time  was  right  to  make  a  move,  he- 
had  to  decide  whether  WPI  was  the  right  destina- 
tion. From  his  years  of  involvement  with  ABET 
and  IEEE,  Parrish  had  come  to  know  VVPI's  name 
and  reputation  for  quality.  As  he  began  to  look 
more  closely  at  the  college,  he  was  struck  by  the 
quality  of  the  faculty,  by  the  admirable  degree  of 
collegiality  that  exists  among  the  faculty  and  be- 
tween the  faculty  and  students,  by  the  Institute's 
rich  sense  of  history  and  tradition,  by  the  Global 
Perspective  Program,  which  is  setting  the  pace  in 
global  studies  among  technological  universities 
in  the  U.S.,  by  the  beauty  of  the  campus,  and  by 
WPFs  location  in  the  heart  of  New  England's  high 
technology  belt. 

But  it  was  the  WPI  Plan  and  the  Institute's 
legacy  of  educational  innovation  that  impressed 
him  the  most.  In  the  Plan,  Parrish  says  he  sees  the 
means  for  increasing  WPI's  reputation  and  build- 
ing a  larger  and  more  diverse  pool  of  applicants. 
But  Parrish  also  sees  in  the  Plan  an  excellent 
foundation  upon  which  WTI  can  build  a  more 
comprehensive  technological  university. 

"Comprehensive  means  different  things  to  dif- 
ferent people,"  he  says.  "I'm  sure  some  people  reel 
defensive  when  you  talk  about  making  WTI  more 
comprehensive,  because  it  sounds  as  if  you  are 
going  to  try  to  slice  a  fixed  budget  pie  into  even 
more  pieces.  But  on  the  other  hand,  if  you  try  to 
survive  as  a  university  over  the  next  20  years  purely 
on  the  basis  of  programs  in  science  and  engineer- 
ing— particularly  engineering — it  will  be  interest- 
ing to  see  if  you  make  it.  I  don't  think  you  will. 

"So  I  think  WTI  needs  to  become  more  com- 
prehensive without  losing  sight  of  its  roots.  That 
means  becoming  a  more  comprehensive  technologi- 
cal university.  I  think  the  directions  in  which  WTI 
has  already  begun  to  move,  for  example  creating 
"interface  disciplines"  and  building  strong  pro- 
grams in  the  life  and  biomedical  sciences,  are  quite 
appropriate.  With  the  growing  interest  in  health 
care,  the  biomedical  area  can  be  a  real  draw." 

Beyond  building  on  WTI's  existing  strengths  in 
technology  and  science,  Parrish  says  the  Institute 
will  need  to  find  ways  to  attract  students  who  are 
interested  in  nontechnical  majors,  but  who  wish  to 


pursue  them  in  a  technical  setting.  He  says  WTI 
can  become  the  hallmark  of  what  he  calls  the  "new 
liberal  arts."  "Technology  is  woven  throughout  the 
fabric  of  our  society,"  he  says.  "Everybody  has  to 
be  computer  literate.  Everybody  has  to  know  more 
mathematics  than  ever  before.  It  doesn't  matter  if 
you  are  majoring  in  literature  or  foreign  languages 
or  political  science,  you  will  need  to  understand 
technology. 

"So  WTI  simply  can't  afford  to  focus  primarily 
on  engineering — this  is  another  aspect  of  becoming 
more  comprehensive.  WTiat  we  have  to  sell  is  a  new 
liberal  arts  education,  something  that  a  truly  com- 
prehensive university,  perhaps,  can't  sell. 

"I  think  the  culture  at  WPI  lends  itself  to  such 
a  new  liberal  arts  education,  an  education  that 
would  couple  the  humanities  and  social  sciences 
more  closely  with  technological  issues — particu- 
larly computing  and  communications  technolo- 
gies. That  could  be  quite  attractive  to  prospective 
students.  If  you  combine  that  with  the  pre-health 
and  pre-law  programs  that  are  already  being 
developed  at  WPI,  you  evolve  into  a  more  com- 
prehensive institution.  And  it  is  an  evolution, 
not  a  revolution,  that  I  see.  And  I  do  think  it  is  a 
matter  of  survival,  at  least  survival  with  the  kind 
of  quality  for  which  WPI  is  known." 

The  WTI  Plan,  the  evolution  of  a  new  liberal 
arts  curriculum,  and  WTI's  constantly  expanding 
and  widely  recognized  global  projects  program  are 
elements  of  a  WPI  education  that  should  be  partic- 
ularly exciting  to  industry,  Parrish  says,  because 
they  enable  the  Institute  to  prepare  the  kind  of 
professionals  corporations  seem  to  be  clamoring 
for:  young  men  and  women  who  are  self-motivated 
and  entrepreneurial,  are  able  to  work  in  teams  to 
solve  problems,  can  communicate  well  orally  and 
in  writing,  and  are  comfortable  living  and  working 
anvwhere  in  the  world.  "There's  not  another  pro- 
gram that  is  even  a  close  second  to  WTI"  in  this 
regard,  Parrish  recently  told  the  Worcester 
Telegram  &  Gazette. 

"As  we  promote  the  new  liberal  arts  education 
and  WTI's  niche  in  it,  I  think  industry  will  come  to 
us,"  he  says.  "Most  of  the  NSF-funded  coalitions 
have  industry  backing,  because  it  is  widely  recog- 
nized that  today's  graduates  aren't  equipped  with 
the  appropriate  education  to  help  companies  com- 
pete in  an  international  economy.  The  proposed 
NSF  study  of  our  graduates  is  one  mechanism  for 
approaching  industry  and  getting  the  word  out.  As 
more  companies  learn  about  WTI  and  the  educa- 
tion it  provides,  we  can  expect  additional  support 
for  projects — both  financial  and  in-kind — and  more 
employment  opportunities  for  our  students." 

Financial  support  from  corporations  and  many 
other  constituencies  will  be  very  much  on  Parrish's 
mind  during  the  early  months  of  his  administra- 
tion, as  the  university  completes  its  plans  for  a  new 
major  fund-raising  campaign.  He  says  it  is  too  early 
to  begin  talking  about  specific  goals  for  the  drive, 


14 


Summer  1995 


hut  he  says  there  are  a  number  of  needs  that  almost 
certainly  will  he  addressed. 

"The  more  ohvious  priorities  for  the  campaign 
may  not  he  driven  by  purely  strategic  goals;  they 
will  be  more  mundane,"  he  says.  "We  will  want 
to  raise  endowment  hinds  for  honor  scholarships, 
we  will  want  to  create  additional  endowed  faculty 
chairs  so  that  we  can  maintain — and  build  on — the 
quality  of  the  faculty,  and  we  will  need  funds  to 
improve  the  quality  of  life  on  campus. 

"Under  quality  of  life,  1  include  the  campus 
center  that  has  been  under  discussion  for  some 
time,  as  well  as  improvements  to  classrooms  and 
other  educational  facilities.  In  fact,  the  quality  of 
life,  as  measured  by  the  infrastructure  to  support 
the  educational  environment,  is  so  important  for 
recruitment  and  retention,  that  I  don't  see  how  the 
campaign  can  help  hut  address  it." 

As  the  campaign  unfolds,  Parrish  says  he  will 
be  looking  to  WPFs  20,000  alumni  for  help,  not 
just  as  donors,  hut  as  volunteers  to  help  in  all 
aspects  of  running  this  major  fund-raising  initia- 
tive. But  that  is  just  one  of  a  number  of  ways  he 
says  he  hopes  to  get  graduates  involved  in  advanc- 
ing the  instimtion. 

"We've  got  to  get  WPFs  secret  unveiled,"  he 
says,  "and  alumni  are  especially  well  placed  to  do 
that.  And  by  helping  us  get  the  word  out  and  get- 
ting us  well  knowrn  outside  of  New  England,  they 
can  help  with  our  recruiting  efforts.  They  can  assist 
in  career  development,  helping  students  who  are 
coming  along  find  summer  internships  and  co-op 
opportunities — as  well  as  simply  helping  students 
find  jobs.  Having  a  strong  regional  alumni  club 
program  can  make  a  difference  in  all  of  these  things 
— especially  in  helping  build  name  recognition — 
so  I  think  I'd  like  to  stir  up  that  program. 

"In  my  first  year  or  so  at  WPI I  hope  to  travel 
around  and  meet  as  many  alumni  as  possible, 
because  I'd  really  like  to  get  a  sense  of  this  institu- 
tion and  of  what  their  education  meant  to  them. 
That  will  help  me  figure  out  where  the  university 
has  been,  and  to  determine  where  it  should  go." 

Through  the  campaign  and  efforts  to  make  a 
WPI  education  more  comprehensive,  Parrish  says 
his  goal  will  be  to  strengthen  an  already  outstand- 
ing undergraduate  program.  Another  way  to 
accomplish  that  goal  is  to  maintain  and  enrich  the 
Institute's  graduate  program,  through  which  stu- 
dents can  now  pursue  master's  and  doctoral 
degrees  in  more  than  30  disciplines.  An  active  grad- 
uate program  is  necessary  to  sustain  a  lively  pro- 
gram of  scholarly  research,  and  research  can  have 
many  benefits  for  WPFs  educational  programs. 

"Research  is  critical  for  faculty  renewal  and 
currency,"  he  says.  "It  also  provides  excellent 
oppornmities  for  students  to  become  involved  in 
exciting  projects,  allows  the  faculty  to  continually 
improve  and  update  the  curriculum,  and  supports 
graduate  students  who  can  enrich  the  academic 
program.  In  my  view,  teaching  and  scholarly  work 


go  hand  in  hand. 

"I  don't  think  it  is  appropriate  for  WPI  to  set 
the  kind  of  goals  for  research  and  research  sponsor- 
ship that  a  research  university  can.  The  diing  that 
sets  WPI  apart  is  its  curriculum  and  the  attendant 
interaction  between  the  faculty  and  the  students. 
That  is  very  labor  intensive  and  would  have  to  be 
sacrificed  to  make  the  university  a  major  research 
institution.  I  would  prefer  to  see  the  faculty  main- 
tain a  level  of  research  consistent  with  professional 
development  and  a  quality  graduate  program.  In 
addition,  very  close  ties  to  industry  would  provide 
complementary  support  for  the  Plan  and  help  mar- 
ket the  university." 

As  for  his  own  life  as  an  active  researcher,  Par- 
rish says  he  had  to  set  that  aside  as  the  demands  of 
being  a  university  dean  began  to  consume  all  of  his 
time.  When  the  IEEK  approached  him  last  year 
about  becoming  editor  in  chief  of  IEEE  Computer, 
he  was  hesitant,  but  accepted  the  post  because 
having  his  affiliation  printed  in  every  copy  of  the 
1 10,000-circulation  journal  was  an  excellent  way  to 
gain  visibility  tor  his  university.  But  he  also  realized 
that  being  a  journal  editor  would  force  him  to 
remain  up  to  date  in  his  field. 

"With  the  demands  of  work  and  with  my 
responsibilities  at  home,  I  hardly  had  time  to  read 
journals,"  he  says.  "They  stacked  up  on  my  desk 
and  I  dutifully  put  them  on  the  bookcase  thinking, 
'One  of  these  days...,'  but  it  never  happened.  But 
now  I  have  to  read  many  of  the  papers  submitted. 
I  have  read  more  technical  papers  in  the  past  six 
months  than  I  had  in  the  preceding  six  years, 
though  I  hate  to  admit  that." 

Parrish  says  his  many  years  of  experience  as  a 
researcher  and  a  teacher  have  shaped  his  approach 
to  managing  an  academic  enterprise.  "My  goal  is  to 
be  accepted  as  a  faculty  member  first,  and  as  presi- 
dent second,"  he  says.  "I  want  to  avoid  a  'we-they' 
situation  at  all  costs,  because  it  would  be  complete- 
ly counterproductive.  I  managed  to  be  an  adminis- 
trator and  a  faculty  member  at  the  University  of 
Virginia  and  at  Vanderbilt,  and  I  see  no  reason  why 
it  should  be  any  different  at  WPI.  I  have  to  estab- 
lish my  credibility  with  the  faculty,  and  that  is  the 
first  thing  on  my  agenda.  Once  I  have  their  trust,  it 
will  be  fairly  easy  to  continue  with  my  normal  con- 
sultive-participative  style  of  management." 

Parrish  says  the  other  important  item  on  his 
agenda  as  he  begins  his  term  as  WPFs  14th  presi- 
dent is  simply  to  learn  as  much  as  he  can  about 
WPI — its  programs,  its  people  and  its  history.  "I 
want  to  get  a  sense  of  the  place,  first  and  foremost. 
I  have  no  deep,  preconceived  notions  of  what 
should  be  changed  or  improved.  Someone  once 
said  we  all  have  two  ears  and  one  mouth  and  should 
be  guided  by  that  fact.  I  want  to  get  to  know  my 
faculty  colleagues,  the  staff,  the  administration  and 
students.  Once  I  feel  I  understand  this  institution, 
it  will  be  time  to  think  about  strategic  issues  and 
involving  the  community  in  addressing  them." 


"My  goal  is  to  be 
accepted  as  a  faculty 
member  first,  and 
as  president  second. 
I  want  to  avoid  a 
'we-they'  situation 
at  all  costs,  because  it 
would  be  completely 
counterproductive. " 


WTI  Journal 


15 


One  of  a  Kind 

{Continued  from  page  9) 

A  Career  Takes  Flight 

In  the  early  part  of  the  century,  one  did  not  need 
a  degree  to  become  an  architect.  The  usual  course 
for  those  who  aspired  to  careers  in  the  profession 
was  to  apprentice  with  an  established  architect, 
and  Harrison  followed  this  route.  While  appren- 
ticing, the  architects-in-training  would  study 
architecture  under  the  tutelage  of  leading  practi- 
tioners, who  offered  ateliers,  or  workshops,  in 
their  studios.  The  fortunate  few  studied  at  the 
Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts  in  Paris,  the  pinnacle  of 
architectural  education. 

While  working  full  time  at  Frost  &  Cham- 
berlain and  studying  at  WPI,  Harrison  enrolled  at 
the  Boston  Architectural  Club's  studio  and  spent 
his  Saturdays  studying  architectural  drawings  at 


Above,  the  Corning 

Glass  Center  in 

Corning,  N.Y.;  right, 

the  Nelson  Rockefeller 

Empire  State  Plaza 

in  Albany,  one  of 

Harrison's  last  works. 


the  Boston  Public  Library.  Knowing  that  New 
York  City  was  home  to  most  of  the  nation's  top 
architectural  firms,  he  sailed  for  the  big  city  and 
applied  for  a  position  at  McKim,  Mead  and 
White,  the  most  successful  firm  in  the  country. 
Flired  as  a  draftsman  at  the  age  of  2 1 ,  he  also 
enrolled  in  the  Beaux  Arts  atelier,  directed  by 
Harvey  Wiley  Corbett,  who  had  an  engineering 
degree  from  the  University  of  California  at  Berke- 
ley and  a  diploma  from  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts. 
Corbett  also  served  as  critic  and  lecturer  at 
Columbia  University's  School  of  Architecture. 
In  1917,  as  the  U.S.  entered  World  War  I, 
Harrison  joined  the  Navy  and  was  assigned  to  a 
submarine  chaser.  During  shore  leaves,  he  studied 
the  architecture  of  the  Azores  and  Lisbon,  and  the 
Roman  architecture  along  the  Dalmatian  Coast  of 
the  Balkan  Peninsula.  After  the  armistice  was 
signed  on  Nov.  11,  1918,  Harrison  visited  Paris 
and  the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts  and  enrolled  in  a 
local  atelier.  His  earlier  experiences  and  his  stud- 
ies in  the  Paris  atelier  won  him  admission  to  the 


ecole  in  March  1921,  but  he  left  that  school  a  few 
months  later. 

In  Paris,  Harrison  became  friends  with  fellow 
architect  Bobby  Rodgers,  a  direct  descendent  of 
Naval  hero  Oliver  Hazzard  Perry.  Rogers  intro- 
duced Harrison  to  the  artists  he  knew  in  Paris, 
which  catalyzed  the  architect's  lifelong  interest  in 
developing  relationships  with  creative  people. 
This  exposure  to  the  works  of  young  artists  also 
contributed  to  Harrison's  later  practice  of  incor- 
porating major  works  of  art  into  the  buildings  he 
designed.  Also  during  his  two  and  a  half  years  in 
Paris,  Harrison  came  to  admire  the  spires  and 


L.-4p-l-f-M 


LOUISA  BLANCHARD'57 


belfries  of  the  many  cathedrals,  presaging  the 
talent  he  would  later  demonstrate  for  working  on 
projects  of  great  height  and  scale. 

Harrison  came  back  to  New  York  in  the 
spring  of  1921.  He  returned  briefly  to  McKim, 
Mead  and  White  before  he  and  Rodgers  went  to 
work  for  Bertram  G.  Goodhue,  former  partner  of 
Ralph  Adams  Cram.  Specializing  in  the  English 
Gothic  style,  the  Cram-Goodhue  firm  had 
designed  the  West  Point  Chapel,  St.  Thomas  in 
New  York  City,  the  Heinz  Memorial  Chapel  in 
Pittsburgh,  and  Trinity  Methodist  Church  in 
Springfield,  Mass.  Now  the  head  of  his  own  firm, 
Goodhue  assigned  Harrison  to  two  of  his  major 
commissions:  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences 
Building  in  Washington,  D.C.,  and  the  Nebraska 
State  Capital  in  Lincoln. 


16 


Summer  1995 


After  a  grand  tour  of  Rome,  Florence,  ( rreece 
and  Egypt  in  1923,  I  larrison  returned  to  (  rood- 
hue's  office,  which  was  Hooded  with  commissions. 
It  was  the  beginning  ol  one  ol  main  building 
booms  that  were  to  leave  a  lasting  impression  on 
the  face  of  Manhattan.  When  ( roodhue  died  the 
following  year,  Harrison  and  Kodgers  formed  their 
own  linn  and  received  some  tree-lance  work  from 
their  former  mentor,  Harvev  ( lorbett.  In  1(>26 
I  larrison  was  hired  as  an  associate  architect  for  the 
New  York  City  Board  of  Education,  later  becom- 
ing something  of  an  authority  on  the  architecture 
of  public  schools.  Rodgers  died  shortly  thereafter. 


The  Rockefeller  Connection 

In  1926,  I  larrison,  then  30,  married  the  former 
Ellen  Milton,  whom  he  had  met  two  years  earlier. 
Ellen  Harrison's  brother  David  was  married  to 
Abby  Rockefeller,  sister  of  David,  John  III,  Lau- 
rance,  Nelson  and  Winthrop.  This  connection 
would  contribute  greatly  to  the  nature  and  num- 
ber of  commissions  Harrison  and  his  partners 
would  receive  over  the  following  half  century. 

The  father  of  these  six  siblings,  John  D.  Rocke- 
feller Jr.,  had  been  responsible  for  the  restoration 
of  Colonial  Williamsburg.  But  that  was  a  modest 
project  compared  to  his  next  venture:  Rockefeller 
Center.  In  the  spring  of  1929,  Corbett,  Harrison 
and  William  H.  MacMurray  were  brought  in  as 
architects  for  the  project.  (That  same  year,  the  trio 


designed  Bushnell  Memorial  Auditorium  in  I  [art- 
ford,  Conn.  Its  art  deeo  interior  would  later  be 
mirrored  in  Radio  City  Music  I  [all  in  Rockefeller 
Center.)  I  lie  Rockefeller  Center  site  was  originally 
conceived  as  the  location  tor  a  new  opera  house, 
but  the  stock  market  crash  of  1929  postponed  those 
plans.  Eater,  the  opera  house  (a  Harrison  design) 
would  become  part  of  a  major  center  for  the  per- 
forming arts. 

because  of  the  vast  scale  of  the  project,  several 
architectural  firms  were  engaged  and  the  concept 
of  the  "group  design  practice"  emerged.  I  larrison 
was  the  only  architect  to  work  on  the  project  from 
its  inception  to  the  latest  additions  in  the  1970s. 
I  Ie  clearly  drew  on  his  studies  with  Professor 
French,  given  the  strong  structural  emphasis  of 
this  group  of  buildings,  the  first  of  many 
megaprojects  that  would  be  built  in  many  large 
metropolitan  centers  around  the  world. 

The  Metropolitan  Square  Corp.,  the  original 
name  for  the  group  overseeing  Rockefeller  Cen- 
ter, faced  a  significant  challenge  beyond  the  huge 
task  ol  designing  and  building  the  complex.  It  was 
also  necessary  to  find  tenants  who  could  afford  to 
amortize  the  construction  costs  and  carry  the 
operating  costs.  Harrison  is  credited  with  con- 
vincing RCA  to  occupy  the  central  tower  and 
RKO  to  move  into  another  building  at  the  site. 
Nelson  Rockefeller  began  work  as  the  chief  leas- 
ing agent  for  the  center  in  193  1 ,  a  year  after  his 
graduation  from  Dartmouth. 

As  Victoria  New  house  wrote  in  her  exception- 
al book  Wallace  Harrison, .  Irchitect  (Rizzoli  Inter- 
national Publications,  1989),  "[Harrison's]  friend- 
ship with  Nelson  was  to  develop  into  a  remarkable 
relationship  between  a  powerful  client  and  an 
outstanding  architect."  Eike  Harrison,  Nelson 
Rockefeller  was  a  devotee  of  architecture  and  the 
fine  arts — qualities  he  learned  from  his  mother. 

Radio  City  Music  Hall,  a  6,200-seat  theater 
(with  no  obstructed  views),  opened  on  Dec.  27, 
1932,  and  successive  elements  of  the  center  fol- 
lowed over  the  next  several  years.  Through  Har- 
rison's architecture  and  skill  in  leading  groups  of 
architects,  John  D.  Rockefeller  Jr. 's  fortune,  and 
Nelson  Rockefeller's  persuasive  skills,  Rockefeller 
Center  became  one  of  the  most  successful  urban 
developments  of  the  20th  century.  For  many,  the 
complex  and  Central  Park — both  products  of  the 
genius  of  Worcester  natives — are  New  York 
City's  signatures. 

The  World  Comes  to  New  York 

Another  great  "signature,"  although  a  transitory 
one,  was  the  Trylon  and  Perisphere,  the  symbol 
of  the  1939  New  York  World's  Fair.  Harrison  and 
his  partner,  J.  Andre  Fouilhoux,  won  a  competi- 
tion to  design  a  structure  that  exemplified  the 
fair's  theme,  "Building  the  World  of  Tomorrow." 
The  Perisphere  was  180  feet  in  diameter,  making 
it  the  largest  globe  ever  built.  It  enclosed  an  exhi- 


A  Selection  of  the  Works 
of  Wallace  K.  Harrison 

Rockefeller  Center  Buildings* 

New  York  City,  1932-1940+ 

Rockefeller  Apartments 

New  York  City,  1936 

Trylon  and  Perisphere 
and  three  buildings 

New  York  World's  Fair,  1939 

Three  Mellon  Bank  Center* 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  1951 

Alcoa  Building* 

Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  1953 

United  Nations  Headquarters 

New  York  City,  1953 

Aquarium 

Coney  Island.  N.Y..  1957 

First  Presbyterian  Church 

Stamford,  Conn.,  1958 

Corning  Glass  Building* 

New  York  City,  1959 

Rockefeller  Center  Expansion 

(including  Time  and  Life, 
McGraw  Hill  and  Exxon 
buildings),  1960-1974 

Central  Intelligence  Agency 
Building* 

Langely,  Va.,  1961 

Hopkins  Center 

Dartmouth  College, 
Dartmouth,  N.H.,  1962 

LaGuardia  Airport 

main  terminal  and  control  tower 

New  York  City,  1964 

Hall  of  Science 

New  York  World's  Fair,  1965 

Metropolitan  Opera  House 

New  York  City,  1966 

Nelson  Rockefeller 
Empire  State  Plaza 

Albany.  N.Y..  1972-1977 

Pershing  Memorial 

Washington,  D.C.,  1983 

'With  associated  architects 
+Year  of  completion 


WTI  Journal 


17 


With  Harrison  are  some 
of  the  architects  asso- 
ciated with  the  U.N. 
Headquarters  project: 
from  left,  Swen 
Markelius  (Sweden), 
Le  Corbusier  (France), 
Vladimir  Bodiansky 
(France),  Ssu-ch'eng 
Liang  (China),  Harrison, 
Oscar  Neimeyer  (Brazil), 
Guy  Soilleux  (Australia), 
Nikolai  Bassov 
(U.S.S.R.),   Max  Abram- 
ovitz,  Ernest  Cormier 
(Canada),  Ernest  Weiss- 
mann  (Yugoslavia)  and 
Matthew  Nowicki 
(Poland). 


bition  space — larger  than  the  interior  of  Radio 
City  Music  Hall — that  contained  a  vast  model  of 
the  city  of  the  future  that  fairgoers  viewed  from 
two  revolving  platforms.  The  610-foot-tall  Trylon 
reflected  Harrison's  interest  in  tall  spires.  Harri- 
son and  Fouilhoux  also  designed  three  buildings 
for  the  fair:  the  Consolidated  Edison  Pavilion,  the 
Electric  Utilities  Exhibit  and  the  Electrified  Farm. 

Joining  the  Harrison-Fouilhoux  partnership 
during  the  1930s  was  the  man  with  whom  Harri- 
son was  to  collaborate  until  his  last  years:  Max 
Abramovitz.  His  commissions  included  many  of 
the  buildings  at  the  University  of  Illinois,  his  alma 
mater,  and  many  buildings  at  Brandeis  and  the 
University  of  Iowa,  along  with  the  Jewish  chapel 
at  West  Point.  He  would  also  design  Avery  Fisher 
I  [all  at  Lincoln  Center  and  the  teardrop-shaped 
Phoenix  Mutual  Life  Insurance  building  on  Hart- 
ford's Constitution 
Plaza.  As  the  nation 
emerged  from  World 
War  II,  Harrison  & 
Abramovitz  was  one 
of  two  firms  that 
dominated  the  prac- 
tice of  architecture, 
the  other  being  Skid- 
more,  Owings  and 
Merrill. 

The  next  great 
Harrison  signature 
work  was  the  United 
Nations  Headquar- 
ters in  New  York  City.  The  city  had  competed 
with  several  other  municipalities,  here  and  abroad, 
to  win  the  complex.  It  was  a  gift  of  an  $8.5  million 
tract  along  the  East  River  from  John  D.  Rocke- 
feller Jr.  that  helped  tip  the  balance  to  New  York. 
In  January  1947,  U.N.  Secretary-General  Trygve 
Lie  appointed  Harrison  director  of  planning  for 
the  agency's  permanent  home.  Harrison  had  to 
marshal  the  talents  of  many  architects  from 
around  the  world  to  bring  about  the  final  results. 
Once  again,  it  was  his  skill  in  mediating  and  per- 
suading that  helped  make  him  a  master  architect. 

A  Magnificent  Home  for  Opera 

Because  of  his  ties  with  Fritz  Close,  who  sold  the 
aluminum  used  on  the  exterior  of  Rockefeller  Cen- 
ter, Harrison  won  the  commission  to  design  the 
Alcoa  Building  in  Pittsburgh,  which  was  completed 
in  1953.  Naturally,  the  building  had  to  be  a  show- 
place  for  aluminum.  What  emerged  from  Harri- 
son's work  was  the  world's  first  aluminum-skinned 
skyscraper,  a  building  some  30  stories  high.  This 
was  followed  by  a  commission  from  the  Mellon 
Bank,  also  in  Pittsburgh.  Richard  K.  Mellon  was  a 
majority  stockholder  in  Arthur  Vining  Davis'  Al- 
coa. Together  the  two  buildings  became  major  ele- 
ments in  the  revitalization  of  downtown  Pittsburgh. 
In  1951  Arthur  A.  Houghton  Jr.,  president  of 


Corning  Glass  Works  (now  Corning  Inc.),  selected 
Harrison  &  Abramovitz  to  design  a  multi-use 
center  at  its  headquarters  in  Corning,  N.Y.,  to 
celebrate  its  centennial.  A  family-owned  company 
founded  in  1851,  Corning  remains  one  of  the 
largest  Foit/me  500  companies,  yet  is  located  in 
one  of  the  nation's  smallest  cities.  Through  the 
center,  the  familv  wished  to  create  a  "community" 
space,  an  area  to  exhibit  the  world's  largest  collec- 
tion of  glass  objects,  and  a  site  for  the  Steuben 
Glass  factory.  Since  its  completion,  the  building, 
which  houses  the  finest  industry  museum  in  the 
nation,  has  been  substantially  enlarged. 

Arthur  Houghton  was  also  active  in  New  York 
City  art  and  cultural  circles  (he  later  was  to  head 
the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  and  the  Lincoln 
Center  for  the  Performing  Arts).  He  thus  had 
been  familiar  with  Harrison's  work  going  back 
as  far  as  the  period  when  a  new  opera  house  was 
being  planned  for  the  site  that  later  became  Rock- 
efeller Center.  Houghton  and  Robert  Moses,  the 
city's  parks  commissioner,  approached  Harrison 
in  1955  to  see  if  he  would  be  interested  in  design- 
ing a  new  opera  house. 

Moses  knew  Harrison  through  his  World's 
Fair  projects  and  believed  he  had  the  architectural 
skills  for  the  project,  as  well  as  entree  to  wealthy 
patrons  and  to  the  Metropolitan  Opera's  board. 
Charles  M.  Spofford,  as  chair  of  the  Opera  Asso- 
ciation's executive  committee,  convinced  John  D. 
Rockefeller  III  to  head  the  project.  Rockefeller 
was  responsible  for  the  fund-raising  efforts,  Moses 
was  charged  with  acquiring  the  land,  and  Harrison 
served  as  lead  architect. 

Designing  and  building  a  world-class  opera 
house  is  a  demanding  task,  but  the  city  lent  addi- 
tional complexity  to  the  project  by  deciding  to 
make  the  opera  theater  part  of  a  larger  center 
dedicated  to  the  performing  arts,  one  that  would 
serve  such  constituencies  as  the  New  York  Phil- 
harmonic and  the  New  York  City  Ballet.  In  1958 
the  group  selected  the  architects  for  Lincoln 
Center  for  the  Performing  Arts.  Abramovitz  was 
chosen  to  design  Philharmonic  Hall  (later  Avery 
Fisher  Hall),  Pietro  Belluschi  was  selected  to 
design  the  Juilliard  School,  Philip  Johnson  was 
tapped  for  the  Dance  Theater,  Eero  Saarinen 
and  Gordon  Bunshaft  would  design  the  museum, 
library  and  theaters,  and  Harrison,  as  originally 
planned,  would  create  the  design  for  the  Metro- 
politan Opera  House. 

The  old  New  York  City  Opera  House  was 
built  in  1883,  but  was  deemed  inadequate  from 
the  start.  A  plan  for  a  "new  house"  emerged  as 
early  as  the  1920s,  but  the  search  for  a  suitable  site 
took  decades.  Now  that  the  building  would  finally 
become  a  reality,  the  focus  shifted  to  its  design. 
Harrison  and  his  associates  completed  some  43 
sets  of  plans  for  the  building  (as  well  as  innumer- 
able design  changes,  many  aimed  at  holding  down 
the  cost  of  the  structure)  before  the  final  results 


IS 


Summer  1995 


.——■■■ 


emerged.  Nearly  1 1  years  after  I  [arrison  received 
the  commission,  the  3,765-seat  hall  hosted  its  first 
opera  rehearsal  (for  Puccini's  l.ti  fanciulla  del 
West).  As  was  true  of  all  of  the  architect's  large 
meeting  spaces  and  theaters,  the  acoustics  were 
excellent.  In  fact,  the  opera  house  is  the  only  large 
auditorium  in  Lincoln  Center  that  has  not  been 
redesigned  because  of  poor  acoustics.  The  grand 
opening  of  the  Met  occurred  on  Sept.  16,  [966, 
nine  days  short  of  I  larrison's  71st  birthday. 

A  Jewel  in  Stamford 

During  the  period  when  I  larrison  was  entangled 
with  the  multiple  committees,  artistic  prima  don- 
nas and  continual  cost  containment  associated 
with  Lincoln  Center,  he  designed  two  other  sig- 
nificant buildings:  the  I  lopkins  Center  for  the 
Performing  Arts  at  Dartmouth  College  and  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Stamford,  Conn. 
The  Dartmouth  commission  was  received  at 
about  the  time  he  started  the  opera  house  assign- 
ment. Nelson  Rockefeller  chaired  the  trustees' 
building  committee,  so  once  again  Harrison's 
connection  to  this  powerful  family  helped  bring 
him  an  important  commission.  The  building  was 
designed  and  built  on  schedule  and  within  the 
$7  million  budget. 

Like  the  Hopkins  Center,  with  its  distinctive 
barrel-shaped  roof  line  made  of  thin  concrete 
shells,  the  church  he  designed  in  Stamford 
embodied  Harrison's  personal  style.  Though  a 
comparatively  small  commission,  the  project  led 
to  work  of  great  distinction,  unencumbered  by  the 
merger  of  ideas  typically  produced  by  teams  of 
architects. 

Harrison  received  the  commission  in  1953 
as  the  church  was  preparing  for  its  centennial. 
Recalling  the  heavy  use  of  stained  glass  in  the 
great  cathedrals  of  France,  he  visited  Gabriel 
Loire,  a  stained  glass  artist  who  lived  in  Chartres, 
and  ultimately  selected  him  to  create  the  glass  for 
the  Stamford  church.  He  also  visited  Visp,  near 
Zermatt,  Switzerland,  to  see  abstract  designs  pro- 
duced by  embedding  chunks  of  glass  into  wood, 
stone  and  concrete.  Employing  this  technique, 
and  incorporating  the  artistry  of  Loire,  Harrison 
created  a  sanctuary  made  of  152  interlocking 
reinforced  concrete  panels  inlaid  with  20,000 
one-inch  chunks  of  faceted,  multicolored  glass. 

The  church,  completed  in  1958,  is  breathtak- 
ing. I  first  saw  the  building  as  a  guest  of  Louis 
Blanchard  '57,  whose  family  were  members  of  the 
church  and  part  of  the  Nestle  corporate  commu- 
nity. In  1947,  Nestle,  in  gratitude  for  the  welcome 
the  Swiss  company  received  when  it  moved  its 
headquarters  to  the  Stamford  area  during  World 
War  II,  gave  the  church  a  set  of  carillon  bells.  In 
1968  the  bells  were  reinstalled  in  a  magnificent 
tower,  also  designed  by  Harrison.  The  bells  are 
supported  by  four  255-foot  concrete  posts,  and 
the  tower  is  topped  by  a  30-foot,  18,000-pound 


stainless  steel  spire.  "The  church  was  the  most 
satisfying  job  1  ever  worked  on,"  I  [arrison  once 
said.  I  lis  associate,  Michael  I  [arris,  said  1  larrison 
"knocked  himself  out  tor  a  client  like  the  Stam- 
ford church.  I  le  received  very  little  pay,  but  that 
didn't  make  him  work  any  less  hard  on  it.  He  was 
one  of  a  kind." 

A  Megaproject  in  Albany 

I  larrison's  last  major  project,  known  today  as 
the  Nelson  A.  Rockefeller  Empire  State  Plaza  in 
Albany,  N.Y.,  took  18  years  and  cost  nearly  $1  bil- 
lion to  construct.  Rockefeller  was  then  governor 
of  New  York  and  wanted  to  turn  a  rather  sleepv 
and  rundown  Albany  into  one  of  the  nation's 
pre-eminent  state  capitals.  Never  known  for  doing 
things  in  a  small  way,  Rockefeller  developed  the 
basic  plan  for  the  huge  plaza  himself  and  took  a 
proactive  interest  in  every  phase  of  its  develop- 
ment. He  even  came  up  with  the  shape  of  the 
meeting  space — the  "Egg"--  the  most  distin- 
guishing feature  of  the  complex. 

The  project  was  a  controversial  one.  Called  by 
some  "Rocky's  Folly"  and  the  "Taj  Mahal  on  the 
I  ludson,"  it  was  known  by  taxpayers  as  one  gigan- 
tic bill.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  in  scale 
it  rivals  all  but  a  few  government  centers  in  the 
world.  WTien  Harrison  began  work  on  the  South 
Mall,  as  the  complex  was  initially  known,  he  was 
67;  when  it  was  completed  in  1977,  he  was  81. 

In  1976,  five  years  before  his  death,  Harrison 
departed  from  his  partnership  with  Max 
Abramovitz,  who  during  the  Albany  mall  period 
worked  on  several  major  commissions  in  the  Mid- 
west. Harrison's  last  commission,  which  he  had 
received  20  years  earlier,  was  the  John  J.  Pershing 
Memorial  in  Washington,  D.C.  He  created  the 
small  plaza  that  served  as  the  setting  for  the  statue 
of  General  Pershing,  which  was  sculpted  by 
Stanford  White's  grandson,  Robert  White. 
(Stanford  White  was  the  White  of  McKim,  Mead 
and  White,  the  firm  that  gave  Harrison  his  first 
job  after  leaving  Worcester.) 

What  Harrison  learned  in  those  early  days, 
initially  at  O.W.  Norcross  and  later  at  Frost  & 
Chamberlain,  and  then  in  his  classes  with  Arthur 
French,  he  put  to  good  use  in  a  career  that  ful- 
filled the  lofty  dreams  of  a  young  boy  facing  the 
world  alone  in  Worcester.  "It  (Worcester)  was 
wonderful,"  Harrison  told  Virginia  Newhouse, 
"because  you  were  free  to  do  anything  you  pleased 
as  long  as  you  didn't  interfere  with  your  neigh- 
bor." It's  unfortunate  that  Worcester  was  never 
home  to  any  of  his  great  creations.  At  least  there 
is  a  spirit  of  his  Worcester  youth — his  dreams  and 
his  hopes — that  can  be  seen  in  some  of  the  great- 
est architectural  works  of  this  century. 

— Berth  is  co-director  of  11  Pi's  Entrepreneurs 
Collaborative.  He  served  as  vice  president  fur  uni- 
versity relations  at  WPIfrom  19S>to  1993. 


"Harrison  knocked 
himself  out  for 
a  client  like  the 
Stamford  church. 
He  received  veiy 
little  pay,  but  that 
didn  V  make  him 
work  any  less  hard 
on  it.  He  was  one 
of  a  kind. " 


WPI  Journal 


19 


"Things  went  well 

for  me.  I  received  a 

very  nice  reception 

and  I  think  people 

saw  me  as  a  person 

who  really  cared 

about  WPI  and 

would  work  very 

hard  to  do  all  I 

could  to  help  it. " 


Hail  and  Farewell 

(Continued  from  page  7) 

Brown  tidied  up  loose  ends  at  the  University 
of  South  Florida,  where  after  10  years  as  president 
he  had  served  as  director  of  research  centers  on 
urban  transportation  and  microelectronics,  and 
with  his  wife,  Catharine  (Katie),  he  closed  up  their 
home  in  Tampa  and  headed  north  in  late  Octo- 
ber, just  in  time  for  the  start  of  a  relatively  snow- 
less  New  England  winter. 

Brown  says  he  came  to  WPI  anxious  to  learn 
all  he  could  ahout  the  state  and  needs  of  the 
Institute,  but  without  preconceived  ideas  about 
what  he  would  accomplish  during  his  brief  stay. 
"I  didn't  come  in  with  any  specific  goals,  because 
I  didn't  really  have  a  good  enough  handle  on  what 
the  situation  was,"  he  says.  "I  came  in  with  the 
quite  specific  intention  of  trying  to  find  out  how 
things  were  going,  what  the  various  constituencies 
were  doing,  and  what  their  needs  were." 

Brown  quickly  set  out  to  do  just  that  as  he 
endeavored  to  get  to  know  as  many  people  on 
campus  as  he  could.  Shortly  after  settling  into  his 
first-floor  office  in  Boynton  Hall,  he  held  an  open 
house  and  invited  everyone  from  the  campus  com- 
munity to  stop  by  and  say  hello.  He  asked  to  be 
invited  to  meetings  of  the  various  faculty  gover- 
nance committees  to  learn  about  the  issues  the 
faculty  was  addressing,  and  he  met  with  a  number 
of  student  groups  to  find  out  what  was  on  stu- 
dents' minds.  From  time  to  time  he  even  dropped 
by  the  student  dining  halls  to  share  lunch — and 
ideas — with  students. 

He  says  the  ability  to  meet  a  good  share  of 
WPFs  students  and  employees  was  in  sharp  con- 
trast to  the  world  he  knew  in  his  decade  at  the 
helm  of  the  University  of  South  Florida.  "The 
university  has  10  colleges  and  well  over  34,000 
students  distributed  on  five  campuses,"  he  says. 
"It  has  a  large  medical  school,  a  school  of  public 
health,  a  college  of  nursing.  Each  college  is  a  rea- 
sonably self-contained  unit.  At  such  a  large  insti- 
tution, the  president  is  more  an  image  than  a  real 
human  being.  You  just  can't  walk  around  and  talk 
to  all  of  those  people. 

"Of  course,  on  a  large  campus  you  have  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  anonymity,  if  you  want  to  preserve 
it.  If  people  think  things  are  not  going  well,  they 
may  not  immediately  attribute  the  problem  to 
you.  On  a  small  campus,  if  the  president  is  seen  as 
part  of  the  problem,  the  word  gets  around  faster 
and  a  lot  more  people  buy  into  that  argument.  I 
didn't  have  that  problem  here.  Things  went  well 
for  me.  I  received  a  very  nice  reception  and  I 
think  people  saw  me  as  a  person  who  really  cared 
about  WPI  and  would  work  very  hard  to  do  all  I 
could  to  help  it." 

One  of  the  first  issues  Brown  found  the  need 
to  address  was  drafting  a  balanced  institutional 
budget.  The  fall  is  the  time  when  WPFs  budget 


for  the  following  fiscal  year  is  proposed,  debated 
and  reshaped.  While  Brown  was  aware  that  the 
process  of  balancing  WPFs  budget  has  been  dif- 
ficult— and  sometimes  contentious — in  recent 
years,  due  largely  to  the  rapidly  rising  cost  of 
meeting  students'  need  for  financial  aid  and  the 
impact  of  the  cost  of  financial  aid  on  other  WPI 
budgets,  he  was  surprised  at  how  large  the  budget 
loomed  in  the  day-to-day  affairs  of  the  Institute. 

"I  found  that  there  was  a  lot  more  concern 
about  the  budget  than  I  would  have  expected,"  he 
says,  "and  we  spent  a  great  deal  more  time  on  the 
budget  than  I  would  have  expected  before  I  got 
here.  I'm  not  sure  that  the  concern  and  the  time 
we  spent  were  terribly  unusual.  This  is  a  problem 
for  all  institutions  of  higher  education.  And  it's  a 
problem  that  is  never  entirely  resolved,  unless  you 
are  a  very  wealthy  institution. 

"One  of  the  problems  that  plagues  private 
university  administrations  is  the  fact  that  so  much 
of  their  revenue  depends  on  tuition.  When  you 
plan  your  budget,  you  can  make  a  number  of 
rather  solidly  based  approximations  of  the  number 
of  students  you  are  going  to  enroll,  but  you  can't 
be  sure  that  those  approximations  are  going  to 
come  true." 

In  fact,  Brown  notes,  it  appeared  that  the  fun- 
damental assumptions  behind  the  fiscal  year  1996 
budget,  which  the  Board  of  Trustees  approved  in 
May,  were  in  danger  of  unraveling  when  a  tally 
of  first-year  students  paying  their  deposits  for  the 
fall  of  1995  proved  significantly  smaller  than  the 
approximation  included  in  the  budget  calcula- 
tions. "We  had  a  drop  of  close  to  10  percent  from 
the  number  we  anticipated,"  he  says. 

"But  because  our  admissions  people  had  done 
a  rather  good  job  of  analyzing  the  population  of 
applicants  and  predicting  the  likelihood  of  stu- 
dents with  various  levels  of  financial  need  to 
enroll,  we  ended  up  with  a  very  interesting  class. 
Although  it  is  smaller  than  we  anticipated,  the 
students  who  did  not  enroll  tended  to  be  those 
who  needed  the  most  financial  aid.  Our  yield  of 
students  who  can  afford  to  pay  our  tuition  was  as 
high  as  or  higher  than  our  predictions.  As  a  result, 
the  tuition  revenue,  when  corrected  for  the  cost 
of  financial  aid,  will  meet  our  projections." 

In  addition  to  that  good  news,  the  data  on 
the  Class  of  1999  painted  a  changing  portrait  of 
WPFs  prospective  students,  Brown  says.  "We 
found  that  we  are  now  competing  with  a  school 
like  the  University  of  Rochester,  which  is  not  a 
narrowly  focused  technological  institution,  but 
a  broad-based  university.  I  think  we  can  argue, 
with  considerable  justification,  that  we  are  no 
longer  a  narrowly  focused  technological  institu- 
tion. Our  enrollments  (some  40  percent  of  our 
newly  enrolled  students  now  choose  majors  in 
nonengineering  disciplines)  and  the  fact  that  we 
now  compete  with  nontechnical  universities  lend 
validity  to  our  claim  that  we  have  become  a  school 


20 


Summer  1995 


WW 


that  offers  a  much  more  well-rounded  educational 
opportunity . 

"1  think  I  can  say  that  without  detracting  at 
all  from  the  caliber  of  the  technological  education 
that  people  can  get  here.  In  fact,  I  can  argue 
that  the  caliber  ot  the  education  that  students 
interested  primarily  in  technology  get  at  WP1  is 
enhanced  because  they  have  access  to  the  social 
sciences  and  the  humanities,  which  broaden  them 
as  individuals.  They  arc  also  on  a  campus  where 
the  students  have  a  broad  range  of  interests 
beyond  technology,  so  they  can  explore  these 
ideas  outside  of  class,  as  well  as  in." 

The  diversity  of  the  undergraduate  program  is 
just  one  of  WTTs  strengths,  Brown  says.  "WPI  is 
a  strong  school,"  he  says.  "When  you  list  schools 
of  comparable  size  that  have  similar  areas  of  acad- 
emic emphasis,  I  think  you  would  have  to  place  us 
near  the  top  of  the  list,  because  of  the  nature  of 
our  academic  program,  because  of  the  quality  of 
our  faculty,  because  of  the  size  of  our  endowment, 
and  because  of  the  beauty  and  excellent  condition 
of  the  campus. 

"Now  I  don't  want  to  leave  the  impression 
that  everything  is  fine.  We  have  some  dire  needs, 
including  the  need  for  more  laboratories  in  several 
disciplines.  Two  areas  where  we  have  significant 
needs  are  biology/biotechnology  and  biomedical 
engineering.  These  are  relatively  new  fields  and 
are  very  attractive  to  our  applicants.  The  percent- 
age of  the  student  body  choosing  those  majors  is 
increasing  more  rapidly  than  it  is  for  other  areas. 

"There  are  other  needs,  of  course.  It  would  be 
nice  if  we  had  a  larger  endowment,  if  we  had  more 
discretionary  income  to  spend  each  year,  if  we  had 
more  endowed  professorships,  and  so  on.  We 
have  to  work  on  those  things.  Perhaps  the  most 
important  challenge  we  face  is  the  need  to  dissem- 
inate information  about  WPI  more  broadly 
throughout  the  land — including  in  New  England. 
We  need  to  let  people  know  what  kind  of  school 
we  are.  For  while  we  do  get  students  from  all  over 
the  country,  we  draw  disproportionally  from  New 
England,  as  compared  to  some  other  small  schools 
of  high  quality.  Dartmouth,  for  example,  has  a 
much  broader  reputation  around  the  country  than 
does  WPI.  If  our  enthusiasm  is  justified,  than  we 
should  be  able  to  significantly  increase  our  appli- 
cant pool  by  getting  the  word  out." 

An  enthusiastic  booster  of  WPI  himself, 
Brown  says  he  firmly  believes  that  the  Institute's 
graduates  can  play  an  important  role  in  achieving 
that  goal.  Through  its  Alumni  Admissions  Pro- 
gram, the  Admissions  Office  already  uses  many 
alumni  as  diplomats  to  educate  guidance  coun- 
selors and  prospective  students  about  the  universi- 
ty and  its  quality.  But,  by  and  large,  the  alumni 
admissions  volunteers  are  strictly  from  WPFs 
younger  classes. 

"There  is  a  notion  that  someone  like  me  is  not 
going  to  speak  the  same  language  as  today's  high 


school  students,"  he  says.  "I  don't  buy  that  entirely. 
I  would  argue  that  graduates  who've  had  successful 
careers,  in  the  fields  we  emphasize  and  in  the  kinds 
of  jobs  that  interest  our  students,  could  be  very 
stimulating  to  young  people.  Also,  alums  of  any 
age,  once  they've  taken  the  time  to  read  our  admis- 
sions materials,  could  talk  to  guidance  counselors 
and  persuade  them  of  the  virtues  of  WPI.  I've 
talked  to  students  from  right  here  in  the  Northeast 
whose  guidance  counselors  never  mentioned  WPI 
as  a  place  to  go  for  technological  education.  Even 
close  to  home,  our  image  is  blurred.  We  have  to  try 
to  do  something  about  that." 


The  best  way  to  raise  WPI's  visibility,  Brown 
says,  is  to  emphasize  the  qualities  that  make  it 
unique — especially  an  undergraduate  program 
that  gives  students  tremendous  access  to  the  facul- 
ty. "Students  can  get  the  same  kind  of  information 
at  All T  or  Carnegie-Mellon,"  he  says.  "They  just 
can't  get  the  same  level  of  contact  with  the  faculty 
members.  The  faculty  at  those  institutions  are 
too  distracted  by  their  work  at  the  graduate  level. 
I  don't  mean  to  diminish  the  quality  of  the  faculty 
at  MIT — we  know  they're  good.  That's  why  MIT 
is  the  leader  in  technological  education  at  the 
graduate  level.  But  our  strength  is  undergraduate 
education,  and  we  do  that  better  than  just  about 
anyone." 

Though  WPI  excels  at  exposing  young  men 
and  women  to  the  frontiers  of  science  and  tech- 
nology, Brown  says  it  does  so  with  an  approach  to 
teaching  that  has  varied  little  since  the  Institute 
was  founded  130  years  ago.  As  he  explained  in 
a  message  he  wrote  for  the  Spring  1995  WPI 
journal,  "while  computer  use  has  permeated  the 

(Continued  on  page  23) 


Brown  shakes  hands 
with  one  of  the  more 
than  800  students  to 
receive  their  degrees 
at  the  May  1995 
Commencement. 


WPI  Journal 


21 


COROLLARY 


A  Career  Full  of  "New  Vistas" 


John  Lott  Brown  '46,  a  native  of 
Philadelphia,  enrolled  at  WPI  in  1942 
on  the  advice  of  his  father,  who  suggest- 
ed that  a  degree  in  engineering  would 
prepare  him  for  a  host  of  different 
careers — advice  that  would  prove  quite 
prophetic.  Part  of  the  Navy  V-12  pro- 
gram, he  graduated  near  the  end  of  the 
war  and  completed  nearly  a  year  of 
active  Navy  duty. 

"That  brief  military  service  was  to  have  a 
strong  influence  on  my  career,"  he  says.  "While 
serving  at  sea  in  the  radar  division  of  a  cruiser,  I 
was  impressed  by  the  educational  backgrounds  of 
the  senior  officers.  During  the  long  mid-watches, 
we  had  a  lot  of  time  to  talk.  Being  with  a  group  of 
people  like  that  opened  up  all  sorts  of  new  vistas." 

Upon  leaving  active  duty,  Brown  enrolled  at 
Temple  University,  where  he  took  an  assortment 
of  courses,  including  psychology.  Knowing  his 
background,  his  professor  convinced  him  to  build 
some  equipment  he  needed  and  then  offered  to 
make  him  a  partner  in  his  research,  so  he  could 
earn  a  master's  degree. 

He  earned  a  master's  in  psychology  at 
Temple  and  joined  Link  Belt  Co.,  teaching  young 
engineers  how  to  develop  product  application 
estimates  for  customers.  He  was  later  named 
personnel  manager  at  a  foundry.  "Then  I  began 
thinking  that  I'd  had  more  fun  at  the  university," 
he  says.  "I  decided  to  get  a  Ph.D." 

He  earned  his  doctorate  in  experimental  and 
physiological  psychology  at  Columbia  University. 
"My  mentor  there  had  an  Air  Force  research  pro- 
ject to  investigate  problems  associated  with  the 
interpretation  of  information  and  the  nature  of 
displays  in  radar  systems,  something  we  would 
now  call  human  factors  engineering,"  he  says. 
"After  I'd  been  there  about  six  months,  he  made 
me  a  senior  investigator." 

When  his  mentor  was  offered  a  prestigious 
job  overseas,  he  urged  Brown  to  accelerate  his 
work  toward  his  degree  so  he  could  become  the 
director  of  the  Air  Force  contract.  He  got  his 
Ph.D.  in  a  year  and  nine  months. 

In  1954  Brown  became  head  of  the  psycholo- 
gy division  of  the  Aviation  Medical  Acceleration 
Laboratory  at  the  Naval  Air  Development  Center 
At  the  same  time,  he  served  as  an  assistant  profes- 
sor of  phvsiology  at  the  University  of  Pennsylva- 
nia. Five  years  later,  he  became  a  hill-time  mem- 
ber of  the  medical  school  faculty  at  Penn;  he  was 
named  director  of  the  graduate  training  program 
in  physiology  in  1962. 

"These  were  exciting  times,"  he  recalls.  "As 
a  member  of  the  staff  at  the  Aviation  Medical 
Acceleration  Laboratory,  I  was  involved  with 
astronauts  like  John  Glenn  and  Neil  Armstrong, 


providing  them  with  an  understanding 
%  of  what  it  would  be  like  to  perform 

under  high-acceleration  forces.  At 
Penn,  most  of  my  work  was  on  the 
phvsiology  of  the  visual  system  and  the 
human  senses.  I  wrote  seven  chapters 
on  that  subject  in  a  major  textbook  on 
physiology." 

In  1964  Brown  joined  Kansas  State 
University,  where  the  academic  vice  president 
convinced  him  to  accept  the  post  of  graduate 
dean.  "Six  months  later,"  he  says,  "I  succeeded 
him  when  he  accepted  a  more  prestigious  post." 
In  1969  Brown  left  Kansas  to  become  a  research 
professor  at  the  Center  for  Visual  Science  at  the 
University  of  Rochester;  he  later  became  director 
of  the  center. 

In  1978  he  was  named  president  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  South  Florida,  which  had  been  founded 
just  22  years  earlier.  His  energies  were  directed 
toward  the  continued  development  of  an  insti- 
tution that  grew  from  23,000  to  34,000  students 
(becoming  the  second  largest  university  in  Flor- 
ida) during  his  tenure. 

While  serving  as  president  of  the  University 
of  South  Florida  from  1978  to  1988,  Brown  held 
appointments  as  professor  of  psychology  in  the 
college  of  arts  and  sciences,  and  as  professor  of 
ophthalmology  and  professor  ot  physiology  in  the 
college  of  medicine.  After  relinquishing  the  pres- 
idency, he  accepted  a  joint  appointment  in  the 
colleges  ot  engineering  and  medicine  with  the 
additional  appointment  of  professor  of  industrial 
engineering. 

In  1989  he  was  named  director  of  the  Human 
Factors  Division  of  the  university's  Center  for 
Urban  Transportation  Research.  In  the  fall  of 
1992,  following  his  retirement  from  the  university, 
he  was  called  back  by  the  college  of  engineering  to 
head  a  committee  for  the  creation  of  a  marine  engi- 
neering research  center.  The  following  year  he 
took  on  the  responsibilities  of  interim  director  of 
the  Center  for  Microelectronics  Research,  the  job 
he  held  when  he  was  called  to  WPI. 

Brown  met  his  wife,  Catharine,  while  they 
were  both  students  at  Temple  University.  They 
were  married  in  1948,  and  the  following  year  she 
received  her  bachelor's  degree  and  he  his  master's. 
When  their  youngest  child  started  school,  she 
developed  her  own  career.  She  earned  a  master's 
in  psychology  at  the  University  of  Rochester,  did 
research  at  Xerox,  and  then  became  an  assistant 
professor  at  Rochester  Institute  of  Technology. 
The  Browns  have  three  grown  children. 

—Roger  N.  Perry  Jr.  '45 
Perry  is  senior  writer  for  Quest,  WPVs  development 
newsletter.  A  version  of  this  article  originally  appeared 
in  that  publication. 


"These  were 
exciting  fifties. 
I  was  involved 
with  astronauts 
like  John  Glenn 
and  Neil  Arm- 
strong, providing 
them  with  an 
understanding  of 
what  it  would  be 
like  to  perform 
under  high- 
acceleration 
forces. " 


->"> 


Summer  1995 


Maw 


Hail  and  Farewell 

(Continued  fro?f/  page  2 1 ) 

campus,  the  investigation  of  educational  use  of 
new  technologies  seems  to  have  stagnated.  We 
have  remained,  essentially,  a  chalkboard  culture." 

One  of  Brown's  hopes,  when  he  arrived  at 
WPI  last  fall,  was  to  hegin  to  change  that  culture. 
His  enthusiasm  tor  using  new  technology  to 
improve  the  educational  process  hegan  in  the 
1970s.  Between  1978  and  1988,  he  served  on  a 
committee  of  the  American  Association  of  State 
Colleges  and  Universities  that  looked  at  commu- 
nication technology  in  education;  he  served  as  vice 
chairman  of  the  committee  from  1986  to  1987. 
From  1979  to  1990,  he  was  a  memher  of  the 
Educational  Telecommunications  Committee 
of  the  National  Association  of  State  Universities 
and  Land  Crant  Colleges,  a  group  he  chaired 
from  1984  to  1985. 

Brown's  interest  in  educational  technology 
was  also  fueled  by  the  work  of  emeritus  professor 
Kenneth  Scott  '48,  who  created  WPI's  Instruc- 
tional Media  Center  in  the  1960s  as  a  service  to 
WPI  faculty  members  and  students  who  wanted 
to  create  instructional  videotapes.  "Ken  was  a  pio- 
neer," Brown  says.  "I  brought  the  dean  of  engi- 
neering at  the  University  of  South  Florida  up  to 
meet  Ken  and  see  what  he  had  accomplished  some 
years  back.  That  was  part  of  the  foundation  for 
the  creation  of  state-of-the-art  studio  classrooms 
at  U.S.F.  Recently,  I  sent  Pennie  Turgeon  '91, 
who  is  the  current  director  of  the  IMC,  down  to 
learn  about  those  classrooms,  which  her  prede- 
cessor helped  inspire." 

To  jump-start  the  process  at  WPI,  Brown 
named  a  committee  ot  faculty  members,  students 
and  administrators  interested  in  new  computer 
and  telecommunications  equipment  in  education. 
The  committee  met  throughout  the  academic 
year  and  began  to  draft  a  model  for  a  new- 
approach  to  teaching  using  high  technology. 
In  addition,  a  conference  on  new  educational 
technologies,  open  to  the  10  institutions  of  the 
Colleges  of  Worcester  Consortium,  will  be  held 
at  WPI  in  October. 

"The  process  was,  perhaps,  inching  along 
before  I  came,"  Brown  says,  "and  now  it  is  moving 
a  bit  faster.  But  the  credit  has  to  go  to  the  faculty 
members  who  so  enthusiasticallv  joined  the  com- 
mittee. I've  had  almost  no  input  into  the  commit- 
tee's discussions,  nor  does  the  committee  need 
any  input  from  me,  except  to  know  that  it  has  my 
blessing  and  my  support.  They  have  done  a  mar- 
velous job." 

The  work  of  the  committee  was,  of  course,  just 
one  element  of  a  busy  academic  year,  a  year  that 
saw  the  Institute  welcome  its  largest  class  of  fresh- 
men ever,  continue  to  hone  its  plans  for  a  campus 
center,  nearly  complete  the  $8.75  million  renova- 
tion and  expansion  of  Higgins  Laboratories,  devel- 


op two  new  additions  to  the  undergraduate  pro- 
gram (the  minor  and  the  concentration),  appoint 
new  department  heads  in  biologv  and  biotechnolo- 
gy, management,  and  physics,  reorganize  the  senior 
administration,  spin  ofif  the  ( lenter  for  1  ligh  Per- 
formance Computing  as  an  independent  corpora- 
tion, celebrate  the  20th  anniversary  of  WPI's  first 
off-campus  project  center  in  Washington,  D.O., 
win  approval  from  the  Worcester  City  Council  to 
turn  West  Street  into  a  pedestrian  mall,  and  elect  a 
new  president  (see  page  4). 

Another  important  event  in  1994-95  was  the 
50th  Reunion  ot  the  Class  of  1945,  which  includes 
many  graduates  Brown  knew  when  he  was  a 
student.  "I  came  to  know  many  of  those  people 
very  well,"  he  says.  "I  played  soccer  with  them, 
enjoyed  activities  with  them.  And  there  we  all 
were  together  again  after  50  years.  That  was  very 
exciting.  That  may  just  have  been  the  highlight 
of  the  year  for  me." 

With  the  year  now  over,  Brown  is  looking 
ahead  to  his  third  retirement.  "I  retired  as  presi- 
dent of  the  University  of  South  Florida  in  1988," 
he  says.  "I  decided  to  teach  for  a  few  years  after 
that,  and  I  did  some  research  and  had  some  grad- 
uate students  working  for  me  until  1992,  when 
I  finally  did  retire.  Katie  and  I  were  going  to  take 
the  following  summer  off  and  just  relax,  but 
the  university  wanted  me  to  teach  statistics  for 
engineers,  the  toughest  course  in  the  college  of 
engineering.  Being  able  to  teach  that  pretty  well 
convinced  me  I  hadn't  yet  started  down  the  road 
to  senility." 

He  soon  found  himself  helping  set  up  a  center 
for  marine  research  and,  later,  acting  as  director 
for  a  center  on  microelectronics  research  after  the 
center  director  left  abruptly,  an  assignment  that 
he  was  still  engaged  in  when  WPI  called.  Will  his 
next  retirement  be  as  active  as  his  previous  ones? 
"Retirement  to  me  is  being  able  to  do  what  you 
want  to  do,"  he  says.  "My  wife  says,  'Yes,  but  what 
you  think  you  want  to  do  at  any  given  moment 
has  locked  you  in  for  a  year  here  or  there.'  So  I 
am  going  to  try  to  avoid  getting  tied  too  tightly  to 
anything  that's  going  to  constrain  our  ability  to 
travel  and  do  things  that  will  be  fun  for  both  of  us. 

"This  has  been  a  wonderful  experience  for 
me.  I've  enjoyed  these  nine  months  very  much, 
and  I'm  glad  that  I  had  this  chance  to  serve  an 
institution  that  means  a  great  deal  to  me.  I've  had 
the  privilege  of  working  with  a  community  made 
up  of  people  who  are  impressive,  clearly  excep- 
tional people  who  are  dedicated  to  the  process  of 
teaching  and  education.  I  have,  perhaps,  helped 
them  by  indicating  my  enthusiasm  for  the  kinds 
ot  things  they  were  willing  to  do,  and  by  giving 
them  my  support  to  go  ahead  and  do  those  things. 
People  have  been  wonderfully  complimentary 
about  what  I've  done.  Well,  I'm  not  sure  I've  done 
that  much,  except  to  be  a  facilitator,  a  catalyst  to 
keep  things  going." 


uThe  university 
wanted  me  to  teach 
statistics  for 
engineers,  the 
toughest  course 
in  the  college  of 
engineering. 
Being  able  to  teach 
that  pretty  well 
convinced  me  I 
hadn  'tyet  started 
down  the  road  to 
senility. " 


WPI  Journal 


23 


The  Stuff  Dreams 
Are  Made  Of 


By  Ruth  Trask 


ollowing  in  the  tradition  of  classic  submarine 
films,  Crimson  Tide,  this  summer's  block- 
buster thriller  starring  Denzel  Washington 
and  Gene  Hackman,  has  plenty  of  murky  under- 
sea action  and  frothy  torpedo  wakes.  But  thanks 
to  the  marvels  of  modern  computer  animation, 
the  bubbles  that  percolate  through  Crimson  Tide 
are  some  of  the  most  realistic  ever  seen  on  film. 
Much  of  that  realism  is  due  to  the  ingenuity  of 
Peter  Travers  '93,  a  software  animator  with 
Dream  Quest  Images  in  Simi  Valley,  Calif. 

The  focus  of  Crimson  Tide  is  the  missile  sub 
U.S.S.  Alabama,  which  is  dispatched  to  the  former 
Soviet  Union  after  an  ex-general  takes  over  missile 
silos  in  eastern  Russia.  Among  the  film's  action 
sequences  is  a  tension-filled  game  of  cat  and  mouse 
with  a  Soviet  Akula-class  attack  submarine. 

In  the  90  special  effects  shots  created  for  the 
movie  by  Dream  Quest  Images,  the  goal  was  to 
make  the  deep  underwater  scenes  as  believable 


and  as  unrelievedly  tense  as  possible,  Travers  says. 
The  company,  founded  in  1979,  is  a  leading  cre- 
ator of  visual  effects  for  films,  television  shows  and 
commercials.  Its  capabilities  include  computer  ani- 
mation, optical  and  digital  compositing,  digital 
image  manipulation,  motion-control  photography 
and  stop-motion  animation. 

Dream  Quest's  earliest  work  was  for  such  sci- 
ence fiction  films  as  Escape  From  New  York  and 
Blade  Runner.  More  recently  it  created  effects  for 
The  Mask,  Toys  and  The  Secret  Garden.  The  compa- 
ny's digital  visual  effects  helped  the  makers  of  The 
Crow  complete  the  film  after  its  star,  Brandon  Lee, 
was  accidentally  killed  during  filming.  DQI's  digi- 
tal effects  for  the  science  fiction  thriller  Total  Recall 
and  the  stunning  underwater  work  it  did  for  the 
film  The  Abyss  won  Academy  Awards  for  special 
visual  effects. 

How  did  Travers,  who  is  still  on  the  sunny  side 
of  25,  manage  to  rise  so  fast  in  the  heady  world  of 


24 


Summer  1995 


.  ii 


motion  picture  special  effects?  "You  could  say  it 
all  started  while  I  was  a  student  at  WPI,"  he 
replies.  "I  discovered  that  I  liked  writing  software 
and  creating  computer  graphics  while  I  was  a 
work-Study  student  at  WPFs  Instructional  Media 
Center.  And  in  my  senior  year  I  saw  Steven 
Spielberg's  Jurassic  Park,  which  made  a  huge 
impression  on  me  because  the  special  effects  were 
worked  into  the  live  action  so  naturally.  Following 


graduation,  I  had  several  job  interviews,  but  noth- 
ing seemed  creative  enough." 

Eventually,  Travers  enrolled  at  the  Vancouver 
Film  School  in  Canada,  where  he  took  a  computer 
graphics  course.  He  stayed  only  two  months, 
though,  because  there  were  more  students  than 
computers  and  he  could  rarely  find  a  free  worksta- 
tion. But  something  good  came  out  of  the  experi- 
ence. While  doing  research  for  a  report  about  the 
use  of  computer  graphics  by  major  engineering 
companies,  he  contacted  Wave  Front,  a  forward- 
looking  company  in  Santa  Barbara,  Calif.,  that 
makes  software  for  high-end  computer  graphics. 

"I  never  published  the  report,"  Travers  says, 
"but  Wave  Front  liked  my  work  and  offered  me 
an  internship  and  the  opportunity  to  generate 
programs  of  my  own.  I  didn't  make  any  money, 
but  I  gained  valuable  experience.  VMiile  following 
up  on  the  problems  Wave  Front  customers  called 
in  on  the  company's  hotline,  I  learned  how  to 


develop  software.  I  even  helped  create  a  brand 
new  software  program  called  Dvnamation." 

Dvnamation,  he  explains,  is  based  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  physics  and  incorporates  many  equations 
that  describe  the  way  objects  move  and  react  to 
physical  forces.  The  software  enables  animators  to 
create  movement  that  looks  natural  and  smooth. 
The  sequences  generated  with  Dvnamation  are  in 
sharp  contrast  to  the  less  realistic  motion  generat- 
ed with  stop-motion  animation,  which  has  been 
the  primary  animation  technique  used  in  films 
since  the  early  days  of  the  movie  industry. 

"At  Wave  Front  we  developed  a  new  tech- 
nique for  Dynamation  that  makes  certain  special 
effects,  such  as  clouds,  mists  and  bubbles,  look 
more  natural,"  he  says.  "The  technique  uses  swirl- 
ing particles,  rather  than  stop-motion,  to  render 
the  effects."  The  new  technique  has  already  been 
used  to  generate  effects  for  a  host  of  films,  includ- 
ing Star  Trek:  Generations,  Star  Gate,  Last  Action 
Hero  and  Apollo  13.  Travers  also  used  it  in  the 
work  he  did  for  Crimson  Title. 

While  interning  with  Wave  Front,  Travers 
free-lanced  on  weekends  to  make  ends  meet.  One 
animation  sequence  he  created  during  this  period 
using  the  Dynamation  software  was  snapped  up 
by  the  Fox  Television  Network,  which  now  uses  it 
as  its  main  on-air  logo.  Before  long  his  talent  and 
experience  won  him  a  well-paying  job  in  DQI's 
Digital  Department,  known  throughout  the  film 
industry  as  the  "techno-wizards." 

"DQI  was  interested  in  my  Dynamation  pro- 
gram," Travers  says,  "because  it  is  less  costly  to 
use  than  traditional  digital  animation  programs. 
It  also  delivers  3-D  realism  directly  to  film." 
Crimson  Tide  was  his  first  assignment  for  DQI. 

I  Iollvwood  Pictures  enlisted  DQI  to  create 
scenes  of  huge  submarines  gliding  through  the 
deep  sea,  torpedoes  speeding  toward  their  targets, 
and  a  Russian  sub  imploding.  Many  sequences 
were  filmed  with  eight  highly  detailed  submarine 
models,  ranging  in  length  from  4  feet  to  24  feet. 
The  torpedoes  were  6-foot-long  working  models. 

The  torpedo  models,  traveling  along  guide 
wires,  were  filmed  in  a  large  swimming  pool  with 
its  walls  painted  black  and  the  water  filled  with 
tempura  paint  particles  to  make  it  suitably  murky. 
The  submarine  models,  attached  to  posts  that 
traveled  along  tracks  or  suspended  by  wires  from 
a  computer-controlled  gantry,  were  shot  on  a 
smoke-filled  soundstage.  The  dense  smoke  cre- 
ated the  illusion  that  the  models  were  in  water. 

Many  of  the  live-action  sequences  required 
enhancement  by  the  DQI  Digital  Department, 
Travers  says,  and  that  is  where  his  talents  and 
experience  came  into  play.  For  many  shots,  for 
example,  it  was  necessary  to  digitally  paint  out 
guide  wires  or  other  support  hardware.  But 
certain  effects  required  the  digital  animators  to 
render  objects  completely  from  whole  cloth.  For 

(Continued  on  next  page) 


WPI  Journal 


25 


The  Stuff  Dreams  Are  Made  Of 

(Continued  from  previous  page) 

example,  the  two-mile-long  antenna  that  the 
Alabama  deploys  at  one  point  in  the  film  and  the 
countermeasures  the  sub  releases  into  the  water 
to  draw  away  the  Russian  torpedoes  were  created 
entirely  through  computer  animation,  work  in 
which  Travers  was  directly  involved. 

The  techno-wizards  also  helped  conjure  up 
several  torpedoes.  The  models  looked  realistic  as 
long  as  they  were  traveling  in  a  straight  line  along 
guide  wires,  Travers  says.  But  a  number  of  scenes 
called  for  the  weapons  to  make  sudden  turns 
as  they  hunted  enemy  subs  or  chased  after  the 
countermeasures.  In  the  film,  the  torpedoes  that 
perform  these  tricks  were  completely  computer 
generated  by  Travers  and  others  at  DQI. 

Also  created  with  the  help  of  computer  graph- 
ics, including  Travers'  Dynamation  software, 
were  the  bubbles  churned  up  by  the  torpedoes, 
countermeasures  and  underwater  explosions,  as 
well  as  the  wakes  created  by  objects  as  they  moved 
through  the  water.  These  digital  effects  had  to 
be  seamlessly  merged  with  the  footage  shot  in 
the  water  and  the  smoke-filled  stage.  To  do  this, 
Travers  and  the  other  DQI  digital  experts  used 
special  compositing  techniques  that  blended  the 
computer-generated  effects  with  a  digitized  ver- 
sion of  the  film.  "We  had  to  simulate  and  carefully 
time  every  torpedo  turn  and  bubble  to  make  it  fit 
properly  into  the  action  of  each  scene,"  he  says. 

Digital  enhancement  also  played  a  role  in  the 
most  challenging  sequence  DQI  created  for  Crim- 
son Tide:  the  underwater  explosion-implosion  of 
an  Akula  submarine.  Three  2  3 -toot  models  of  the 
sub  were  constructed  from  thin  lead  sheeting  cov- 
ering an  aluminum  skeleton.  Inside  were  six  large, 
evacuated  jars.  To  implode  the  models,  explosive 
charges  were  set  off,  shattering  the  jars  and  creat- 
ing a  powerful  vacuum.  Computer-generated 
bubbles  helped  enhance  the  real  maelstrom  kicked 
up  by  this  effect. 

Now  that  Crimson  Tide  is  at  your  neighborhood 
theater,  Travers  has  moved  on  to  a  new  project — 
one  of  biblical  proportions.  He  is  helping  DQI 
create  digital  special  effects  for  Moses,  a  film  that 
has  Ben  Kingsley  in  the  title  role.  The  film,  pro- 
duced by  Turner  Broadcasting  System,  will  be 
shown  on  cable  television  in  the  U.S.  next  Easter 
and  in  movie  theaters  elsewhere  around  the  world. 
"At  the  moment,"  Travers  says,  "we're  trying  to 
digitally  part  the  Red  Sea." 

And  when  Travers  says  "we,"  he  means  it  per- 
sonally. He  recently  lured  his  brother,  Michael, 
a  Tufts  University  graduate,  into  joining  him  on 
DQI's  techno-wizard  team.  "We  enjoy  working 
our  engineering  backgrounds  into  the  develop- 
ment ot  software  for  special  effects,"  he  says. 
"We're  in  on  the  ground  floor  of  an  expanding — 
and  exhilarating — industry." 


Great  Expectations 

(Continued  from  page  11) 

King  that  he  doesn't  care  if  Walter  learns  much  in 
school,  as  long  as  what  he  does  learn  is  learned 
"thoroughly,  and  without  confusion  or  distaste." 
Another  letter,  from  1861,  tells  of  Dickens'  bathing 
habits:  "I  use  (probably),  as  much  cold  water  as  any- 
one living,  and  have  taken  a  daily  shower  bath  these 
twenty  years."  There  is  also  a  fine  letter  of  Dec.  16, 
1842,  to  the  noted  artist  and  illustrator  George 
Cruikshank,  who  illustrated  Dickens'  Sketches  by  Box 
and  Oliver  Twist. 

The  Dickens  letters  are  of  great  value,  but 
they  are  not  the  only  manuscripts  in  the  Fellman 
collection.  The  gift  includes  an  impressive  set  of 
autograph  letters  from  a  variety  of  Dickens'  con- 
temporaries, including  writers,  artists,  scientists 
and  statesmen.  John  Forster,  Augustus  Egg,  Octa- 
vian  Blewitt,  George  Cruikshank,  Sir  Robert  Peel, 
Lord  John  Russell,  Michael  Faraday,  Jeremy  Ben- 
tham,  William  Harrison  Ainsworth,  William 
Godwin  and  Edward  Bulwer-Lytton  are  among 
those  represented. 

Perhaps  the  most  notable  item  in  the  entire 
collection — certainly  the  item  Robert  Fellman 
himself  prizes  most  highly — is  the  unique  "council 
attendance  book"  for  the  Guild  of  Literature  and 
Art.  This  book  records  (by  signature)  those 
attending  meetings  of  the  council  between  June 
12,  1854,  and  Dec.  7,  1896.  It  includes  the  signa- 
ture of  Charles  Dickens  more  than  30  times, 
including  two  instances  where  Fellman  suggests 
Dickens  may  have  been  "in  his  cups."  A  few  of  the 
many  other  notables  attending  meetings  (and 
signing  the  book)  were  Dickens'  first  biographer, 
John  Forster,  Dickens'  friend  Wilkie  Collins,  who 
wrote  the  first  English  detective  mysteries,  The 
Moonstone  and  The  Woman  in  Write,  and  John 
Tenniel,  the  illustrator  of  Lewis  Carroll's  Alice  in 
Wonderland  and  Through  the  Looking  Glass.  Dick- 
ens' eldest  son,  Charley,  attended  many  meetings, 
signing  his  name  as  "Charles  Dickens,  Junior"; 
interestingly,  the  first  time  he  attended  after  his 
father's  death  on  June  7,  1870,  he  signed  as 
"Charles  Dickens." 

The  Fellman  collection  contains  a  wealth  of 
fascinating  historical  and  critical  works  that  will 
be  useful  to  those  doing  research  on  Dickens' 
world.  Among  these  are  dozens  of  books  about 
Dickens'  life  and  times,  hundreds  of  books  about 
his  fiction,  generous  sets  of  works  by  such  con- 
temporary novelists  as  Thackeray,  Jerrold,  Bulwer- 
Lytton,  Ainsworth  and  Washington  Irving,  and 
complete  runs  of  two  journals  devoted  to  Dickens: 
The  Dickensian,  established  in  1905,  and  Dickens 
Quarterly  (formerly  Dickens  Studies  Newsletter), 
established  in  1970.  Such  resources  as  the  Pilgrim 
edition  of  Dickens'  letters  (in  seven  volumes),  the 
Penny  Cyclopedia  (a  treasure  trove  of  arcane  Victo- 
riana),  and  Heads  of  the  People  (a  collection  of 


26 


Summer  1995 


MM* 


amusing  Victorian  caricatures)  can  now  be  used, 

and  enjoyed,  by  scholars  and  students  alike. 

Robert  Fellman  did  not  amass  his  collection 
for  the  sole  use  of  Dickens  experts.  He  wanted  his 
materials  to  he  used  by  all  those  who  love  Dick- 
ens, and  the  terms  of  his  gift  specify  that  members 
of  the  Dickens  Fellowship,  an  international  group 
organized  nearly  a  century  ago,  be  invited  to  use 
the  collection.  (Fellman  has  served  as  the  honor- 
able secretary  of  the  Palo  Alto  branch  of  the  Dick- 
ens Fellowship,  and  several  WPI  faculty  members, 
including  myself.  Professor  Laura  J.  Mcnides  and 
communications  instructor  Barbara  McCarthy, 
are  active  members  of  the  Worcester  branch.) 

The  Fellman  collection  includes  many  exam- 
ples of  the  best  19th-century  book  illustrations, 
some  fine  rare  bindings,  and  a  most  valuable  1817 
example  of  fore-edge  painting  (a  technique  where- 
by a  design  is  actually  painted  on  the  edges  of 
leaves  of  the  book,  with  the  painting  being 
revealed  only  when  the  pages  are  fanned  in  a  par- 
ticular way).  Alain  of  the  most  visually  arresting 
items  in  the  collection  are  works  of  art;  the  collec- 
tion includes  more  than  40  matted  and  framed 
prints,  paintings  and  drawings,  and  dozens  of 
porcelain  objects,  several  of  them  Renal  Doulton 
plates  and  ceramic  figures.  A  number  of  the  art 
works  are  original  pieces;  of  particular  note  is  a 
color  sketch  for  Our  Mutual  Friend  by  Dickens' 
original  illustrator  for  that  work,  Marcus  Stone. 

Since  Fellman  wants  his  collection  to  be  used 
and  enjoyed,  WPI  is  making  arrangements  with 
the  management  of  Mechanics  Hall,  the  building 
on  Main  Street  in  Worcester  where  Dickens 
spoke  in  1868,  to  display  some  of  the  wrorks  of  art 
in  its  "Dickens  Room."  Dickens  came  to  Worces- 
ter twice.  The  first  time  he  did  not  speak  formally, 
but  did  take  the  time  to  submit  to  a  phrenological 
examination.  One  of  the  foremost  practitioners  of 
that  1 9th-century  pseudoscience  examined  the 
bumps  on  Dickens'  skull  and  wrote  a  report  inter- 
preting his  findings.  The  report  is  now  one  of  the 
treasures  of  Worcester's  American  Antiquarian 
Society.  Dickens  slept  in  the  home  of  Governor 
John  Davis  at  89  Lincoln  Street  in  Worcester  on 
Feb.  6,  1 842,  and  left  Worcester  the  next  morn- 
ing, on  his  30th  birthday. 

Dickens  didn't  return  to  Worcester  for  more 
than  26  years;  he  came  back  to  America  only  in 
the  last  years  of  his  career,  when  he  undertook  a 
"Farewell  Tour"  of  public  readings.  He  came  to 
Worcester  for  the  second  anil  last  time,  perform- 
ing in  Mechanics  Hall  on  the  night  of  March  23, 
1868  (just  eight  months  before  WPI  opened  its 
doors).  The  enthusiastic  crowd  of  more  than 
1,500  paid  $2  each — Dickens'  flat  fee  throughout 
the  Lhiited  States — to  hear  Dickens  perform  his 
readings  (really  dramatic  interpretations)  adapted 
from  A  Christmas  Carol  and  The  Pickwick  Papers. 
Mechanics  Hall  still  proudly  displays  a  lectern 
Dickens  is  said  to  have  used  at  this  performance 


(although  the  author  is  known  to  have  traveled 
with  a  special  desk  he  often  used  lor  his  dramatic 
readings). 

While  some  of  the  items  in  this  extraordinary 
collection  (particularly  the  two-  and  three-dimen- 
sional art  works)  will  likely  be  made  available  on 
extended  loan  to  Mechanics  I  [all,  the  bulk  of  the 
collection  will  be  permanently  housed  in  WPI's 
(  rOrdon  Library.  When  it  is  completed,  the 
Robert  D.  Fellman  Dickens  Room  will  contain 


the  collection  and  all  the  services  necessary- 
including  comfortable  chairs  and  work  tables — for 
WPI  students  and  faculty,  community  members, 
and  visiting  scholars  (including,  of  course,  any 
members  of  the  Dickens  Fellowship)  to  use  the 
collection.  "We  need  to  see  that  this  valuable  col- 
lection is  protected,  but  we  also  want  to  ensure 
that  all  members  of  the  WPI  community  have 
access  to  the  materials  thev  need,"  says  Lora 
Brueck,  archivist  and  special  collections  librarian, 
who  will  have  the  greatest  responsibility  for  over- 
seeing use  of  the  Fellman  Collection. 

(Continued  on  page  29) 


Fellman  shows  off  an 
example  of  fore-edge 
painting  from  his  collec- 
tion, top,  and  reviews 
the  signatures  of  many 
well-known  Victorian 
writers  and  artists 
(including  Dickens)  in 
the  "council  attendance 
book"  for  the  Guild  of 
Literature  and  Art. 


WTT  Journal 


27 


COROLLARY 


A  Love  for  "Bits  and  Pieces" 


Robert  Fellman  and  Charles  Dick- 
ens became  good  friends  when 
Fellman  was  just  13.  On  a  trip 
to  the  high  school  library  in  the 
small  town  of  Red  Lake  Falls, 
Minn.,  where  Fellman  was  born, 
he  decided  to  check  out  a  book 
with  the  curious  title,  The  Posthu- 
mous Papers  of  the  Pickwick  Club, 
one  of  Dickens'  earliest  works. 

Fellman  was  attracted  by  the 
Victorian  author's  humor,  his  sense 
of  character,  and  his  uncanny  abili- 
ty to  draw  a  reader  into  his  world. 
"He's  a  novelist  who,  when  you 
read,  is  sitting  on  your  shoulder. 
You  can't  get  rid  of  him,"  he  once 
told  a  newspaper  reporter. 

His  love  for  Dickens'  writing 
continued  as  he  went  on  to  study  chemistry  at  the 
University  of  Minnesota  Institute  of  Technology, 
where  he  earned  a  bachelor's  degree  in  1944.  (He 
later  received  a  master  of  science  in  chemistry  at 
the  University  of  Southern  California  and  did 
additional  graduate  work  in  the  discipline  at  the 
University  of  London  and  Stanford  University.) 

In  1958  he  joined  the  faculty  of  the  newly 
founded  Foothill  College  in  Los  Altos  Hills,  Calif., 
where  he  served  as  chairman  of  the  Department  of 
Physical  Sciences  and  Mathematics  and  was  an 
instructor  of  chemistry  and  physical  science  until 
his  recent  retirement.  His  interest  in  Dickens 
remained  that  of  a  devoted  fan  until  the  early 
1960s,  when  he  took  a  sabbatical  year  in  London. 

While  Fellman  was  in  England,  a  friend  in  the 
London  theater  gave  him  a  set  of  original  early 
20th-century  watercolor  illustrations  of  Dickens 
characters.  The  gift  made  him  curious  about  the 
many  illustrators  who  interpreted  Dickens'  large 
cast  of  colorful  characters  over  the  years.  He 
began  reading  everything  he  could  find  on  the 
subject,  and  as  his  knowledge  grew  he  became 
interested  in  collecting  Dickens  illustrations. 

In  time,  this  fascination  led  to  a  love  of  all 
things  Dickensian,  and  he  began  to  amass  a  first- 
rate  collection  of  books  by  and  about  the  author, 
as  well  as  artifacts  and  memorabilia  related  to 


The  Story  of 

the  Man  Behind 

the  Fellman 

Collection 


house  where  they  were  located  was 
just  the  spot  for  his  collection.  He 
bought  the  house  a  few  days  later. 

Over  time  Fellman's  Palo  Alto 
home  filled  with  the  products  of  his 
collecting,  with  every  room  a  gal- 
lery for  illustrations,  posters,  letters 
— even  a  framed  check  signed  by 
the  author.  An  entire  wall  of  shelves 
was  filled  with  his  collection  of 
printed  pieces.  He  reserved  the 
most  significant  and  attractive  items 
for  the  knotty  pine-paneled  room 
he  called  the  "Victorian  Room." 

In  1973  Fellman  decided  to 
share  his  collection  with  the  local 
community.  He  organized  an  exhib- 
it, "Dickens  and  His  Illustrators,"at 
Foothill  College  and  included  many 
of  the  rare  books  and  artworks  he  owned.  The  fol- 
lowing year  he  began  to  share  his  extensive  knowl- 
edge of  Dickens,  as  well.  He  organized  a  summer 
course  at  Foothill  College  titled  "Charles  Dickens: 
The  Man  and  His  Work,"  which  he  taught  for 
many  years.  The  popular  course  included  two  field 
trips  to  visit  large  collections  of  Dickens-related 
material:  one  at  Stanford  University,  and  one  in 
Fellman's  home.  In  fact,  he  says,  many  of  the  items 
in  his  collection  were  the  result  of  his  desire  to  have 
exciting  things  for  "show  and  tell"  with  his  students. 

Along  with  the  students  in  the  first  offering 
of  his  summer  course,  Fellman  applied  for  and 
received  a  charter  from  the  London-based  Dickens 
Fellowship  for  a  Palo  Alto  chapter  of  the  society. 
Fellman  was  the  chapter's  first  president  and  has, 
for  many  years,  edited  its  newsletter.  He  is  current- 
ly "honorable  secretary." 
Over  the  years,  Fell- 
man has  often  been  asked 
what  it  is  about  Charles 
Dickens  that  has  kept  him 
exploring  the  author's  life. 
He  told  a  reporter  some 
years  back,  "It  was  said 
very  nicely  by  George 
Orwell:  'The  genius  of 
Dickens  lies  in  his  unnec- 


Over  the  years,  Fell- 
man's Palo  Alto,  Calif., 
home  became  filled 
with  the  items  in  his 
collection,  including 
figurines,  like  this  Royal 
Doulton  interpretation 
of  Mr.  Pickwick. 


Dickens.  "You  get  a  little  knowledge,  and  with  the       essary  details.'  Being  a 


help  of  serendipity,  start  looking  for  other 
things,"  he  says.  "One  day  you  wake  up  and  dis- 
cover you're  a  collector." 

Having  caught  the  collecting  bug,  Fellman 
began  looking  for  ways  to  expand  his  holdings. 
After  returning  from  England,  he  placed  an  ad  in  a 
local  paper  looking  for  other  collectors  of  Dickens 
memorabilia.  He  was  contacted  by  a  woman  who 
owned  a  set  of  leaded-paned  bookcases.  When  he 
went  to  see  them,  he  decided  that  the  charming 


chemist,  I  like  bits  and 
pieces  of  information." 

Thanks  to  Fellman's 
devotion,  endless  curiosity,  and  great  generosity,  a 
remarkable  collection  of  "bits  and  pieces"  relating 
to  the  life  and  times  of  one  of  the  world's  greatest 
writers  is  now  available  for  "show  and  tell"  in  the 
Worcester  area,  where  it  will  enrich  students  and 
scholars  for  generations  to  come. 

-  Michael  Dorset 


28 


Summer  1995 


-—  "* 


mum 


Great  Expectations 

(Continued  from  page  27) 

Though  dozens  of  boxes  of  materials  have 
already  arrived  in  Worcester,  it  will  be  some  time 
before  the  entire  collection  is  available  for  use.  It 
will  take  months — perhaps  even  a  year  or  more— 
before  everything  arrives  trom  Fell  man's  Palo 
Alto  home,  and  it  will  also  take  time  for  the  items 
to  be  catalogued  and  shelved.  Still,  the  hulk  or  the 
materia]  should  he  in  place  by  late  1996,  when 
WPI  will  sponsor  a  Dickens  Symposium  to  high- 
light the  Robert  1).  Fellman  Dickens  Collection. 
The  symposium  will  otter  a  variety  of  scholars  and 
teachers  a  chance  to  present  and  discuss  their 
research  on  Dickens,  and  will  afford  participants 
the  opportunity  to  explore  the  riches  ot  the  new 
collection. 

"We  look  forward  to  welcoming  Dickens 
experts  from  New  England,  and  trom  across  the 
nation,"  says  Gordon  Library  Director  I  lelen 
Sinister.  The  symposium,  under  my  direction,  will 
be  held  Sept.  20-22,  1996.  The  Dickens  Society  of 
America,  of  which  I  am  both  secretary  and  trea- 
surer, will  hold  its  business  meeting  at  the  confer- 
ence; it  will  be  the  first  time  the  business  meeting 
of  the  Dickens  Society  will  be  held  independently 
of  the  Modern  Language  Association  since  the 
founding  of  the  society  in  1970. 

Fellman,  a  retired  teacher  of  Dickens  whose 
academic  preparation  was  primarily  in  the  area  of 
chemistry  (see  story,  page  28),  found  WPI  to  be  an 
ideal  site  for  his  beloved  collection.  He  was  aware 
that  Worcester,  the  second  largest  city  in  New 
England,  lacked  a  first-rate  Dickens  collection.  He- 
was  also  attracted  by  the  innovative  nature  of  the 
WTI  Plan,  which  prepares  technologically  aware 
humanists  and  culturally  sophisticated  and  flexible 
engineers  tor  satisfying  careers  and,  more  impor- 
tant, for  the  continual  explorations,  adaptations, 
excitements  and  surprises  ot  lite. 

Fellman  also  said  he  liked  WTI's  "hands-on" 
approach  to  teaching.  He  assembled  the  collection 
with  the  idea  that  the  materials  should  be  used, 
and  he  was  particularly  delighted  that  the  first 
boxes  of  materials  (arriving  in  time  for  Dickens' 
183rd  birthday  on  Feb.  7,  1995)  contained  items 
V\TI  students  could  use  right  away.  For  example, 
in  The  English  Novel,  a  seminar  I  taught  last  win- 
ter, I  was  able  to  show  students  a  bound  volume  of 
All  The  Year  Round  that  included  the  first  serial 
installments  ot  Great  Expectations,  the  Dickens 
novel  the  class  was  studying  at  the  time. 

Subsequently,  I  have  been  able  to  utilize  the 
collection  tor  the  purposes  of  scholarly  research,  as 
well.  Examining  original  volumes  ofBentley's  Mis- 
cellany in  preparation  for  a  review  of  a  new  edition 
of  Dickens'  journalism  allowed  me  to  detect  a 
number  of  flaws  in  that  new  edition,  which  the  edi- 
tors may  be  able  to  avoid  in  future  volumes.  Just  as 
important,  I've  been  able  to  guide  students  in  using 


the  collection  for  their  own  work.  This  spring 
David  A.  Boulanger  '96  was  able  to  consult  a  rare 
work  on  Dickens'  Pickwick  Paperszs  part  ol  his 
research  tor  his  I  lumanities  Sufficiency  project. 
This  tine  paper,  growing  out  of  Boulanger's  WPI 
course  work,  explored  the  illustrations  by  Robert 
Seymour,  Robert  Buss  and  I  lablot  K.  Browne  that 
accompanied  the  original  serial  installments  of 
Dickens'  richly  comic  first  novel. 

Thanks  to  Fellman's  generositj  in  establishing 
the  Fellman  Dickens  Collection,  main  more  stu- 
dents will  be  able  to  explore  the  richness  ol  Victo- 
rian culture  right  here  in  Worcester.  "Because  of 
the  breadth  of  this  collection,  students  interested 
in  history,  literature  and  the  arts  will  have  a 
unique  resource  at  their  fingertips,"  says  Lee 
Fontanella,  chair  of  the  Humanities  and  Arts 
Department.  "This  collection  will  be  ot  value,  not 
just  to  Dickensians,  but  to  the  whole  community." 

About  the  Author 

Joel  J.  Bkvi  tin,  associate  professor  of  English  in 

the  Department  of  Humanities  and  Arts,  came  to 
the  Institute  in  1990.  He  is  currently  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  Dickens  Society  of  America, 
which  has  some  600  members. 

Brattin  received  an  A.B.  in  English  literature 
from  the  University  of  Michigan  and  went  on  to 
earn  a  doctorate  in  English  at  Stanford.  His  doc- 
toral dissertation  treats  the  manuscripts  of  tour  of 
Dickens'  last  novels.  Before  joining  WTI,  he  was  a 
teaching  administrator  at  Stanford,  the  academic 
coordinator  for  the  Dickens  Project  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  California,  Santa  Cruz,  associate  editor 
of  The  Essential  Carlyle,  and  assistant  professor  of 
English  at  Missouri  Southern  State  College. 

Over  the  years  he  has  published  many 
articles  and  reviews  on  Dickens  and  other  19th- 
century  British  writers  in  Dickens  Quarterly,  The 
Dickens/tn/,  Dickens  Studies .  Innual  and  Nineteenth- 
Century  Prose.  His  first  book,  an  annotated  bib- 
liography ot  Dickens'  Our  Mutual  Friend,  was 
published  in  1985.  Today  he  serves  on  the  edi- 
torial board  of  Nineteenth-Century  Prose  and  is  mi 
advisory  editor  for  and  contributor  to  the  Com- 
panion to  Charles  Dickens  volume  forthcoming 
from  Oxford  University  Press. 

Brattin  is  also  an  authority  on  the  music  of 
the  late  rock  guitarist  Jimi  Hendrix  and  has  ex- 
plored the  artist's  work  through  numerous  reviews 
and  articles.  He  has  also  served  as  a  consultant  for 
a  variety  of  Hendrix  projects,  including  books  and 
audio  and  video  releases. 

Brattin  first  met  Robert  Fellman  when  he  was 
working  on  his  Ph.D.  at  Stanford,  and  he  occa- 
sionally used  Fellman's  collection  in  his  scholar- 
ship. "I  was  immediately  taken  by  Bob's  love  for 
Dickens,  his  deep  knowledge  of  the  Victorian 
milieu,  and  his  generosity  and  delight  in  sharing 
his  collection  with  all  the  members  of  the  local 
Dickens  Fellowship,"  he  says. 


WPI  Journal 


29 


EXPLORATIONS 


Projects  Aim  to  "Save  the  World" 


by  Bonnie  Gelbwasser 

Little  things  mean  a  lot. 
That's  the  premise  behind  a  series 
of  Interactive  Qualifying  Projects 
(IQPs)  completed  by  several  WPI  students 
over  the  past  four  years.  Advised  by  Roger 
S.  Gottlieb,  professor  of  philosophy  in  the 
Humanities  and  Arts  Department,  the  pro- 
jects aim  to  "save  the  world"  in  small  but 
significant  ways. 

"The  idea  for  the  IQPs  came  out  of  my 
own  interest  in  the  environment  and  my 
belief  in  the  central  importance  of  combin- 
ing our  understanding  of  the  environment 
with  attempts  to  improve  our  relationship  to 
it,"  Gottlieb  says.  "The  projects  seek  to 
bring  technology  and  society  into  the  most 
perfect  harmony  for  the  good  of  everyone." 

Each  project  spans  three  academic 
terms.  "The  first  term  is  dedicated  to  study- 
ing broad  issues  in  environmental  theory 
and  to  finding  a  particular  area  of  action," 
says  Gottlieb.  "During  the  second  term,  stu- 
dents research  their  action  area  and  begin 
the  concrete  activities  necessary  to  complete 
the  project.  These  activities  continue  during 
the  third  term,  culminating  in  an  extensive 
written  report." 

Since  1992,  Gottlieb  has  advised  15  stu- 


dents who've  completed  five  "Save  the 
World"  projects.  This  fall,  Alexander  Fra- 
zier  '96,  Mario  Miele  '96  and  Keith  Bosse 
'96  will  map  the  tree  cover  at  the  Wachusett 
Meadows  Sanctuary  in  Princeton,  Mass. 
Their  results  will  be  placed  in  a  database  at 
the  sanctuary  and  the  students  will  relate  the 
tree  cover  at  Wachusett  to  the  general  con- 
ditions of  forests  in  New  England.  Also  this 
fall,  Tom  Tanimoto  '97  and  Mika  Newton 
'97  will  develop  a  course  on  environmental 
literature  in  which  poems  and  stories  will  be 
used  to  "open  up  the  emotions  that  nature 
arouses  in  man"  and  to  "teach  people  to  love 
the  world  in  which  they  live." 

Recently  named  the  Paris  Fletcher 
Distinguished  Professor  of  Humanities  at 
WPI,  Gottlieb  is  the  coordinator  of  WPI's 
FIumanities/Environmental  Studies  curric- 
ulum. Students  interested  in  humanistically 
oriented  environmental  studies  can  major  in 
the  humanities  with  concentrations  in  litera- 
ture, philosophy  and  religion,  or  history. 


The  program  prepares  graduates  for 
careers  in  law,  business,  government 
service,  environmental  activism  and  jour- 
nalism, and  for  graduate  study  in  the 
humanities. 

Gottlieb  has  also  chaired  the  WPI 
Campus  Committee  on  Environmental 
Affairs,  which  has  worked  on  a  range  of 
campus  environmental  issues,  including  the 
need  to  find  ways  to  reduce  paper  use.  He  is 
on  the  steering  committee  of  the  Religion 
and  Ecology  section  of  the  American  Aca- 
demy of  Religion  and  is  editor  of  Capital, 
Nature,  Socialism,  an  international  environ- 
mental journal. 

He  has  written  widely  on  social  theory, 
the  Holocaust,  contemporary  spirituality 
and  environmental  theory.  Among  his 
recent  books  are  Thinking  the  Unthinkable: 
Meanings  of  the  Holocaust  and  Marxism 
1S44-1990:  Origins,  Betrayal,  Rebirth.  He 
is  the  editor  of  This  Sacred  Earth:  Religion, 
Nature,  Environment,  a  survey  of  traditional 
religious  myths,  creation  stories  and  con- 
ceptions of  nature  from  Jewish,  Christian, 
Native  American,  Indian,  African,  Chinese 
and  indigenous  texts  and  commentators. 
Contributors  focus  on  religion  in  an  age  of 
environmental  crisis. 


30 


SUMMER  1995 


C~  -knimmn 


During  the  second  half  of  the  1995-96 
academic  year,  he  will  be  on  sabbatical  to 
complete  Holocaust  and  Ecocide,  an  examina- 
tion of  three  critical  similarities  between  the 
I  holocaust  and  humanity's  current  treatment 
of  the  environment.  "The  book,"  Gottlieb 
says,  "will  describe  the  despair  that  takes  the 
form  of  a  rejection  of  spiritual  forces  or 
meanings;  the  public  despair  that  arises  when 
the  full  scope  of  Jewish  resistance  is  absent 
from  public  commemorations  of  the  event; 
and  the  political  despair  prompted  by  the  way 
humanity  as  a  whole  has  created  an  environ- 
mental crisis  that  in  some  ways  mimics  the 
I  Iolocaust  on  a  global  scale." 

Here's  a  look  at  a  few  of  the  projects 
that  have  been  completed  through  the  "Save 
the  World"  program  in  recent  years: 

Saving  the  Watershed  to 
Save  the  River 

"We  must  start  small  and  work  up  to  the 
larger  problems  in  order  to  save  the  world." 
Paul  Beliveau  '95,  Michael  Briggs  '95, 
Robert  O'Connell  '95  and  Michael  Schulz 
'95  wrote  those  words  in  their  IQP.  The 
major  work  of  the  project  was  the  creation 
of  a  brochure  that  explains  how  to  preserve 
the  water  quality  at  Worcester's  Broad 
Meadow  Brook  Wildlife  Sanctuary.  "This 
project  is  designed  to  find  a  way  to  involve 
the  populace  in  something  they  can  see  and 
care  about — something  that  is  easy  to  do 
and  yet  accomplishes  more  than  anyone  can 
imagine,"  the  students  wrote. 

The  277-acre  Broad  Meadow  Brook 
Sanctuary  is  the  largest  urban  wildlife  sanc- 
tuary in  New  England.  It  is  owned  by  the 
city,  New  England  Power  Co.  and  the  Mass- 
achusetts Audubon  Society.  The  society 
manages  the  oakwoods,  fields,  former  pas- 
tures, streams,  marshes  and  swamps  for  the 
owners,  a  consortium  dedicated  to  wildlife 
habitat  and  nature  education.  Broad  Meadow 
Brook  itself  is  a  tributary  of  the  Blackstone 
River,  which  flows  from  Worcester  to  Prov- 
idence, R.I.,  where  it  empties  into  Narra- 
gansett  Bay.  In  Worcester,  the  river  is  fed, 
in  large  part,  by  storm  drains  running  under 
the  city.  The  river  is  currently  so  polluted  it 
cannot  be  used  for  recreation. 

In  their  project,  Beliveau,  Briggs,  O'Con- 
nell and  Schulz  focused  on  nonpoint  pollu- 
tion (that  which  can't  be  traced  to  a  specific 
location)  in  Broad  Meadow  Brook's  1,242- 
acre  watershed.  The  watershed  is  bounded  by 
Saint  Vincent  Hospital  to  the  west,  Granite 
Street  to  the  east,  Route  20  to  the  south,  and 
Grafton  Street  to  the  north  and  extends  well 
beyond  the  sanctuary's  borders. 


The  students  traced  sewer  lines  that 
empty  into  the  river  back  to  their  sources 
to  determine  where  most  of  the  pollution 
comes  from  and  to  identify  problem  areas 
for  the  city  to  target  for  cleanup.  They  also 
prepared  a  pamphlet  that  describes  things 
people  who  live  near  the  sanctuary  can  do  to 
help  improve  the  water  quality  of  the  brook 
and  the  ecosystem  around  it.  They  present- 
ed their  findings  at  a  community  meeting 
in  Worcester. 

The  pamphlet,  which  is  available  at  the 
Broad  Meadow  Brook  sanctuary,  includes 
such  suggestions  as  refraining  from  littering 
in  the  watershed;  maintaining  septic  systems 
properly;  following  integrated  pest  manage- 
ment and  organic  gardening  principles; 
correcting  improper  hook-ups  to  storm 
drains;  and  properly  disposing  of  used 
motor  oil. 

"By  cleaning  up  the  watershed  we  are 
working  with  a  small  community  on  a  small 
scale,"  the  students  conclude  in  their  project 
report.  "It  is  an  attainable  goal  that  could 
very  well  lead  to  the  improvement  of  the 
Blackstone  River." 

Protecting  All  the  World's 
Populations 

In  "Specieism,  not  Humanism!"  Kimberley 
Aho  '94  and  Michelle  West  '94  studied  the 
relationship  between  an  ethic  that  says  that 
only  people  have  value,  and  the  consequences 
of  that  ethic,  which  is  the  destruction  of  other 
species.  "They  proposed  an  alternative  ethic," 
Gottlieb  says,  "a  'biocentric'  ethic  that  says 
that  all  forms  of  life  have  value  and  that  nature 
has  an  intention  and  a  purpose  of  its  own — it 
doesn't  just  depend  on  human  beings." 

The  students  examined  population 
growth  and  the  impact  of  such  accompany- 
ing problems  as  the  depletion  of  the  rain 
forest  and  global  warming  on  other  species, 
"because  population  growth  and  the 
destruction  of  the  rain  forest  are  two  key 
areas  where  you  destroy  habitat — and  that  is 
the  most  significant  thing  in  destroying 
species,"  they  wrote. 

To  learn  firsthand  the  interrelationship 
of  species  and  ecosystems,  and  about  how 
the  actions  of  human  beings  affect  the  fate 
of  other  species,  the  students  gathered  infor- 
mation for  the  Massachusetts  Audubon 
Society's  Herp  Atlas  Project,  a  database  that 
documents  the  statewide  distribution  of  rep- 
tiles and  amphibians  such  as  turtles,  snakes, 
frogs,  toads  and  salamanders.  During  several 
Sunday  forays  to  vernal  pools  in  the  Broad 
Meadow  Brook  Wildlife  Sanctuary,  the  stu- 
dents identified  green  frogs,  red-back  sala- 


manders, snapping  and  painted  turtles,  bull- 
frogs, eastern  garter  snakes  and  northern 
water  snakes. 

They  stressed  the  interrelationship 
between  human  and  animal  environments 
and  the  responsibility  individuals  must  take 
for  preserving  that  connection.  "Focusing 
on  saving  individual  species  from  universal 
extinction  will  not  be  effective  unless  the 
ecosystems  they  inhabit  are  preserved,"  they 
wrote.  "Without  the  preservation  of  a  wide 
variety  of  species,  the  entire  ecology  of  the 
planet  is  doomed.... While  individuals  may 
change  their  lifestyles  and  groups  work  for 
the  benefit  of  the  environment,  true  change 
for  the  better  must  come  from  changes  in 
human  society." 

Recycling  to  Save  Our 
Resources 

There  is  a  need  for  a  long-term  comprehen- 
sive program  to  break  down  the  economic 
and  political  barriers  that  keep  us  from 
achieving  a  global  society  that  practices  sus- 
tainable development,  including  redistribu- 
tion of  wealth  and  closed-system  recycling. 
That  is  the  conclusion  of  an  IQP  completed 
by  David  Anderson  '94,  Aran  Chawla  '94, 
David  O'Donnell  '94,  Kevin  Roy  '94  and 
Rachel  Stratford  '95,  who  say  that  the 
process  of  reusing  products  and  conserving 
natural  resources  may  be  the  best  first  step 
toward  this  vision. 

"Recycling,  in  light  of  its  recently 
increasing  popularity,  is  an  excellent  choice 
to  begin  this  process.  Technology  to  achieve 
healthy  recycling  rates  for  the  planet  exists 
but  needs  legislative  and  economic  help." 

For  their  project,  the  students  looked  at 
the  applications  of  existing  recycling  tech- 
nology and  evaluated  the  implications  of 
recycling  on  waste  reduction  and  energy 
conservation.  "If  new  sources  of  energy  are 
identified,  if  recycling  efforts  are  maintained 
and/or  strengthened,  if  energy  efficiency  is 
improved  in  the  building,  industrial,  trans- 
portation and  other  sectors,  and  if  political 
and  economic  factors  are  cooperative,  a 
balance  of  human  advancement  and  planet 
stability  may  be  attained." 

"The  environmental  crisis  is  a  critical 
threat,"  Gottlieb  says.  "But  it  is  also  a  criti- 
cal opportunity  to  see  the  truth  about  how 
we  have  been  living,  to  reassess  what  is  truly 
important  in  our  lives,  and  to  make  the 
changes  that  will  make  sense  of  ourselves, 
other  people,  future  generations,  and  all  the 
life  around  us.  Recycling,  these  students 
have  shown,  can  be  a  crucial  part  of  those 
changes." 


VPI  JOURNAL 


31 


FINAL     WORD 


EDITOR'S  NOTE:  After  graduating  from  WPl,  Alex  Thorp  went  to  work  for  an  engineering  firm  specializing  in  water  resource  management. 

Finding  the  work  unfulfilling  and  troubled  by  questions  about  his  own  place  in  what  he  saw  as  a  too  complicated  and  too  commercial  world, 

he  set  out  on  a  personal  quest  that  began  with  a  trip  across  North  America  by  bicycle.  This  is  his  story. 

Travels  With  Alex 


Rainy   Pass 

ELEVATION   4855 


BY  ALEX  THORP  '92 


On  my  cross- 
country trip, 
I  discovered 
that  traveling  by  bicycle 
has  its  advantages.  First, 
it's  cheap — only  about 

$20  a  day.  Second,  ■-*  '     ''    v 

although  the  trip  takes  much  longer  than  it 
would  in  a  car,  you  get  to  see  more  of  the 
landscape.  And  the  exercise  that  bike-riding 
requires  can  have  a  bit  of  a  mind-altering 
effect,  as  endorphins  course  through  your 
brain  and  make  you  feel  awake  and  alive. 

Overall,  the  trip  was  fantastic.  I'll  never 
forget  seeing  antelope  running  at  high  speed 
through  waist-high  grasses,  their  black 
heads  barely  visible  above  the  grass  tops,  or 
fog  enshrouding  the  Rockies,  the  blue  open 
sky  contrasting  sharply  with  the  gold  wheat 
fields  of  the  west,  and  smoke  and  ash  filling 
the  sky  from  huge  forest  fires  raging  in  the 
Northwest. 

As  I  peddled  through  Washington  state, 
nighthawks,  their  wings  and  backs  striped 
in  white,  swooped  down  at  me,  then  skirted 
off  to  prepare  for  another  run.  Common 
carp  swam  in  layers  along  the  shore  of  Lake 
Sakakewea  in  North  Dakota.  King  Salmon 
ran  up  a  river  running  north  from  Georgian 
Bay  in  southern  Ontario,  leaping  over  rocks 
and  locks.  In  Minnesota,  I  saw  endless  fields 
of  sunflowers,  a  shock  to  the  eyes  on  a 
bright  day.  (On  a  cloudy  day  the  sunflowers 
hold  hands  and  gently  bow  their  heads.) 

Aid  then  there  were  the  people. 
Everywhere  I  went  there  were  thoughtful 
strangers  eager  to  talk  about  almost  any  top- 


"I  went  into  the  woods 

because  I  wished  to  live 

deliberately,  to  front  only 

the  essential  facts  of  life, 

and  see  if  I  coidd  learn  what 

it  had  to  teach,  and  not, 

when  I  came  to  die,  discover 

that  I  had  not  lived. " 

—Henry  David  Thoreau 

ic  with  a  lone  cyclist.  I  especially  remember 
an  old  farmer  with  rich,  dark  hands  who 
quietly  reminisced  about  growing  grapes,  his 
life's  work. 

In  Travels  With  Charley,  John  Steinbeck 
wrote  that  in  most  of  the  towns  he  visited, 
people  said  they  wanted  to  get  away  from 
where  they  were.  I  also  found  that  to  be 
true.  A  number  of  folks  told  me  they  longed 
to  step  outside  the  boundaries  ot  their 


everyday  lives.  Many 
said  they  wished  they'd 
done  it  years  ago  when 
they  were  young  and 
free.  They  seemed 
curious  about  the 
unknown  and  frustrated 
in  their  attempts  to  make  their  lives  more 
meaningful. 

Some  said  they  felt  as  if  they  were  vic- 
tims of  overpowering  outside  forces — indus- 
try, big  business,  the  government,  the  mili- 
tary, the  media,  commercialism.  In  a  way,  I 
suppose,  these  institutions,  which  we  sup- 
port, are  reflections  of  ourselves,  and  we 
don't  like  it  when  we  see  greed,  hatred  and 
intolerance  reflected  in  these  social  mirrors. 
Along  with  the  thought-provoking  con- 
versations and  beautiful  scenery,  danger  and 
pollution  were  always  with  me.  Several 
motorists  objected  to  my  mode  of  travel;  I 
had  a  lot  of  close  calls,  but  no  one  ran  into 
me.  The  roadsides  across  America  were 
appalling,  with  McDonald's  wrappers, 
crushed  cans  and  tattered  magazines  strewn 
everywhere. 

Despite  the  downside,  I  really  enjoyed 
the  trip.  It  helped  me  develop  a  confidence 
that  I  could  manage  anything,  anywhere,  on 
my  own.  I  decided  to  leave  the  open  road 
behind  and  settle,  at  least  temporarily, 
where  I  could  contribute  to  a  local  farming 
economy. 

I  was  born  in  Norway,  as  was  my  mother, 
so  it  was  natural  that  I  look  there.  Through 
an  organization  called  Atlantis,  I  contacted  a 
woman  who  owns  a  medium-size  dairy  farm 


32 


SUMMER  1995 


*WK% 


HI  HOPES 
MARKET 


on  Gimsy  Island,  part  of 
the  Lofoten  Islands,  which 
are  known  around  the 
world  for  their  codfish. 

That's  how  I  came  to 
spend  four  months  work- 
ing for  Unni  Hov.  She  has 
28  cows  on  her  farm,  16  of 
which  are  milked  twice  a 
day.  My  job  was  to  feed 
and  clean  the  animals,  and 
to  push  their  waste  into 
the  cellar  of  the  barn.  At 
first  I  was  afraid  of  the 
cows,  but  by  the  time  I  left 
for  home  we  had  become 
friends.  They  responded  most  affectionately 
when  taken  care  of  (just  like  people  do).  I 
even  started  talking  to  them. 

Each  day,  after  I  finished  caring  for  the 
animals,  I  fixed  broken  machines,  plowed 
snow  and  built  things — all  normal  activities 
for  a  farmer.  Although  it  was  physically 
demanding,  I  enjoyed  what  I  did.  It  was 
honest  and  necessary. 

Occasionally,  I  milked  the  cows  with  a 
vacuum  pump,  even  though  I  believe  the 
relationship  between  farmer  and  cow  is 
diminished  by  the  use  of  such  equipment. 
But  the  reality  is  that  farms  can  support 
more  cows  and  produce  more  milk  since  the 
introduction  of  the  milking  machine.  Before 
World  War  II,  most  Norwegian  farmers 
milked  four  or  five  cows  by  hand  and  stored 
the  milk  in  a  small  tank  cooled  by  mountain 
water.  Today,  tor  better  or  worse,  the  milk 
is  stored  in  huge  refrigerated  tanks  that  are 


Alex  Thorp's  bicycle  trip  included  a 
transit  of  the  Cascade  Mountains  in 
Washington  State  (opposite  page)  and 
stops  in  a  myriad  small  towns  across 
the  U.S.  and  Canada.  He  followed  up 
that  adventure  with  four  months  on  a 
farm  in  Norway,  bottom. 

dependent  on  electricity. 

While  advances  in  technology  have 
enabled  farmers  to  produce  more  in  a  given 
amount  of  time,  I  believe  that,  in  general, 
there  are  great  costs — societal  and  ecologi- 
cal— involved  in  such  a  transformation.  We 
are  paying  dearly  for  our  practices.  Using 
modern  technology  doesn't  necessarily 
imply  bad  farming  practices,  but  it  does 
increase  the  risk  of  practicing  in  error. 

Life  on  the  farm  wasn't  dull.  Although 
we  lived  far  away  from  any  population  cen- 
ter, there  were  beautiful  beaches  and  moun- 
tains where  I  could  walk  or  ski.  The  local 
chorus  was  a  wonderful  outlet,  through 


which  I  met  other  people 
living  on  the  island.  There 
u  .is  always  time  for  read- 
ing, writing  and  conversa- 
tion. Lmni,  I  discovered,  is 
an  excellent  cook.  Almost 
ever}'  day  she  served  deli- 
cious fresh  fish,  potatoes, 
carrots,  and  homemade 
breads  and  cakes.  Her 
family  visited  her  for 
Christmas  and  we  had  a 
great  time  eating,  drinking 
and  exchanging  presents. 
Even  though  Gimsy 
Island  is  north  of  the  Arc- 
tic Circle,  the  climate  is  relatively  mild — not 
unlike  New  England,  though  a  bit  windier. 
It  was  also  extremely  dark  in  the  winter.  I 
direcdy  saw  the  sun  only  three  times  during 
a  three-month  span.  If  I  wanted  to  take  a 
hike  at  high  noon  I  had  to  wear  a  headlamp. 
It  seemed  strange  to  see  the  sun  rise  in  the 
mornings  when  I  returned  to  Rhode  Island 
in  March  1995. 

Bicycling  across  America  and  working 
on  a  Norwegian  farm  turned  me  on  to  real 
quality  time — and  to  myself.  I  was  able  to 
see  my  country  and  countrymen  up  close 
and  personal.  I  was  able  to  share  in  a  simpler 
life  in  a  foreign  land  less  affected  by  pollu- 
tants and  crass  commercialism.  Both  adven- 
tures enriched  my  past.  I  hope  to  build  on 
both  as  I  look  to  the  future — a  future  that 
may  well  include  life  on  a  small  farm  where 
I  can  enjoy  a  society  built  around  a  locally 
based  economy. 


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Technologica 
Higher  Education 


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Front  Cover:  Illustration  by  Fabio 
Deponte,  White  Pickets  Studio.  This 
Page:  David  M.  Smith  '96,  a  civil  engi- 
neering major  who  plans  to  pursue  a 
master's  degree  in  fire  protection  engi- 
neering, conducts  a  demonstration  in 
the  new  Fire  Science  Laboratory  in  the 
fully  renovated  and  expanded  Higgins 
Labs.  See  story,  page  13.  Photo  by 
Vaughn  Winchell. 


1 


x 


' 


>» 


mm 


mm 


V 


VOU  Ml    XCVIII,  NO.  4,  1-M.I.  1995 


WPI  JOURNAL 


CONTENTS 


The  Annual  Report  of  the  Institute 

A  Work  in  Progress: 
WPI  and  the  Future  of  Technological  Education 

by  Edward,  I.  Parrish 

In  his  first  annual  report  message,  WPI's  14th  president  looks  at  the 

changing  landscape  for  technological  education  in  the  United 
States.  As  chairman  of  the  Engineering  Accreditation  Commission 
of  the  Accreditation  Board  for  Engineering  and  Technology,  Parrish 
offers  an  insider's  perspective  on  work  under  way  by  ABET  and  other 
organizations  to  define  a  new  vision  for  the  education  of  tomorrow's 
engineers  and  scientists.  In  that  new  vision,  Parrish  finds  some  familiar 
themes.  The  need  to  integrate  the  humanities  into  the  technological 
curriculum;  the  need  to  help  students  develop  teamwork  and  leader- 
ship skills  and  a  global  vision;  the  need  to  instill  in  students  an 
appreciation  for  the  societal  consequences  of  their  work — these 
are  all  integral  elements  of  the  WPI  Plan,  the  innovative,  project- 
based  educational  program  WPI  pioneered  a  quarter  century  ago. 
"In  reengineering  technological  education,  there  is  no  better  example 
to  follow  than  that  of  WPI,"  Parrish  concludes. 
Page  2 


DEPARTMENTS 

Financial  Summary  A  snapshot  of  the  Institute's  financial  performance  in  FY95,  by  Stephen  J.  Hebert  '66.  Page  1 1 

Financial  Highlights  WPI's  fiscal  performance  at  a  glance.  Page  12 

Year  in  Review  Remembering  the  events,  acheivements  and  people  of  1994-95,  by  Michael  Dorsey.  Page  13 

Development  Highlights  Institutional  advancement:  building  for  the  21st  century,  by  Ronald  C.  Baird.  Page  17 

Honor  Roll  of  Donors  A  salute  to  the  individuals,  corporations  and  foundations  who  supported  WPI  in  1994-95.  Page  19 


Staff  ol  the  WPI  Journal:  Editor,  Michael  W.  Dorsey  •  \n  Director/Designer,  Michael  J.  Sherman  •  Contributing  Writers.  Bonnie  Gelbwasser,  Joan  Killough-Miller  and  Ruth  Trask  • 

Alumni  Publications  Committee:  Samuel  Mencow  '37,  chairman,  Kimberly  A.  (Lemoi)  Bowers  '90,  Sherri  L.  Curria  '93, James  S.  Demetrv  '58,  William  J.  Firlajr.  '60,Joel  P.  Greene  '69, 

William  R.  Grogan  '46,  Robert  C.  Labonte  '54,  Roger  N.  Perry  Jr.  '45,  Harlan  B.  Williams  'SO  •  The  WPI  Journal  (ISSN  0148-6128)  is  published  quarterly  for  the  WPI  Alumni  Association 

by  the  Office  of  University  Relations.  Second-class  postage  paid  at  Worcester,  \l.iss..  and  additional  mailing  offices.  Printed  bvThe  Lane  Press,  Burlington,  Vt.  Printed  in  the  I  .S.  V 

Diverse  views  presented  in  this  magazine  do  not  necessarily  reflect  the  opinions  oj  the  editors  or  official  WPI  policies.  We  welcome  letters  to  the  editor.  Address  correspondence  to  the  Editor, 

WPI  Journal,  WPI,  100  Institute  Road,  It  'orcester,  VL  I  01609-2280  •  Phone:  (508)  831-5609,  Fax:  \  108)  5  U-5604  •  Electronic  Mail,  wpi-journal@wpi.edu  •  World  Wide  Web: 

http://wvnD.wpi.edu/.  IboutUs/News/Journal/  •  Postmaster.  Ifundeliverable,  please  rend  Form  1519  to  thi  address  above.  Do  not  return  publication.  Entire  contents  ©  /  995,  M  'orcester  Polytechnic  Institute. 


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all  things  come 

to    those 
who  wait. 


Well,  WTI  has  been  waiting  for  a  quarter  of  a  centurv  for  the 
world  beyond  its  campus  to  hillv  understand  and  appreciate  its 
remarkable  undergraduate  education  program.  Breaking  boldly 
from  the  content-intensive,  competitive  curriculum  that  had  long 
been  the  norm  for  technological  universities,  WPI  in  the  early 
1970s  created  a  whole  new  way  of  preparing  young  men  and 
women  to  become  engineers,  scientists  and  managers.  It  was  an 
approach  that  emphasized  content,  to  be  sure,  but  one  that  also 
sought  to  instill  in  students  the  skills,  attitudes  and  ways  <>t  viewing 
the  world  that  would  serve  them  well  in  their  careers  and  lives. 

The  WPI  Plan  was  truly  an  inspired  and  well-reasoned  response  to  a  real  need  in  the  field 
of  technological  education.  What's  more,  all  the  evidence  suggests  that  it  has  been  highly  effec- 
tive in  achieving  its  goal  of  educating  a  distinctly  different  type  of  technological  professional — 
one  who  is  well-prepared  to  thrive  in  today's  team-oriented,  project-based,  quality-driven 
workplace;  one  who  understands  how  to  work  in  a  global  marketplace;  one  who's  attuned  to 
the  social  dimensions  of  science  and  technology.  Those  qualities  are  even  more  in  demand  by 
business  and  industry  today  than  they  were  when  the  Plan  began  in  the  early  1970s. 

Since  WPI's  program  got  oft  the  ground,  the  field  of  technological  education  has  evolved, 
and  there  have  been  other  innovative  efforts  aimed  at  improving  and  reshaping  the  way  engi- 
neering and  science  are  taught  at  the  nation's  colleges  and  universities.  Though  many  of  these 
efforts  have  been  laudable  and  effective,  none  has  matched  the  all-encompassing  scope  and 
groundbreaking  nature  of  the  Plan.  WPI's  program  remains  the  model  of  what  technological 
higher  education  should  strive  to  be.  But  after  25  years,  our  program  remains  too  little  known 
and  too  poorly  comprehended  to  serve  as  that  model. 

That  may  be  about  to  change.  Change,  in  fact,  is  in  the  air  for  engineering  and  science 
education.  Several  national  organizations  are  pondering  where  we've  been  and  where  we 
should  be  going  as  educators,  and  they  are  putting  significant  intellectual  and  financial 
resources  behind  efforts  to  chart  a  new  course  for  the  future.  As  these  efforts  progress,  the 
spotlight  may  be  turning,  at  last,  to  WPI  and  to  the  trail  it  has  already  blazed.  We  may 
have,  it  seems,  finally  waited  long  enough.  In  this,  my  first  report  as  WPI's  14th  president, 
I'd  like  to  talk  about  what's  on  the  horizon  in  technological  higher  education  and  where 
WTI  may  fit  in  this  emerging  frontier. 


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ust  over  a  century  ago,  at  the  first  meeting  of  what  is  now  the  American 
Society  for  Engineering  Education  (ASEE),  William  H.  Burr,  professor 
of  civil  engineering  at  Columbia  College  School  of  Mines,  gave  a  presen- 
tation titled  "The  Ideal  Engineering  Education."  He  emphasized  two  funda- 
mental characteristics  he  believed  should  be  part  of  such  an  education.  The  first  was 
a  broad,  liberal  education  in  philosophy  and  the  arts  that  would  serve  to  cultivate 
human  qualities  and  enable  engineers  to  interact  well  with  people,  as  well  as  with 
matter.  The  second  was  a  thorough  training  in  the  natural  philosophy  of  engineer- 
ing, which  he  said  included  the  body  of  mathematical  and  scientific  knowledge 
constituting  the  theory  of  engineering.  He  believed  the  second  feature  to  be  as 
profoundly  practical  as  it  is  profoundly  theoretical. 

Burr  was  clearly  ahead  of  his  time.  The  framework  he  proposed  is  remarkably 
consistent  with  efforts  under  way  by  several  prominent  organizations,  including 
ASEE  itself,  to  reshape  engineering  education.  There  are  some  additional  con- 
cerns that  face  modern  engineering  educators,  of  course,  such  as  the  need 
to  attract  more  women  and  underrepresented  minorities  to  the  field,  the 
need  to  place  more  emphasis  on  teamwork  in  the  engineering  curricu- 
lum, and  the  need  to  stress  the  global  context  in  which  the  engineering 
profession  is  practiced  today.  But  Burr's  fundamentals  are  basic  elements  of 
the  plans  evolving  from  the  work  of  ASEE,  the  National  Research  Council,  the 
National  Science  Foundation  and  other  groups. 

Before  looking  at  where  technological  education  might  be  going,  it  may  be 
instructive  to  consider  where  it  has  been.  For  much  of  this  century,  engineering  cur- 
ricula were  highly  practice-oriented.  Students  were  trained  in  laboratories  and  shops 
using  industrial-scale  equipment  and  instrumentation.  This  was  the  approach  that 
prepared  the  engineers  who  built  the  Panama  Canal,  the  scientists  and  technologists 
of  the  National  Advisory  Committee  for  Aeronautics  (NACA)  who  helped  drive  the 
early  development  of  aviation,  the  men  and  women  who  created  the  first  digital  com- 
puters, and  the  visionaries — including  WPFs  own  Robert  Goddard  '08 — who 
launched  the  age  of  the  rocket. 

World  War  II  had  a  tremendous  impact  on  the  development  of  technology  and 
on  the  growth  of  the  university-based  research  enterprise.  The  Manhattan  Project 
and  the  invention  of  radar  led  policy  makers  to  invest  heavily  in  programs  that  gen- 
erated a  new  category  of  institution — the  research  university.  Vannevar  Bush  was 
instrumental  in  founding  the  National  Science  Foundation  in  1950.  Along  with  the 
Department  of  Defense  and  the  Cold  War,  the  NSF  was  a  paramount  force  in  the 
subsequent  growth  of  research  efforts  in  universities  and  in  the  creation  of  a  varied 
array  of  partnerships  between  the  academy  and  industry. 

Eike  World  War  II,  the  launching  of  Sputnik  I  on  Oct.  4,  1957,  created  in  the 
U.S.  a  political  will  that  led  to  the  mobilization  of  science  and  engineering  research 
on  a  massive  scale.  Recognizing  the  importance  of  space  exploitation  for  civilian  and 
military  purposes,  the  federal  government  transformed  NACA  into  the  National 
Aeronautics  and  Space  Administration  (NASA)  on  Oct.  1,  1958.  The  agency  has 
gone  on  to  become  a  major  player  in  the  support  of  university  research. 


FALL  1995 


The  combination  of  these  factors  created  an  environment  that  led  engineering 
educators  to  place  more  emphasis  on  engineering  science  at  the  expense  of  engineer- 
ing practice.  Faculty  reward  structures  emphasized  discovery  of  new  knowledge, 
rather  than  application  of  that  knowledge,  and  the  explosion  of  technology  led  to 
increasing  complexity.  Naturally,  this  complexity  led  to  increasing  specialization  in 
the  engineering  profession,  and  this,  in  turn,  fostered  greater  compartmentalization 
in  the  engineering  curricula.  Still,  engineering  education  in  this  form  has  served  the 
nation  well  for  nearly  50  years. 

The  postwar  era  has  witnessed  a  bewildering  parade  of  technological  achieve- 
ments. Upon  its  25th  anniversary  in  1989,  the  National  Academy  of  Engineering 
asked  its  members  what  they  considered  to  be  the  top  10  outstanding  engineering 
achievements  of  that  quarter  century.  They  included  the  Apollo  moon  landings,  the 
development  of  application  satellites,  the  jumbo  jet,  computer-aided  design  and  man- 
ufacturing, and  genetic  engineering.  No.  3  on  the  list  was  the  microprocessor,  which 
has  been  at  the  center  of  so  much  of  recent  technological  progress. 

rn 

m       he  forcing  functions  for  many  of  the  technological  leaps  of  this  century 

m         have  been  wars:  two  world  wars  and  the  Cold  War,  with  several  skirmish- 
m  es  thrown  in  for  good  measure.  Thankfully,  our  current  era  of  scientific 

and  engineering  progress  is  being  driven  not  by  a  major  war,  but  by  the  end  of  the 
Cold  War.  But  this  transition  to  peace  has  its  own  political,  economic  and  social 
ramifications,  and  these  factors  have  already  had  a  tremendous  impact 
on  the  engineering  profession,  as  well  as  on  technological  education. 

For  example,  the  end  of  the  Cold  War  has  led  to  substantial 
reductions  in  the  U.S.  defense  budget,  a  development  that  has 
had  an  impact  on  the  budget  of  every  federal  agency.  The 
reduction  in  defense  spending  has  also  affected  the  private 
sector.  The  resulting  downsizing  and  reorganization  of 
major  corporations  has  caused  massive  layoffs  and  made 
technical  careers  less  attractive  to  prospective  students. 
We  have  also  seen  the  end  of  the  "one-job-for-life" 
paradigm. 

Still,  the  shrinking  of  the  U.S.  defense  infra- 
structure has  done  nothing  to  dampen  the  pace  of  tech- 
nological change.  In  fact,  new  scientific  and  technological  advances  are  appearing 
faster  than  ever,  placing  a  premium  on  a  broad  education  and  lifelong  learning  for 
today's  technologically  oriented  professionals.  In  part,  this  explosion  of  new  knowl- 
edge is  being  driven  by  a  rapidly  developing  global  marketplace,  which  has  fostered 
growing  competition  among  the  nations  of  the  world. 

Once  again,  technological  higher  education  is  expected  to  rise  to  the  occasion. 
And,  not  surprisingly,  at  a  time  when  federal  spending  for  everything  from  research 
to  financial  aid  has  declined  or,  at  best,  remained  flat,  and  when  corporations  and 
individuals  have  fewer  dollars  to  invest  in  higher  education,  our  universities  are 
expected  to  do  more  with  less  and  are  subject  to  greater  accountability  than  ever 
before — to  students,  to  parents,  to  alumni,  to  employers,  to  government  and,  in 


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many  cases,  to  state  legislators.  Each  of  these  constituencies  has  its  own  expectations 
and  is  placing  its  own  demands  on  our  limited  resources.  For  example: 

•  Students  want  access  to  high-quality  residence  halls  and  campus  centers,  small 
classes,  individual  attention  from  faculty  members,  broad  arrays  of  academic  and 
athletic  programs  to  choose  from,  and  access  to  the  latest  computers  and  laborato- 
ry equipment. 

•  Parents  want  low  tuition,  personal  attention  for  their  sons  and  daughters,  a  safe  and 
supportive  environment,  and  more  financial  aid. 

•  Faculty  members  want  small  classes,  opportunities  to  teach  their  favorite  courses, 
institutional  support  for  their  research  interests,  sabbatical  leaves,  regular  salary 
increases,  and  pleasant  physical  surroundings. 

Then,  of  course,  there  are  the  demands  that  universities  place  upon  themselves. 
We  all  strive  to  assure  continued  financial  stability,  to  attract  and  retain  a  high- 
quality  faculty  and  staff,  to  provide  sufficient  resources  to  enable  the 
faculty  and  staff  to  do  their  jobs,  to  provide  financial  aid  packages 
sufficient  to  assure  a  diverse  student  population — 
both  ethnically  and  economically,  to  provide  a  high 
quality  of  life  for  students,  to  maintain  a  high  level  of 
information  technology,  and  to  maintain  and  develop 
the  physical  plant. 

rly,  expectations  are  high,  but  resources  are  limited.  If  you 
add  all  this  up,  it  quickly  becomes  apparent  that  the  equation 
will  not  balance — we  can't  have  everything  we  want.  In  many 
ways,  institutions  are  faced  with  the  same  challenges  that  have 
caused  such  upheaval  in  corporate  America.  To  prosper,  we  must 
develop  our  marketplace  and  provide  what  our  customers  need:  a  high-quali- 
ty, contemporary  education  at  reasonable  cost.  Accomplishing  that  in  the 
face  of  the  social  and  economic  pressures  we  face  will  require  a  new  way  of 
thinking  and  a  new  approach  to  technological  education. 

number  of  groups  have  taken  on  this  challenge.  They  are 
taking  stock  of  how  universities  should  prepare  scientists 
and  engineers  to  compete  in  this  new  world  order,  and 
they  are  seeking  to  assure  the  development  of  a  technological  educational  system  that 
will  reflect  the  needs  of  the  United  States  in  the  2 1st  century.  One  such  group  is  the 

oard  on  Engineering  Education  of  the  National  Research  Council,  the  principal 
operating  agency  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences  and  the  National  Academy 
of  Engineering.  Here  is  how  the  board  has  articulated  its  vision  for  the  future: 
"American  engineering  education  will  have  found  new  priorities  and  a  new 
social  role,  suited  to  the  post-Cold  War  world.  Engineering  graduates  will  compete 
well  in  regional  as  well  as  global  markets  characterized  by  rapid  technological 
hange  and  intense  competition.  They  will  assume  more  central  roles  in  the  man- 
agement of  both  industry  and  government  and  will  have  greater  intellectual 
breadth,  a  stronger  sense  of  social  responsibility,  a  penchant  for  collaboration,  and  a 
habit  of  lifelong  learning. " 

FALL  1995 


The  board  also  specified  what  it  believes  to  be  the  attributes  of  a  suitable  tech- 
nological curriculum:  "1 )  it  includes  all  the  necessary  fundamentals  and  excludes 
redundant  material;  2)  it  integrates  the  fundamentals  well  with  design;  3)  it  is 
practice-oriented;  4)  it  emphasizes  teamwork  as  well  as  individual  effort;  5)  it  instills 
a  sense  of  the  social  and  business  context  and  the  rapidly  changing,  globally  com- 
petitive nature  of  today's  engineering;  6)  it  is  broad  enough  and  liberal  enough  to 
prepare  students  for  possible  entry  into  nonengineering  professions;  and  7)  it  instills 
a  knowledge  of  how  to  learn  and  a  desire  to  learn." 

In  1990  the  National  Science  Foundation  stepped  into  the  fray  by  funding  the 
Engineering  Education  Coalitions.  Some  60  institutions,  organized  into  eight  groups 
and  backed  by  $100  million  in  federal  funds,  are  now  working  toward  the  following 
objective: 

The  goal  of  the  Coalitions  is  to  stimulate  the  creation  of  comprehensive,  sys- 
temic models  for  reform  of  undergraduate  engineering  education.  To  accomplish 
this  reform,  the  Coalitions  are  developing  tested  alternative  education  tools,  curric- 
ula, and  de liveiy  systems.  By  applying  these  tools,  they  also  hope  to  increase  the  suc- 
cessful participation  of  under-represented  groups  in  engineering  education  and  to 
improve  linkages  to  K-12  schools.  Through  cross-coalition  collaboration,  they  plan 
to  develop  significant  intellectual  exchange  and  resource  links  among  undergrad- 
uate engineering  programs. 

The  Accreditation  Board  for  Engineering  and  Technology  (ABET)  is  also 
attempting  to  help  shift  the  paradigm.  ABET  has  made  many  positive  changes  to 
engineering  accreditation  over  the  past  few  years,  but  most  of  them  have  dealt  with 
improving  underlying  processes,  not  with  establishing  new  criteria.  In  May  1994  the 
NSF  sponsored  the  ABET  Engineering  Criteria  Workshop,  attended  by  representa- 
tives from  educational  institutions,  industry  and  ABET-participating  societies.  The 
resulting  report  called  for  revolutionary  changes  to  the  criteria  for  accreditation. 

The  report  provided  a  foundation  for  more  than  a  year  of  deliberations  by  the 
criteria  committee  of  the  Engineering  Accreditation  Commission  (EAC),  the  group 
within  ABET  that  accredits  the  nation's  undergraduate  engineering  pro- 
grams. The  criteria  committee  presented  to  the  full  EAC  a  report  titled 
ABET  Engineering  Criteria  2000,  which  included  a  proposal  that 
engineering  programs  be  measured  against  outcomes  (what  students 
learn)  rather  than  process  (what  courses  are  taught).  This  would 
be  a  significant  change  from  the  old  "bean-counting"  days  of 
engineering  accreditation. 

The  EAC  adopted  the  recommendation  unanimously 
during  its  annual  meeting  this  summer.  As  newly  installed 
chairman  of  the  EAC,  I  presented  the  recommendation  to  the 
full  ABET  board  in  November.  The  board  approved  it  unani- 
mously, and  the  new  criteria  will  now  enter  a  two-year  public 
comment  period.  After  suitable  revisions  by  the  EAC,  the  ABET 
board  will  consider  final  adoption  at  its  annual  meeting  in  1997 '.  The 
EAC  has  proposed  a  three-year  transition  period,  during  which  institutions 
may  choose  which  set  of  criteria  will  be  applied  to  their  programs. 


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The  theme  that  links  all  of  these  efforts  is  that  the  principal  challenge  facing 
engineering  education  is  to  provide  graduates  with  the  intellectual  versatility  they 
will  need  to  cope  with  rapid  technological  changes  in  the  course  of  a  40-year  career. 
To  develop  the  full  human  potential,  universities  must  provide  an  integrative  cur- 
riculum across  the  institution  involving  mathematics,  science,  the  liberal  arts,  busi- 
ness and  engineering.  We  must  educate  (students  learning  to  learn)  as  well  as  train 
(students  learning  to  do)  while  instilling  in  our  students  a  passion  for  sustainable, 
lifelong  learning. 

Such  systemic  changes  require  intra-  and  interuniversity  cooperation  and 
resource  sharing.  We  need  to  continue  our  movement  from  analysis  to  synthesis, 
from  fragmentation  and  compartmentalization  to  integration,  from  individual  to 
team  effort,  from  just  problem  solving  to  problem  formulation  with 
/V         b  ®*      uncertainties.  This  will  result  in  a  new  "liberal  arts"  engineering  educa- 
tion for  the  21st  century.  Our  budding  scientists  and  engineers  must 
acquire  business  skills  and  must  understand  and  appreciate  poli- 
tics, history  and  culture,  and  they  must  develop  their  creativity  and 
xr?\5    critical-thinking  abilities.  They  must  be  not  only  computer  literate, 
{v    ((?>    '1ut  network  compatible.  The  shift  from  heavy  emphasis  on  theory 
to  a  significant  practice  component  implies  actual  project  work 
involving  some  form  of  industry  collaboration. 

Technological  programs  must  not  only  produce  broadly 
educated  engineers  and  scientists,  but  graduates  who  can  go 
into  areas  like  health  care,  law,  banking  and  finance, 
insurance,  teaching  at  the  elementary  and  secondary 

levels,  and  so  on.  All  of  our  graduates  must  learn  how 
k     to  listen  as  well  as  how  to  communicate  effectively  in 
oral,  written  and  graphical  forms.  And  they  must  be 
able  to  work  in  teams  within  a  global  context. 

ometimes  the  best  way  to  accomplish  a  difficult  task  is  to  follow  the  exam- 
ple of  someone  who  has  already  done  it.  In  re-engineering  technological 
education,  there  is  no  better  example  to  follow  than  that  of  WPI.  The 
Institute  is  already  meeting  the  "new"  expectations  outlined  by  the  National 
Research  Council,  and  has  been  doing  so  for  25  years.  We  are  already  preparing  our 
students  for  the  technological  demands  they  will  face  in  the  next  century.  Our  gradu- 
ates understand  and  appreciate  politics,  history  and  culture,  and  they  know  how  to 
think  critically.  They  are  used  to  working  in  teams,  exerting  leadership,  and  applying 
their  creativity  to  the  solutions  of  complex  problems  in  a  global  setting.  The  WPI 
graduates  I  have  spoken  with  during  my  brief  tenure  here  have  all  expressed  how 
important  these  factors  have  been  to  their  own  success. 

After  a  quarter  century  of  experience  with  innovative  approaches  to  engineering 
education,  WPI  has  much  to  share  with  the  institutions  involved  in  the  eight  NSF 
consortia.  In  fact,  WPI  will  be  asking  the  NSF  to  fund  a  major  study  of  the  WPI 
Plan  and  its  graduates,  a  study  we  believe  will  demonstrate  to  the  world  at  large  the 
benefits  of  this  time-tested  approach  to  technological  education.  The  Plan  should 


S 


FALL  1995 


WMMH 


also  be  an  excellent  test  bed  for  the  new  outcomes-oriented  approach  to  engineering 
accreditation  that  has  been  proposed  by  ABET,  for  our  program  is  already  decidedly 
outcomes-oriented. 

The  Plan,  the  latest  manifestation  ofWPI's  130-year-old  Two  Towers  Tradi- 
tion, with  its  balance  between  theory  and  practice,  accomplishes  much  of  what  .1 
modern  technological  education  should.  'Through  the  Sufficiency,  one  of  WPFs 
three  required  projects,  students  develop  an  understanding  of  the  humanities.  The 
Interactive  Qualifying  Project  (IQP)  emphasizes  the  need  to  learn  about  how  tech- 
nology impacts  society.  The  Major  Qualifying  Project  (MQP)  challenges  students  to 
solve  problems  typical  of  those  to  be  encountered  in  their  professional  disciplines. 

Taken  together,  these  three  projects  emphasize  that  technological  professionals 
must  learn  not  only  to  create  and  manage  technology,  but  to  assess  and  manage  the 
social  and  human  consequences  of  that  technology.  WPI's  global  projects  program, 
the  most  ambitious  and  effective  international  program  in  technological  education  in 
the  country,  enables  students  to  become  immersed  in  a  different  culture  and  to  learn 
about  teamwork  in  a  global  context. 

M  f  learly,  the  WPI  Plan  is  an  excellent  model  tor  other  institutions  to  fol- 

low, but  it  does  have  its  limitations.  Perhaps  the  most  significant  is  the 

^     ^   demands  it  places  on  WPTs  resources.  Delivering  a  program  so  heavy  on 
integration,  teamwork  and  project  work  is  labor  intensive.  In  a  time  of  declining 
resources  and  heavy  faculty  workloads,  a  program  as  faculty-intensive  as  WPTs  may 
be  a  difficult  sell.  Fortunately,  it  appears  that  we  are  on  the  verge  of  finally  real 
i/.ing  the  promise  of  information  technology  in  education.  New  developments 
in  computers  and  communications  should  help  leverage  the  efforts  of  the  fac- 
ulty and  make  it  easier  for  students  to  help  other  students  learn. 

The  technology  that  will  make  this  possible  includes  synchronous  and  asyn- 
chronous communication.  Synchronous  communication  makes  possible  the  exchange 
of  multiple  streams  of  data  (audio,  video,  data)  in  real  time,  so  participants  who 
are  located  at  some  distance  from  each  other  can  interact  as  if  they  were 
in  the  same  room.  Asynchronous  communication,  which  includes 
things  like  Internet  newsgroups,  computer  bulletin  board  systems 
and  remote  whiteboard  conferencing,  lets  participants  interact 
when  they  are  separated  in  both  place  and  time.  We  can  also  create 
virtual  or  distributed  classrooms  by  delivering  "lectures"  (either  live 
or  from  videotapes  and  CD-ROMs)  over  computer  networks. 

The  rapidly  evolving  World  Wide  Web  portion  of  the  Internet 
is  developing  into  an  excellent  delivery  mechanism.  It  is  widely  avail- 
able, it  supports  multimedia,  and  a  browser  such  as  Netscape  (which  is  free 
to  educational  institutions)  can  act  as  a  universal  front  end  as  it  supports 
protocols  for  hypertext,  sound,  animation,  movies,  file  transfers,  e-mail, 
chat,  news  groups,  and  interactive  communications.  The  ubiquity  of  the 
Web  makes  it  an  excellent  medium  for  networked  learning  that  can 
help  extend  peer-to-peer  interactions  to  faculty  members  and  students 
at  other  universities. 


WPI  Journal 


The  adoption  of  technologies  like  these  will  require  that  faculty  members 
become  coaches,  or  guides,  rather  than  omniscient  teachers.  It  will  involve  greater 
use  of  teamwork.  It  will  encourage  the  replacement  of  yellowed  lecture  notes  with 
highly  dynamic  course  content.  In  addition  to  the  added  excitement  and  versatility  all 
of  this  should  bring  to  our  learning  environment,  there  is  also  the  great  possibility  it 
will  lower  the  cost  of  education. 

Information  technology  alone  may  not  guarantee  a  successful  para- 
digm shift,  however.  Engineering  educators  must  also  become  engaged 
in  understanding  how  students  learn.  As  the  various  learning  styles 
of  our  students  are  better  understood,  the  value  of  educational 
technology  is  likely  to  increase  more  rapidly  through  our  ability 


-> 


to  design  learning  environments  that  adapt  to  individual 


learning  styles. 


Afftfa.' 


tzfcj*  -f'' 


I'-^-'Mtf 


A  ■ 


he  work  now  under  way  to  establish  a  new 
direction  for  technological  higher  education 
leaves  me  feeling  optimistic  about  the  future 
of  this  profession.  I  am  equally  optimistic  about  the  role  that  WPI 
will  play  in  helping  to  shape  that  new  direction.  WPI's  pioneering  efforts 
25  years  ago  to  build — from  the  ground  up — an  innovative,  project-based 
curriculum,  and  its  admirable  work  since  then  to  enhance  and  expand  that 
program,  particularly  into  the  area  of  global  technological  education,  place 
the  Institute  at  the  forefront  of  the  movement  to  shape  the  future  of 
engineering  and  science  pedagogy.  I  think  the  time  has  come  for  WPI's 
achievement  to  be  hilly  recognized  and  emulated. 

The  Plan  was  just  one  of  the  positive  qualities  about  WPI  that 
attracted  me  to  this  remarkable  institution.  I  was  also  impressed  by  its 
reputation  for  quality  programs;  by  its  bright  students  and  its  innovative 
faculty;  by  the  fact  that  it  is  a  compact  community  that  reflects  collegi- 
ality  and  trust;  by  its  long  history  and  legacy,  both  of  which  provide  credibility  and 
will  help  with  student  recruiting  and  hind  raising;  by  its  location  in  a  high-tech  area 
with  good  opportunities  for  collaboration  and  development  of  true  partnerships 
with  industry;  and  by  the  fact  that  it  is  at  the  leading  edge  of  global  technological 
education. 

These  qualities  provide  an  excellent  foundation  for  future  achievement  and 
continued  excellence.  Like  all  of  higher  education  today,  WPI  faces  important 
challenges,  some  of  which  I  have  outlined  in  this  report.  But  we  have  the  necessary 
ingredients,  not  the  least  of  which  are  the  outstanding  people  who  make  up  the  WPI 
community,  to  face  those  challenges  and  enter  the  2 1st  century  a  stronger,  more 
dynamic  and,  most  certainly,  better  known  institution.  I  hope  it  is  evident  that  I  am 
excited  about  what  I  have  found  here  at  WPI.  I  welcome  your  ideas  and  your  interest 
as  we  set  about  the  work  that  lies  ahead. 

EDITOR'S  NOTE:  This  message  is  based  on  Engineering  Education  for  a  Changing 
Engineering  Profession,  an  address  by  Edward  Parrish,  delivered  daring  the  Union  Col- 
lege Bicentennial  Celebration  in  Schenectady,  N.Y.,  on  Oct.  14,  1995. 


10 


FALL  1995 


FINANCIAL     SUMMARY 


By  Stephen  J.  I  [ebert  '66 

Vice  President  for  Administration,  Treasurer,  and  Secretary  of  the  Corporation 


I'm  pleased  to  report  on  the  financial 
condition  of  Worcester  Polytechnic 
Institute  at  the  close  of  business  on 
June  30,  1995  (FY  95).  These  results  have 
been  audited  and  endorsed  by  the  firm  of 
Coopers  &  Lybrand. 

WPI  enjoyed  another  successful  year 
financially,  although  the  difficulty  in  devel- 
oping a  balanced  budget  points,  once  again, 
to  the  pressures  of  financial  aid,  the  depen- 
dency on  tuition  income,  and  the  need  to 
structure  WPI  for  the  future  so  that  the  uni- 
versity can  invest  in  emerging  technologies 
or  disciplines  of  interest  as  appropriate  to 
the  times. 

The  overall  operating  budget  for  the 
year  finished  with  a  favorable  variance  of 
$1  56,000  on  a  base  budget  of  approximately 
$67  million.  Credit  should  be  given  to  all 
the  members  of  the  faculty  and  staff  for 
their  efforts  to  bring  this  budget  in  on  bal- 
ance and  to  accept  the  financial  realities  of 
these  challenging  times. 


During  FY  95,  per  the  vote  of  the  Board 
<>t  Trustees,  an  authorized  expenditure  of 
$600, 000  was  dedicated  to  the  development 
of  interface  disciplines.  This  $600,000  pro- 
duced a  budgeted  deficit,  which  will  be 
repaid  as  funds  become  available  from  sur- 
pluses in  future  years.  With  that  investment 
included  in  the  operating  results,  there  was  a 
$444,000  reduction  of  current  fund  surplus 
for  the  year. 

The  total  return  of  the  university's 
endowment  was  16.9  percent  for  the  year. 
The  fund  bad  a  market  value  at  June  30, 
1995,  of  $142  million.  The  first  half  of  cal- 
endar year  1995  was  a  positive  period  for  the 
securities  market  and  WPI's  investment 
managers,  overall,  performed  well  in  that 
market.  This  speaks  well  of  the  move  over 
the  last  two  years  to  engage  a  more  broadly 
diversified  portfolio  and  of  the  hiring  of  a 
distributed  set  of  investment  managers. 
WPI's  return  of  16.9  percent  exceeds  the 
average  reported  by  the  National  Associa- 


tion of  College  and  University  Business 
Officers  (N  VCUBO)  of  15.5  percent  for 
participating  colleges  and  also  exceeds  the 
\ctual  Index  established  by  WPI's  Invest- 
ment  Committee  by  0.3  percent. 

Sponsored  research  activity  continued  to 
grow.  Even  though  the  Center  for  I  Iigh 
Performance  Computing  ceased  as  a  depart- 
ment of  WPI  on  Oct.  31,  1994,  causing  a 
reduction  in  total  research  expenditures  of 
$1.4  million  from  the  prior  vear,  on-campus 
research  actually  increased  by  nearly  $1  mil- 
lion during  the  year.  Proposals  submitted 
for  the  year  exceeded  the  prior  year  by  over 
30  percent  and  awards  received  were  nearly 
$1  million  greater  than  the  prior  year. 

Overall,  at  the  end  of  FY  95,  the  total 
assets  of  the  college  increased  by  approxi- 
mately $8  million  to  $234,328,993.  Most  of 
the  increase  can  be  attributed  to  two  areas: 
growth  in  investments  and  construction  in 
progress  on  the  renovation  of  Higgins 
Laboratories. 


Revenues 


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Tuition,  room  and  board, 
educational  and  other 
fees,  70% 

Expenditures 


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Endowment  income,  gifts 
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Student  aid,  22% 


Physical  plant, 
computing  and  other 
administrative,  16% 


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WPI  Journal 


11 


F  1  N  A  N  C  ■  A  L 

H  1  G  H  L 

1  G 

H  T  S 

Years  ended  June  30,  1995  and  1994 

1 .  General  Operating  Funds    (Thousands  of  Dollars) 

1995 

1994 

Percent 
Change 

Tuition,  fees  and  other  educational  revenues 

$51,502 

$48,837 

+5.5% 

$tudent  financial  aid 

18,636 

17,285 

+7.8 

Gifts,  grants  and  bequests,  as  recognized 

8,827 

8,237 

+7.2 

Revenues  from  sponsored  research  programs 

7,871 

9,320 

-15.5 

Total  staff  benefit  expenses,  before  allocation 

7,276 

7,198 

+  1.1 

2.  Endowment  and  Similar  Funds    (Thousands  of  Dollars) 

1995 

1994 

Percent 
Change 

Beginning  market  values 

$127,600 

$127,898 

-0.2% 

plus: 

Investment  results 

Income  (interest  and  dividends) 

Realized  gains 

Change  in  unrealized  gains 

$4,743 

1,274 

14,248 

$4,075 
1,855 
(2,907) 

Total  investment  results 

$20,265 

$3,023 

+570.4 

less: 

Used  in  support  of  college 

(137) 

(4,178) 

+  5.5 

Transferred  to  restricted  Rinds 

(4,408) 

(1,717) 

-92.0 

Net  reinvested  in  endowment 

(15,720) 

(2,872) 

plus: 

Additions  to  endowments,  mostly  from  gifts 
Ending  Market  Value 

9,087 
$152,407 

2,574 

+253.0 
+  19.4 

$127,600 

Five-Year  Summary  of  Total  Return  Data 

'95 

'94 

'93 

'92 

'91 

WPI  Total  Return 

16.9% 

4.0% 

11.9% 

12.4% 

8.5% 

WPI  Policy  Index 

18.5 

3.2 

13.5 

13.5 

8.7 

S&P  500 

26.1 

1.4 

13.6 

13.5 

7.4 

Shearson  Lehman  Int.  Bond 

10.4 

-0.2 

10.5 

13.2 

10.5 

CPI  Index 

3.1 

2.5 

3.0 

2.8 

5.1 

Copies  of  the  complete  audited  financial  reports 

for  Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute  for  fiscal 

year  1995  can  be  obtained  by  writing  to: 

Office  of  Business  Affairs 

Worcester  Polytechnic  Institute 

100  Institute  Road 

Worcester,  MA  01609-2280 

12 


Fall  1995 


THE     YEAR     IN     REVIEW 


Editor's  Note:  Every  year  at  11  I'l  is  filled  to  overflowing  with  important  events  and  accomplishments.  It  would  be  impossible  to  describe 
till  of  the  noteworthy  achievements  of  the  1 994-95  academic  year  in  the  brief  report  that  follows;  instead,  we've  focused  on  a  small  number  oj  stories 

that  'd-ill  give  you  a  taste  of  the  excitement  of  the  busy  year  just  past. 

Time  Capsule: 

A  Look  Back  at  1994-95 


ike  bookends,  the 
departure  of  a  president 


m       m  and  the  election  of  a 
new  president  marked  the  begin- 
ning and  the  end  of  the  1994-95 
academic  vear  at  WPI.  In  late 
August  1994,  Jon  C.  Strauss, 
the  Institute's  13th  president, 
announced  that  he  would  step 
down  to  become  vice  president 
and  chief  financial  officer  of  the 
I  low  anl  I  lughes  Medical  Institute.  % 

The  search  for  a  new  presi-      \ 
dent  began  immediately.  In 
November  1994,  John  Lott 
Brown  '46,  president  emeritus  of 
the  University  of  South  Florida  and  a  trustee 
emeritus  of  WPI,  was  chosen  to  lead  the 
Institute  in  the  interim.  The  presidential 
search  committee  completed  its  work  in  the 
spring,  bringing  forward  its  choice  for  con- 
sideration by  the  Board  of  Trustees.  At  its 
annual  meeting  in  May,  the  board  unani- 
mously elected  Edward  A.  Parrish,  dean  of 
the  College  of  Engineering  and  Centennial 
Professor  of  Electrical  Engineer- 
ing at  Vanderbilt  University,  the 
14th  president  of  WPI.  (For 
more  on  Edward  Parrish  and  the 
interim  presidency  of  John  Lott 
Brown,  see  the  Summer  1995 
WPI  Journal;  for  a  look  back  at 
the  presidency  of  Jon  Strauss,  see 
the  ball  1994 >//rW.) 

The  election  of  a  new  president  was  just 
one  of  several  changes  in  WPI's  senior 
administration  announced  during  the  acade- 
mic year.  In  April,  Provost  Diran  Apelian 
announced  that  the  positions  of  dean  of 
undergraduate  studies  and  dean  of  graduate 
studies  and  research  would  be  combined  to 
create  a  new  position:  associate  provost  for 
academic  affairs.  The  move,  Apelian  said, 
was  aimed  at  reducing  costs,  eliminating 
duplication  of  services  and  increasing  effi- 
ciency. William  W.  Durgin,  dean  of  gradu- 
ate studies  and  research,  was  chosen  to  fill 
the  new  position  on  an  interim  basis. 


Apelian  also  announced  that  at  the  end 
of  the  1995-96  academic  year  he  will  step 
down  to  head  the  Center  for  Metal  Process- 
ing (CMP)  at  WPI.  Apelian,  Howmet  Profes- 
sor of  Mechanical  Engineering,  founded 
WPI's  Aluminum  Casting  Research  Labora- 
tory and  was  instrumental  in  the  creation  of 
WPI  labs  engaged  in  research  on  powder 
metals  and  semisolid  metal  processing.  The 
three  labs  now  constitute  CMP. 


Top  of  page,  President  Edward  Parrish 
(at  podium)  answers  questions  at  a 
news  conference  announcing  his 
appointment.  Above,  clockwise  from 
top  left,  department  heads  Banks, 
Cheetham,  Dittami,  Keil  and  Hakim. 


In  June,  President  Brown 
announced  that  WPI's  five  vice 
presidential  positions  would  be 
consolidated  into  four  with  the 
combination  of  the  posts  of  vice 
president  for  administration  and 
vice  president  for  business  affairs 
and  treasurer.  Stephen  J.  Hebert 
'66,  formerly  vice  president  for 
administration,  was  named  to 
till  the  new  combined  vice  pres- 
idential post. 

Several  new  academic 
department  heads  were  appoint- 
ed during  1994-95.  Thomas  1 1. 
Keil,  a  28-vear  veteran  of  the 
WPI  faculty,  was  named  to  head  the  Physics 
Department.  Ronald  D.  Cheetham,  who 
joined  WPI  in  1973,  was  named  head  of  the 
Biology  and  Biotechnology  Department. 
Hossein  Hakim,  who  arrived  at  WPI  in 
19<S4,  was  named  head  of  the  newly  consti- 
tuted Interdisciplinary  and  Clobal  Studies 
Division.  And  Col.  Kenneth  A.  Stafford 
took  over  the  Air  Force/ Aerospace  Studies 
Department. 

Two  other  new  department 
heads  began  their  terms  at  the 
beginning  of  1995-96.  They  are 
James  P.  Dittami,  at  WPI  since 
1985,  in  Chemistry  and  Biochem- 
istry, and  McRae  C.  Banks  II, 
formerly  professor  of  manage- 
ment at  Mississippi  State  Univer- 
sity's College  of  Business  and  Industry,  in 
Management.  Chemistry  and  Biochemism  , 
previously  Chemistry,  was  one  of  two 
departments  to  change  its  name  last  year. 
The  Civil  Engineering  Department  became 
the  Department  of  Civil  and  Environmental 
Engineering. 

Michael  A.  DiPierro  '68,  president  of 
Baystone  Corp.,  John  C.S.  Fray,  program 
director,  integrative  animal  biology,  at  the 
National  Science  Foundation,  and  Philip  R. 
Morgan,  president  and  CEO  of  Morgan 
Construction  Co.,  joined  the  Board  of 
Trustees  in  1994-95.  M  Howard  Jacobson, 


WPI  Journal 


13 


senior  advisor  at  Bankers  Trust,  concluded  a 
highly  successful  term  as  board  chairman  in 
June  1995;  John  M.  Nelson,  chairman  of 
Wyman-Gordon  Co.,  was  elected  to  suc- 
ceed him. 

The  year  just  past  also  saw  a  number  of 
important  changes  to  WPI's  physical  plant. 
The  renovation  and  expansion  of  Higgins 
Laboratories,  the  home  of  the  Mechanical 
Engineering  Department,  was  nearly  com- 
plete by  year's  end.  The  $8.5  million  pro- 
ject, begun  in  the  spring  of  1994,  included 
the  construction  of  a  17,000-square-foot 
addition  on  the  west  side  of  the  building  and 
the  complete  refurbishment  and  redesign  of 
the  interior  of  the  existing  structure.  Among 
the  new  facilities  created  in  Higgins  is  the 
Design  Center,  a  suite  of  four  labs  and  the 
Heald  Discovery  Classroom  that  will  form 
the  centerpiece  of  a  new  way  of  teaching 
engineering.  A  formal  rededication  ceremo- 
ny will  be  held  in  the  spring  of  1996. 

The  Higgins  Laboratories  renovation 
was  just  one  of  the  $13.5  million  in  con- 
struction projects  in  progress  or  in  the  plan- 
ning stages  during  1994-95.  Under  a  $2.25 
million  energy  conservation  program, 
10,000  light  fixtures  across  campus  were 
refitted  with  energy-saving  ballasts  and 
lamps  and  upgrades  were  made  to  motors, 
energy  management  and  control  systems, 
and  water  chillers.  The  work  is  expected  to 
save  WPI  $200,000  annually  in  energy  and 
maintenance  costs.  A  $975,000  project  com- 
pleted in  late  summer  1994  extended  the 
Institute's  campus  data  and  telephone  net- 
work into  every  residence  hall  room. 

Goddard  Hall,  the  30-year-old  chem- 
istry and  chemical  engineering  building, 
benefited  from  a  complete  renovation  of  its 
ventilation  system.  The  $720,000  project 
was  designed  to  correct  an  extreme  negative 
air  pressure  in  the  building  and  to  reduce 
energy  consumption.  The  reconstruction  of 
Freeman  Plaza,  which  stretches  between 
Salisbury  Laboratories,  Gordon  Library  and 
Washburn  Shops,  was  completed  in  the  fall 
of  1994.  The  plaza  was  created  in  the  1970s 
with  significant  support  from  Howard  G. 
Freeman  '40  and  his  wife,  Esther. 

On  tap  for  1995-96  is  the  conversion  of 
the  portion  of  West  Street  that  bisects  the 
WPI  campus  into  a  pedestrian  mall,  a  pro- 
ject expected  to  be  undertaken  in  the  spring 
of  1996.  The  Institute  won  the  approval  of 
the  Worcester  City  Council  in  late  summer 
1995  to  close  the  street,  arguing  that  the 
move  would  increase  safety  and  greatly 
enhance  the  quality  of  life  at  the  Institute. 
The  successful  appeal,  directed  by  Stephen 
1  lebert  and  aided  significantly  by  Trustees 


Chairman  John  Nelson,  was 
the  work  of  a  host  of  faculty 
and  staff  members  and  stu- 
dents. Many  other  mem 
bers  of  the  WPI  com- 
munity, including 
a  number  of 
alumni, 
showed  their 
support  by 
signing  petitions 
and  attending 
the  various 
city  govern- 
ment meetings  at  which 
aspects  of  the  closure  were  debated. 

Several  laboratories  for  research  in  biol- 
ogy and  biotechnology  will  be  renovated 
starting  next  year  with  a  $1  million  grant 
from  the  National  Science  Foundation. 
With  the  grant,  which  must  be  matched  by 
gifts  from  alumni  and  friends  of  the  Institute, 
WPI  will  modernize  and  upgrade  labs  for 
work  in  molecular  genetics,  invertebrate 
zoology^  and  bioremediation,  as  well  as  sever- 
al common  research  facilities,  including  a 
greenhouse  and  a  microscope  suite.  A  labo- 
ratory preparation  area  was  renovated  during 
the  year  with  Institute  funds.  The  project  is 
set  for  completion  in  early  1997. 

Plans  for  a  campus  center  continued  to 
advance  during  the  year.  The  Campus  Cen- 
ter Planning  Committee,  made  up  of  mem- 
bers of  the  WPI  community,  fine-tuned  the 
"program,"  or  proposed 
contents,  of  the  center  and 
reported  its  choice  for  a 
site  for  the  building  to  the 
Board  of  Trustees  in  Feb- 
ruary 1995.  Based  on  its 
studies  and  input  from  the 
community,  the  committee 
recommended  that  the 
center  be  located  in  Alum- 
ni Gymnasium  and  that  an 
addition  be  built  behind 
Alumni  Gym  to  house  the 
recreational  facilities  dis- 
placed by  the  construction. 

Though  it  did  not 
change  in  any  significant  way  during  the 
year,  Stratton  Hall  garnered  a  great  deal  of 
attention  from  the  WPI  community  in 
December  1994  when  it  turned  100.  The 
building,  now  home  to  the  Mathematical 
Sciences  Department,  the  Office  of  Human 
Resources  and  several  Plant  Services  opera- 
tions, was  WPI's  first  mechanical  engineer- 
ing building.  Built  with  funds  from  the  com- 
monwealth of  Massachusetts,  the  structure 
is  named  for  Charles  G.  Stratton,  Class  of 


1875,  a  WPI  trustee  and  president  of  the 
Alumni  Association. 

Also  noting  their  centennials  in  1994-95 
were  Alden  Research  Laboratory  and  the 
WPI-RPI  football  rivalry.  ARL,  a  world- 
famous  facility  for  hydraulics  research  and 
development,  wras  founded  in  Holden, 
Mass.,  by  George  I.  Alden,  WPI's  first  pro- 
fessor of  mechanical  engineering.  It  was 
reorganized  as  a  private  corporation  in  1986. 

In  addition  to  the  WPI/RPI  football 
anniversary,  the  year's  other  top  sports  story 


14 


Fall  1995 


was  the  establishment  of  the  women's  varsi- 
ty soccer  team  last  spring;  women's  soccer 
had  been  a  club  sport  since  1986. 

As  construction  workers  labored  to 
restore  the  Institute's  buildings,  a  host  of 
individuals  were  endeavoring  to  spruce  up 
and  renew  the  work  of  education  that  goes 
on  within  those  structures.  The  Chemical, 
Civil  and  Environmental,  and  Mechanical 
Engineering  departments  completed  reviews 
of  their  curricula  during  the  year,  while 
Biology  anil  Biotechnology,  Chemistry  and 
Biochemistry,  Mathematical  Sciences,  and 
Mechanical  Engineering  implemented  inno- 
vative new  approaches  to  laboratory  instruc- 
tion. The  Computer  Science  Department, 
one  of  the  first  such  departments  in  the 
nation  to  receive  accreditation  b\  the  Com- 


■     ■ 

fl 

,»rflll*rurr 

m 

•tit  IF 


Now  and  Then.  Opposite  page,  from 
top,  highlights  from  1995:  an  artist's 
rendering  of  the  new  West  Street 
pedestrian  plaza;  the  new  addition  to 
Higgins  Labs;  President  Parrish  greet- 
ing members  of  the  new  women's  var- 
sity soccer  team.  This  page,  from  top, 
100-year  anniversaries  from  1895:  the 
WPI  football  team  that  first  faced  RPI; 
Alden  Research  Lab  (circa  1920);  St  rat- 
ton  Hall  just  after  it  was  dedicated. 


puter  Science  Accreditation  Board,  won 
reaccreditation  in  1994-95. 

Alter  a  three-day  conference  on  campus 
in  June  1994  aimed  at  finding  ways  to 
improve  the  first-year  experience  for  WPI 
students,  a  number  ot  faculty  and  staff  mem- 
bers and  students  worked  during  the  year  to 
develop  new  initiatives  that  increase  com- 
prehension and  retention  of  fundamental 
concepts  by  better  linking  first-year  math 
and  science  courses,  and  to  integrate  the 
new  student  orientation  with  programs  that 
help  students  develop  academic  and  study 
skills.  A  conference  in  February  1995, 
attended  by  60  members  of  the  WPI  com- 
munity, continued  work  toward  a  compre- 
hensive pluralism  program. 

An  important  aspect  of  WPFs  commit- 
ment to  a  pluralism  program  is  the  recruit- 
ment and  retention  of  underrepresented  stu- 
dents of  color.  Through  the  efforts  of  the 
Office  of  Minority  Student  Affairs  (MSA), 
VVTTs  entering  population  of  underrepre- 
sented students  grew  from  16  in  1991  to  35 
in  the  fall  of  1995,  an  increase  of  102  per- 
cent. Retention  rates  have  improved  to  75 
percent,  greater  than  the  national  average 
for  underrepresented  students  enrolled  in 
engineering  majors. 

As  a  result  of  this  success,  VVTTs  Excel- 
lence in  ^Mathematics,  Science  and  Engi- 
neering Program  (EMSEP)  in  October  1995 
was  named  one  of  nine  outstanding  institu- 
tional academic  advising  programs  by  the 
National  Academic  Advisors  at  the  group's 
annual  conference  in  Nashville.  The  follow- 
ing month,  the  GE  Fund  awarded  MSA  a 
$  1 04,000  grant  to  enhance  EMSEP  support 
services  by  developing  academic  excellence 
workshops  and  supplemental  instruction 
programs  in  historically  difficult  courses. 
The  Mathematical  Sciences  and  Physics 
departments  will  work  with  MSA  in  launch- 
ing the  new  initiative  over  the  next  two 
academic  years. 

In  April  1995,  Bernard  H.  Brown,  vice 
president  for  student  affairs,  endorsed  a  pro- 
posal to  establish  a  standing  committee  on 
the  status  of  women  at  WPI.  The  proposal 
was  developed  by  a  study  group  appointed 
by  President  Strauss  in  the  summer  of  1994 
to  review  the  status  of  advocacy  for  women 
at  WPI  and  to  compare  WPI's  services  and 
programs  for  women  with  those  offered  by 
peer  institutions. 

The  Davis  Educational  Foundation  pro- 
vided WPI  with  a  third  year  of  funding  for 
an  innovative  program  designed  to  improve 
the  quality  of  undergraduate  education  at 
the  Institute,  and  also  increase  faculty  pro- 
ductivity. The  first  two  years  of  the  program 


produced  measurable  changes  ill  the  wa\ 
many  freshmen  and  sophomores  learn,  lum 
they  feel  about  the  process  of  learning,  how 
courses  are  taught,  and  how  faculty  mem- 
bers use  their  in-  and  out-of-class  time. 

The  Fred  Harris  Daniels  Foundation 
awarded  WPI  $25,000,  the  nucleus  of  a  fund 
that  will  help  the  Institute  enhance  its  writ- 
ing and  foreign  language  programs.  The 
grant  will  fund  the  creation  in  Salisburj 
Laboratories  of  a  multipurpose  computer 
lab  where  students  will  work  alone  or  in 
small  groups  on  homework  assignments  and 
independent  projects,  and  a  networked 
classroom,  where  faculty  members  will 
supervise  group  writing  projects  or  group 
communication  via  computer. 

Also  in  1994-95,  the  faculty  approved 
the  creation  of  new  interface  disciplines — 
educational  programs  in  emerging  technolo- 
gies and  other  technology  based  initiatives 
that  lie  at  the  boundaries  of  WPI's  existing 
academic  programs.  The  concept  of  the 
interface  discipline  was  outlined  in  1992  by 
the  Blue  Ribbon  Task  Force,  which  suggest- 
ed that  such  programs  can  build  on  WPI's 
strengths  and  appeal  to  students  who  might 
not  otherwise  consider  enrolling  at  a  tech- 
nological university.  The  list  of  interface 
disciplines  now  includes  Entrepreneurship, 
Environmental  Policy  and  Development, 
International  Studies,  the  Pre-Health  and 
Pre-Law  programs,  Technical,  Scientific 
and  Professional  Communications,  Theatre 
and  Theatre  Technology,  and  Industrial 
Engineering. 

The  faculty  also  approved  two  new 
options  within  the  undergraduate  program: 
the  concentration  and  the  minor.  The  con- 
centration formally  recognizes  focused  and 
coordinated  work  w  ithin  a  major  or  within 
an  area  of  study  closely  related  to  a  major. 
Examples  include  mechanical  engineering 
with  a  concentration  in  biomedical  engi- 
neering and  electrical  engineering  with  a 
concentration  in  computer  engineering.  A 
minor  requires  a  minimum  amount  of  the- 
matically  related  activities,  including  courses 
and  projects,  outside  the  bounds  of  a  stu- 
dent's major.  A  portion  of  the  work  must 
constitute  a  "capstone"  that  marks  the  com- 
pletion of  the  minor.  To  date,  the  faculty 
has  approved  minor  programs  in  computer 
science,  economics,  international  studies, 
law  and  technology,  and  management. 

In  the  fall  of  1994,  WPI  formally 
opened  the  Technical  Education  Center  in 
Westborough.  Mass.  Under  the  direction  of 
the  Office  of  Continuing  Professional  Edu- 
cation, the  center's  mission  is  to  offer  cer- 
tificate programs  and  seminars  that  meet  the- 


rm Journal 


15 


continuing  education  needs  of  technical  and 
managerial  professionals.  The  center's  first 
offering,  four  eight-week  day  classes  and 
three  26-week  part-time  classes  in  UNIX 
Systems/C  Programming,  was  a  tremendous 
success.  The  Continuing  Education  Office 
also  delivered  89  public  seminars  in  project 
management,  quality  improvement  and 
management  development  and  70  in-house 
corporate  training  programs  (double  the 
number  presented  in  1993-94)  during  the 
academic  year. 

Also  in  the  fall,  the  Washington,  D.C., 
Project  Center,  the  Institute's  first  residen- 
tial off-campus  center  for  academic  project 


work,  celebrated  its  20th  anniversary.  A 
number  of  the  students  who've  completed 
projects  at  the  center  gathered  with  other 
members  of  the  WPI  community  to  observe 
the  anniversary  at  a  reception  in  Washing- 
ton. The  Washington  Project  Center  was 
the  launching  pad  for  WPI's  Global  Per- 
spective Program,  which  now  operates  pro- 
ject centers  and  programs  and  exchange 
programs  in  more  than  1 8  nations  on  five 
continents. 

Many  members  of  the  WPI  faculty  and 
staff  garnered  awards  and  honors  during  the 
year.  Here  are  a  few  highlights: 
•  Lance  E.  Schachterle,  assistant  provost  for 
special  programs  and  professor  of  English, 


won  the  1995  Sterling  P.  Olmstead  Award 
from  the  American  Society  for  Engineer- 
ing Education.  The  award  honors  innova- 
tive contributions  to  the  liberal  arts  within 
engineering  education.  Dean  of  Under- 
graduate Studies  Emeritus  William  R. 
Grogan  won  the  Olmstead  Award  in  1988. 
Samuel  Rankin  announced  his  decision  to 
step  down  as  head  of  the  Mathematical 
Sciences  Department  to  join  the  American 
Mathematical  Society  full  time.  Rankin 
has  been  on  partial  leave  at  AMS  since 
1991,  where  he  has  worked  on  Sloan 
Foundation-sponsored  projects  on 
nonacademic  employment  for  mathemati- 
cal scientists  and  increasing  the 
participation  of  minorities  in  the 
study  of  math.  In  the  fall  of 
1995,  Rankin  was  named  associ- 
ate executive  director  of  AMS. 
•  In  February  1995,  David 

Top,  Adams 
with  mouse  that 
may  help  fight 
Alzheimer's 
disease.  Bottom, 
NSF  Early 
Career  Develop- 
ment Grant  win- 
ners Terwilliger, 
left,  and 

Wyslouzil.  Right, 
Sacco  and  the 
crew  of  USML-2 
prepare  to  board 
Columbia  on 
launch  day. 

Adams,  associate  professor  of 
biology  and  biotechnology, 
was  second  author  on  an 
important  paper  in  Nature,  the 
weekly  international  journal  of 
science.  The  paper  announced 
a  breakthrough  in  research  on 
Alzheimer's  disease — the  de- 
velopment of  a  strain  of  mice 
that  mimics  brain  damage  from  the  disorder. 

•  Chrysanthe  D.  Terwilliger  '88,  assistant 
professor  of  mechanical  engineering,  and 
Barbara  E.  Wyslouzil,  assistant  professor 
of  chemical  engineering,  received  major 
monetary  awards  from  the  National  Sci- 
ence Foundation's  Faculty  Early  Career 
Development  Program.  The  program  is 
designed  to  encourage  the  early  develop- 
ment of  academic  faculty  members  as  edu- 
cators and  researchers. 

•  Grover  A.  Swartzlander  Jr.,  assistant  pro- 
fessor of  physics,  became  the  fourth  WPI 
professor  to  be  named  an  NSF  Young 
Investigator  (formerly  Presidential  Young 
Investigator).  Previous  winners  are  James 


E.  Rollings,  associate  professor  of  chemical 
engineering,  Tahar  El-Korchi,  associate 
professor  of  civil  and  environmental  engi- 
neering, and  Peter  L.  Levin,  associate  pro- 
fessor of  electrical  and  computer  engineer- 
ing. In  the  fall  of  1995,  Levin  received 
another  major  honor  when  he  was  named  a 
White  House  Fellow;  he  is  on  leave  in  1995- 
96  serving  as  a  special  assistant  to  the  chair- 
man of  the  Federal  Communications  Com- 
mission. 

•  Albert  Sacco  Jr.  spent  the  1994-95  aca- 
demic year  training  for  his  role  as  payload 
specialist  on  the  flight  of  the  second 
United  States  Microgravity  Laboratory 
(USML-2).  Sacco  was  chosen  in  June  1994 
as  one  of  two  payload  specialists  for  the 
mission,  which  flew  aboard  the  NASA 
space  shuttle  Columbia  in  October  1995. 
Among  the  many  experiments  on  the  mis- 
sion was  the  Zeolite  Crystal  Growth 


16 


Experiment.  Sacco,  as  principal  investiga- 
tor, headed  a  team  of  WPI  faculty  mem- 
bers and  students  that  readied  this  experi- 
ment for  its  third  flight  on  a  space  shuttle 
mission. 
NASA  Astronaut  Kathryn  Thornton, 
payload  specialist  for  the  USML-2  mission, 
was  the  speaker  at  WPI's  127th  Commence- 
ment in  May  1995.  Thornton  received  an 
honorary  doctorate,  along  with  Robert 
Daniell,  chairman  of  United  Technologies 
Corp.,  Milton  Garland  '20,  senior  consul- 
tant for  technical  services  at  Frick  Co.  (and, 
just  shy  of  his  100th  birthday,  WPI's  oldest 
honorary  degree  recipient),  and  Paul  S. 
Morgan,  chairman  of  Morgan  Construction 
Co.  and  the  fourth  generation  of  his  family 
to  serve  on  the  WPI  Board  of  Trustees  (he 
served  from  1966  to  1991  and  was  chairman 
from  1978  to  1983).  Some  833  students 
received  degrees.  The  ceremony,  held 
on  the  Quadrangle,  marked  the  formal 
conclusion  of  one  of  the  Institute's  most 
productive  and  eventful  years. 

—Michael  Dors  iy 

Fall  1995 


BOOM 


DEVELOPMENT     HIGHLIGHTS 


Institutional  Advancement: 
Building  for  the  2 1  st  Century 


A  reporter  once  asked  hockey  great 
Wayne  Gretsky  how  it  was  that 
a  player  of  his  modest  physical 
abilities  became  the  game's  all-time  leading 
scorer.  After  a  moment's  reflection,  the 
"great  one"  answered  simply  that  he  always 
attempted  to  move  to  where  he  thought  the 
puck  would  be,  while  other  play- 
ers seemed  to  move  to  where  the 
puck  was  at  that  moment.  On 
such  simple  premises  are  built 
the  foundations  of  great  accom- 
plishment. 

An  institution,  no  less  than  an 
athlete,  must  focus  on  the  future  if 
it  is  to  attain  new  levels  of  excel- 
lence. As  WPI  sets  its  sights  on  the 
2 1st  century  under  new  leadership, 
it  must  continually  locus  on  those 
things  that  have  enabled  it  to 
achieve  distinction.  Among  the 
most  important  is  its  fund-raising 
infrastructure:  generous  donors, 
conscientious  trustees,  enthusiastic 
volunteers,  hard-working  staff — 
in  short,  the  essential  human 
resources  who  contribute  to  the 
business  of  raising  the  financial 
support  so  necessary  to  the  sus- 
tained excellence  of  this  distin- 
guished technological  university. 

It  has  been  my  distinct  pleasure 
and  privilege  to  have  served  the  Institute  as 
vice  president  for  university  relations  and  to 


By  Ronald  C.  Baird 

Interim  Vice  President  for  University  Relations 


Planned  giving,  at  over  $2.8  million  for 
the  year,  is  a  rapidly  growing  vehicle  for 
philanthropic  donations;  WPI  has  a  portfo- 
lio of  over  $19  million  in  deferred  gifts  (uni- 
trusts,  bequests,  life  insurance  and  so  on). 
Corporations  and  foundations  continue  to 
be  major  sources  of  gift  revenue  for  the 


Corporations,  31.4 

Cash,  14.1 
Matching  gifts,  4.6 
Gifts-in-kind,  12.7 


Foundations,  12.5 


Left,  the  sources  of  the  $9.5  million  in  gift  revenue  WPI 
received  during  the  1994-95  fiscal  year.  Corporate  giving 
is  further  broken  down  into  its  three  components.  Right, 
the  exponential  growth  in  Presidential  Founder  member- 
ship over  the  past  half  century-  Formally  established  in 
1986,  the  group  recognizes  individuals  and  family  foun- 
dations whose  cumulative  gifts  to  WPI  have  equaled  or 
exceeded  John  Boynton's  founding  gift  of  $100,000. 

school,  accounting  for  3 1.4  percent  and 
12.5  percent,  respectively,  of  total  dollars 


with  1 1  nev\  Presidential  Founders  having 
joined  the  ranks  in  1994-95.  The  Alden 
Society,  which  honors  those  who  have 
included  WPI  in  their  wills  or  estate  plans 
lor  at  least  $25,000,  has  grown  from  1  54 
members  in  1992  to  182  today.  That  is  a 
tribute  to  the  many  alumni  and  friends 
whose  generosity  has  helped 
establish  new  standards  for  giving 
at  WPI. 

Among  the  year's  other 
development  highlights  was  the 
"minicampaign"  for  Higgins 
Laboratories.  The  renovation  and 
expansion  of  this  home  for 
mechanical  engineering  at  WPI  is 
virtually  complete,  with  $9.5  mil- 
lion in  cash  and  equipment  dona- 
tions now  in  hand  (well  in  excess 
of  our  $8.4  million  goal).  Almost 
two-thirds  of  the  cash  total  came 
from  local  and  national  founda- 
tions. That  is  a  testament  to  the 
innovative  planning  and  foresight 
represented  by  this  project,  which 
is  a  cornerstone  of  WPI's  vision 
for  the  2 1st  century. 

A  new  minicampaign,  an- 
nounced this  year,  will  support 
WPI's  research  and  educational 
programs  in  biology  and  biotech- 
nology. The  Institute  has  received 
about  $1  million  from  the  National  Science 
Foundation  to  help  create  new  biology 
research  laboratories  in  Salisbury  Labora- 
tories. An  additional  $1  million  will  be  need- 
ed to  complete  the  work,  and  the  university 
is  committed  to  matching  the  NSF  grant 


over  the  next  two  years  with  gifts  from  a 


have  helped  build  a  foundation  in  institu-  received  in  1994-95.  Indeed,  the  $1.7  mil- 

tional  advancement  that  will  carrv  WPI  well      lion  in  cash  gifts  received  from  corporations 

into  the  next  century7.  That  building  process      last  year  was  an  Institute  record. 

forms  the  background  to  what  has  been  Our  cadre  of  major  donors  continues  to 

another  excellent  year  in  development.  To         grow.  The  Presidential  Founders,  the 

begin  with,  WPI  received  $9.5  million  in  George  I.  Alden  Society  and  the  President's      wide  range  of  supporters.  Over  the  last  five 

gift  revenue  and  nearly  $2  million  in  pledges     Advisory  Council  all  recorded  healthy  years  Biology  and  Biotechnology  has  experi- 

increases  during  the  year.  It's  hard  to  believe     enced  the  largest  increases  in  undergraduate 
that  just  1 0  years  ago  WPI  could  point  to  enrollment  of  any  department  at  WPI. 

only  105  individuals  or  family  foundations  The  Council  for  the  Advancement  and 

whose  lifetime  giving  to  WPI  totaled  at  least     Support  of  Education  (CASE)  acknowledged 
$100,000.  That  figure  now  stands  at  229,  WPI's  success  in  fund  raising  by  selecting 


during  1994-95.  While  those  totals  are 
somewhat  lower  than  those  of  the  record 
years  1992-93  and  1993-94,  the  year  just 
past  was,  nonetheless,  among  the  top  five  in 
WPI  history. 


WPI  Journal 


17 


The  bottom  line  is  that  our  fund-raising  infrastructure  of  loyal, 

generous  donors  continues  to  make  possible  the  advancement  of 

WPI  in  so  many  critical  areas  and  programs. 


Ronald  Baird  accepts  the  CASE  Circle 
of  Excellence  Award  from  Susan  Kubik, 
chair  of  the  board  of  CASE. 

the  Institute  to  receive  one  of  its  1995 
Circle  of  Excellence  in  Educational  Fund 
Raising  Awards.  This  prestigious  award, 
which  recognizes  excellence  in  fund  raising 
over  the  previous  three-year  period,  places 
WPI  in  some  very  select  company,  indeed. 
The  other  winners  in  our  category  (private 
research/doctoral  institutions)  were  Brown, 
Columbia,  Duke,  Harvard,  Stanford,  Notre 
Dame  and  the  University  of  Chicago. 

In  other  developments,  the  Polaroid 
Foundation  established  a  challenge  grant  for 
equipping  a  new  image  processing  laborato- 
ry in  Atwater  Kent  Laboratories  for  the 
Electrical  and  Computer  Engineering 
Department.  The  challenge  will  call  on  our 
many  alumni  at  Polaroid  to  give  to  WPI 
through  the  foundation's  matching  gift  pro- 
gram. The  gifts  and  matching  gifts  will  be 
applied  to  help  meet  the  challenge.  Corpo- 
rate matching  gift  programs  are  an  impor- 
tant source  of  unrestricted  funds  for  WPI. 
Each  year  they  make  possible  strategic 
investments  in  critical  programs. 

A  grant  from  the  Sloan  Foundation  for  a 
study  of  fragmented  industries  and  a  third 
year  of  funding  from  the  Davis  Educational 
Foundation  for  a  program  aimed  at  enhanc- 
ing teaching  productivity  at  WPI  are  excit- 
ing, far-reaching  initiatives  with  national 
implications.  The  bottom  line  is  that  our 
hind-raising  infrastructure  of  loyal,  gener- 
ous donors  continues  to  make  possible  the 
advancement  of  WPI  in  so  many  critical 
areas  and  programs. 


The  real  story  in  institutional  advance- 
ment in  1995  was  the  implementation  of  a 
long-range  plan  to  build  a  permanent  fund- 
raising  infrastructure  of  sufficient  dimension 
and  sophistication  to  ensure  an  increasing 
flow  of  private  support  to  WPI  indefinitely. 
The  plan  stems  from  the  recognition  that 
our  donor  base  continues  to  expand  and 
philanthropy  is  becoming  increasingly  com- 
plex and  information-intensive. 

Five  major  steps  in  that  long-range  plan 
were  implemented  in  1994-95.  Thev  were 

•  an  internal  reorganization  of  the  Universi- 
ty Relations  Office.  As  a  product  of  that 
reorganization,  the  Alumni  Office  and  the 
Alumni  Fund  now  report  to  the  vice  presi- 
dent for  university  relations. 

•  the  development  by  the  WPI  Alumni 
Association  of  a  five-year  strategic  plan 
for  the  Alumni  Fund.  The  plan  outlines  a 
program  for  substantially  increasing  both 
the  number  of  donors  and  the  number  of 
dollars  received  by  the  fund  annually.  It 
calls  for  additional  investments  in  human 
resources  to  enable  WPI  to  expand  its 
alumni  programs. 

•  a  quarter-million-dollar  investment  in 
computer  software  and  hardware  that  will 
enable  the  University  Relations  Office  to 
employ  the  latest  in  information  technol- 
ogy well  into  the  next  century. 

•  a  long-range  plan  for  financing  the  expan- 
sion of  our  fund-raising  infrastructure, 
which  was  approved  by  the  Board  of 
Trustees  in  September  1995.  As  a  result, 
three  new  positions  were  created  in  Uni- 
versity Relations  and  several  functional 
areas  were  reorganized.  The  new  positions 
will  be  filled  during  1995-96. 

These  steps  will  put  in  place  a  highly 
professional  hind-raising  infrastructure  that 
will  enable  WPI  to  compete  for  private  sec- 
tor financial  support  and  increase  alumni 
participation.  Thev  will  also  form  the  core 
organization  with  which  WPI  will  conduct 
its  next  capital  campaign. 

The  successful  implementation  of  the 
new  long-range  plan  for  fund-raising  will 
depend,  above  all,  on  support  from  WPFs 
many  alumni  and  friends,  who  understand 
the  role  of  development  in  positioning  this 
distinguished  university  for  greatness  in  the 


18 


coming  century.  The  commitment  and  will- 
ingness of  these  supporters  to  invest  in  the 
future  is  what  separates  the  great  institutions 
Irom  the  good.  To  you,  once  again,  our  sin- 
cere thanks. 


John  Heyl 

Takes  Over  the  Reins 

As  1994-95  came  to 

tan  end,  WPI  began 
a  search  for  a  new 
vice  president  for 
university  relations. 
That  search  ended 
successfully  with 
the  recent  appoint- 
ment of  John  L. 
Heyl,  a  25-year 
veteran  in  development  and  institutional 
advancement. 

Heyl  earned  his  bachelor's  degree  at 
Trinity  College  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  and 
taught  at  Brown  University  and  Hyde 
School  in  Bath,  Maine,  before  returning  to 
Trinity  in  1970  as  director  of  alumni  rela- 
tions. From  1974  to  1976  he  was  the  direc- 
tor of  the  Harvard  Business  School  Fund. 
He  then  became  development  director  at 
Woods  Hole  Oceanographic  Institution. 

In  1981  he  was  named  vice  president  for 
development  at  Bowdoin  College,  where  he 
also  oversaw  public  relations,  publications 
and  alumni  relations.  While  at  Bowdoin, 
he  directed  a  $56  million  capital  campaign. 

From  1987  to  1991  he  was  vice  presi- 
dent for  resources  development  at  the 
National  Trust  for  Historic  Preservation. 
He  then  served  as  vice  president  for  devel- 
opment, membership  and  marketing  at 
Conservation  International  in  Washington, 
D.C.  In  1993  he  became  a  principal  in 
Alumni  Hotels  Inc.,  a  membership  benefit 
program  for  university  alumni  associations 
with  more  than  a  million  alumni  participants 
and  a  worldwide  network  of  hotels. 

"We're  extremely  pleased  to  have  John 
join  our  community,"  WPI  President 
Edward  Parrish  said.  "His  considerable 
experience  will  play  a  critical  role  in  the 
advancement  ol  this  institution  as  it 
approaches  the  next  century." 

Fall  1995 


nm 


1994-95  WPI  HONOR  ROLL  OF  DONORS 


WPI  gratefully  acknowledges  the  support  of  the  thousands  of  individuals,  foundations  and  corporations  whose  contributions 
of  $",427,371  in  cash  and  gifts-in-kind  through  the  Alumni  Fund,  the  Parents  Fund,  minicampaigns  and  general  development 

efforts  during  the  1W4-95  fiscal  year  (July  1,  1994,  to  June  30,  1995)  are  already  at  work  making  WPI  a  stronger  and  more 

outstanding  institution.  Space  does  not  permit  the  listing  ot  all  their  names.  An  additional  $1,958,153  was  pledged  during  the 

fiscal  year.  These  commitments  will  be  listed  in  future  reports  as  they  are  received  as  cash  or  gifts-in-kind. 


$100,000  and  above 

George  I.  Alden  Trust 
John  Lott  Brown  '46 
China  Technical 

Consultants  Inc. 
William  J.  Coffey/Walter 

L.  Goodwin* 
Commonwealth  of 

Massachusetts 
Davis  Educational 

Foundation 
John  F.  Devaney  '31 
Digital  Equipment  Corp. 
Robert  D.  Fellman 
Robert  A.  Foisie  '56 
Mrs.  Richard  A.  Heald  '20 
Hewlett  Packard  Company 
I  Iowmet  Turbine 

Components  Corp. 
Mrs.  Alba  Y.  Kalenian '33 
Raymond  (.  Perreault  '38 
Carl  E.  Rylander  '3  1 
Alfred  P.  Sloan 

Foundation 
Dr.  Stedman  \V.  Smith  '36 
United  Technologies 

Corp. 
Leonard  A.  ('37)  and  Joy  P. 

Young  Trust 

$25,000  to  $99,999 

Estate  of  Milton  H. 

Aldrich  '28 
Airs.  Edward  K. . Allen  '33 
AT&T 

Bailev  Control  Companv 
Robert  H.  Beckett  '57 
Ruth  H.  and  Warren  A. 

Ellsworth  Foundation 
Exxon  Education 

Foundation 
Henry  J.  Ezen  '49 
Martin  R.  Flinkjr.  '45 
Ford  Motor  Company 

Fund 
Raymond  J.  Forkey  '40 
General  Electric 

Foundation 
General  Motors  Corp. 
The  Gillette  Companv 
GTE  Corporation 
Hoche-Scofield 

Foundation 
Hughes  Aircraft  Companv 
August  C.  Kellermann  '46 


The  Macamor  Foundation 
Thomas  M.  McCaw  '46 
Mildred  H.  McEvoy 

Foundation 
Metal  Powder  Industry 
John  C.  Metzger  Jr.  '46 
Motorola  Inc. 
Norton  Company 
Roger  N.  Perry  Jr.  '45 
Procter  &  Gamble 

Companv 
Richard  Prouty 
Raytheon  Company 
TarekM.A.  Shawaf'55 
The  Starr  Foundation 
Robert  C.  Stempel  :5> 
Texaco  Inc. 
WPI  Alumni  /Association 

$10,000  to  $24,999 

Estate  of  Phyllis  E.  Aldrin 
Aluminum  Pechiney 
.Amoco  Corporation 
Bio-Imaging 

Technologies  Inc. 
Martin  G.  Bromberg  '51 
Mrs.  /Arthur  H.  Burr  '29 
Cabletron  Systems  Inc. 
CM  I  International 
Edward  S.  Coe  Jr.  '3 1 
Coleman  Foundation  Inc. 
Consolidated  Metco 
Donald  G.  Craig  '57 
Paul  M.  Craig  Jr.  '45 
Paul  C.  Disariojr.  '42 
Doehler-Jarvis 
Gerald  T.  Dyer  '56 
Environmental  Soil 

Management  Inc. 
Mrs.  Frank  H.French '29 
George  F.  and  Sybil  H. 

Fuller  Foundation 
William  R.  Grogan  '46 
John  P.  Harding  Jr.  '47 
Hoeganaes  Corp. 
Peter  H.  Horstmann  '55 
Estate  of  Mary 

Howard   14 
IBM  Corporation 
ICM/Krebsoge 
Ingersoll-Rand  Company 
Rolf  Jensen  &  Associates 
Keystone  Carbon 

Company 
C.  Stanley  Knidit  '32 


Paul  N.  Kokulis  '45 
Gordon  B.  Lankton 
Liberty  Mutual 

Insurance  Co. 
C.John  Lindegrenjr.  '39 
Mobil  Foundation  Inc. 
Monsanto  Fund 
Northeast  Utilities 

Service  Co 
Polaroid  Corporation 
Presmet  Corp. 
Quebec  Metal  Powders 

Limited 
Reynolds  Metals  Company 
Schlumberger-Doll 

Research 
SCM  Metal  Products 
John  J.  Shields  '69 
Raymond  B.  Shlora  '40 
Henry  M.  Strage  '54 
John  G.  Underbill  '44 
Windfall  Products  Inc. 
Xerox  Corporation 

$5,000  to  $9,999 

Andersen  Consulting 

Richard  H.  Anschutz  '46 

Milton  D.  Bartlett  45* 

BASF  Corporation 

Anna  Harrington  Boardman* 

Robert  M.  Buck  '45 

Murray  A.  Cappers  Jr.  '57 

Raymond  K.  Chafin  '46 

Leon  Chahinian  '56 

CIGNA  Corporation 

Stanley  C.  Clevenger  '55 

Mrs.  B.  Austin  Coatesjr.  '35 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Noel  L.  Cohen  p 

Daniel  I.  Coifman  '67 

Comalco  Aluminum  Ltd. 

F.  H.  Daniels  Foundation  Inc. 

Design  News 

Dorst  America 

Mrs.  Dwight  Dwinell '34 

Robert  H.  Farrar  '56 

Neil  A.  Fitzgerald  '38 

Dale  G.  Freygang  '74 

A.J.  Gifford  Charitable  Trust 

Alfred  E.  Green  '45 

Arnold  M.  Hall  '56 

Hanover  Insurance  Co. 

I  [arley-Davidson  Lie. 

David  W.  Hoskinson  '57 

John  P.  Hyde  '45 

Brian  J.  Kelly  '55 

Kennedy  Die  Castings  Inc. 


Arthur  R.  Koerber'40 
Carlton  G.  Luttsjr.  46 
Charles  A.  Mitchell  '46 
Mobil  Oil  Corp. 
Mrs.  Joseph  ( '..  Molder 
Morgan  Construction  Co. 
Charles  A.  Morse  Jr.  '45 
Xeles-Jamesbury  Corporatii  in 
NEMA 

Henry  W.  Nowick  '56 
NYNEX 

Roger  R.  Osell  '54 
luliusA.  Palle\  '46 
F.  David  Ploss  III  '70 
Frances  Leon  Quintana 
Estate  of  Doris  K.  Rogers  '27 
Reynald  J.  Sansoucy  '55 
Sean  D.S.  Sebastian  'S3 
J.  Morrison  Smith  '37 
Russell  M.  Smith  '47 
Estate  of  Edith  Gates 

Snow  '26 
William  R.  Steur  '35* 
Robert  F.  Sutherland  Jr.  '57 
Donald  Taylor  '49 
J.  Headen  Thompson  '36 
Sidney  B.  Wetherhead  '45 
Wesley  D.  Wheeler  '54 
WPI  Worcester  County  ( Hub 
Wyman-Gordon  Co. 
Edward  R.  Zieve  '45 

$2,500  to  $4,999 

Air  Products  & 

Chemicals  Inc. 
Paul  A.  Allaire  '60 
Richard  W.  Allen  '45 
ALLMERICA  Financial 
Diran  Apelian 
Estate  ot  Alexander 

Lopes  Alves 
Gerald  R.  Backhand  '55 
Richard  A.  Barlow  '57 
James  L.  Bartlettjr.  '39 
Paul  W.  Booth  '34 
James  L.  Carr  Jr.  '74 
COMSAT  Corporation 
Coopers  &  Lybrand 
FrederickJ.  Costello  '59 
Custer  Powell  Inc. 
C.  Chapin  Cutler  Sr.  '37 
John  D.  Daly  '57 
Michael  A.  DiPierro '68 
DOW  Chemical  Company 
William  W.  Durgin 
Dr.  Howard  J.  Dworkin  '55 
Larry  Dworkin  '58 
John  E.  Edfors  '55 


I. eland  I'.  Ekstrom  '42 
Engineered  Sinterings  & 

Plastics  Inc. 
Gerald  Finkle  '57 
Warner  S.  Fletcher 
John  ]-.  ( i.iliranski  '75 
Michael  M.  Galbraith  '58 
Milton  W.Garland '20 
Richard  T.  dales  '52 
Albert  S.  Goldberg '48 
Robert  W.  Goodiader  '60 
Grinnell  Corp. 
Steven  C.  I  lalstedt  '68 
Daniel  J.  Harrington  Jr.  '50 
John  T.  E.  Hegeman  '45 
Burton  L.  Hinman  '45 
Richard  A.  Hurd '55 
Industrial  Risk  Insurers 
Larry  Israel  '6 1 
Rolf  H.Jensen 
Margaret  N.  Kalenian 
George  J.  Kennedy  '45 
Paul  S.  Kennedy  '67 
William  A.  Kerr  '60 
Hans  H.  Koehl  '56 
Eino  O.  Leppanen  '32 
Alarsh  &  AlcLennan 

Companies  Inc. 
Peter  J.  Martin  '62 
Herman  Medwin  '41 
AUTRE  Corporation 
Alfred  A.  Molinari  Jr.  '63 
National  Fire  Protection 

Association 
David  P.  Norton  '62 
Eric  Ostergaard  '56 
Robert  S.  Parks  '93  Trust 
Henry  B.Pratt '32 
Raymond  J.  Remillard  '49 
Estate  of  Emerson  J. 

Robinson  '35 
Lawrence  F.  Scinto  '51 
Kenneth  E.  Scott  '48 
Leon  R.  Scruton  '70 
Philip  H.  Sheridan  '45 
Kenneth  W.  Shiatte  '53 
SmithKline  Beecham  Corp. 
Jon  C.  Strauss 
Sullivan  Family 
John  W.  Sutcliffe  '38 
Francis  G.  Toce  '60 
Charles  A.  Tyson  '57 
Wcstinghouse  Education 

Fund 
Estate  of  Russell  C.  Wiley  '29 
John  Wiley  &  Sons  Inc. 
John  T.  Wilson  '65 


Note:  a  " p"  ,iftcr  a  name  indicates  parents)  of  WPI  students/alumni;  a  "*"  after  a  name  indicates  deceased. 


WPI  Journal 


19 


1994-95  WPI   HONOR   ROLL  OF  DONORS 


$1,500  to  $2,499 

Walter  L.  Abel  '39 
Michael  L.  Abrams  77 
James  S.  Adams  '49 
Advanced  Micro  Devices  Inc. 
Joseph  J.  Alekshunjr.  '56 
Allendale  Mutual  Insurance  Co. 
.Arthur  W.  Anderson  '57 
Anonymous 

Robert  C.  Appenzeller  '46 
Herbert  Asher  '44 
Philip  G.Atwood '37 
Bruce  M.  Bailey  '5 1 
Paul  W.  Bayliss  '60 
C.  Edward  Bean  '44 
Bell  Atlantic  Corporation 
L.  Thomas  Benoit  Jr.  '66 
Donald  F.  Berth  '57 
Rene  R.  Bertrand  '57 
Edouard  S.P.  Bouvier  '55 
J.  William  Bowen  '66 
PaulW.  Brown  Jr.  '55 
Daniel  A.  Bundza  '57 
Harold  D.Burt '33 
John  K.  Busada  '39 
Richard  S.  Carrara  '63 
Wilder  R.  Carson  '39 
Brian  D.  Chace  '69 
Frederick  M.  Chakour  '45 
Chevron  Corporation 
CIBA-GEIGY  Corporation 
Charles  H.  Cole  '30 
George  A.  Cowan  '41 
Charles  F.  H.  Crathern  III  '52 
David  S.  Crimmins  '58 
Stanley  R.  Cross  Jr.  '45 
Gordon  F.  Crowther  '37 
Henry  S.C.  Cummingsjr.  '50 
William  D.  Cunningham  '77 
Earl  M.  Curtis  '36 
Edward  J.  Curtis  Jr.  '64 
Cytec  Industries  Inc. 
Thomas  R.  d'Errico  '41 
Walter  G.  Dahlstrom  '36 
Bernard  R.  Danti  '56 
William  A.  Delphos  '74 
Albert  M.  Demont  '31 
William  P.  Densmore  '45 
Robert  L.  Diamond  '56 
Walter  G.  Dick  '49 
Cornelius  J.  Enright  Jr.  '60 
William  J.  Firla  Jr.  '60 
Virginia  Giordano 
FitzPatrick'75 
Fluor  Corporation 
The  Foxboro  Company 
Kurt  H.  France  '57 
Anson  C.  Fyler  '45 
C.  Stewart  Gentsch  '58 
Bennett  E.  Gordon  Jr.  '65 
Joel  P.  Greene  '69 
Edward  L.  Griffith  Jr.  '69 
Michael  S.  Gutman  '58 
Lee  P.  Hackett  Y>1 
David  H.  Hall  '68 
Joseph  M.  Halloranjr.  '40 
Leslie  B.  Harding  '41 
Warren  G.  Harding  '42 
Francis  L.  Harrington  '35 
Francis  S.  Harvey  '37 


Stephen  J.  Hebert  '66 
Thomas  S.  Heefher  '61 
Leonard  Hershoft  '43 
Jay  P.  Hochstaine  '62 
William  D.  Holcomb  '38 
Hollingsworth  &  Vose  Co. 
Holbrook  L.  Horton  '29 
Wilfrid  J.  Houde'59 
Clayton  E.  Hunt  Jr.  '34 
M  Howard  Jacobson 
Harry  T.  Jensen  '33 
Robert  G  Keenan  '70 
John  F.  Kelley  III  '65 
Douglas  W.  Klauber  '67 
Victor  E.  Kohman  '43 
Ernest  R.  Kretzmer  '45 
Joseph  A.  Lagana  '67 
Walter  E.  Lankau  Jr.  '64 
John  H.  Lauterbach  '66 
John  B.  Lawson  '63 
Raynald  P.  Lemieux  '55 
Allen  H.  Levesque  '59 
Joseph  J.  Maggi  '67 
Robert  C.  Manahan  '46 
Louis  J.  Marsella  '56 
Zareh  Martin  '40 
Martin  Marietta  Corp. 
Robert  E.  Maynard  Jr.  '63 
Cecil  A.  McCurry  '46 
Thomas  G.  McGee  '64 
John  M.  McHugh  '56 
Denis  F.  McQuillen  '67 
Samuel  W.  Mencow  '37 
Merck  &  Co.  Inc. 
BehrendsMesserJr.  '43 
Charles  R.  Michel  '37 
JohnD.  Minott'57 
Bruce  D.  Minsky  77 
Peter  B.  Myers  '46 
NBD  Bancorp  Inc. 
Edwin  F.  Nesman  '55 
New  England  Power 

Service  Co. 
Judith  Nitsch  75 
Northeast  Nuclear 

Energy  Co. 
Robert  W.' O'Brien  '38 
Robert  J.  O'Malley  '39 
Francis  J.  Oneglia  '42 
Mark  F.  O'Neil  '80 
George  B.  Ordway  '66 
Alex  C.  Papianou  '57 
Ronald  B.  Paris  '46 
John  A.  Pelli  70 
Edward  H.  Peterson  '43 
Pfizer  Inc. 
Clark  L.  Poland  '48 
John  W.  Powers  '6 1 
William  Price '37 
Public  Service  Electric 

&  Gas  Co. 
JohnW.  Putisjr. '80 
Roger  P.  Roberge  '45 
Kenneth  W.  Roberts  '68 
John  E.  Rogerson  '42 
Milton  E.  Ross  '40 
Philip  B.  Ryan  '65 
Safariland 

George  E.  Saltus  '53 
Sara  Lee  Corporation 


Donald  J.  Schulz'61 
David  M.  Schwaber  '65 
Allan  P.  Sherman '61 
William  F.  Shields  '64 
Edward  P.  Simonian  '55 
PaulW.  Snyder '53 
The  Stanley  Works 
Stone  &  Webster  Inc. 
Frans  E.  Strandberg  '39 
Lawrence  R.  Sullivan  '40 
W.  Gordon  Thatcher  '40 
United  Parcel  Service  of 

America 
David  T.  Van  Covern  '53 
Irwin  T.  Vanderhoof  '48 
Helen  G  Vassallo  '82 
Romeo  J.  Ventres  '48 
Davis  S.  Watson  '46 
Ross  E.  Weaver  70 
David  J.  Welch  '60 
Robert  J.  Whipple 
Richard  T.  Whitcomb  '43 
David  H.  White  75 
Leonard  H.  White  '41 
Philip  A.  Wild  '50 
Plummer  Wiley  '35 
John  H.  Williams  '49 
Richard  B.  Wilson  '39 
WSI 

Ronald  L.Zarrella  71 
Donald  N.  Zwiep 

$1,000  to  $1,499 

J.  Carleton  Adams  '23 
Lucian  T.  Allen  '38 
Anonymous 
Aphios  Corporation 
Erving  Arundale  '37 
Ashland  Oil  Inc. 
Edwin  G  Baldwin  '45 
Banta  Corporation 
Roger  F.  Bardwell'55 
Gerald  J.  Bibeault '42 
Mrs.  Richard  E.  Bliven  '27 
Nora  A.  Blum  73 
The  Boeing  Co. 
Craig  F.  Bradley  '69 
Bristol-Myers  Squibb  Co. 
Harrison  K.  Brown  '39 
Edward  N.  Clarke 
Christopher  R.  Collins  '56 
Corning  Inc. 
C.  Marshall  Dann  '35 
Gregory  S.  Dickson  71 
Dining  and  Kitchen 

Administration  Inc. 
Factory  Mutual  System 
Juliann  Bussell  Farrar  '85 
Roland  O.  Farrar '37* 
James  J.  Feenanjr.  '80 
James  C.  Ferguson  '41 
Timothy  A.  French  73 
Edward  R.  Funk  '46 
F.  Clark  Gesswein  '64 
Frederick  C.  Gilbert  '48 
Walter  J.  Grandfieldjr.  76 
William  E.  Hanson  '32 
Hercules  Incorporated 
Neil  M.  Hodes  70 


Hoechst  Celanese 

Corporation 
D.  Brainerd  Holmes 
Household  International  Inc. 
Frederick  E.  Hyatt  Jr.  '36 
Hyde  Manufacturing  Co. 
Timothy  C.Johnson  71 
George  Kalista  '34 
Stephen  J.  Kaneb  '82 
Atwater  Kent  Foundation 
Richard  D.  Kirk  '54 
Wilmer  Kranich* 
Donald  T.  Kremer  70 
M.  Leonard  Kuniholm  '38 
Thomas  E.  Lempges  '46 
George  A.  Makela  '35 
James  H.  Maloney  Jr.  '46 
Robert  W.Martin  '39 
Robert  W.  Matchett  '56 
Robert  E.  Mcintosh  Jr.  '62 
Merrill  Lynch  &  Co  Inc. 
Allen  M.  Mmtz  '48 
Robert  B.  Mirick  '39 
Francis  C.  Moore  '33 
Robert  A.  Moore '58 
Paul  E.  Nelson  '32 
New  England  Power 

Company 
William  J.  Norwood  III  '81 
Verner R.Olson '35 
Edward  C.  Perryjr.  '47 
Ralph  W.  Piper  Jr.  '42 
Leonard  S.  Porter  '44 
Richard  A.  Prokop  '37 
Daniel  J.  Rice '46 
John  B.  Robinson  p 
Rockwell  International  Corp. 
Anthony  J.  Ruscito  70 
John  P.  Russell  '54 
John  M.  Sarkisian  '57 
Robert  W.  Schramm  '46 
Arthur  J.  Schumer  '37 
Robert  E.  Scott  '45 
Robert  F.  Shannon  '50 
John  E.  Sleights  '94 
Edward  H.  Smith  '46 
Southern  New  England 

Telephone  Co. 
Spag's  Supply 
Harvey  W.  Spence  p 
Edward  T.  Swierz  '47 
Edward  J.  Sydor  '50 
JohnW.  Sztukajr.  70 
Donald  A.  Taft  72 
(ohn  A.  Taylor  '56 
William  R.  Taylor '55 
Victor  H.  Thulin  '42 
Steven  A.  Udell  70 
United  Illuminating  Co. 
Alexander  Vranos  '57 
John  W.Welsh '55 
Westvaco  Corporation 
Estate  of  Hester  D.  Wetherell 
Jesse  H.  Wright  p 
David  A.  Zlotek  '69 

$250  to  $999 

ABB  Combustion 

Engineering 
Abbott  Laboratories 


Crosby  L.  Adams  '57 
Donald  H.  Adams  '52 
John  S.  Adams  '92 
Robert  H.  Adams  '48 
Aetna  Life  &  Casualty  Co. 
Air  &  Water  Technologies 

Corp. 
Robert  E.  Aide  73 
Akzo  America  Inc. 
Homoud  A.  Al-Rqobah  74 
Yaqoub  A.  Alawadi  '80 
James  A.  Alfieri  '59 
Owen  F.  Allen  '54 
Robert  A.  Allen '59 
Allied-Signal  Foundation  Inc. 
Aluminum  Company  of 

America 
Raymond  L.  Alveyjr.  '50 
Analog  Devices  Inc. 
Carl  P.  Anderson  '88 
G  Albert  Anderson  '5 1 
Gordon  C.  Anderson  '44* 
Daniel  L.  Appelbaum  '88 
Apple  Computer  Inc. 
Joseph  F.  Arayas  72 
Neil  W.  Armstrong  '57 
John  H.  Atchison  Jr.  '57 
Frank  C.  Baginski  '45 
Everett  E.  Bagley  '52 
David  G.Baker '81 
Norman  E.  Baker  '50 
Robert  E.  Baker  '52 
Kenneth  E.  Baker  Sr.  '52 
Eugene  J.  Baldrate  '67 
Walter  J.  Bank  '46 
Barnett  Banks  Inc. 
Carl  P.  Baron  77 
John  H.  Barrett  Jr.  '46 
Kenneth  H.  Barrows  '64 
Thomas  R.  Barstow  '83 
Harry  S.  Barton  Jr.  '55 
Bay  Networks  Inc. 
John  C.  Bayer  '45 
Arthur  F.  Beaubien  '8 1 
Paul  G.  Beaudet  '68 
Paul  H.  Beaudry  '49 
Bechtel  Group  Inc. 
David  S.  Becker  '56 
Todd  H.  Becker  '86 
Philip  P.  Bedard  '56 
G.  Standish  Beebe  '34 
Robert  E.  Behringer  '53 
Hugh  C.Bell  '55 " 
Bell-Northern  Research  Inc. 
SalvatoreJ.  Bellassai  '42 
Bellcore 

BellSouth  Services  Inc. 
Carl  F.  Benson  '36 
Paul  H.  Bergstrom  '38 
Robert  V.  Bergstrom  '39 
Stephen  E.  Bernacki  70 
Eugene  R.  Bertozzijr.  '38 
J.AlfredBicknell'33 
John  W.  Biddle  '60 
Peter  J.  Billington  70 
Mrs.  Harold  S.  Black  '2 1 
John  R.  Black '53 
Black  &  Decker  Corporation 
llenryS.  Blauvelt'39 
Henry  R.  Block  70 


20 


Fall  1995 


Laurence  E.  Blomstrom  '56 

Ernst  E.  Chenoweth  '64 

Alfred  R.  Doigjr. 

Paul  R.  Glazier '37 

1  loneywell  Fund 

Earl  M.  Bloom  Jr.  '55 

( Ihesebrough-Ponds  Inc. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Herbert  J. 

Gerald  H.  Gleason '49 

Glendon  C.  Home  '62 

Joseph  E.  Boggio  '58 

Alexander  S.  Chodakowski  '41 

Dollerp 

M.  Dexter  Gleason  '3 1 

Richard  K.  Home  '48 

Ronald  K.  Bohlin  73 

Paul  A.  Christian  73 

Marylou  D.  Place  Domino  SI 

Kenneth  E.  Gleason  Sr.  '33 

Malcolm  D.  Horton  '50 

JohnT.  Bok'70 

Chrysler  Corp. 

\luhael  \\.  Donahue '90 

Charles  N.  Goddard  '63 

Richard  B.  Hosmer  '61 

Paula  Mesite  Bordogna  '80 

William  A.  Chudzik '69 

Michael  J.  Donati '82 

Arthur  E.  Goddard  II  '63 

Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  M. 

Church  \-  Dwight 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bruce 

CobbS.Goff'68 

Raymond  K.  Houston  '38 

Borrelli  p 

Company  Inc. 

Drainvillep 

Richard  L.  Goldman  '55 

William  C.  Howard '45 

RichardJ.  Bors  73 

Philip  X.  Cia'rlo  73 

Donald  R.Drew  75 

Goldman,  Sachs  &  Co. 

John  F.Howe  Jr. '57 

Boston  Edison  Co. 

( .eorge  A.  Clark  74 

John  E.  Driscoll  '28* 

Edward  M.  ( ronsalves  '81 

Harvey  L.Howell '51 

David  P.  Bova  '63 

1  )avid  S.  Clayton  '65 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John 

David  L.  Goodman  '62 

Harris  C.  I  lowland  70 

Dennis  Boyd  '8  5 

( lorox  ( lompany  Foundation 

Dunkelberg  Sr.  p 

Goodyear  Tire  &  Rubber  ( )o. 

Harold  W.  Humphrey  Jr. '39 

Russell  P.  Bradlaw  '49 

William  E.Cobb '67 

Alfred  L.Dunklee '61 

JohnW.Gordeuk'79 

(diaries  F.  I  hmmcutt  '65 

John  \Y.  Braleyjr.  '57 

Edward  H.  Coburnjr.  '48 

Linda  S.  Dunn  '84 

Alexander  L.  Gordon  '36 

Lewis  W.  I  Iuntoon  '62 

JohnR.  Brand '36 

Richard  A.  Coffey  Jr. '51 

Duracell  Inc. 

Saul  Gordon  '50 

Daniel  Hurley '80 

Ronald  S.  Brand  '40 

Matthew  V.  Colagiuri  '88 

Andrew  F.  Durette  '69 

Jack  L.  Gorr  Sr.  '58 

IMO  Industries 

James  E.  Breed  '45 

Donald  A.  Colangelo  70 

Joseph  B.  Dzialo  76 

Denise  C.  Gorski  75 

Intel  Corp. 

Alan  S.  Breitman  70 

Colgate  Pahnolive  Co. 

Wayne  E.  Eastman  70 

Mrs.  Joseph  F.  Goulart  '67 

International  Paper  Co. 

Bernard  P.  Brennan  '52 

Commonwealth  Electric  Co. 

Robert  M.  Edgerly  '45 

Willard  T.  Gove  '40 

Uf.edE.  Irelan'61 

Fred  J.  Brennan  '49 

Commonwealth  Gas  Co. 

CharlesJ.  Egan  '34 

Winheld  D.  Gove  '24* 

Iris  Associates  Inc. 

FredT.  Briefly  Jr. '42 

George  E.  Comstock  '46 

William  J.  Eggleston  '85 

Robert  N.  Gowing  '49 

ITT  Corporation 

Alan  K.  Briggs  76 

(ieorge  H.  Conleyjr.  '46 

Edward  W.  Eidtjr.  '57 

W.  R.  Grace  &  Co. 

Chester  F.Jacobson  '59 

Joseph  D.  Bronzino  '59 

John  F.  Cordon  Jr.  '55 

DavidS.  Elario '91 

HardeyT.  Grandinjr.  '55 

John  P.  Jacobson  '65 

George  E.  Brooks  '36 

Connecticut  Mutual  Life 

Eli  Lilly  &  Company 

Thomas  B.  Graves  76 

Robert  S.  [acobson  '46 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Brophyp 

Insurance  Co. 

Richard  M.Elliott  '38 

Leland  E.  Gray  Jr.  '48 

JohnH.Jacoby'45 

Frederick  G.  Broshjeit  '59 

The  Connecticut  Light  & 

James  V.  Ellis  73 

James  W.  Green  '56 

David  A.  Jacqmin  78 

David  B.  Brown  '49 

Power  Co. 

Franklin  P.  Emerson  '49 

Michael  C.  Greenbaum  73 

Eugene  A.  Jakaitis  '52 

Gednev  B.  Brown  '55 

Glenn  P.  Corbett'91 

RichardJ.  Emery  '56 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ronald 

AsjedA.Jalil'61 

Richard  C.  Brown  '46 

John  R.  Corf '46 

Ensign-Bickford 

Greene  p 

James  River  Corporation 

Paul  J.  Brown  Jr.  73 

Allan  J.  Costantin  '54 

Foundation  Inc. 

John  B.  Greenstreet  75 

Richard  C.Jasper  '41 

Brown  &  Williamson 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  David  R. 

Richard  E.  Epstein  '63 

George  D.  Greenwood  '34 

Robert  S.Jenkins  '58 

Tobacco  Corp. 

Costantinop 

Smart  J.  Erickson  '80 

William  E.  Griffiths  Jr.  '58 

David  S.Jenney  '53 

Stephen  B.  Brownell  '64 

Nicholas  A.  Cotsidas  '62 

Donald  B.  Esson  '69 

R.  Reed  Grimwade  '50 

David  H.  Johnson  '69 

( rasper  Buffa  74 

Keyren  H.  Cotter  Jr.  '62 

Ethyl  Corporation 

Grumman  Corp. 

Mark  R.Johnson '81 

Philip  G.  Buffinton  '49 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paul 

Paul  E.  Evans  '48 

Charles  E.  Gunn  '56 

W.  Evans  Johnson  '51 

Gary  S.  Bujaucius  77 

Cournoyerp 

Wayne  N.  Fabricius  '68 

Linda  Gurisp 

Johnson  &  Higgins 

Frederick  J.  Burg  '38 

Paul  A.  Covec  '64 

William  R.  Fado  '62 

Alan  R.  Gustafson  '57 

Johnson  &  Johnson 

Henry  K.  Burger  '53 

JohnB.  Coyle'35 

David  R.  Fairbanks  '52 

James  B.  Gustafson  '65 

Ronald  L.Jones '69 

Richard  F.  Burke  Jr.  '38 

James  E.  Covnejr.  '83 

Jeffrey  A.  Farash  76 

Allan  L.  Hall  '30 

Asher  L.Joslin  '33 

Donald  M.  Burness  '39 

Walter  E.  Crandall  '40 

Robert  L.  Favreau  '52 

Raymond  E.  Hall  '3 1 

Kevin  E.Joyce  '56 

Thomas  I.  Burns  74 

Daniel  C.  Creamer  '68 

OscarA.FickJr. '38 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Hallen  p 

Arthur  W.Joyce  Jr. '50 

Allan  T.  Burosjr.  '67 

Roger  M.  Cromack  '48 

Niel  I.  Fishman  '48 

Carl  A.  Hammar  '54 

Kenneth  A.  Kadezabek  '82 

Carrol  E.  Burmer  '47 

William  J.  Croninjr.  77 

Joseph  B.  Fitzgerald  '88 

Janet  L.  Hammarstrom  '80 

Peter  Kalil  '49 

Malcolm  S.  Burton  '40 

Marshall  W.  Cross  '64 

Robert  W.  Fitzgerald  '53 

Timothy  B.  Hardy  '85 

Ronald  D.  Kangas  '58 

Clifford  W.  Burwick '56 

Kevin  J.  Crossen  73 

John  J.  Fitzgibbonsjr.  75 

Bradford  J.  Harper  '59 

Frank  A.  Kania  73 

Scott  J.  Bury '88 

Robert  Cushman 

Stephen  L.  Fitzhugh  75 

Hartford  Insurance  Company 

Samuel  B.  Kaplan  '39 

W.  Richard  Byrnes  '54 

Merritt  E.  Cutting  '34 

Patricia  A.  Graham 

Alan  F.  Hassett  70 

Carl  H.  Karlsson  '60 

Peter  J.  Caffrey  '86 

Peter  J.  Dalton  '49 

Flaherty  75 

Daniel  J.  Hastings  Jr.  '37 

Daniel  B.  Katz  '45 

John  C.  Calhoun  '55 

Warren  H.  Davenport  '34 

Robert  J.  Flaherty  '85 

Philip  K.  Hathaway '38 

Smart  C.  Kazin  '61 

Donald  R.  Campbell' 5  3 

Helen  C.  Davidson 

James  D.  Fogarty  '61 

Richard  E.  Hathaway  '50 

Frank  H.  Keanjr.  '33 

Edwin  C.  Campbell  '43 

Michael  A.  Davis  '62 

Warren  F.  Foiled:  '69 

RoswellJ.  Heald'62 

Francis  E.  Kearney  '50 

Campbell  Soup  Company 

Davis  Corporation  of 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Forns  p 

Herbert  S.  Hebel  '59 

William  D.  Keat  76 

Capital  Cities/ABC  Inc. 

Worcester 

Alan  S.  Foss  '52 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Raymond  L. 

Richard  C.  Kee  '55 

Dana  B.  Carleton  '32 

Debra  R.  Weinstein  Dean  '83 

George  F.  Foxhall  '61 

Hebertp 

John  H.  Keenan  '34 

Carl  H.  Carlson  '29 

Phillip  S.  Dean  '35 

Gerda  Frank 

Fred  H.  Hedin  '26 

Averill  S.  Keith  '43 

Curtis  R.  Carlson  '67 

John  L.  Dehnert  '59 

Charles  S.  Fraryjr.  '34 

Harold  F.  Henrickson  '36 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Kelleherp 

Allen  S.  Carnicke  75 

Richard  W.  DeLand  '69 

G.  Eric  Friberg  '57 

John  F.  Henrickson  '65 

Brian  T.  Kelley  79 

Clint  W.  Carpenter  79 

Howard  J.  Dember  '48 

Linda  S.  Fritz  74 

Sumner  W.  Herman  '50 

Eleanor  M.  Cromwick 

Caroline  McNerney  Carr 

Edward  M.  Dennett  '57 

Daniel  A.  Funk  77 

Peter  M.  Herron  '67 

Kelly '81 

William  P.  Casey  Jr.  76 

Christopher  C.  Dennison  '80 

Richard  C.  Furman  '69 

Eric  B.  Hertz  77 

John  F.  Kelly  '82 

Paul  M.  Casde  '66 

David  B.  Denniston  '58 

Cynthia  L.  Gagnon  '82 

Robert  Wf.  Hewey  '40 

Francis  E.  Kennedy  Jr.  '63 

Robert  E.  Cavallaro  '65 

Allen  R.  Deschere  '38 

George  F.  Gamache  '68 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter 

Donald  L.  Kerr  '65 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jules  Cayerp 

RichardJ.  DiBuono '62 

John  C.  Gavitt  '69 

Hewitson  p 

Norman  A.  Kerr  '42 

Chester  Cekala  Jr. '81 

Arthur  M.  Dickey  '65 

Theodore  E.  Gazda  '46 

Merrill  W.  Higgins  '42 

Carl  A.  Keyser  '39 

Benjamin  R.  Chadwick  '3 1 

Monroe  M.  Dickinson  Jr.  '52 

John  H.  Geffken  '63 

William  H.  Hills  '54 

Francis  J.  Kiernan  75 

Gordon  J.  Chaffee  '42 

Robert  G.  Dietrich 

Howard  D.  Gerring  '45 

Allen  H.  Hoffman  '63 

Carleton  F.  Kilmer  Jr.  '64 

R.  RossChapinJr. '51 

Mario  P.  DiGiovanni  75 

William  F.  Gessjr758 

Herbert  N.  Hoffman  '3  5 

Osmond  L.  Kinney  '35 

Richard  M.  Chapman  '58 

James  P.  DiMilia  73 

Paul  C.  Gingrich  '84 

George  L.  Hogeman 

Miklos  Z.  Kiss  '90 

Walter  J.  Charow '49 

Anne  M.  McPardand 

Andrew  J.  Giokas  70 

Franklin  K.  Holbrook  '43 

Earl  C.  Klaubert  '52 

Frank  f.  Check  Jr.  '68 

Dodd  75 

Donald  P.  Givens  '66 

Ralph  H.  Holmes  '37 

George  W.  Knauff  '41 

WPI  Journal 


21 


1                 1 

9  9  4-95     W  P  1 

HONOR     ROLL     OF     DONORS 

Mark  G.  Knights  77 

Paul  A.  L.  Mannheim  '61 

John  Nuveen  &  Co.  Inc. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gaetano 

Shell  Oil  Company 

William  L.  Knoblock  '56 

John  F.  Manningjr.  '80 

Torbjoern  G  Nygaard  75 

Pucillop 

Foundation 

Steven  G.  Kochman  '83 

William  E.Mansfield '51 

Walter  O.  Nygaard  '38 

Michael  W.  Pugh  '81 

Arthur  M.  Shepard  '53 

Victor  A.  Kolesh  '41 

John  F.  Marc-Aurele  '89 

Occidental  Oil  &  Gas  Corp. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Madhukar 

Philip  C.  Sherburne  '34 

Peter  P.  Koliss '38 

Suzanne  J.  Call  Margerum  '81 

Terence  P.  O'Coin  '83 

Purohitp 

Philip  R.  Sherman  '88 

Robert  J.  Kowal  73 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Jordan 

Janet  L.  O'Leary  '84 

Robert  E.  Purpura  '60 

Michael  J.  Shorr '92 

Donald  M.  Krauss  '52 

Markson  p 

Olin  Corporation  Charitable 

Quabaug  Rubber  Company 

Robert  A.  Sinuc  '66 

James  A.  Kudzal  74 

George  A.  Marston  '30 

Trust 

Manuel  J.  Queijo  '44 

Robert  F.  H.  Sisson  '81 

Frederick  J.  Kulas  73 

David  R.  Martin  '68 

Bruce  A.  Olsen  78 

Raymond  J.  Quenneville  '35 

Richard  G  Skoglund  '65 

Frederick  J.  Kull  '46 

Robert  R.  Martin  75 

David  N.Olson '57 

Quinsigamond  Rowing 

Charles  C.  Slama  '66 

Albert  J.  Kullas  '38 

Lawrence  J.  Martiniano  74 

Karl  O.  Olson  '50 

Association  Inc. 

Herbert  H.  Slaughter  Jr.  '46 

Kenneth  N.  Kummins  78 

Massachusetts  Electric 

Richard  C.  Olson  '50 

Martin  A.  Rafferty  '55 

PaulS.  Sledzik '61 

David  H.  Laananen  '64 

Company 

Richard  S.  Olson  '65 

Rawlings  Sporting  Goods  Co. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  David  Sluterp 

Frank  J.  Labuzp 

George  W.  Matarrese  '57 

Robert  E.Olson '55 

Raychem  Corporation 

Warren  D.  Smale  '94 

Patrick  F.  Lafayette  72 

John  A.  Mathews  74 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Olszakp 

Donald  P.  Reed  '28 

Alan  F.  Smelewicz  79 

Ronald  M.  Lafreniere  74 

Robert  R.  Mattson  70 

William  J.  O'Neil  '58 

Walter  A.  Reibling  '54 

Charles  S.  Smith  '35 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brenton  F. 

Peter  D.  McDermott  73 

Irving  F.  Orrell  Jr.  '5 1 

Norton  S.  Remmer  '60 

Everett  P.  Smith  '40 

LaFrinea  p 

Weldon  M.  McFarlane  '33* 

Edmund  S.  Oshetsky  '46 

Donna  L.  Retallick  '80 

John  G.  Smith  '57 

M.  Stephen  Lajoie  '64 

Roger  C.  McGee  '63 

Joseph  J.  Osvald  '65 

John  H.  Reynolds  '62 

Dennis  E.  Snay  '63 

Peter  A.  Lajoie  '60 

Michael  G.  Mclntyre  '84 

Pacific  Telesis  Group 

LesterJ.  Reynolds  Jr.  '50 

Fred  S.  Snively  '60 

Bruce  L.  Lamarre  76 

Donald  M.  McNamara  '55 

Danny  E.  Palubeckis  '89 

Joaquim  S.S.  Ribeiro  '58 

Society  of  Fire  Protection 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  David  J. 

Harry  J.  Mehrer  Jr.  '46 

Cary  A.  Palulis  '68 

Charles  M.  Richardson  '46 

Engineers 

Lamb  Sr.  p 

HaroldAMeldenJr. '49 

Anan  Panananda  '60 

Henry  J.  Rives  '22 

Eric  W.  Soderberg  '35 

Leonard  B.  Landall  '39 

Brian  C.  Mellea  76 

William  D.  Parent  70 

George  P.  Rizzi  '59 

Harry  A.  Sorensen  '30 

Theresa  B.  Langevin  79 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alfred  J.  Mello/> 

Robert  E.Parker '38 

Mrs.  Franklin  Roberts  '33 

Warren  A.  Spence  74 

David  G.  Lapre  74 

Richard  E.  Mellor  74 

Parker  Hannifin  Corp. 

Harvey  G.  Roberts  '58 

George  V.  Spires  III  '64 

Joseph  E.  Laptewicz  Jr.  71 

Richard  T.  Merrell  '33 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Juan  Miguel 

Nancy  L.  Roberts  77 

Standard  Motor  Company 

Donald  A.  Larson  79 

Leon  M.  Meyer  76 

Parodip 

Bruce  S.  Robinson  70 

Warren  R.  Standley  '63 

Law  Engineering 

Charles  B.  Miczek  '46 

Harvey  L.  Pastan  '49 

James  L.  Roche  '69 

State  Farm  Co.  Foundation 

Stephen  R.  Lawry  '80 

Millipore  Corp. 

Arthur  D.  Patten  '80 

Thomas  D.  Rockwood  79 

Peter  G.  Stebbins  '66 

Luther  C.  Leavitt  '34 

Minnesota  Mining  and 

Roy  A.  Pearson  Jr.  '58 

Richard  L.  Rodier  '46 

Carl  J.  Stefanik  '62 

Edward  J.  Ledden  74 

Manufacturing  Co. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Philip  E. 

John  E.  Rogozenski  Jr.  '67 

Peter  J.  Stephens  '56 

Richard  G.  Ledoux  '61 

Robert  F.  Mizula  '80 

Pelletierp 

Rohm  and  Haas  Co. 

J.  Larry  Stewart  '46 

Elaine  Lee/? 

John  L.  Mooshian  '29 

Daniel  J.  Pender  '63 

Robert  J.  Rose  '69 

Francis  E.  Stone  '40 

Sang  Ki  Lee  '60 

Benjamin  B.  Morgan  '60 

Paul  G  Pender  '88 

Donald  E.  Ross  '54 

Howard  H.  Street  III  '59 

Henry  E.  Leikkanen  '55 

Malcolm  A.  Morrison  '46 

Mrs.  Julian  B.  Pendleton  '25 

Louis  J.  Rossi  '61 

Sun  Life  of  Canada 

ThaddeusJ.Lelek'70 

Morton  International  Inc. 

Alton  L.  Penniman  '5 1 

Edward  J.  Roszko  '39 

Lance  G.  Sunderlin  76 

George  N.  Lemmon  III  '65 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gregory  A. 

William  F.  Perkins  '80 

Paul  A.  Rougeau  '63 

Alan  H.  Suydam  '67 

Daniel  S.  Levine  '92 

Moser  p 

John  H.  Peters  III  '40 

Eugene  L.  Rubin  '53 

Roger  W.  Swanson  '51 

Marshall  S.  Levine  '55 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alan  S. 

Donald  W.  Petersen  Jr.  '66 

Walter  J.  Ruthenburg  III  '65 

Francis  B.  Swenson  '38 

John  A.  Lewis  '44 

Mosierp 

Donald  K.  Peterson  7 1 

Edwin  M.  Ryan  '41 

Kenneth  A.  Swenson  78 

Lester  L.  Libby  '35 

JohnS.Mudgett'38 

Jeffrey  L.  Peterson  77 

John  P.  Ryan  Jr.  '81 

David  E.  Szkutak  79 

Richard  C.  Lindstrom  '55 

Frederic  H.  Mulligan  71 

Donald  F.  Pethybridge  '38 

Elmer  S.  Sachse  '46 

Joan  M.  Bolduc  Szkutak  79 

Lester  N.  Lintner  '32 

Charles  F.  Mulrenan  '5 1 

Gerald  E.  Piepiora  70 

Safety-Kleen  Corp. 

John  Szoke  Jr.  71 

Charles  Lipson  '60 

Duncan  W.  Munro  '5 1 

Edward  F.  Pietraszkiewicz  75 

Scott  L.  Saftler  77 

Stanley  Szymanski  '64 

Michael  A.  Littizzio  '63 

Neal  P.  Murphy  '85 

Lawrence  E.  Pihl  '66 

Donald  R.  Sanders  '49 

Thomas  Szymanski  73 

Joseph  W.  Little  '61 

William  J.  Museler  '64 

Arthur  L.  Pike  '48 

Donald  F.  Sanger  '62 

Robert  M.Taft '38 

David  J.  Lodigiani  79 

Albert  F.  Myers  '45 

Eric  O.  Pisila  '67 

Edward  A.  Saulnier  '59 

Thomas  J.  Tantillo  75 

Eugene  C.  Logan  '45 

William  H.Nagel'5  3 

Robert  L.  Plum  '66 

Alice  A.  Sayler  74 

Michael  G  Tashjian  '34 

Joseph  D.  Lojewski  '52 

Anthony  P.  Napikoski  '80 

Richard  B.  Plummer  '67 

Walter  C.  Scanlon  '50 

Thomas  F.  Taylor  '69 

Lotus  Development 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stanley 

Donald  L.  Poggi  '5 1 

Warren  H.  Schafer  '38 

Tech  Old  Timers 

Corporation 

Narkevicius  p 

G.  Raymond  Polen  '53 

Andrew  C.  Schell  '82 

Tenneco  Inc. 

Bruce  G.  Lovelace  '68 

Narragansett  Electric  Co. 

Leonard  Polizzotto  70 

Herbert  S.  Schiller  77 

Edwin  D.  Tenney  '59 

Wayne  M.  Lovington  '85 

National  Cash  Register  Co. 

Gary  G.  Pontbriand  74 

John  H.  Schmidt  '64 

Harry  Terkanian  '40 

AlvinA  Luce '41 

Stanley  P.  Negus  Jr.  '54 

Richard  R.  Poole  78 

Charles  F.  Schmit  '46* 

Texas  Instruments 

Robert  M.  Luce  '51 

Robert  M.  Neumeister  '45 

Richard  D.  Popp  '54 

Steven  H.  Schoen  76 

Foundation 

Peter  H.  Lukesh  '66 

Robert  K.  Neunherz  '55 

Bettina  Tuttle  Potter  78 

Bruce  E.  Schoppe  '60 

Textron  Inc. 

Francis  C.  Lutz 

Werner  M.  Neupert  '54 

Frederick  M.  Potter  '33 

Edward  Schoppe  Jr.  '55 

Peter  A.  Thacher  74 

Richard  J.  Lyman  '37 

David  G.  Nevers  '63 

Walter  B.  Power  III  '55 

Robert  J.  Schultz'55 

Thermo  Environmental 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  A. 

New  England  Business 

Edward  J.  Powers  '48 

Kenneth  G.  Schurzky  '67 

Instrument  Inc. 

MacDonald/i 

Service  Inc. 

Foster  C.  Powers  '37 

David  L.  Schwartz  75 

Thiokol  Corporation 

Otis  E.  Mace  '3 1 

Thomas  B.  Newman  Jr.  '64 

Robert  E.  Powers  '45 

Richard  J.  Schwartz  70 

Leo  J.  Thomas 

John  Machonisjr.  '63 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert 

PPG  Industries  Foundation 

Wayne  E.  Schweidenback  73 

Donald  W.  Thompson  '50 

Douglas  B.  MacLaren  '54 

Newton  p 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Preston  p 

Scott  Paper  Co. 

Ronald  E.  Thompson  Jr.  '82 

Homer  E.  MacNutt  Jr.  '4'' 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Terence 

Thurl  Richard  Price  72 

William  A.  Seubert  '54 

Joseph  A.  Toce  70 

Frank  A.  MacPherson  '5 1 

Nickolettc  p 

James  K.  Prifti  '56 

William  E.  Shanok  '64 

Tomkins  Corp.  Foundation 

Francis  W.  Madigan  Jr.  '53 

William  R.  Nuns  '66 

Howard  B.  Pritz  '58 

Michael  D.  Shapiro  '65 

David  A.  Tone  '63 

Kenneth  M.  Makowski  73 

North  American  Philips  Corp. 

Protech  Armored  Products 

Jeffrey  E.  Shaw  '68 

Jeffrey  R.  Toran  78 

David  A.  Maldonado  '91 

Richard  J.  Norton  '63 

Wilfred  L.  Prue  72 

Shawmut  National  Corp. 

The  Toro  Company 

Paul  R.  Malnati  '66 

William  T.  Nutter  73 

Daniel  H.  Sheingold  '48 

Gerard  A.  Toupin  '66 

22 


Fall  1991 


JHHHBBHBHHBHKflS0l9MVMMNt>*t/r< 

Travelers  Insurance  ( !o. 

Mr.  and  Mrs    Arthur  L.  \ll< -v  /> 

Donald  P.  Bergstrom  '68 

William  E.  CarewJr.  '37* 

1  .  Roger  Danielson  '58 

TRW  Inc. 

foshua  ( ..  Upern  '60 

Uexander  Herman  II  '82 

Donald  ( ;.  ( larlson  '65 

Ian  \.  1  )avidson  '5 * 

Alden  F.  Tucker  '52 

Bruce  P.  Utobelli'75 
James  J.  Altoonian  '72 

Daniel  T.  Bernatowii  /  '52 
1  i  nest  Bernstein  '56 

Lauren  M.  Hagstrom  Carlson '86 

Rii  hard  1 1.  ( !arlson  '50 

lames  W  .  Davis  7  ! 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Manuel  V  De  Sa  /> 

Robert  F.  Turek  '52 

Alza  Corporation 

Seoti  V  Berrj  'si 

John  I.  ( !arney  '87 

Walter  K   Deacon  '42 

Stephen  J.  Turek  Jr.  '44 

Frank  M.  Amazeen  '67 

Kathleen  Berthelette  'so 

( Jerard  E.  ( laron  '68 

Paul  J.  DeAndrea'75 

Turner  Corp. 

Everett  J.  Ambrose  Jr.  43 

Bt  m  e  Is.  Bertrand  78 

Matthew  1  ( ..iron  '88 

(  he  iter  A  1  >  ane  '27 

Oliver  R.  Underhilljr.  '31 

American  ( lyanamid  Co. 

Mark  \.  Besse'83 

1  l.ii  w  \  W    (  larrier  '50 

\li   .md  Mrs. Henrj  Deboerjr.p 

Union  (lamp  Corporation 

William  L.  \mes'42 

Bruce  1  .  Beverlj  73 

( i.uv  1    ( larver  74 

Robert  II.  DeFlesco  fr.  '68 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kenneth  F. 

( reorge  S.  Bingham  '40 

John  P.  Case)  76 

David  l>.  DeLollis'86 

US  West  Foundation 

\nimoii  p 

Scott  E.  Bishop  '82 

Donald  1  .  ( !asperson  '69 

Deluxe  ( lorporation  Foundation 

USX  Foundation  Inc. 

William  A.  Andersen  '56 

Peter  G.  Bladen  70 

Robert  R.  ( iassanelli  '62 

Robert  R.  Denies  '68 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  \V.  Van 

James  B.  Anderson  72 

Mr.  and  Mrs  (lilies  M.BI.iisp 

Marj  ( lassidy  p 

[ohnS.  Demko'59 

Kirk  p 
Shirley  Hossack  Van  Winkle 
William  VanHerwarde  75 

Robert  E.  Anderson  '68 

[effrey  E.  Blaisdell  73 

( Caterpillar  Inc. 

Edward  C.  Dench'39 

Chester  L.  Anderson  Jr.  '49 

Walter  \.  BlauJr. '35 

Joseph  1'.  ( lelentanojr.  si 

Milton  P.  Dentch  '64 

Harry  1  .  Anderson  Jr.  '36 

DouglasP.  Bobseine  '68 

( iharles  1 1.  ( lhampagne  '87 

John  K.  Derby  '56 

\l.uk  G.  Andrews  72 

B()( '.  ( rroup  Inc. 

(  .h.mipion  Iinern.iiion.il  ( )orp. 

Kenneth  ( r.  1  )escoteaux  '89 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  |. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Theodore 

Vrthur  R.  Bodwell  '64 

Ronald  H.  Chand '65 

Garrett  1 1.  DeVlieg'65 

Walsh  p 

Angelakis  Sr.  p 

Richard  I).  Bohigian  '63 

Philip  D.  Chapnik  '83 

Mr.  .\m\  Mrs. Joseph  Devlin  Jr.  p 

Francis  J.  Walsh  Jr. '80 

Edgar  C.  Ansaldi  '32 

Peter  J.  Bondy  '67 

Wayne  I'.  Cheprcn,  74 

William  J   1  Jewkett  74 

Kathleen  A.  Warburton  79 

\.  \.  Farooq  \ns,in  '7 

Michael  Bosowski  79 

Raymond  I.  ( Iherenzia  73 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Felix  M.  Diaz  f) 

Robert  H.Warburton  Jr.  78 

David  L.  \nthon\  '48 
William  1 ..  \nthon\  )r.  '61 

Roland  C.  Bouchard  '66 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arthur  Boucher/; 

Mi  andMrs.  Bradford  L. 
Chetwyndp 

Sigmund  S.  Dicker  '66 

Harold  R.  Dickciman  '82 

John  W.  Watkins  75 

Mien  F.  Apel  '77 

Vugusi  M.  Boucher  73 

Robert  E.  ( Ihiabrandy  '5  ? 

Richard  J.  Dicke)  '85 

Burl  S.  Watson  Jr. '49 

John  E.  Arnold  79 

Mr.  .uid  Mrs.  Daniel  G. 

EdwardJ.Childs'86 

Dean  S.  Dickinson  '93 

William  A.  Webb 

Mihran  A.  Aroian  '80 

Boucher/) 

Edmund  P.  Chin  '85 

PaulJ  Di(  onza  '88 

John  B.  Weigele  '73 
Clifford  M.  Weiner  '8 1 

G.  Gilbert  Ashwell '38 

Robert  L.  Bourgel  '59 

Lee  \.  ( Ihouinard  '65 

Norman  L.  Diegoli  '48 

David  J.  \spmu.ill  '80 

Richard  C.  Boutiette  '52 

Francis  A.  ( )hristiano  II  '91 

Gar)  \.  DiFederico '81 

Robert  W.  \splund  '65 
AT&T  Global  [nformation 

Willard  L.  Bowen  III  '50 

Francis  A.  (  achowski  Jr.  '61 

Arthur  S.  Dinsmore  '40 

Robert  A.  Weiss  '6 1 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brian  Bowler/; 

Todd  R.  Cimino '84 

I. aura  /arrclla  1  )ion  '8  i 

).  Richard  Weiss  |r.  '42 

Solutions 

Cameron  P.  Boyd  '69 

V.  James  Cinquinajr.  '59 

Peter  C.  DirksenJr.  '58 

Axel  H.  Wendin  '26 

Emanuel  S.  Athanas  '32 

Jack  F.  Boyd  '39 

fenniferA.  Pollard  Clark  78 

Joshua  1).  Dobbelaar'94 

John  J.  West  Jr. '88 

Nathan  W.  Atkms  '84 

John  R.  Boyd  '69 

Henry  J.  Clark  ED  '88 

W  ilson  ( i   1  )obson  75 

( iarv  ( :.  Wetzel  '86 

ATOCHEM  Inc. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Arthur  C. 

Marcel  1 1.  Clavien  '63 

Charles  W.  Dodd  74 

Elliot  F.  Whipple  '67 

Augat  Inc. 

Michael  C.  Auger  79 

Boynton  p 

1  i  .ineisj.  Brady  '67 

J.  David  Clayton  '44 
Robert  \.  Cochran  '51 

Donald  W.  Dodge  '50 
Glenn  W.  Dodwell  77 

Charles  F.  Whitcomb  '46* 

Anni  H.  Autio  '82 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  J. 

James  1..  Collin  '88 

Maryellen  Doherty  79 

Harold  E.  White  '39 

Michael  R.  Aylward  73 

Brady  Jr.  p 

Mr.  .md  Mis.  \.  Frederick 

Stephen  A.  Dolan  73 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richard  White p 

Leslie  A.  Knepp  Azaret  '80 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stephen  Braga  p 

Coleman  p 

Robert  A.  Donnan  '48 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  E. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Babb  p 

Eli  G.  BraleyJr. '48 

William  V.Collentro '66 

John  E.  Donnell)  '61 

White  p 
Mark  D.  Whitley  73 

William  E.  Bachmann  '50 

Paul  C.  Branche  '87 

David  R.  Collette '67 

RickK.  Dorval  '86 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paul  Backlund  p 
Philip  Backlund '57 

I  high  M.  Brautigam  '43 
Robert  B.  Brautigam  '41 

Computer  Associates 

International  Inc. 

Robert  E.  Douglas  Jr.  '91 
lohn  F.  Downes  78 

Morgan  M.  Whitney  Jr.  '59 

Carl  W.  Backstrom  '30 

Daniel  K.  Breen  70 

John  J.  Concordia  '48 

PaulJ.  Doyle  Jr. '60 

Howard  P.  Whittle  '54 

FredS.  Baker  m  73 

Todd  J.  Brennan  '80 

Kevin  M.  Conlon  '84 

Dresser  Industries  Inc. 

George  E.  Whitwell  77 
Richard  M.  Wholey  '88 

Henry  H.Baker  Jr. '50 

Robert  B.  Bridgman  '64 

John  F.  Conlon  III  '82 

David  A  Drury'94 

Garry  P.  Balboni  74 

David  S.  Brin  '84 

Consolidated  Edison  of  New  ,i  ork 

Raymond  G.  Dube  '64 

George  D.  Williams  '44 

Stephen  Balcewicz  '82 

Charles  J.  Brine  "2 

1  dward  G.  ( lonwa)  '33* 

Peter  J.  G.  Dufeult'80 

Donna  L.  Bagdonovich 

Stephen  J.  Brodeur  '68 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter  Cooleyp 

Mr.  and  Mis.  Roger  M.  Dufourp 

Robert  S.  Williamson  '3  1 

Balcezak  '83 

Erik  A.  Brodin  75 

John  A.  ( loppola  '49 

1  lenrv  1    Dumas  |r.  '56 

Paul  C.  Wilson  70 

William  C.  Balcezak '83 

John  E.  Brogan  '50 

Robert  R.  Cormier  76 

David  KDunklee  Jr.  '63 

Wiremold  Foundation  Inc. 

Baltimore  Gas  &  Electric  Co. 

Richard  Brontoli  73 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Michael  Corriganp 

Robert  E.  DunkleeJr. '40 

Gary  E.  Wnek  77 
Bruce  W.  Woodford  '61 

Bank  of  Boston 

John  J.  Brosnihan  '67 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  Vincent 

Francis  X.  Dunn  '83 

Lawrence  K.  Barber  '37 
C.  R.  Bard  Inc. 

Ah  in  Y.  Broverman  '46 
Mark  W  Brown  '82 

Corsini  p 

William   \.  Cote '64 

James  P.  Dunn  '67 
Carl  R.  Dupre  '68 

George  W.  Woodsum  '46 

Jonathan  R.  Barnett  74 

Cynthia  L.  Binder  '81 

William  D.  Coulopoulos  '48 

Frederick  L.  Duval  '6  1 

Charles  E.  Woodward  '3 1 

Robert).  Baron  '67 

William  A.  Brutsch  '62 

John  D.  Coupe  '53 

1  astern  Enterprises 

Richard  F.Wright '57 

Robert  E.  Barrett  '3  1 

John  V.  Bucci  76 

Catherine  C.  Coyne  '83 

David  E.  Edfors  '58 

G.  F.  Wright  Steel  &  Wire  Co. 
John  D.  Writer  '5 1 

Wayne  R.  Barn  '8 1 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniel  E. 

E.  Bruce  Crabtree  '39 

John  F.  F.  Kdman  '88 

Ronald  F.  Baruz/i  '62 

Buchanan  p 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Craig  p 

James  C  Filenberger  'SI 

William  E.Wynian '35 

Glen  A.  Bashian  '82 
Ramin  Bashirzadeh  '93 

Stephanie M.  Buhl  '92 
Charles  V.Burdick  Jr.  '62 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alan  ( Iredit  p 
Bruce  T.  Croft  75 

Shoshanna  Kaplan  Eisenberg'84 
Alfred  C.  Ekberg'36 

YangXu  '91 

Romina  Bashirzadeh  '93 

James  W.  Burgarella  '7S 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rodney  Croft  p 

David  Tyler  Emerson  75 

Joseph  A.  Yanikoski  '87 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clarence  Bates  p 

John  P.  Burgarella  '50 

Michael  A.  Crowle) 

1  leather  L.  Emerson  '94 

Yankee  Gas  Services  Co. 

Reginald  B.  Bates  Jr.  77 

Alan  D.Burke  '5  5 

Michael  E.  Crowlev '87 

W  illiam  C.  Emerson  78 

Michael  H.  Zack  73 

Baxter  International  Inc. 

Brian  D.  Burke  p 

EarlR.Cruff'49 

Engelhard  Corporation 

Thomas  P.  Zarrilli  76 

Michael  R.  Beaudoin  78 
Katherine  R.  Fowler  Becker  75 

Francis  X.  Burke  '92 
John  F.Burke  72 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  G.  Crystal  p 
Robert  A.  Cunneen  'SI 

Stephen  A.  Erikson  '69 
Jacob  \.  Erlich  '62 

$1 25  to  $249 

Robert  H.  Becker  74 
John  II.  Beckwith  '49 

Warren  R.  Burns  '34 
William  E.  Burpee  '34 

Robert  A.  Cupolo '88 
Frederick  V  ( !urtisjr.  '48 

Ernst  e<  Young 
Michael  J.  Essex  Jr.  '52 

Robert  B.  Abbe '38 

James  II.  Beech  Jr.  76 

Jay  H.  Burrill  '84 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paul  C.  Cutroni  p 

David  A.  Evensen  '59 

Stephanie  P.  Cullen  Abisla  '88 

Robert  D.  Behn  '63 

Ronald  H.  Burrowes  '91 

Howard  A.  Cyker  '83 

Howard  S.  Fvving  '50 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Antonio  Atonso  p 

Brian  N.  Belanger  '66 

Scott  B.  Burton  '83 

John  F.  Cyranski  '68 

Robert  Fair  75 

Michael  J.  Aghajanian  '80 

Charles  F.  Belangerjr.  '62 

Raymond  }.  Cadet  '61 

Judith  M.D'Agostino '80 

Geonje  K.  Fairbanks  '68 

AK  Steel  Foundation 

Richard  B.  Belmonte  73 

William  ('abler  III  '61 

Mr  haelj.  Dabkowski  '76 

Michael  T.Falcinelli 

Paul  R.  Alasso  '54 

Michel  R.  Benoit  "4 

Nelson  M.  Calkins  Jr.  '43 

Francis  L.  Dacn  '67 

Lee  P.  Farnsworth  '43* 

John  Albernaz  '77 

Kenneth  C.  Benton  '63 

Philip  J.  Cameron  in  79 

Timothy  John  Daisy  '87 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Leslie  ( '..  Feigin  p 

John  W.  Albus  '45 

Susan  M.  Benz  'SO 

Donald  W.  Campbell  74 

DermotJ.  Daley  '82 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bobby  Felton  p 

Alcan  Aluminum  Limited 

Marcia  J.  Huber  Berg  79 

Bernard  M.  Campbell  Jr.  '58 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Laurence  I. 

1  In  imas  1 1.  Ferguson  73 

Amory  A.  AldrichJr.  '61 

Paul  V.  Bergantino  '85 

Theodore  W.  Cantv  ('2 

Dallaire  lr.  p 

Joseph  (i.  Ferrara  '67 

William  C.  Alexander '81 

Anthony  Bergantino  Jr.  '69 

David  I.  Caplan  '48 

Edward  R.  Danek  '87 

Louis  A.  FerraresiJr.  72 

Jeffrey  S.  Allen  '88 

Mrs.  Robert  Berger 

Ronald  M.  Cappella  '88 

Stuart  A.  Daniels  74 

Joseph  A.  Ferrari  Jr.   s" 

Lisa  R.  Ricker  Allen  '90 

Carl  G.  Bergstrom  '35 

Francis  X.  Caradonna  '64 

( rodfreyj.  Danielson  '24 

James  A.  Ferraris  '"4 

WPI  Journal 


23 


1 

9  9  4-95     W  P  1 

HONOR     ROLL     OF     DONORS 

Malcolm  E.  Ferson  '4(^ 

Stanley  W.  Graveline  '58 

Helen  M.  Isefuku  '90 

Thomas  E.  LaAIountain  76 

Anthony  J.  Marino  '87 

James  Figucia  '88 

Peter  Gray  IV  '66 

J. P.  Morgan  &  Company 

Jeffrey  W.  Laprise  '85 

Edward  R.  Markert  '34 

Morton  S.  Fine  '37 

Ronald  G.  Greene  '65 

Leighton  Jackson  '33 

Roland  A.  Lariviere  74 

Michael  S.  Martowska  74 

Steven  B.  Fine  77 

Robert  A.  Gregorio  79 

Edward  H.  Jacobs  '42 

Yolanda  L.  Larriu  '94 

Frederick  W.  Marvin  '46 

Michael  A.  Fitzgerald  '74 

Donald  J.  Grenier '55 

William  A.  Jacques '49 

Kent  D.  Larson  '80 

Ronnie  R.  Materniak  75 

Mark  J.  FitzMaurice  '81 

lohn  L.  Griffith '92 

Mr.  anil  Mrs.  John  C.Jakobsen  p 

Jane  I.  Lataille  75 

Cynthia  C.  Widmer  Matthews  '82 

Timothy  J.  Fitzsimmons  '84 

Michael  E.  Grilli '67 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Jaskal  /; 

Michael  R.  Latina  '68 

Laura  L.  Mattick  78 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Flaherty  p 

John  R.  Grimwade  79 

Daniel  M.Jasminski  '80 

Paul  Ci.  Laurienzo  '81 

Conrad  F.  Matuzek  '6 1 

Mark  D.  Flaherty  '86 

1  [alsey  E.  Griswold  '51 

George  Jeas  '52 

David  J.  Lavallee  '89 

William  H.  Mawdsley  73 

Kevin  K.  Flannerv  '89 

Jeffrey  A.  Gross  '82 

HowardP.Jehan'74 

( Ihristopher  P.  Lawler  77 

Jeffrey  AI.  May '89 

David  N.  Fleury  '92 

Frank  A.  Gross  Jr.  '46 

Stephen  G.  Jennette  76 

Kent  C.  Lawson  70 

Richard  G  Mayer '40 

Donald  L.Fogg '39 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  Groth  p 

Gleason  W.  Jewell  '39 

Aaron  W.  Laznovsky  '91 

Michael  J.  Mazzucco  '86 

Walter  B.  Fohlin  '64 

Harold  B.  Guerci  '48 

David  A.Johnson  '60 

Francis  J.  Leahy  m  78 

H.  Peter  McClain  '80 

John  W.  Fondahl  '45 

Diane  M.  ( runn  76 

G.  Leonard  Johnson  '61 

Mrs.  HaroldA.LeDuc'35 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas 

Conrad  B.  Fong  '73 

(iordon  T.  Gurney  '41 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gary  Johnson  p 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peter  Leite  p 

McDanielp 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  A.  Fontaine  p 

Frank  G.  Gustarson  '40 

Kenneth  E.Johnson  '65 

Mr.  and  Airs.  James  Lemons  p 

Raymond  A.  McDuffie  p 

Michael  D.  Fontana  '93 

Lvnn  L.  Gustafson  '82 

Lawrence  E.Johnson  '68 

Joel  I.  Leonard  '60 

David  McEwan  '39 

Mr.  and  Airs.  Norman  Forget  p 

William  J.  Hakkinen  70 

Mark  L.Johnson  76 

Roger  R.  Lesieur  '61 

James  R.  McGeeJr.  '81 

George  H.  Forsberg  '62 

Richard  J.  Hall '53 

Robert  D.Johnson  '52 

John  P.  Letourneau  '80 

Terrie  A.  McGlinn- 

Mark^C.  Fortin  '9f 

Nancy  I  lallman  p 

George  E.Johnson  Jr.  '48 

Robert  F.  Levi  73 

Lapomardo  ''>2 

lames  M.  Fowler  '78 

Mervyn  L.  Hamer  73 

Air.  and  Mrs.  Jay  Johnson  Sr.  p 

Nathan  R.  Levine  '36 

LeonardJ.AIeGlynnJr.  '89 

Edward  W.  Fox  '40 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paul  E. 

John  D.Jolls'70 

Frederick  C.  Levitskv  73 

McGraw-Hill  Inc. 

Lorna  J.  Franco  '85 

Hammerstrom  p 

Jeremy  K.Jones  76 

Frederick  J.  Levitskv  '45 

David  F.  McGuigan  74 

Charles  S.  Frary  III  '65 

Robert  B.  Handyside  '47 

Edmond  H.Judd  '50 

John  R.  Lewis  '65 

Wallace  McKenzie  Jr.  73 

Joel  N.  Freedman  '62 

Albert  Hardaker '49 

Jane  E.June/) 

Trevor  J.  Lewis  '94 

William  R.  McLeodJr.  '58 

Walter  C.  Freeman  '83 

Norman  M.  Hardy  '60 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Theodore  J. 

James  Li  '94 

Thomas  G.  McNeice  76 

Jasper  Freese  '58 

Cieorge  R.  Harris  73 

Jzykjr./j 

Paul  R.  Lindberg  '66 

Kevin  M.  McQuaid  '67 

Steven  J.  Fryrner  '67 

Hartford  Steam  Boiler 

Edward  A.  Kacmarcik  '5  1 

David  P.  Linehan  '90 

Milton  Meckler'54 

Robert  C.  Fuller '81 

Inspection  and  Insurance  Co. 

Stephen  E.  Kaminski  73 

Ruth  D.  Lipman  78 

James  H.  Aleiklejohn  Jr.  '50 

Robert  D.  Fulmerjr.  '51 

Donald  W.  Haskins'33 

Ja\  A.  Kapur  '91 

Mitchell  J.  Liro  Jr.  77 

Bernard  J.  Meister  '62 

Steven  J.  Fulton  79 

Irving  M.  Hass  '4'> 

Robert  Karakoosh  '38 

James  E.  Liston  Jr.  '80 

Douglas  L.  Melanson  '83 

Gerard  A.  Gabriel  79 

Sameer  S.  I  lass.m  '4S 

Francis  J.  Kaszynski  Jr.  '60 

James  D.  Livsey  79 

Lawrence  E.  Mellen  '59 

James  E.  Gado  7 

Jeffrey  A.  I  [ausrath  '93 

Benjamin  11.  Katcoff  71 

Robert  S.  Lloyd '39 

Jennifer  L.  Mellone  '86 

Christine  L.  Gagnon  '94 

Bradford  F.  Hawlev  '51 

Redha  F.  Kattan  '84 

Loctite  Corporation 

W.  Robert  Melville  III  71 

Donald  Gaiter  '87 

David  T.  Hawley  78 

David  P.  Kelly  '82 

John  L.  Lombardi  '90 

Scott  A.  Menard '83 

Nicholas  M.  Galassi  78 

John  1..  1  [awley  '50 

leffrev  T.  Kel'lv  '86 

Calvin  F.  Long  '46 

Ronald  L.  Merrill  '59 

Andrea  D.  Gallant  '85 

R.  Kirk  Hayden  '89 

John  J.  Kelly  Jr.  '57 

Air.  and  Mrs.  Lawrence  A. 

Frederick  P.  Mertens  '57 

Willard  A.  Gallotte  '24 

Philip  C.  Hayes  7.3 

Kemper  National  Insurance  Cos. 

Longjr.p 

Rav  S.  Alessenger  '62 

Timothy  P.  Ganlev  '86 

Howard  W.  Havnes  '38 

Daniel  J.  Kennefick  79 

Paul  S.  Loomis  75 

Thomas  W.  Meury  '89 

Janet  W.  Garrett/) 

Donald  B.  Hayward  '58 

Michael  S.  Kenniston  78 

John  S.  Lopes  '92 

Robert  A.  Meyer  '52 

Richard  R.  Garstka  7 

James  J.  Heal)  p 

Roger  J.  Kern  70 

Gregory  Loukedes  '93 

Air.  and  Airs.  James  Meyers  p 

William  H.  Gascovne  '81 

foseph  1. 1  learne  '46 

Otto  Kern  Jr. '48 

Russell  A.  Lovelljr.  '40 

John  Alichopoulos  74 

Walter  M.  Gasekjr.  '59 

Joachim  R.  Heck '93 

Sidne\  Kessler  '51 

Charles  L.  Loveridgejr.  '48 

Susan  Mickey  p 

Wayne  D.  Gass  '59 

David  K  Heebner'67 

Benjamin  Khoudari  75 

Malcolm  E.  Low  '61 

William  B.  Mierke  '58 

John  H.  Gearin  '53 

William  C.  Hees  '59 

Thomas  M.  Kiely  '68 

Eugene  F.  Lowe  Jr.  '30 

Harry  A.  Mildonianjr.  '65 

Alan  Gehami  79 

John  C.  Heid  76 

Joseph  F.  Kieronski  '67 

Wilford  T.  Lowther  75 

Stanley  L.Miller '51 

Alan  W.  Geishecker  78 

Thomas  D.  Heinold  70 

Beth  Driscoll  Kinney  79 

David  B.  Luber  '65 

William  L.  Millette  Jr.  '88 

Tracey  L.  Geller  '87 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Paul  L.  Heirtzler  p 

Gary  L.  Kiontke  75 

Terrence  P.  Luddy  73 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Anthony  L.  Minto  p 

Arthur  H.  Gerald  Jr.  '51 

Paul  L.  Heirtzler  Jr.  '94 

Donald  E.  Kirk  '59 

John  J.  Luikev  Jr.  73 

Harry  L.  Mirick  Jr.  '54 

Carl  P.  Gerstle  78 

Barry  J.  Heitner  76 

Ivan  H.  Kirsch  '60 

Raymond  K.  Lum  '80 

William  P.  Mitnik  '34 

Albert  L.  Giannotti  Jr.  '65 

Robert  W^.  Henderson  '48 

Edward  F.  Kleinman  72 

Robert  Lundin  78 

Harry  H.  Mochonjr.  '49 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Giulio  Giassi  p 

Susan  Godbout  Hersey  '83 

Charles  S.  Knothe  '66 

David  A.  Luoma  '62* 

Serge  Molinari  '80 

Peter  Gibbons  78 

Carl  P.  Hershfield '4S' 

Douglas  A.  Knowles  76 

Kurt  11.  Lutgens  75 

Bernard  A.  Mongilio  '81 

David  M.  Giddings  75 

Jeffrey  S.  I  [ewes  73 

Nancy  L.  Koczera  '93 

Frederick  H.  Lutze  Jr.  '59 

Donald  K.  Montgomery  '83 

Michelle  A.  Giglio  '94 

G  Christopher  Heyl  '84 

Russell  H.  Koelsch  '65 

Thehao  C.  Luu  '93 

Jeffrey  H.  Moody  75 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Victor  Gigliotti  p 

1  ,isa  A.  LaChance  Hevl'84 

Joseph  W.  Kolis  79 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Lynch  Jr.  p 

Herbert  S.  Aloores  '6 1 

Jeffrey  E.  Gilbertson  '90 

Robert  D.  Hickey  '68' 

Kenneth  W.  Kolkebeck  72 

David  N.  Lyons  '62 

Mr.  and  Airs.  John  M.  Moran  p 

Craig  B.  Gillum  '86 

Lisa  L.  Lacourse  Higgins  '87 

David  T.  Kosewski  '89 

Kenneth  A.  Lyons  '46 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Michael  Alorcone  p 

Michael  S.  Gipps  73 

Timothy  Al.  I  liggins  73 

Chester  Kotowski  74 

Michael  A.  AlacAllister  '81 

Stephen  J.  Morgan  '82 

Cheryl  M.  Glanton  '87 

Malcolm  S.  Hinckley  '48 

Darwin  W.  Kovacs  73 

Stephen  N.  AlacDonald  '90 

George  R.  Morin  '46 

Neil  R.  Gleberman  '54 

Air.  and  Mrs.  Frank  J.  Hodum  p 

Michael  J.  Kozakiewicz  74 

Timothy  J.  Mackie  70 

Gerald  F.  Alorris  '65 

Ubert  B.  Glenn  '34 

Allen  G.  Holbrook  '80 

Lisa  A.  Krauss  '80 

Heather  L.  MacKinnon  '92 

Elizabeth  A.  Morrison  '81 

Christopher  J.  Godfrey  '94 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  T.  Ilolcombp 

Donald  H.  Kray  73 

\nne  L.  Madara  76 

Homer  R.  Morrison  '35 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  H.  Godfrey  p 

Paul  C.  Holden '48 

Gary  R.  Krumpholz  78 

Air.  and  Mrs.  Gerald  Maffetone  p 

John  II.  Moulton  78 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Donald  Goffp 

George  W.  Holland  '65 

Christine  A.  Jarzobski  Kuczma  '90 

Air.  and  Mrs.  Dennis  Alagnifico/j 

Michael  A.  Mucci  '86 

George  W.  Golding  Jr.  '43 

Thomas  C.  Hollocher  Jr.  '53 

Mr.  and  Airs.  Paul  E.  Kudirka  p 

Joseph  J.  Magri  73 

William  F.  Mufatti  '5 1 

CarlL.  Goldknopf'72 

Robert  M.  Holt  '66 

Roger  W.  Kuenzel  '59 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  F.  Mahoney  p 

Robert  B.Mulholland  Jr. '60 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Goode  Jr. 

p     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Howard  p 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frank  Kuffel  Jr.  p 

William  C.Maine '36 

Deborah  L.  Harrow  Mulligan  '84 

John  R.  Goodwin  '55 

Donald  W.  Howe  Jr.  '38 

Karen  E.  Kullas  '86 

Stephen  A.  Maiorano  73 

Peter  J.  Mulvihill  78 

Scott  K.  Goodwin  '36 

Stephen  L.  Hreusik  '34 

Edward  P.  Kurdziel  '80 

Richard  E.  Makohon  '68 

Barbara  G.  Weiss  Murphy  '81 

Dickson  B.  Goon  '86 

Thomas  C.  Huard  72 

Mitsuo  Kuwada  '83 

Robert  M.Malbon '63 

Brian  C.  Murphy  '89 

Edward  B.  Gordon  74 

Mark  1  lubelbank  '68 

Yun-Ting  Kwan  '52 

A.  George  Mallis '38 

Bradford  R.  Myrick  70 

Martina  R.  Gorski-Strong  '84 

Douglas  E.  Hudson  '83 

Air.  and  Mrs.  Raymond  1 1. 

John  F.  Malloyjr. '54 

Russell  B.  Naber  74 

Joseph  F.  Goulart  '67* 

Arthur  J.  Hughes  79 

L'Heureux  p 

Air.  and  Airs.  John  A.  Alanchuso  p 

Aram  Nahabedian  73 

Robert  H.  Gowdy  '63 

Air.  and  Mrs.  Stephen  S.  Hull  p 

William  J.  La  Barge '88 

Steven  E.  Mandell  79 

Nalco  Chemical  Company 

GPU  Service  Corporation 

Mrs.  Laurence  K.  1  [yde  '22 

Robert  B.  La  Rocque  '50 

Paul  A.  Mandeville  '80 

National  Semiconductor  Corp. 

David  L.  Gradwell  '68 

Mark  V.  lampictro  75 

Raymond  F.  LaBine  '53 

Harry  S.  Mankey  '50 

National  Starch  and  Chemical  Co. 

Robert  J.  Grande  76 

John  R.  Iannarone  '82 

AL  Daniel  Lacedonia  '46 

Anne  J.  Manning  '''4 

National  Steel  Corp. 

James  J.  Grasseschi  '86 

George  Idlis  '54 

James  M.  Lach  '93 

John  T.  Mar  '83 

Ronald  F.  Naventi  '66 

Paul  B.  Grautski  '84 

Christine  Ingalls  79 

Joyce  M.  Lachance  '82 

Michael  A.Marando'90 

George  C.  Neill  73 

Jeffrey  W.  Gravdahl  76 

James  F.  Ingraham  Sr.  74 

Mr.  and  Mrs  Richard  A.  Lamb  p 

Francis  IT  Marchand  '37 

Carl  T.Nelson  71 

Stanley  T.  Graveline  90 

David  C.  Ireland '81 

Eric  Al.  Lambert  '80 

Richard  G.  Marden  '31 

Theodore  A.  Nevius  '86 

24 


Fall  1995 


BOOM 


1 1 MHMK  >&*&&&&&&&&&?&**  '  .iff*,H  1 

New  York  State  Electric  & 

James  R.  Plummer  '91 

Ellsworth  M.  Sammet  '49 

Stephanie  V  Strohbcck  '84 

Kevin  1    Wall  76 

(ins  (  i>. 

Joseph  F.  Pofit  '46 

Harry  W.  Sandberg  '45 

Donald  Sulewski  '91 

Dennis  E.  Walsh '94 

Richard  J.  Newhouse  75 

( ruenther  T.  Pollnow  '66 

Donald  E.  Sands 's| 

James  C.  J.  Sullivan  '50 

Mary  Foley  Walsh  '85 

J.  Clayton  Ney Jr.  77 

Claudio  Polselli  75 

David  J.  Sanford  '66 

James  P.  Sullivan  '86 

s.  William  Wandle Jr. '64 

Donald  L.  Nichols  '46 

Daniel  T.  Pond  '86 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carl  O.  Santesson  p 

Shawn  L.  Sullivan  72 

Daniel  P.  Ward  '84 

Patrick  |.  Nicholson  78 

Kenneth  A.  Poole  78 

Lawrence  A.  Savage  '81 

Sun  Microsystems  Inc. 

Louis  A.  Wargo  '64 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Michael  J. 

Albert  P.  Popoli  73 

Edward  A.  Sawtell  '38 

David  C.  Sund  71 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lawrence  Warner p 

Nicolaisen  p 

Francis  J.  Posseltjr.  '68 

David  E.  Sawyer  76 

Donald  C.  Sundberg  '65 

Milton  V  Warner'30 

Herman  A.  Nied '50 

Mrs.  Theodore  Post  '34 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richard  T. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Steven  Sundre  p 

Paul  1)  Warnei  '93 

Jay  S.  Niger.  '89 

David  F.  Pouliot  73 

Schachner/) 

Benjamin  M.  Surowiecki  '65 

Andrew  (.',.  Warner  Jr.  '66 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  C.  Nolan  p 

A.  I  lamilton  Powell  '37 

Eric  R.  Schade  '83 

Todd  B.  Sutherland  '8'* 

Warner-Lambert  Company 

S.  Bailey  Norton  Jr.  '4' 

Christine  E.  Powers  75 

John  R.  Schectman  '85 

Julia   \.  Sweet/) 

Jerry  11.  Warren '80 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peter  Notarianni/) 

John  D.  Powers  72 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roger  Scheurer  p 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  F. 

Thomas  W.  Warzeka  '86 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Leslie  M.  Novak p 

Stephen  J.  Powlishen  74 

Grant  W.  Schleich  '48 

Sweeter  Sr.  p 

Brian  (,  Wasko '82 

Augustus  J.  Nunes  'SI 

PQ  Corporation 

Henry  A.  Schneck  '65 

Willard  M.  Sweetser  Jr.  '63 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Steven  Watkins  p 

John  D.  Nyquist'77 

William  F.  Pratt  '67 

kurt  A.  Schneider  '5  1 

Alexander  Swetzjr.  '59 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spencer  Weigp 

Paul  G.  Nystrom  '41 

Irvin  S.  Press  74 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniel 

David  W.  Swicker  '46 

Richard  P.  Welch  '80 

Michael  W.  Oakes  77 

Maurice  Pressman  '38 

Schoenholtz  p 

Robert  C.  Sykes  73 

Ronald  P.  Wen  '88 

David  F.  Oberhauser  '90 

Charles  B.  Price  III  '76 

Raymond  W.Schuhr 

Frank  Barry  Sylvia  Sr.  '64 

Philip  M.Wentzel'52 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Francis  E. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stephen 

Stephen  C.  Schwann  '68 

Alfred  G  Svmonds  '65 

David  \.  West  79 

O'Connell  p 

Prochniak  p 

Eric  L.  Schwartz  '84 

Karla  J.  Twedt  Szkutak '84 

Douglas  J.  West  79 

Kevin  T.  O'Connell  '89 

Michael  S.  Przybyla  '81 

Andrew  D.  Schwarz  '86 

1  dwardA.  Szkutak  Jr.  '80 

James  A.  West  '87 

Colleen  A.  O'Connor  '80 

Milosh  T.  Puchovsky  '88 

Charles  P.  Scopeliris  73 

C.  Stephen  Szlatenyi  Jr.  73 

Robert  F.  West  '39 

lordan  C.  O'Connor  '80 

Thomas  Pucillo  '91 

Gregory  A.  Scott  7 

Andrew  A.  Szypula  '58 

Richard  T.  Wester  '60 

David  J.  Ofcarcik  '81 

Charles  C.  Puffer '35 

James  B.  Sedgwick  '91 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  G.  Table  p 

Mrs.  Robert  Wetzel/) 

Michael  A.  O'l  Lira  78 

William  U.  Purser!  Jr.  '59 

Joseph  J.  Sedor  '87 

Bradford  Tannebring  78 

Richard  V.  W'halen  '80 

Gary  Oldenburg 

Donald  W.Putnam '32 

John  B.  Seguin  '5 1 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stratos 

John  J.  Wheeler '49 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edmund  Olson/) 

David  A.  Quaglini  70 

David  J.  Seibel'85 

Taoultsides  p 

Terry  A.  Wheeler  '82 

Richard  C.  Olson  '67 

Michael  P.  Quarrey  '83 

Jeffrey  H.  Semmel  '68 

Ronald  D.Tarallo  Jr.  '86 

Michael  F.  Whelan  76 

James  A.  O'Neill'''? 

Raymond  F.  Racine  '68 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  F.  Senger  p 

Daniel  P.  Tarkiainen  '80 

Gordon  P.  Whitcomb  '34 

John  C.  Orcutt  '50 

Karl  L.  Radke  79 

Lisabeth  T.  Shablin  '86 

David  A.  Tate  78 

Robert  F.  White  '64 

lames  F.  O'Regan  '49 

Peter  Rado  70 

Arthur  Shahian  '57 

Norman  J.  Taupeka  '58 

Robert  H  Whyte '60 

Howard  W.Osbom  '37 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sheikh  Rahman  p 

Arnold  G.  Sharp  '53 

Robert  C.  Taylor  '46 

Stanley  M.  Wilbur  '62 

John  J.  Oshorn  '33 

Adam  J.  Rasco  '29 

Kevin  T.  Shea  '88 

Robert  D.Taylor '31* 

Dean  C.  Wilcox  78 

( Cantor  anil  .Mrs.  Charles 

Nikitas  D.  Rassias  72 

Neil  M.  Shea  '67 

William  E.  Taylor  78 

James  C.  Wilkinson  '91 

Osborne  p 

Ali  Rastegar  '82 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Shea/) 

Eugene  J.  Teir  '33 

Bruce  G.  Willbrant  '60 

OSRAM  Sylvania  Inc. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richard  Recchia  p 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Melvin  Shear  p 

Tektronix  Inc. 

Hevward  S.  Williams  '66 

Owens-Corning  Fiberglas  Corp. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ronald  Redmond/) 

Robert  W.  Sherburne  78 

Chrysanthe  Demetry 

Phillip  R.  Wilseyjr.  '69 

Edward  W.Pacek '41 

Morgan  R.  Rees  '61 

Craig  Sherman  '80 

Terwilliger  '88 

David  A.  Wilson  78 

John  C.  Pacheco  '86 

David  A.  Reeves -8I) 

Jennifer!.  Shiel  '94 

Peter  L.  Terwilliger  '87 

David  E.  Wilson  '66 

Joseph  P.  Padayhag '91 

Melissa  A.  Young  Reeves  '80 

Air.  and  Mrs.  Shannon  C. 

Leslie  A.  Thomas  '91 

John  F.  Wilson  '46 

Arthur  A.  Padovano  '65 

David  A.  Reid  76 

Shreve  p 

Michael  A.  Thompson  '8 1 

William  M.  Wilson  '35 

fanice  E.  Painter  74 

JohnL.  Reid'51 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  F.  Shute/> 

Walker  T.  Thompson  '62 

CariL.  Windt'91 

Paul  J.  Pakus'71 

Robert  B.  Reidy  '69 

Ojars  Al.  Silarais  '65 

Wallace  B.  Thompson  Jr.  '49 

Jeffrey  S.  Wnek  75 

Mark  K.  Pankoski '80 

Barbara  A.  Reincke  p 

Carl  G  Silverberg  '33 

Michael  C.  Thorogood  7 

Robert  A.  Wojciak  '87 

Mr.  and  Airs.  Eugene  Papp/) 

Laurent  O.  Rheault  79 

Harry  W.  Simpson  '58 

George  T.  Thrasher  '67 

Stephen  J.  Wojciak,  75 

Armand  L.  Paquette  '26 

Norman  E.  Rhodes  '94 

Francis  W.  Skwira  '69 

Ronald  S.  Tiberio  '92 

John  E.  Wolfe  '59 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniel  E. 

.Marcus  A.  Rhodes  Jr.  '40 

William  A.  Slaglejr.  '33 

Gregory  L.  Tietbohl  7 

Robert  F.  Wolff  Jr.  '58 

Paquette  p 

Douglas  H.  Rich  '84 

.Mr.  and  Mrs. John  W.  Sloan/) 

Brian  Al.  Timura  78 

Daniel  G.  Wong  '84 

Stephen  A.  Parent  79 

Mark  S.  Richards  73 

Toni  Smit  p 

Mark  S.  Tino  '80 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Michael  Wood  p 

Robert  E.  Parker  '64 

David  J.  Ripple  '58 

Gregory  F.X.  Smith  78 

Robert  H.  Titus  '82 

Kimball  R.  Woodbury  '44 

Laima  T.  Pauliukonis  77 

Elaine  M.  Kokernak  Ritchie  '82 

Myron  H.  Smith  '60 

David  A.  Torrey '81 

Michael  J.  Wozniak '86 

Jane  K.  Pawlukiewicz  '83 

Philip  S.  Robert  p 

Robert  W.  Smith  '69 

James  H.  Torreyjr.  '80 

Neal  T.  Wright  76 

James  D.  Pearl  '82 

Joseph  J.  Roberts  '80 

Stephen  H.  Smith  '66 

Peter  A.  Tousignant  '90 

Thomas  ().  Wright  '56 

Robert  J.  Pearson  '80 

James  A.  Robertson  '26 

Warren  F.  Smith  73 

Towers  Pemn  Company 

Lisa.M.  Wylie'80 

John  F.  Peavey  '39 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rodney  F. 

Thomas  E.  Snead  '80 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Patrick  L. 

John  II.  Wvman  '36 

Thomas  J.  Pecorini  '84 

Robinson  p 

Richard  F.  Socha  73 

Townsend  p 

Jeffrey  Yu  75 

Michelle" A.  Pence  '88 

Charles  F.  Robinson  Jr.  '69 

Thomas  J.  Socha  74 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edward  A. 

William  F.  Zavatkay  '58 

Edward  G.  Perkins  72 

John  W.  Roche  IV  '80 

Walter  H.  Sodano  '40 

Triantafillou  p 

Robert  E.  Zawistowski  78 

Edward  B.  Pero '66 

Emory  K.  Rogers  '38 

Timothy  J.  Somadelis  '82 

Robert  S.  Trotter  74 

Denise  A.  Zimmerman  '82 

Andrew  T.  Perreault  '6(> 

Sheldon  W.  Rothstein  '61 

Richard  D.  Souren  '61 

Paul  G.  Trudel  '67 

Thomas  F.  Zimmie  '60 

Richard  G.  Perreault  '68 

Mr.  and  Airs.  David  Round  p 

John  E.  Spolowich  78 

Steve  A.  Tuch  '82 

Rimas  A.  Zinas  '61 

John  J.  Perrone  '67 

Vance  A.  Rowe  75 

Robert  A.  St.  Jean  '60 

Todd  R.  Tuomi  '69 

Russell  E.  Person  '63 

Daniel  R.  Roy  '68 

Stephen  J.  Stadnicki  Jr.  '68 

Daniel  Turner  '64 

C.  Raymond  Peterson  '44 

Jennifer  E.  Udall  Roy  '84 

Stanadyne 

Vincent  D.  Tyer  III  '90 

Herbert  S.  Peterson  '53 

Joan  E.  Lyshak  Roy  77 

Brian  K.  Standley  '88 

Wallace  A.  Lmderwood  '44 

Neal  D.  Peterson  '51 

Steven  H.  Roy  '83 

Thomas  S.  Staron  Jr.  '62 

The  L'pjohn  Company 

Paul  A.  Peterson  78 

James  E.  Roy  Jr.  '67 

Alargaret  A.  Staruk  78 

Foundation 

Richard  M.  Peterson  74 

Frederick  F.  Roys  '82 

Joseph  J.  Staszowski  73 

David  J.  Usher  '64 

Stephen  W.  PctmrT'68 

James  F.  Rubino  74 

State  Street  Bank  &  Trust 

Alan  M.  Vale  '92 

Albert  T.  Phelps  '34 

David  J.  Rubinstein  '82 

Company 

Robert  G.  Valentine  |r.  76 

Peter  R.  Picard  '67 

Donald  W.  Rule  '69 

John  E.  Stauffer  '60 

Erik  C.  Van  Bork  '84 

David  P.  Picarillo  '88 

Stephen  H.  Rusckowski  79 

Richard  H.  Steeves  70 

William  C.  Van  Keuren  '56 

Wayne  L.  Pierce  '68 

Jill  A.  Rusiecki  '93 

Kenneth  J.  Steinhardt  78 

Alilford  R.  VanDusen  '47 

1  Filbert  E.  Pierce  HI  '56 

William  A.  Russell  '26 

Robert  A.  Stengard  '45 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilks  Vassell  p 

Michael  D.  Piispanen  '88 

Wayne  M.  Saari  '82 

Jeanne  Travers  Stetson  '86 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Maurice  Yidal/) 

Robert  E.  Pill  '59 

Jacob  A.  Sacks  '36 

Prescott  A.  Stevens  '48 

Katherine  Al.  Kruczek  Vignaly  '84 

Walter  E.  Pillartzjr.  '61 

Patricia  A.  Pfeiffer  Salamone  75 

Paul  B.  Stewart  '60 

losephP.VignalyJr. '82 

Edward  W.  Piltzecker  Jr.  '67 

Peter  A.  Salis  71 

Mary-Jane  Hall  Stimson  '81 

Paul  R.  Vilandre  '58 

David  M.  Pino  79 

David  C.  Salomaki  75 

Donald  F.  Stockwell  '5 1 

Angelo  Villani  '83 

Pitney-Bowes  Inc. 

Warren  C.  Saltmarsh  '33 

Thomas  A.  Storey  '80 

Joseph  S.  Vitalis  Jr.  '51 

Mark  F.  Pittenger  79 

Mark  F.  Samek  72 

Norman  P.  Stotz  '58 

Air.  and  Mrs.  Richard  Walker  p 

001074*'**  CAR-RT  SORT 
MS.  DOROTHY  MCCARTHY' 
S3  KEITH  HILL  ROAD  * 
GRAFTON  MA  QiEi9-i3i4 


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