The Bridge - December 2003
Contents
- WELCOME: Community Has Say About WPI's Next President
- NEWS: Ian Bonzani '04 Wins Marshall Scholarship
- WPI Hosts Lecture Series at Boston Museum of Science
- New Admissions Building Will Lead to Greener Quad
- Looft Named Head of ECE Department
- TIMELY TAX TIP: Year-end Windfall? Think Annual Fund
- JOB POSTING: U.S. DOT Seeks Associate Administrator for Enforcement and Program Delivery
- EVENTS: Crime Scene Investigation, Jan. 28; Cats and The Lion King in 2004
- SAVE THE DATE: China Forum Feb. 3-4, 2004
- SPORTS: 17 WPI Athletes Named All-Conference
- DID YOU KNOW: Ghosts of Dickens' Past Reside in WPI Collection
- BOOKMARKS
1. WELCOME
As the search for WPI's 15th president gears up, a recent open meeting on campus and a Web chat for alumni provided members of the WPI community a chance to talk about the qualities they'd like to see in the university's next chief executive. The live chat was just one example of how the Alumni Association plans to reach out to alumni in 2004.
Read the full message from Fred Costello '59, president of the WPI Alumni Association
2. NEWS
Ian Bonzani Named 2004 Marshall Scholar
Ian Bonzani '04, biomedical engineering, was awarded a Marshall Scholarship to pursue graduate studies in tissue engineering in Great Britain. This year Bonzani worked on a team project in tissue engineering to enhance bone cell growth on collagen scaffolds. In the future, he plans to create his own lab to develop bone tissue regeneration.
New Admissions Building, Greener Quad
For years WPI has wrestled with the need to provide new and expanded space for undergraduate admissions and financial aid, and to create additional on-campus parking. A new plan, endorsed by the Board of Trustees, solves these two major problems and goes one step further: it calls for re-greening the Quadrangle. In about two years, WPI will have a new admissions building, an underground parking garage, and an expanded vehicle-free Quad.
Read the full story in Transformations
WPI Hosts Museum of Science Lecture Series
Will hydrogen replace oil or natural gas as the world's fuel of choice? How can machines be built smaller than the eye can see? In a lecture series at the Museum of Science in Boston, WPI professors discuss these and other "Technologies That Are Changing Our World." Lectures will be held at 7 p.m. on Jan. 14, 21 and 28 in Cahners Theater, Museum of Science (free seating available starting at 6).
For more information, call 617-589-0419 or 617-589-0417, or read the announcement.
Looft Named Head of ECE Department
Fred J. Looft has been named head of WPI's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Looft has been with WPI since 1980, becoming a full professor in 1989. His research interests include space flight systems and computer architecture and embedded systems. He is the founder and principal advisor for WPI's project center at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Most recently, he has been leading an educational research grant to develop a university nanosatellite. Looft is a senior member of IEEE.
Read more on the nanosat project
3. TIMELY TAX TIP
Year-end Windfall? Think WPI's Annual Fund
Save money on your taxes this year and help WPI by supporting the Annual Fund. There's still time to make a gift. Gifts made by credit card before midnight, Dec. 31, are eligible for a tax deduction for the 2003 tax year. If you prefer to make a gift by check, please be sure it's postmarked on or before Dec. 31 to be eligible for a tax deduction. For more information contact giving@wpi.edu or 877-WPI-FUND (974-3863).
4. JOB POSTING
Associate Administrator for Enforcement and Program Delivery
The U.S. Department of Transportation seeks a high-level executive for its Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
Get the full listing and contact information
5a. CAMPUS EVENTS
Jan. 10: Men's and Women's Swimming/Diving at UMass-Dartmouth
1-4 p.m. For information contact steveraz@wpi.edu or call 508-831-5328.
Jan. 28: Murder Cases Involving DNA, Fingerprints, and Foot Track.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry hosts Lt. Brian M. O'Hara,
Crime Scene Services Section, Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory,
to discuss cases that have been solved, but might never would have been
20, or even five, years ago. These will include, among others, the Appolonia
Tambor "cold" case that occurred in Holyoke in 1984, the William
Brassford case in Brimfield in 1996, the Tabitha Potter case in Lowell
in 1999, and the Mabel Greineder case in Wellesley in 1999.
Salisbury Labs 115, 4 p.m.
View the calendar of campus events
5b. ALUMNI EVENTS
Jan. 12: Tech Old Timers
Peace Corps Experience in Siberia, Presented by Emily Zeugner.
Campus Center, 9:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m. For more information contact
alumni-office@wpi.edu or call 508-831-5600.
Jan. 17: Young Alumni Winter Social
Join the classes of 2000 to 2003 for the second annual Winter Social.
There'll be food, pool and fun at Boston Billiards in Boston from
9 to 11 p.m. All members of the participating classes and their
guests are welcome. Tickets are $12 in advance and $16 at the door.
Get more information and directions
Feb. 2: Northern California Event
The WPI Alumni Association invites you to join fellow alumni and
representatives from WPI for a special cocktail reception from
6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Sofitel San Francisco Bay Hotel in
Redwood City. Cost is $15 per person. For more information,
call 508-831-5600 or e-mail regional-events@wpi.edu.
March 20: Cats
Join the Alumni Association for a special
production of this award-winning musical. The Bushnell, Hartford,
2 p.m.; orchestra seats $42.75 (must be purchased by Jan. 14).
For more information, 508-831-5600 or regional-events@wpi.edu.
Purchase tickets online
Sept. 18: The Lion King
The Alumni Association invites you to
a special production of this all-ages favorite. The Opera House,
Boston, 2 p.m.; mezzanine seats $67.50 (must be purchased
by June 14). For more information, 508-831-5600 or regional-events@wpi.edu.
Purchase tickets online
View the calendar of alumni events
WPI Alumni Receive 10 Percent Discount on IT Programs
Get ahead in the New Year with IT training from WPI. For professionals looking to build stronger IT skills, WPI certificate programs and short courses are the answer. Training in Security, Java, .NET, Unix, Linux, Web Techno- logies, Oracle, Windows and Project Management. Day and evening courses available at WPI's Waltham and Southborough campuses. To learn more, contact 800-974-9717 or continuinged@wpi.edu, or attend the IT information session on Jan. 8 at the Waltham campus.
Still Time To Nominate Classmates for Alumni Awards
The Citations Committee of the Alumni Association is seeking nominations for upcoming distinguished alumni awards. Get a full description of the awards, citations of past recipients, and an online nomination form.
6. SAVE THE DATE
Feb. 3-4, 2004: WPI's China Forum
Meeting the China Challenge: Networking for Success will be the focus of the WPI International Business Forum 2004. SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif. For more information, contact forum2004@wpi.edu or visit the Conference Web site
Alumni Travel Program 2004
Connect with like-minded alumni and see the best of the West: The Alumni Association Travel Program re-ignites with trips to the Canadian Rockies and the American West. Get more information
7. SPORTS: 17 Athletes Named All-Conference
Seventeen WPI student athletes earned either First or Second Team All-Conference status this fall. Nine are from football, four hail from men's soccer, two from women's soccer, and one each from golf and women's cross country. The conferences bestowing the honors were the Freedom Football Conference and the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC).
8. DID YOU KNOW...
It's difficult to scan the TV Guide or arts calendar this time of year without encountering a production of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." A new three-part PBS series premiering Dec. 17 focuses on the man behind Ebenezer Scrooge and many other of literature's best-loved characters. Joel J. Brattin, professor of English literature at WPI, contributed four essays to the "Dickens" companion Web site.
Brattin's friendship with Robert D. Fellman was one reason the late Dickens aficionado chose to donate his extensive collection to WPI. Here are a few highlights of WPI's Fellman Dickens Collection, by the numbers:
| 8 | number of autograph Dickens letters |
| 19 | number of volumes in the complete collection of "Household Words" (includes first publication of "Hard Times") |
| 32 | number of times Dickens' signature appears in the Council Attendance Book for the Guild of Literature and Art from June 12, 1854, to Dec. 7, 1896 |
| 150+ | volumes of Dickens' writings (including rare first-editions of almost all his major works) |
9. Bookmarks
- Class Notes - Share news with classmates
- Alumni Job Opportunities
- Career Development Center
- Alumni Web Site - Your source for alumni information and events!
- Alumni Events
- Transformations: WPI's Alumni Magazine
- Athletics: Weekly Roundup
- Athletics: Schedule
- Campus Events
We'd love to hear your suggestions or comments. Please send them to us at thebridge@wpi.edu.
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.eduLast modified: May 25, 2006, 13:31 EDT