Table Of ContentWPI
ransformations
Snow came to Alumni Field early this year, as
the Engineers battled both Hobart College and
the weather during their Oct. 29 contest.
SCHOOL OF
BUSINESS
James Baum, Class of 1986
Former President & CEO
a* Netezza Corporation, an IBM Company
INNOVATOR
OF THE YEAR For his exemplary accomplishments as an
innovator, excellence in driving innovation
within enterprise,and leadership within
the business world and beyond.
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VOL. 108NO. 1 FALL2011
contents
features
20
In Perfect Balance
Like the stunning bridges he builds, Mark Ketchum 75
knows howto balance stress, durability, and beauty.
BYDAVIDENDERS
26
OVER The MayorofCool
Naveen Selvadurai '02, '04 (MS CS) and his business
partner, Dennis Crowley, may have created the Internet's
next big thing, foursquare, a social media site that
mixes geo-tagging, urban exploration, and socializing.
BYMICHAELBLANDING
34
Shaking WhispersfromtheWalls
Like a science-centertwister, Nina Simon '03 is shak-
ing up the museum world, using creativity, passion, and
some good ol' WPI problem solving to make museums
more fun.
BYKATESILVER
40
ACenturyof Do-Gooders
Your alumni magazine goes undercoverto bring you
the inside story ofthe secret Skull society, which recently
celebrated its 100th anniversary of stealthily moving
through the WPI campus doing nice things for others.
BYW.POLLYTEKNICK
46
Mastering the Course
Mark Mungeam '83 charted his own course when it
—
cameto his profession which is the same approach
he takes when designing aworld-class golfcourse.
BYJOHNSHAW
CoverIllustrationbyPaulWearing
departments 58
Advancing WPI
Robert Foisie '56 and Priscilla and George
07 Messenger Jr. '51 make transformative gifts to WPI's
undergraduate scholarships.
WPIndex
Forty percent less tat, 47 percent more Vitamin A. 60
Class Notes
11
Message Fromthe President Octogenariansare stud—ying French, motorcycling 1,600
miles, and flying gliders thesearejustafewofthe500
12 alumniwhosent updatesthis issue.
WTT
86
Poems Found Robots Scoring Lessons
. . . . . . Puzzle Corner
Learned.
What happens when you cut a Sudoku diagonally?
52 Solve Professor Heineman's Sujiken puzzle and find
Newsfrom Higgins House out. Also, theAwkwardEngineerby Sam Feller '07.
From Homecoming to award winners, WPI alumni
are on the move.
HeretoThere
Albert Soloway '48 looks back at his 30 years in higher
education and identifies some troubling trends.
WPI
ENGINEERING
Biomedical
Chemical
vBfc.
Civil and Environmental
and Computer
Electrical
Fire Protection
Mechanical
IK«LH»llllH»Bli»JII
wno
rotecting those save ives
Engineers at WPI have spent the decade since
9/1 and the Worcester Cold Storage warehouse
1
fire developing innovative technologies and new
ideas to alleviate the dangers first responders
face every day.
Learn more: wpi.edu/+protecting
book
Not One But Legion
WORCESTERPOLYTECHNICINSTITUTE
VOL 108,NO 1 The Class Note is an under appreciated literary form. Consider this one sent to Harvard in 1847 in re-
sponsetoarequestforacareerupdate:
EXECUTIVEDIRECTOROFALUMNIRELATIONS
PeterA.Thomas "Idon'tknowwhethermine is aprofession, ora trade, orwhatnot. Itis notyetlearned, and in every
EDITOR instancehasbeenpractisedbeforebeingstudied...Itisnotonebutlegion.Iwillgiveyousomeofthemon-
JamesWolken ster'sheads.lamaSchoolmaster—aPrivateTutor, aSurveyor...aGardener, aMason, aDay-Laborer, a
[email protected] Pencil-Maker,aGlass-paperMaker,aWriter,andsometimesaPoetaster....Forthelasttwoorthreeyears
I have lived in Concordwoods alone, somethingmore than a milefrom anyneighbor, in a house built
ASSOCIATEEDITORS
JoanKillough-Miller entirelybymyself. —HenryDavidThoreau'37
PeggyIsaacson
CONTRIBUTINGEDITORS Thoreau's note is often cited because ofthe literary masterpiece that was to come from those Concord
MaureenDeiana
WilliamDenneen woods. But as author Henry Petroski points out in his insightful book, The Pencil, Thoreau's class note
MichaelW. Dorsey reveals even more. For instance, the profession that Thoreau practices but struggles to describe, says
KennethFonzi Petroski,isthatofanengineer,whichwasrapidlyemerginginthemid-19thcenturyand,indeed,hasalong
JudithJaeger
historyofbeing "practisedbeforebeing studied."
EileenBranganMell
Petroski also points out that Thoreau consistently displayed a common trait of the engineering mind-
ARTDIRECTOR set—namely, adesiretoplumbavarietyofsubjectsbeyondthemechanical, as problem solvingrequires
KaajalAsher auniqueblendofskills,nottheleastofwhichiscreativity.WhichbringsmetothisissueofTransformations.
Asyoumayhavenoticed,we'vebeencreativelytinkeringwithyouralumnimagazine.Thisissuefeatures
CONTRIBUTINGWRITERS
MichaelD'Onofrio anewdesign, binding,sizeandeditor. Italsofeaturesanexpandedclassnotessectionfilledwithupdates
SharronKahnLuttrell fromacreativegroupofWPIgraduatesunafraidtoplumbanysubject.Thefirstpagealonesetsthetone.
MartinLuttrell Here,you'll find Frank Holby '48studying French, a languagehetookupatage83; Harvey Howell '51
CChhrriissttiinneeMDeellihaorMnonaca confessingthathe'ssloweddownabit, butstillfindstimetopilothisglider; DavidHathaway'53complet-
inga1,600-milemotorcycletrip,campingalongthewayinatentborrowedfromhisdaughter;andGeorge
PRODUCTIONMANAGER Sanderson '52deciding it'sagoodtimetobeginstudyingartificial intelligence.
DianneVanacore Lestyouthinktheoctogenariansarehavingalltheadventures, see Kim Schaefer'84,whoisteaching
PHOTOGRAPHERS figureskating in hersparetime; orLeonard Redon 73, deputymayorofRochester, N.Y, andthefirstAf-
KathleenDooher ricanAmericantoholdthatoffice; orBruceDenson '68,whoisnowpastoratthelocal Methodistchurch;
EricMillette or Laura Gregory Roberts '93, who was recently listed among the "Top 40 Under 40" by Connecticut
DavidO'Connor Magazine, orBarbaraDoyleAtkins'94whobecameabonemarrowdonorthisyear.
GeorgePeet
MaxSaccoccio In all, you'll find businesses being launched, books being written, classes being taught, music being
KevinScanlon performed,andexotic,farawayplacesbeingexplored.You'llalsofindasincerepassionforhelpingothers
JamieStillmgs reachtheirpotential. And, ofcourse,you'llfindanabundanceofscientific,technological, entrepreneurial,
andengineeringaccomplishments.
ILLUSTRATORS
DavidFullarton After athorough read ofthese class notes, I came away thinking that Thoreau would have been very
PaulWearing attracted toWPI if it had existed back in 1833when hewas afreshman. Petroksi's book provides some
AlexWilliamson evidencetosupportthe hunch, as he reportsthatthefrugalThoreau actuallyhad businesscardsprinted
Transformationsmagazine(ISSN1538-5094)©2011is lateinlifethatlistedhisoccupationascivilengineer. Butit'sThoreau'scriticismofeducation,andhisalma
publishedquarterlybyWorcesterPolytechnicInstitute materinparticular,thatprovidesthemostconvincingevidence.AmongthethingsThoreautookissuewith
inconjunctionwiththeWorcesterPolytechnicInstitute washisprofessors'over-relianceupontheory.AshewritesinWalden: "TomyastonishmentIwasinformed
AlumniAssociation.IssuesaremailedtoallknownWPI upon leavingcollegethatI hadstudiednavigation!—why, ifI hadtakenoneturndowntheharborI should
alumni living within the U.S., as a benefit of having
graduated from WPI. This publication is guided by haveknownmoreaboutit."
WPI'sprinciplesoffreeexpressionandacceptedstan- Whatyou'll find in this issue of Transformations is acollection ofWPI graduates who won't hesitate to
dardsofgoodtaste Opinionsexpressedarethoseof take that one turn toward the harbor, which invariably leads to uncharted waters, and, of course, new
thesignedcontributorsanddonotrepresenttheopin- discoveriesand newknowledge. Now, expandthatidea, notbyone, butbyalegion ofmenandwomen
oironiotrsooffffiicicaelrsp.osPitOiSonTMofAWSoTrEceRstePrlePaosleytescehnndicaIdnsdtrietustse whosharethatspirit, andyouhavethemakingsofaveryinterestingalumnimagazine—which isjustwhat
change, Form 3579, to Transformations Magazine, weintendtodelivertoyou.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road,
Worcester, MA01609-2280. Readersareencouraged
JAMESWOLKEN,EDITOR
toe-mailcommentsto:[email protected].
Fall2011
1
•wGJffi
L
and
! the
Reconnect at wpi.edu/+sao.
Follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
&
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re care.
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1
-****
Numberofincomingfreshmenin1911 thatsetaWPIrecordforclasssize: 154
Numberofincomingfreshmenin2011 thatsetaWPIrecordforclasssize: 1,009
PercentagedifferenceofVitaminAfoundrngoatmilkcomparedtocowmilk: +47
Percentagedifferenceinfatfoundingoatcheesecomparedtocowcheese: -40
Numberof"secretsocieties" atYaleUniversity: 10
Numberof"secretsocieties"atWPI: 1
OddsthataU.S. couplemetviasocialmedia: 1 in5
OddsthatadivorcingU.S. couplewilllistFacebookamongthecausesoftheirbreakup: 1 in5
PercentageofAmericanadultswhousedtheInternetin2010: 79
PercentageofAmericanadultswhousedsocialmedia: 47
TotalrevenuegeneratedbyWPFsCorporate&ProfessionalEducationunitin2005: $2.8million
In2011: $9.7million
PercentageofcurrentWPIemployeeswhoarefemale: 53
PercentageofcurrentWPIstudentswhoarefemale: 30
EstimatednumberofmuseumsintheUnitedStates: 17,500
Medianannualattendancein2009ataU.S.artmuseum: 44,878
Medianannualattendancein2009ataU.S. science/technologymuseum: 357,103
GradeWPIreceivedforsustainabilityin2005 fromtheSustainableEndowmentInstitute: D-
GradeWPIreceivedin2011: A-
NumberofIQPandMQPreports downloadedduring2009fromGordonLibrary: 240,000
PercentageofundergraduateapplicantsadmittedintoWPIin2005: 83
In2011: 57
PercentageofWPI's2011 incomingfreshmenwhograduatedhighschoolwitha4.0GPA: 44
EstimatednumberofbridgesintheUnitedStates: 600,000
Numberconsidered "structurallydeficient"bytheASCE: 161,000
EstimatednumberofU.S.bridgesfoundin"dangerousdisrepair": 71,000
AmountreturnedtotheeconomyforeveryU.S. taxdollarspentontransportationinfrastructure: $1.57
Total,indollars,ofresearchawardsWPIfacultyreceivedin2005: $11.8million
In2010: $17.4million
NumberofAnnualFundphonecallsfromstudentcallers toWPIalumnilastyear: 10,586
Record-settingtotaldollarsraisedbytheWPIAnnualFundlastyear: $2,225,910
EstimatednumberofU.S. golfcourses,publicandprivate: 15,890
EstimatedroundsofgolfplayedintheU.S. lastyear: 475,000,000
Averagegreens feeinMassachusetts: $62.16
Recommendedfirst-timegifttotheWPIAnnualFund: $50
FeeforalifetimemembershiptotheAmericanGoatSociety. $200
TheWPIndexissponsoredbytheWPIAnnualFund,whichhasbeenhelpingWPIstudentssucceedsince1924 Fall2011
For crying out loud—tablature, which is already
I read with a great deal of interest your very the dumbed-downversionofsheet music, isjust
cogentarticlesaboutChinaintheSpringeditionof counting! Thelastthingthemusicsceneneedsis
Transformations.Iwouldliketoaddafewthoughts: more shoddyguitarplayerswithnounderstand-
TomFriedmanwroteabookcalledTheWorld ingofsheetreadingortheory;we'realreadyover-
15 Flat. It maybe, but it is not level. Or in engi- whelmedwith them. Yes, guitarplaying "has its
neering parlance, it is not tangent to the radius own learning curve," but so do all skills. Ifthey
ofthe sphere. Currently, the Chinese (as well as didn't,theywouldn'tbeskills.
manyothernations enjoyalaborcostadvantage, BILLMONTBLEAU 97
|
which iswhyIpostulate that the world maybe
flat' butitiscertainlynotlevel. Hereis mymain
point:In1989,1wasthegeneralmanagerofanew
jointventurelocatedinBeijing.Contractually,the
Transforming People
companycouldonlypayS100permonth.Now,22
yearslater(oronegeneration),mywife'snephew I was saddened (as I suspect many former stu-
isearningSI,000permonth.Again,weengineers dents,faculty,andstaffwere)tolearnofthepass-
wouldsay 'oneorderofmagnitude.' Ifthe trend ingofJohnvanAlstyne,ArchieMcCurdy,andRoy
continues,paritywillhappeninonemoregenera- Seaberg."VanA"wasalegendonthecampus,hav-
tion.Atthatpointtherewillbenocostadvantage I readwithgreatinterest Susan Seligson's article inganextraordinarycapacitytokeeptremendous
tomakingthingslikeclothesorTVsorproviding about the experience ofChinese studentsatWPI amounts ofinformationinhis head. Hewas the
callcentersinChinaoranywhereelse. ("Culture Shock"), particularly their participa- "goto"guyduring Drop&Add' eachquarter.He
It's great that America is increasing its ties tion in sports. I would like to add that Chinese wasalsoagreatmentorandadvisor.
with China. But our investment shouldbe more students are the largestethnicgroup in the WPI Professor McCurdy was a good friend and
towards their domestic business and less aimed BadmintonClub(Indiansaresecond),and,ashas teacher. I learned a great deal from him about
atthings forexport. Forward-looking companies happened often in the past, they have served as thin film deposition, optics, and molecular-level
areseeingthis trend,and,againmyopinion, "on president and other officers of the club. While electronics. The biggest lesson I learned from
shoring"willbecomemorethenormaswemove badminton is an extraordinarily fast sport at Prof. McCurdy, however, occurred when I hap-
throughthenextmillennium. which the Chinese are very good, our students pened upon him in the basement ofGordon Li-
China is a fascinating place with intelligent, usuallylookuponthecompetitionasasocialoc- brary,readingaRussianengineeringtext."Ididn't
secular people. They are more like us than we casion las described in Susan's article), groups of knowyoucouldreadRussian,"Isaid. "Ican't,"he
mightthink.Andcontrarytowhatyoumayread friendssittingaroundthecourtchattingwiththe replied, "butifIworkhard enough, eventuallyI
inthefourthestate,ChinalikestheU.S.andwants players as the shuttlecocks whiz back and forth willfigureitout."Ineverforgotthatlesson,forit
toemulateitinmanyways. MostofChinahasac- acrossthenet. taughtmetonevershyawayfromeventhemost
cess to televisionandcan seewhat"westerncivi- BLANDADDISON,AssociateProfessor difficultofproblems.
lization" looks like. They are far from dogmatic AdvisortotheWPIBadmintonClub Butperhapsthebiggestimpactonmylifewas
communists,despitethenameoftherulingparty. Co-Director.MoroccoProjectCenter Roy Seaberg, the director of admissions. Know-
There is more Confucius thanMarx in China. As ing WPI's reputation for being very selective, I
formerChineseleaderDengXiaoPingoncesaid,it assumed mychances weren't good. But Roywas
doesnotmatterifthecatiswhiteorblackaslong veryencouraging,andIwillforeverbegratefulfor
as it catches the mouse. I would onlycaution to hisconfidenceinme.Hechallengedmetostretch
notgetcaughtupinwhatweusedtocall 'China Off Key myabilities and discovermytalents. As a result,
Chic' We should recognize that their business BeingbothaWPIalumnusandamusician,Ifound I workedveryhard to make sure that I honored
guideisSunTzu'sTheArtofWarandnotthesappy partsofthespring2011 editionofTransformations Roy's decision to accept me into WPI, and ulti-
stuffweread,likeTheOneMinuteManager. to be quite upsetting. The "Grammy for WPI" matelygraduatedwithdistinction.
TheU.S.makesupfivepercentoftheworld'spop- write-upwassillyenough,withits triteinsultsat Iwillalways thinkfondlyoftheseindividuals
ulation. China22percent. Soon,wewilllookacross expectedpoptargets. Butthepraiseoverthe"Dig- whoexcelledattheirjobsbygoing"aboveandbe-
thePacificandseeourselves,justfivetimesbigger. itar" project was ridiculous. Guitar-structured yond,"andshallforeverbegratefulfortheirinflu-
Best we keep some of our production at home, MIDI controllers arenothingnew, in factatleast enceinmylife.
nomatterhowmundaneorroutineitappears. twoofthemarealreadycalled"Digitar."Andifyou RICHARD K. LADROGA'92
J. D.CATTEL70 canpassadifferentialequationsclass, thensheet VicePresident.GlobalStrategicDevelopment
President,DigitalControlCompany,Clearwater,Florida musicandtablatureshouldn'tbe"toodaunting." DobleEngineeringCompany
8 Fall20T
