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Roger Basu Associate Professor of Naval Architecture
A Fond Goodbye: Professor Basu Retires
A
ssociate Professor Roger Basu announced that he will be retiring from Webb at the end of the spring semester. While he has been here just a short while, he wishes he could have stayed longer, stating that he has thoroughly enjoyed his time here and hopes he has made a contribution, even if small, to the work of Webb. Professor Basu was born in England and shared his childhood years between there and India, spending his high school and college years in England. He got his start as an engineer working on the design of bridges and buildings, and caught the “marine bug” when he worked on offshore structures destined for the North Sea. He and his young family immigrated in the mid-seventies to Canada where he and his wife, Rufina, raised two daughters. At this time he was working mostly on Navy and Coast Guard ships. Once their daughters were grown the Basus moved to Houston, Texas where he worked for the American Bureau of Shipping for 15 years before joining Webb.
In his work he had run across “Webbies” numerous times, and even in those professional encounters their unique quality was clear to him. It wasn’t until he worked at Webb, however, that Professor Basu started to understand why. He notes that so many aspects of Webb distinguish it from other institutions it is hard to imagine the intimacy of Webb existing at any other similar institution. The small size allows a close connection between all who work at Webb, and Professor Basu notes that the student-teacher relationship lends itself to an especially effective and satisfying learning experience. Professor Basu and Rufina will be moving after the spring semester to Toronto, where one of their daughters lives with her family, which includes two grandchildren and another one on the way. Their other daughter lives in London, England with her family—two more grandchildren. The desire to spend more time with the grandchildren is the main reason Professor Basu will reluctantly leave Webb this summer. We wish him and his wife all the best; they will be missed.
Pi Day: When Pies Aren’t Squared, They’re Baked Pi Day was celebrated on Monday, March 18 and true to Webb standards, no work on the festivities was started until the night before, somewhere around 10 p.m. At that point, the student kitchen burst into a flurry of pecans and berries as each class slaved over their prospective prizeworthy pies. That Monday afternoon, the entire school gathered on main deck to see the results of the late night baking. The seniors and sophomores submitted pecan pies, with the sophomores adding a bit of a twist in the form of bacon, while the juniors and freshmen submitted berry pies. Both the juniors and freshmen incorporated a Webbie theme into their pies: the juniors’ pie depicted a classic weekender, while the freshmen went with the Webb logo crafted in crust. One prospective freshman even baked a pie for this auspicious day: a mouthwatering key lime pie to be exact. After much consideration (and just as much pie tasting) the results were announced. The senior class came in first, followed by the junior class. The sophomores came in third while the freshman class took fourth place. Regardless of the ranking, a delicious Pi Day was had by all.
– Alex Wilson '16
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