36
WINTER 2020
Letters to the editor
When I attended IC from 1956-1961, 2nd Secondary students were required to take a woodworking class. We met in a workshop located in the sports building, across from the soccer field. My initial reaction to having to take such a class was one of surprise and amusement; after all, we were all IC students destined to become professionals, so why bother with learning how to cut wood, polish it, stain it, and build elegant looking periscopes with it. I did not appreciate how important that woodworking class was until years later. After graduating from AUB with a degree in Physics in 1964, I came to the US for graduate study. I completed a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, with emphasis on experimental techniques for designing and building microwave communication systems. As I worked in a lab with complex instruments, I quickly noticed how much faster and easier it was for American students to learn how to operate sophisticated equipment—and to repair them when necessary—than for the foreign students, myself included. The reason was immediately obvious: American kids of that generation grew up fixing cars, building things, and repairing just about anything they could lay their hands on. They learned the skills at the hands of their parents. Working with their hands and operating electrical and mechanical tools was a source of pride, and often paved the way for successful careers. Apple’s creator Steve Jobs is one of many successful American entrepreneurs who started their companies, literally, in their garages. This was in stark contrast with how “getting your hands dirty” was viewed by most of the rest of the world. I, and many others like me, grew up in an environment where menial work belonged strictly to the lower classes. IC’s attempt at teaching its students that it was OK to get your hands dirty was right on!! When my wife and I visited the IC campus a few years ago, I looked for that woodworking workshop, but that entire part of the campus looked so different. Buildings can come and go, but I hope IC’s curriculum continues to think of the whole student, not just purely academic topics. Fawwaz Ulaby ’61 Leith Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science University of Michigan Pic: IC students group 1961 (I am one of the eight boys in the picture, sitting on the ground in the white shirt)
