Echoes Spring 2020

SPRING 2020

Forever

ROSE

ROSE-HULMAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Contents

IN THIS ISSUE

4

STRONGER TIES

12

SPRING BLOOMS COLUMNS/ FEEDBACK

2 Message from the President 26 The Bailey Challenge

COVER STORY: FOREVER ROSE

4 Staying Connected

5 Virtual Worlds

7 Athletic History

8 Alumni Recruiters

9 WMHD: On the Web

10

PERSONAL TOUCH

10 Learning Online

Back Cover Parting Shot: Class in Session

A Virtual ‘Walk’ to Remember Commencement is always a special occasion for each graduating class, their families and friends, and the campus community. The pomp and circumstance of this year’s virtual ceremony on May 30 will be distinctly Rose-Hulman—personalized, memorable and something that marks the incredible accomplishment. The event will feature student awards; inspiring remarks from members of the Class of 2020, campus leaders and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb; and an opportunity for each senior to “receive” their diploma from their respective department head. The 8:30 p.m. EST starting time will allow the livestream to be watched by graduates throughout the world.

Join in the good times at www.rose-hulman.edu/graduation.

Contents

IN THIS ISSUE

22

MARS MISSION

36

SPECIAL MOMENTS

CAMPUS CONNECTIONS

18

BRIGHT IDEA

16

CALL TO ACTION

Photo Album: 12 Wide-open Spaces

Campus News: 14 Student Achievements

SPECIAL FEATURES

Helping Hands 16

Lighting Las Vegas 18

Searching for Life 22

Fire Retardant 24

Alumni News 27

Alumni Awards 28

Class Notes 30

Weddings/Rosebuds 34

In Memoriam 35

Memory Lane: Authors 36

PUBLICATION CREDITS Vice President for Communications and Marketing: Santhana Naidu Vice President for Institutional Advancement: Steven P. Brady Alumni Association President: Kelly (Sullivan) Noel, Class of 2002 Office of Alumni Relations: Brandon Zollner, Executive Director; Katie Hoffmann, Assistant Director; Charlie Ricker, Assistant Director; Holly Kowalski, Administrative Assistant Office of Communications and Marketing: Bryan Cantwell, Photographer; Hyung-Jung Chang, Graphic Designer; David Essex, Multimedia Producer; Arthur Foulkes, Writer; Shaun Hussey, User Experience Strategist; Dale Long, Executive Editor and Director of Media Relations; Traci Nelson-Albertson, Creative Director; Paul Shepherd, Senior Director; Alia Shuck, Senior Project Manager; Steve Voltmer, Web Developer; Majel Wells, Communications and Marketing Coordinator; Hayley Williams, Communications and Marketing Specialist Cover Design: Traci Nelson-Albertson Cover Photo: Bryan Cantwell Page Design: Chris Denison Contributing Writers: Herb Bailey

Contributing Photographers: Lyndi Bahr; Katana Colledge/WMHD; Fiber Bond Corporation; Government Contracting Weekly; Bryan Grant, Pixil Studio Photography; Jim Grey; Carl Herakovich/“Rose Poly and Me”; Brian Huber, Watchfire Signs; LaderaTech; AJ Mast for General Motors/GM Media Center; NASA/JPL-Caltech; Photo Fusion Studio; Rose-Hulman Archives; Rose-Hulman Athletics; Union Hospital Communications; Ben Vosmek/“Our Mascot was a Fire Truck”; Stefani Vande Lune; Jess Zaiss Photography Archive Research: Ryan Roberts, User Services, Logan Library Class Notes/Alumni News Contact: Send alumni news and address updates to alumniaffairs@rose-hulman.edu Echoes is published by: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 5500 Wabash Ave., Terre Haute, IN 47803 Echoes Contact: Dale.Long@rose-hulman.edu Digital copies of this and past issues are available at www.rose-hulman.edu/echoes It is the policy of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to admit students on the basis of their academic ability. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology does not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, citizenship status, disability, veteran status or sexual orientation.

Echoes Again Honored Echoes earned Bronze third-place honors in the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education’s 2019 Best of CASE V district publication contest for institutions in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. This marks the third consecutive year that the magazine has been recognized in this contest.

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

From the President

@ROSEHULMANPREZ

I f you thought being a student at Rose-Hulman was challenging, imagine suddenly taking that experience online.

This spring, that’s exactly what happened as we moved nearly all of our students off campus and initiated remote instruction in response to COVID-19. Practically overnight our faculty, staff and students had to adapt to a stark new reality and, I’m pleased to report, the results have been

BY ROB COONS, PRESIDENT coons@rose-hulman.edu

impressive. Our students have risen to the challenge and our professors have found entertaining, engaging and creative ways to make remote learning enjoyable and effective.

For a school that prides itself on giving each student personal attention, this has been no small achievement.

2

So, while this health crisis has interrupted our normal routine, it has also inspired us to find new ways to connect with our students and with each other. Far from halting all operations, COVID-19 has actually helped us become more flexible and discover new ways of delivering on our educational mission.

One improvement has been in our ability to reach prospective students. Our website has been updated with several virtual tour videos introducing high school students considering Rose-Hulman to many facets of our campus, from admissions and financial aid to labs, classrooms and recreational opportunities. We’ve also posted a virtual campus tour using Google Earth and uploaded dozens of videos showcasing opportunities available to our students.

I’m also pleased to note that, instead of being canceled, our Spring Career Fair was simply moved online. The virtual event included more than 110 companies and organizations—a record number—eager to connect with our students, including members of our graduating class.

Speaking of the Class of 2020, our Commencement Committee was not about to let our graduation ceremony be anything but spectacular, even if delivered remotely.

The committee has worked hard and engaged practically every member of our community to

“ While this health crisis has interrupted our normal routine, it has also inspired us to find new ways to connect with our students and with each other.”

“ We do not welcome difficult times, but, as long as we meet challenges with a willingness to learn, faith in ourselves and dedication to our mission, we will emerge from those times wiser, stronger and better.” make the May 30 online event very personal for each graduate and something that I believe will truly stand out among 2020 online commencements as one of the best in the United States.

What else would you expect from Rose?

These are just a few of the ways our faculty, staff and students have met the historic challenges we’ve faced this spring. Other ways include numerous social media campaigns to stay in touch and support each other, at-home fitness programs promoted by our Sports and Recreation Center staff, the continuation of AskRose (formerly Homework Hotline), online tutoring support for our students through the Learning Center, and engineering and science lessons posted online by our Office of Alumni Relations for parents challenged to find ways to keep their homebound K-12 students learning and entertained.

We are now turning our attention to the rapidly approaching summer session and fall quarter; sorting through the myriad of sources of information and attempting to predict exactly what fall will look like for us and the rest of the country and how we can best navigate this new landscape successfully. In whatever ways this new landscape develops in the next few months, we continue to utilize these three core principles to guide our work:

In my recent communications with current students and families, faculty and staff, I have continued to reiterate that our continued success in the delivery of the best undergraduate science, engineering and mathematics education will require the personalized attention and support our reputation is based upon now more than ever and in whatever form(s) this new world takes us.

From the President

@ROSEHULMANPREZ

I believe Benjamin Disraeli was right when he said, “There is no education like adversity.” We do not welcome difficult times, but, as long as we meet challenges with a willingness to learn, faith in ourselves and dedication to our mission, we will emerge from those times wiser, stronger and better.

That is how the Rose-Hulman family has met this present crisis. As a result, I am confident we will not simply persevere, but emerge with new insights, improved methods and an even deeper dedication to our students and our mission.

“ Our continued success in the delivery of the best undergraduate science, engineering and mathematics education will require the personalized attention and support our reputation is based upon now more than ever.”

Stay well,

• Maximizing student, faculty and staff health and safety • Maximizing student learning • Maximizing operational stability

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

3

STORY

BY DALE LONG

4

ne of the endearing qualities of Rose-Hulman is the close-knit

community within its students, faculty and staff members. Those relationships were put to the test earlier this spring when the coronavirus pandemic caused the need for classes to go online, students to move off campus, employees to work remotely and long-standing events to be canceled or modified.

Yet through it all, the bonds of Rose have remained and, in many cases, been strengthened. Whether it’s social media campaigns that show our connectedness, discovering new ways to engage through virtual and online events, faculty coming up with innovative and creative ways to still deliver an exceptional Rose-Hulman education in an online environment, or offices throughout campus adjusting to offer exciting new programs, one thing has remained the same: We are Forever Rose.

ROSE

CAMPUS STRENGTHENS TIES WITH ALUMNI, STUDENTS & OTHERS

O

Forever

STAYING CONNECTED

Cover Story

FOREVER ROSE

Companies Flock to Virtual Career Fair The online world is providing more career opportunities for Rose-Hulman students, with an all-time high 113 companies and graduate schools participating in the college’s first virtual career fair on April 29. That was when an in-person recruitment event was originally scheduled to be on campus.

Students created a basic profile and uploaded their resume in advance, then spent the day engaging with employers and graduate schools through waiting rooms, with the option of having individual or group chat conversations with recruiters. If things went well, the employer or graduate school had an option to send students a video link for an immediate Skype or Zoom interview session.

“Our students are very comfortable working in an online environment,” says Scott Tieken, director of career services and employer relations. “We’ve entered a whole new virtual world in career services. Employers and graduate schools are right there learning with us.”

The record number of companies and grad schools that participated in the virtual career fair exceeded the anticipated 75 prospects. Additionally, more than 6,600 employers and over 4,500 jobs are listed on the Handshake online student recruitment platform.

Despite the disrupted world economy caused by the pandemic, graduating Rose-Hulman seniors are still in demand.

FOREVER ROSE

Cover Story

STEM Projects for Future Rosies Like parents across the nation, many of our alumni and friends have suddenly become educators, with their children transitioning to a home learning environment. The Office of Alumni Relations is providing a chance to keep STEM cells working, for youths and adults, through a series of fun-filled activities in its Future Rosies program.

The weekly activities cover aspects of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and art.

Projects challenge kids just starting to explore their STEM interests, and offer something more complex for older, more experienced scientists, engineers, computer programmers and mathematicians. All elements of STEM are covered, including invention and entrepreneurship.

The machines activity offered the opportunity to build a Lego-based zip line, model elevator, rollercoaster (from straws), race car and a Rube Goldberg machine. The five forces affecting civil engineering projects were studied, as participants created bridges, towers, domes and tunnels. An introduction to computer coding provided five levels of activities, including a robots challenge, creating a 3D Flappy Bird and personalized Google header logo, participating in the Barbie: You Can Be Anything game, and creating a digital app. See photos and videos from families and their projects on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #futurerosies.

Alumni family members worked together to complete several fun-filled STEM projects this spring.

Meanwhile, the Alumni Association resurrected a Throwback Thursday photo campaign through its Rose-Hulman Alumni Facebook page, featuring images of past campus shenanigans, historic buildings and vintage special events.

‘Amazing’ Graduation Event Planned for Class of 2020 It might not be the traditional experience that members of the 2020 graduating class had in mind, but this year’s Commencement will be an amazing experience, thanks to a virtual event that centered on making May 30 as personal and special as their on-campus ceremony would have been.

Starting at 8:30 p.m. EST, the event will include the traditional “walk” through campus, short addresses from members of the senior class, a brief keynote speech from Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, recognition of graduates receiving honors and awards, and an opportunity for each senior to “receive” their diploma from their respective department head. At the end, members of the Class of 2020 will have an opportunity to interact live with classmates, professors, coaches and other members of the Rose-Hulman community. There will be a few other special touches that will be sure to make the experience uniquely Rose.

Find out more at www.rose-hulman.edu/ceremony.

Meanwhile, these other online events have kept alumni and students connected this spring: Virtual happy hours have allowed alumni in the Cincinnati and Chicago areas to interact, with more cities being planned by the Office of Alumni Relations.

An alumni trivia night was a popular place for teams of alumni, family and friends to gather. Look for more of these events as well in the future.

A special trivia contest for students and friends was organized by the Office of Student Affairs, organized by 2011 alumnus Marc Pardee.

The Residence Life Team has organized a new “Talkin’ Bout Rose” podcast on Wednesdays, starting at 9 p.m. EST, on Spotify and online radio station WMHD (www.wmhdradio.org).

Student groups have been hosting club and organization meetings to build continuity for the 2020-21 school year.

(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

5

Cover Story

FOREVER ROSE (CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE)

Staying Physically, Mentally Fit A special social media network organized by the sports and recreation facilities staff is keeping the campus community physically and mentally fit and active these days—just like if they were on campus. A continuing series of video installments provide fitness, intramural and recreation activities on the Recreation, Sports and Athletic Facilities’ Facebook page (/RoseRecSports) and via the social media hashtag #stayingremotelyconnected.

Rediscovering Our Campus Alumni can experience what it is like to visit campus and see its many changes through a new online Let’s Start, Let’s Connect, Let’s Discover, and Let’s Explore experience. The project was produced in partnership with the Offices of Enrollment Management and Communications and Marketing, along with a number of campus offices.

The Let’s Start section covers everything from academics to student life. Short videos replicate the in-person Preview Day experience, as some familiar faces tell the Rose-Hulman story. The Let’s Connect area provides a way for prospective students and their families to get answers to any of their questions, through personal discussions with admissions counselors, faculty and staff.

See how students won’t just find themselves, they’ll find their people through a Let’s Discover showcase of videos featuring some of our favorite people, projects and places on campus. The Let’s Explore adventure features a Google Earth Tour that highlights campus academic buildings, labs and more.

View all of these new experiences at www.rose-hulman.edu/visit.

6

“We wanted to remain engaged with the students and provide the extracurricular experience that they are missing out on by not being physically on campus,” says Seth Woodason, director of sports and recreation facilities. “Developing #stayingremotelyconnected has helped expand the program across all of our platforms.

Seeing the engagement from students, the campus community and parents has been encouraging and well worth the effort.”

Videos have included staff members leading online physical fitness classes (posted each Monday), creating healthy snacks (Wednesday) and helpful how-to professional development tips (Friday). Other features provided a Couch-to-5K running program that culminated with a live virtual 5-kilometer run and the college’s annual The Tusk Triathlon and 5-kilometer run to support local breast cancer patients and their families.

Chinese Parents Show Campus, City Pride Parents of current and past Chinese students showed their gratitude to Rose-Hulman and the Terre Haute community by donating approximately 1,000 surgical masks to Union Health—a much-needed personal protection resource for health care professionals amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Cover Story

FOREVER ROSE

Other masks were provided to the institute for use by Rose-Hulman students, faculty and staff.

Remembering Past Athletic Successes The Athletic Department’s new webpage and social media project highlighted some of the memorable seasons by the institute’s athletic teams, while helping educate current Fightin’ Engineer fans about the history of Rose-Hulman and Rose Polytechnic athletics.

The Athletic History Project began with the discussion of the undefeated 1958 football team and included the 1976-77 men’s basketball team that advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III national tournament, the 2016 baseball team that was one win away from the NCAA Division III World Series, and women’s soccer and basketball teams that qualified for postseason play.

The masks were sent by the parent representatives to Jared Goulding, the longtime associate director for graduate and international admissions. He assisted hundreds of students and parents from China and other regions of Southeast Asia during their days on campus.

Parent Zhaohui Shen stated in a written statement, “The donation was a way to thank Rose-Hulman for the care and cultivation of our kids. We are very fortunate that our children are studying and living in such friendly places. We are touched by the goodwill of the residents of RHIT and Terre Haute, and want to protect our common home and family in the wake of this global disaster.”

One memorable season was posted from each of Rose-Hulman’s current 20 varsity athletic teams. See the list and read the stories at rose-hulman.edu/athletichistoryproject.

Alumni and fans can contribute their own memories to the project by sending photographs to Kevin Lanke, a 1997 economics alumnus and assistant athletic director for sports information and communications, at kevin.lanke@rose-hulman.edu.

Jared Goulding (right) presented nearly 1,000 masks to help health care workers at Terre Haute's Union Hospital.

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

7

Cover Story

FOREVER ROSE

WHEN YOU CARE ENOUGH TO SEND THE VERY BEST...

The Office of Enrollment Management put together the prospects’ names and addresses while the Office of Institutional Advancement mailed the information and Rose-Hulman blank postcards to the legion of note writers.

“We wanted each postcard to be genuine and reflect each alumni’s beliefs about the value in Rose-Hulman that they hold so near and dear,” says Steve Brady, vice president for institutional advancement. “We thought a postcard would be much more personable than sending an email message. It showed that each alumnus cared enough about Rose and its future to put their thoughts down on paper, in their own handwriting.”

Meanwhile, 20 alumni conducted online interviews to review this year’s most talented prospective students to be chosen for scholarships and other financial resources. These students were identified for their high academic credentials, diverse backgrounds and strong interests in science, engineering and mathematics.

Rose-Hulman adopted Hallmark Cards’ familiar slogan this spring as the college’s enrollment recruitment team grew with more than 120 alumni volunteers writing personal notes, interviewing scholarship candidates, talking with prospects, and helping host information sessions—in hopes of encouraging the 2020-21 incoming class to follow in their pathways to campus.

“What better way to highlight the values of a RoseHulman education than our alumni, the people who are benefiting from those experiences?” states Tom Bear, vice president for enrollment management. “Our alumni are Rose-Hulman’s best brand ambassadors.”

Handwritten messages featuring many of those themes resonated throughout the nearly 1,400 postcards that more than 100 alumni wrote to prospective students during the last month of this year’s recruitment campaign.

At the bottom of each card was the printed statement: From One Rose Grad to a Future Rose Grad.

This effort originally sprouted from members of the Alumni Advisory Board, and the Office of Alumni Relations accumulated other alumni volunteers.

8

“Our devoted alumni, along with increased scholarship opportunities, allowed us to identify some of the best high school students from across the world to attend Rose-Hulman,” says Bear, adding that 50 percent of the originally designated scholarship candidates chose to enter the 2020-21 incoming class. “This new program has been a big success and we’re going to continue to reap its many benefits.”

Finally, several alumni helped Rose-Hulman’s admissions team host student recruitment meetand-greet events for students from the Chicago area, Houston, San Diego, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Terre Haute. A December event in Denver allowed President Rob Coons to hand-deliver enrollment acceptance letters to area students.

“We want our alumni to remain actively involved with Rose-Hulman and its successes,” Brady says.

Alumni wishing to join in these campaigns can reach out to alumni@rose-hulman.edu. n

Recommend a Future Fightin’ Engineer Know an area high school student who might be a candidate to attend Rose-Hulman or one of its summer camps, like Operation Catapult or Project Select? Reach out to the Office of Admissions for the 2020-21 recruitment year.

Better yet, alumni can help underwrite a student’s application fee for these programs and others. Join the Admissions’ alumni team at admissions@rose-hulman.edu.

Students, Alumni Relaunch WMHD

Video may have killed the radio star, but the internet has resurrected Rose-Hulman’s campus radio station, WMHD. The station has been relaunched as a free music alternative, broadcasting 24 hours a day online at www.wmhdradio.org, through the efforts of 35 devoted students and five alumni.

Cover Story

FOREVER ROSE

WMHD alumnus Jim Grey (left) joined station members in celebrating the station's relaunch this spring.

Four new weekly shows are airing: New Music Monday (noon and 8 p.m.)

Ladies First (Tuesdays, 8 p.m.)

Kevin Music Hour (Wednesday, 8 p.m.)

Abbey Road Friday Lunchtime Show (noon) A special relaunch party was conducted amid the public health pandemic. It featured students and the familiar voices of alumni broadcasters Val Grafton (2018), Jim Grey (1989), Kevin Lanke (1997) and Erik Hayes (1997) introducing some of their favorite songs to share with the audience. What started as a two-hour show turned into a 41/2-hour labor of love for all the participants.

“Despite the pandemic, we’ve really connected with the students off campus, faculty on campus and alumni scattered around the world,” says WMHD general manager Katana Colledge. “Being a radio station, we also must be able to connect to the music world at large. College radio stations have always been a place to experiment with new music, different music and explore all the genres the world has to offer.”

Grey adds, “It’s been lovely to reconnect with WMHD and know that a group of students have not only evolved it to keep pace with the times, but are just as excited and passionate about what they’re doing as we were in the late 1980s. I also love that the WMHD call letters endure, even though there is no reason to keep them on an online station other than to maintain that connection with the past.” n

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

9

Cover Story

PERSONAL TOUCH

A Virtually Seamless Transition TEACHING ONLINE, FACULTY MAINTAIN PERSONAL TOUCH When reports of the coronavirus started emanating from China, chemistry and biochemistry professor Rebecca DeVasher started developing do-it-yourself virtual and simulated laboratory projects for her classes. She worked with the Labster online lab repository to provide free virtual labs that engage her students with interesting and educational organic chemistry and research activities.

DeVasher has been pleasantly surprised by how her students have enjoyed aspects of the new online learning environment.

“There is a lot of work involved and I’ve found it’s really important to stick to the fundamentals of what I’ve learned over the years at RoseHulman: Put student engagement first and DO NOT overthink the small stuff,” DeVasher says.

Rebecca DeVasher

One of her Organic Chemistry III students passed along a note stating: “You have made this transition more normal than I thought possible … I love your humor and your love for your students.

Thanks for all you do.”

Learn more about Rose-Hulman’s outstanding faculty at www.rose-hulman.edu.

10

Several faculty have shared their stories, as they’ve adjusted to online teaching.

Diane Evans’ skills as an engaging educator have

continued as she helps students learn to appreciate analyzing statistical methods. Students in her Six Sigma in Practice course were starting to collect data about hand sanitizer usage on campus when the coronavirus pandemic halted the project.

Undaunted, the class’s statistical pursuits turned to tracking Evans’ daily exercise habits.

“This is providing extra motivation for my daily exercise habits. I’m inspired to get data for my students. It’s very helpful and engaging for me as well,” says the engineering management professor.

In other online sessions, Evans can be viewed online donning a medical coat, gloves and safety glasses and grabbing toy surgical tools while using the popular Operation game to consider the improved surgery times of multiple health care procedures for a “patient.” She collected data for student teams— depicted by two stuffed elephant figures.

Diane Evans

Teaching any new course can be a quite a challenge, but adjusting to teaching in the online environment needed even more teamwork for mathematics professor John Rickert and music professor David Chapman while teaching a Math and Music course for the first time.

The class explored how understanding the basics of concepts within each area could foster a better appreciation for both. “We benefitted from leaving a great deal of flexibility in our timeline and lesson plans. We easily adapted the course to the new schedule and online environment,” says Chapman.

In another new course, students used 3D technology to create beautiful prints while studying the century-old art of printmaking by hand from art professor Soully Abas.

Originally, the students were going to use professional-grade and specially designed presses to create their prints from linoleum or wood blocks.

However, through remote learning, they created their designs by hand or digitally, made 3D models and sent them to campus for production by 3D printers in the Kremer Innovation Center. Each student received a package with their block and all the tools necessary to make their prints. Abas posted a video demonstrating the technique to complete the process.

Faculty and students used a variety of new online tools and techniques in their spring quarter classes.

Cover Story

PERSONAL TOUCH

New Oakley Observatory

Director Dominic Ludovici, professor of physics and Dominic Ludovici optical engineering, opened the skies this spring, with Facebook Live events providing opportunities for people to learn about solar and dark sky astronomical objects. Meanwhile, his students made 10-minute presentations about astronomy, machine learning and magnetic nanoparticles to a global audience—also through the observatory’s Facebook page. The sessions have been popular, with some attracting more than 1,000 views.

English professor Julia Williams set up a Google map

“Where in the World are Dr. J’s Students?” to track the location of each of her students—as far away as South Korea. She made the class as asynchronous as possible, allowing students to gather technical and professional communication course materials at their convenience.

Then, “Tea and Chat” sessions gave Williams the opportunity to keep track of students’ progress and discuss a variety of topics. During one chat, a student’s younger brother joined on the call and Williams learned that their father is a Rose-Hulman alum.

“I have learned things about my students that a conventional classroom may not have afforded,” the professor said. n

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

11

Photo Album

SPECIAL PLACES

SPRING BLOSSOMS CAMPUS BEAUTY Hope blooms eternal each spring, bringing an

array of vibrant colors to campus. The assortment of blossoming trees and budding flowers is one of the many reasons Rose-Hulman has been recognized as a Green Campus by The Princeton Review and a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation. RoseHulman receives high marks for having sustainabilityfocused academic degree offerings and having 10 percent or more of its annual food service budget spent on locally grown or organic food options.

Also, a 2019 survey located 1,090 trees within the 1,300-acre campus, excluding wooded areas. More trees are planted each year. “We place a high value on sustainability, through campus programs and best building practices,” says President Rob Coons.

“Trees help make our campus a beautiful place to enjoy, whether working, studying or taking part in extracurricular events.”

12

PHOTOS BY BRYAN CANTWELL CAMPUS PHOTOGRAPHER

Photo Album

SPECIAL PLACES

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

13

Campus News

WHAT’S HAPPENING

New Structural Testing Lab Providing Realistic Civil Eng. Experiences A new structural testing laboratory is engaging civil engineering students in high-impact experiential learning exercises. Students can gain valuable insight into the behavior of large-scale structures and building foundations, and then utilize that knowledge to become better design engineers.

The facility’s equipment inside a building on the expanded campus space and former Hulman family property is primarily being used in courses examining the structural design of concrete and steel, geotechnical engineering, construction and foundation engineering, and structural design in prestressed concrete.

The lab provides students the opportunity to work with testing capabilities typically only available at larger research universities.

Rose-Hulman shared a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program to establish the lab. The facility was organized by professors Kyle Kershaw and Matt Lovell, a 2006 civil engineering alumnus.

Students Excel in SWE PepsiCo Engineering Challenge Chemical engineering students Rachel Shubella (left in photo) and Christina Gray passed a new version of the Pepsi Challenge this winter, earning second-place honors in the PepsiCo and Society of Women Engineers’ 2019 Student Engineering Challenge. It had female U.S. collegiate student teams developing ideas for the company’s Food for Good initiative.

The duo proposed a way to improve the cleaning process of the company’s transport totes, used to deliver millions of beverage products annually across the country.

Their idea: using a supercritical carbon dioxide-based cleaning system to replace PepsiCo’s current wipe-down cleaning, an inconsistent process that wastes water and chemicals.

The students made a formal presentation before a panel of judges, including PepsiCo officials, at the 2019 SWE Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif. A team from the University of Texas earned first-place honors, while students from the University of Illinois were third.

Online Connecting with Code Camp a Hit with Kids Rose-Hulman’s first free online Connecting with Code computer programming camps was a huge success, thanks to David Fisher, a 2000 mechanical engineering alumnus.

The camps introduced more than 5,000 registrants late this spring to computing, robotics and creating their own computer games.

Kids in kindergarten through third grade used Scratch programming to create their own games, while the Tinkercad website allowed students in grades 4-8 to learn software development and simple engineering skills. Over the course of five days, instruction and projects covered such basic concepts as 3D modeling,

14

Arduino coding, electrical circuits and coding blocks.

“Each day we showcased a new game that we build together in a video and we gave kids an assignment for additional features they could add. It’s a great way to start coding,” says Fisher, professor of computer science, software engineering and mechanical engineering.

</>

The online camps were so successful, more online events are being planned in the future. Events will be announced at www.connectingwithcode.org/home.

Campus News

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Faculty Trio Retiring After Excelling in Classroom, Lab Three veteran professors with 82 years of teaching excellence are retiring at the end of this academic year after careers as high-achieving educators, scholars and colleagues who have helped establish Rose-Hulman’s national reputation in their educational fields.

Robert Bunch, professor of physics and optical engineering for 37 years, earned the Board of Trustees Outstanding Scholar Award in 2000 for his broad research background in the development of optics-based products, optical instrument design, and fiber optic components, systems and sensors.

Richard Layton, professor of mechanical engineering, worked with faculty colleagues to write The Engineering Communication Manual to help engineers develop their technical communication skills. A member of the faculty since 2000, he is a licensed professional engineer and brought a wealth of industry experience into the classroom.

Bunch

Layton

Moore

Daniel Moore, professor of electrical and computer engineering, returned to the classroom this year after spending 2018-19 as a senior adviser with the State Department’s Office of Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary. He specialized in teaching engineering design and engineering ethics. He came to Rose-Hulman in 1995.

Naidu Leading Communications & Marketing Efforts

Students took their project ideas to the world stage.

Mechanical Engineering Students Put Capstone Ideas on World Stage A team of mechanical engineering seniors earned the Excellence Prize at the 2019 Global Capstone Design Fair, at South Korea’s E2Festa engineering education festival, for their scale model prototype of a self-contained aquaponics device.

Bo Geyer, Nate Michael and Matthew White have spent this academic year developing components for a self-sustained recirculation system that takes waste produced by farmed fish to provide nutrients for plants. These plants in turn help purify the water for the fish, while producing vegetables and fruits.

The fish are harvested once grown to a suitable size and weight.

A large-scale version of the device may contribute to the proposed aquaculture program at Ivy Tech College-Wabash Valley.

Aquaculture is now considered one of the world’s fastest-growing forms of food production.

Two other mechanical engineering projects also were displayed at the international event.

Success-proven higher education marketing and communications professional Santhana Naidu is the new vice president for communications and marketing. He is providing counsel and support about external and internal communications matters, crisis communications, and best ways to market Rose-Hulman to achieve its strategic initiatives, especially those involving student recruitment, institutional advancement and alumni relations.

Naidu

For the past seven years, Naidu has served as associate vice president and chief marketing officer at Indiana State University and formerly was the university’s director of web services for two years.

He helped ISU achieve success in increasing its brand awareness and perception and leveraging the brand to support enrollment and advancement.

Naidu’s previous experiences also include being director of online marketing and analytics for Williams Randall Marketing in Indianapolis.

Stay Informed about What’s Happening on Campus at www.rose-hulman.edu/news.

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

15

Alumni Feature

CALL TO ACTION

Pandemic Relief Brings Helping Hands

STORY

BY DALE LONG

Alumni continue to use technology, research knowledge, teamwork, and can-do attitudes to help the public address significant public health challenges.

Fred Blessinger, a 1986 mechanical engineering alumnus, and Rolf Alexis, a 1989 chemical engineering graduate, led an initiative to coordinate the recommissioning of General Motors Company’s idled industrial and commercial property in Kokomo, Ind., to meet the global backorder of critical care ventilators capable of supporting patients fighting the coronavirus.

GM formed a partnership with Ventec Life Systems in March to provide necessary supplies to health care facilities dealing with coronavirus patients through the federal government’s Defense Production Act. An existing three-story building at the GM Kokomo facility was selected and members of GM and Ventec worked around the clock to refurbish the building with the manufacturing and testing capacity to meet the urgent need for more ventilators. Production was ready within 30 days, with a goal to provide 6,000 ventilators by June 1. Manufacturing capacity is planned to be at a rate of 10,000 per month by August.

Blessinger is an operational excellence leader at GM’s Kokomo operations while Alexis is a senior engineer for the company’s global facilities. The alumnus specializes in tackling organizational and technological challenges, including lean manufacturing machining and assembly operations.

MEETING A COMMUNITY’S NEED Another massive transformation took place early this spring inside North America’s largest convention center, McCormick’s Place in downtown Chicago.

Sections of its flexible-use space became an alternative care medical facility for non-critical patient hospital overflow, in preparation of an expected surge of coronavirus patients at Chicago-area hospitals.

The facility was available throughout April.

Brett Olson, a 2003 mechanical engineering alumnus, assisted colleagues of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) commercial real estate services leadership team to work with the U.S. Army Corps of

16

Engineers, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Chicago and Illinois governmental officials to create 1,000 beds for patients.

Olson used his experience in managing hospitals, commercial office buildings, federal buildings, and retail spaces to help JLL get ancillary services ready to handle the project’s numerous technical and operational requirements. These included mechanical, electrical, plumbing operations, janitorial service, biomedical equipment maintenance, and security services.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker marveled at the speed and teamwork that went into the project. In a joint statement, they stated: “We thank all our dedicated partners for their hard work and partnership in creating one of the nation’s best operating and largest alternate care facilities.”

A JLL employee since 2006, Olson is an account lead in the company’s general services administration, after being vice president of regional facilities and managing operations, sustainability and energy projects. He specializes in driving collaboration to deliver customer services and efficient property management.

Critical care ventilators started rolling off the assembly line at GM's site in Kokomo, Ind., to help meet the global demand.

FOX MODELING THE NEXT MOVE A pandemic model for COVID-19 cases by researchers at the University of Texas, co-directed by 2013 applied biology alumnus Spencer Fox, informed public health officials regionally and nationally about the benefits of social distancing in preventing the spread of the illness. The model suggests that reducing daily contacts between people by 90 percent would be expected to “flatten the curve” of the unmanageable surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations through the spring and summer.

The model uses geolocation data from cellphones, aggregated and anonymized, to reflect how often people congregate in public places such as restaurants, bars, schools, parks, pharmacies, and grocery stores, as well as the amount of time people spend at work versus at home. The team’s findings, funded by the National Institutes of Health, have been provided to national, state and local leaders to respond and advise public policy.

“Our early projections about the extent of the pandemic’s impact on human life served their purpose, galvanizing action to fight the pandemic and thus altering the course of an epidemic,” said Fox. “This pandemic has served as a reminder of how important epidemiological modeling will be long term, continuing to learn about COVID-19 and preparing for the next potential pandemic.”

Assisting the team has been 1986 chemistry alumnus David Lakey, vice chancellor for health affairs and chief medical officer for the UT System. He was commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services from 2007-15 and served as the state’s chief health official during public health emergencies such as H1N1 and Ebola.

KERNS HELPS CLEAR AIR FOR MASK MAKERS The role of 2000 civil engineering alumna Shannon Kerns as sales and marketing director shifted to becoming a valuable community servant when Fiber Bond Corporation’s facility in Michigan City, Ind., converted a portion of its air filtration product

manufacturing capacity to produce sterile masks.

The items were provided to company employees and their families, along with Northwest Indiana hospital workers, to help protect them and those they come in contact with during the pandemic.

Kerns also collected excess Fiber Bond filtration media for distribution as inserts in masks created by local sewing groups and home seamstresses. One of the recipients was her sister, Kristy Unton, wife of 2002 computer science alumnus Chris Unton. Kristy Unton made specially designed masks for friends and family members. One mask was made for Kayla Harding, a first-year civil engineering student and younger sister of Shannon and Kristy.

Alumni Feature

CALL TO ACTION

DOCTORS HELPING OTHERS AND THEMSELVES The call of 1973 bioengineering alumnus Rick Henthorn to service as a veteran medical professional has had him working overtime to help patients in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area dealing with the effects of the coronavirus. Henthorn specializes in cardiac electro-physiology. That knowledge and expertise has been very helpful during the pandemic.

“In my opinion, Rick is a true hero,” says 1973 classmate and longtime friend George Rodibaugh.

“He could have retired four years ago, like the rest of us. Instead, he’s still saving lives. He’s an honorable alumnus without a peer.”

MORAVEC RECOVERS, HELPING OTHERS As an emergency medicine assistant, 2014 chemical engineering alumna Katherine Moravec was helping patients deal with the effects of the coronavirus outbreak until she contacted the disease herself. “I did not have to be hospitalized, am working on getting back to strength, and have returned to work,” she reports. Moravec has worked at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, N.C., after earning a medical degree in 2018 from the Indiana University School of Medicine. n

Stefani Vande Lune (BSAB, 2006; MSBE, 2008) joined Indiana University Medical School-South Bend students in filling hand sanitizer bottles at the Indiana Whiskey Company. The supplies were given to essential businesses within the community.

“I think it's a great reminder to future doctors that, in the name of safety and patient care, no task is too trivial. It's all about teamwork and pitching in wherever you can, even if your labels aren't always straight,” she says.

Shannon Kerns (CE, 2020) worked with Fiber Bond Corporation colleagues to produce sterile masks for employees and Northwest Indiana health care workers.

We would like to share stories about other alumni and their efforts. Send details to alumniaffairs@rose-hulman.edu or dale.long@rose-hulman.edu.

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

17

Alumni Feature

BRIGHT IDEA

Lighting

Las Vegas

Alumni Duo Connects Ingenuity, Invention for Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Largest Video Display

18

STORY

BY DALE LONG

Las Vegas’ high rollers aren’t the only one’s saying “go big or go home.”

It also could classify the massive engineering challenge that’s reaffirmed the City of Lights’ reputation, with the world’s largest video screen being updated into a spectacular high-tech display that’s dazzled awe-struck visitors since its unveiling on New Year’s Eve.

Alumni Feature

BRIGHT IDEA

The technical know-how and can-do spirit of 2001 alumni Michael Cox and Scott Ohlmiller played key roles in Watchfire Signs’ development and installation of the unique light-emitting, diode-based canopy that’s transformed downtown Las Vegas’ popular pedestrian Fremont Street Experience into a dramatic display providing clear and captivating content night and day.

“Everything about this project was big,” says Cox, the company’s senior manager of electrical engineering projects.

Not only was the project’s $30 million cost huge, but it also had the following massive dimensions:

canopy is 1,377 feet long • The (a little bigger than 4 / football fields). are 49 million LEDs emulating light • There from 64,192 custom-made modules. total of 16.3 million total pixels create a • Aresolution quality of 15,104 by 1,088—seven 1

2

times brighter and four times sharper than the original from the early 2000s.

The end result is a display that’s used to showcase advertisements, live events and concerts, and featured in a free musically driven light show that operates every hour beginning at dusk until midnight (1 a.m. during the summer) and lasts six minutes.

Annually, more than 23 million visitors travel to Fremont Street to experience the canopy and adjacent casinos and restaurants.

Cox was among officials from Watchfire Signs that visited the location in August 2015 to get an idea of the project’s scope, examine the original display, and determine if the company could complete the many technical tasks—on time and within cost. After all, a project of this magnitude was unchartered territory for the Danville, Ill., based company. Cox played a key role in developing the successful project bid, trying to design enough on paper to come up with an accurate system cost and defining project requirements.

“There were A LOT of unknowns, much more than any of our other projects,” states the electrical engineering alumnus.

(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

19

Alumni Feature

BRIGHT IDEA (CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE)

Ohlmiller, the firm’s technical lead electrical engineer, created a new electronic control system for the display, featuring eight synchronized sections greater than high definition. He also helped design the initial module prototype, assisted software engineers in the design of the project’s control system, including embedded software, and was as anxious as anyone while being on-site when the first of eight sections was turned on in Las Vegas for the first time.

“With the installation split into monthly phases, we needed to keep as much of the canopy as possible in operation throughout the installation, which required running synchronously off two different video systems,” says Ohlmiller, a computer engineering graduate who also has worked on large video displays in New York City’s Times Square and throughout Chicago. “We designed a completely new system that would keep each of the eight independent systems synchronized. The final control system is a combination of off-the-shelf components and a custom design that could be configured on-site after manufacturing.”

As technical lead electrical engineering, Scott Ohlmiller (CPE, 2001) has helped Watchfire Sign develop several large video display projects.

20

Alumni Feature

BRIGHT IDEA

Through their efforts Watchfire designed the project’s modules to be cut when fitting around pillars, wires and other structural impediments so as to minimize the impact on the overall display. Perforations in each module also let daylight filter through and air circulate, critical for dispersing heat in Las Vegas’ desert location and illuminating the street below.

High-contrast materials and an innovative lighttrapping design combine to make it possible to run content on the canopy during the day—something that was impossible with the previous design.

“We designed the wiring so that most of it was done here (Danville) and there wasn’t much to do in the field,” says Cox. “All data connections were designed with waterproof quick-connect fittings, so it is easy to install. The old system had large transformers that needed to be mounted and hardwired on top of the canopy. We removed all of that. Now everything is in or on each subframe.”

Michael Cox (EE, 2001) is Watchfire Sign's senior manager of electrical projects. He was part of the project from its start in 2015.

As you might imagine, the project’s construction also required ingenuity and teamwork. There were 59 shipments to deliver 1,000 subframes of modules.

Each module was tested and calibrated prior to shipment. The first shipment arrived in April 2019 as workers began removing the old façade from the canopy. Installation began in May, with the goal of completing the canopy in eight discreet sections by December. Each section was completed and tested before preparations began on the next section. Back in Danville, Watchfire employees worked to stay one section ahead of the installation crew. As progress was made during the summer, content played on sections of both the new and old displays. Visitors were able to see the stark difference in brightness and resolution. The final shipment left the factory in October and the project was completed ahead of schedule and within budget.

“We are a team of innovators, combining new design with in-field excellence in service and support. This was an all-hands-on-deck project for Watchfire, and nearly every employee was involved in some way,” says Watchfire Signs President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Harriott. “We had to get very creative to develop a unique product that met all the distinctive needs for Fremont Street…Interest in this product has been very high and we’re looking forward to using it for other projects.”

Cox adds, “As a fairly small company, we’re often asked to understand things outside of our area of expertise.

This project, especially, threw a few curve balls our way.

There were things within our area, such as a unique power system, to other things not electrical related, such as reading architectural drawings to understand the existing system. The broad education from Rose-Hulman certainly helped in this specific project, as well as the day-to-day tasks that come our way.” n

Be dazzled by the new Fremont Street Experience video display www.watchfiresigns.com/fremont-street/

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

21

Alumni Feature

MARS MISSION

Searching for Signs of Ancient Life on Mars t

o get to the bottom of a mystery, the great detective Sherlock Holmes often fixed his eyes close to the ground to carefully examine a fresh crime scene in search of the most minute-sized clues.

Within the next year, a scientific instrument designed by NASA, named SHERLOC, will be doing the same thing on Mars, thanks to the work of 2000 applied optics alumnus Brian Monacelli and a team of engineers and scientists at the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. Only instead of solving some Earth-bound mystery, this SHERLOC will be trying to answer the question: Billions of years ago, was there life on Mars?

SHERLOC stands for Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and

22

STORY BY ARTHUR FOULKES

Chemicals–a true mouthful. The instrument, a spectrometer, will use sophisticated optical devices, including an ultraviolet laser that fluoresces chemicals, to scan the surface and near-subsurface of Mars in search of organic and chemical evidence that life ever existed on the Red Planet.

“It will be looking for chemicals that are indicative of life,” says Monacelli, a five-year veteran of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission team. He was responsible for alignment and testing of SHERLOC’s optical systems.

SHERLOC will be mounted at the end of a robotic arm attached to Perseverance, the remote-controlled six-wheel Mars 2020 rover, which engineers and scientists will direct from millions of miles away through the Deep Space Network from NASA facilities on Earth.

MARS MISSION

Applied optics alumnus Brian Monacelli is part of the NASA team that developed the SHERLOC project to search for signs of ancient Martian life through the Mars 2020 mission.

He showed Rose-Hulman students a model of the device and discussed his career with NASA during a campus visit.

The optical instrument will not actually touch the surface of Mars but will closely observe it through a magnifying lens about two inches from the dusty ground. And, like the fictional Sherlock Holmes, the device will be assisted

by Watson, the name NASA gave the rover’s main turret-mounted camera.

It will provide a wide-angle view to compliment the much more tightly focused view from SHERLOC’s camera.

sherloc (watson)

One challenge of the SHERLOC project was to make sure Mars 2020 doesn’t accidentally carry microbial life from Earth to the Martian surface,

Monacelli says. He adds that any contaminants would corrupt the science by adding a background signal. That’s why construction of SHERLOC and the rest of the mission’s equipment has been conducted in a cleanroom setting.

“SHERLOC is one of the cleanest instruments JPL has built. We want to measure for signs of Martian life, not for signs that we had pizza for lunch when we aligned its optics,” he says.

The Mars 2020 mission is set for liftoff this summer from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It is scheduled to touch down in Jezero Crater on Mars in February 2021. n

Scratching Surface of Exploring Mars The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the planet. The Mars 2020 mission addresses high-priority science goals for Mars exploration, including key astrobiology questions about the potential for life on Mars. The mission takes the next step by not only seeking signs of habitable conditions on Mars in the ancient past, but also searching for signs of past microbial life itself. The Perseverance rover introduces a drill that can collect core samples of the most promising rocks and soils and set them aside in a “cache” on the surface of Mars. A future mission could potentially return these samples to Earth for study by scientists. The mission also provides opportunities to gather knowledge and demonstrate technologies that address the challenges of future human expeditions of Mars. These include testing a method for producing oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, identifying other resources (such as subsurface water), and characterizing weather, dust, and other potential environmental conditions that could affect future astronauts living and working on Mars.

—Courtesy NASA

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

23

Alumni Feature

FIRE RETARDANT STORY BY ARTHUR FOULKES

BOLSEN BRINGING SCIENCE TO TACKLE BURNING PROBLEM

W

ith another wildfire season approaching in California and a just-concluded season of destructive fires in Australia, Wes Bolsen is using chemical science to stop future blazes before they start.

The 2000 electrical engineering alumnus helped a Denver-based startup, LaderaTech, bring to market a revolutionary spray-on flame retardant that adheres to grass and plant life in high-risk areas where wildfires often ignite. The product, known as FORTIFY, is already being used on private and state-owned property in California and is expected to be approved for use on federal property before the end of this year, according to Bolsen.

Contrary to widespread belief, most wildfires donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t start from random lightning strikes, Bolsen says. Most start near power lines, adjacent to highways, or along rail lines.

FORTIFY, which was developed by scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, contains an environmentally-benign hydrogel made from renewable resources that can be applied using 24

Electrical engineering alumnus Wes Bolsen is combating the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s devastating wildfires as director of wildfire prevention for St. Louis-based Perimeter Solutions.

conventional application techniques. And, while other outdoor flame retardants have shown some short-term benefits, they have not had the properties necessary to last a full season with just one application. FORTIFY is designed to adhere to plants and remain effective through an entire wildfire season, Bolsen says.

“It’s a whole new idea,” he states.

In 2019, FORTIFY was applied along a four-mile stretch of a California highway where 37 wildfires had started in a single year. “With the use of FORTIFY, we took it down to zero,” Bolsen says.

Earlier this spring, LaderaTech was acquired by Perimeter Solutions, the world’s largest maker of firefighting chemicals. The acquisition will help FORTIFY reach its commercial potential and add a durable, season-long proactive wildfire solution to the products offered by the St. Louis-based company, says Bolsen, who has moved from his position as president and CEO of LaderaTech to director of wildfire prevention for Perimeter Solutions.

residents. In Australia, fires have devastated enormous areas of the country and claimed human and animal lives as well. In many cases, the fires have been so large that they have affected the weather and were visible from outer space.

“As wildfires become more widespread, it’s crucial that utilities and state agencies begin looking at preventive and proactive solutions to the fires before they begin,” says Bolsen. “We know where most fires are starting, but before FORTIFY there was no way to prevent these fires throughout the peak fire season. We look forward to engaging with state and federal agencies, as well as public utilities, to begin applying FORTIFY in preparation for the 2020 wildfire season.” n

Alumni Feature

FIRE RETARDANT

Wildfires have devastated huge portions of California in recent years, impacting the lives of several million

“ As wildfires become more widespread, it’s crucial that utilities and state agencies begin looking at preventive and proactive solutions to the fires before they begin.”

Wes Bolsen (EE, 2000) Perimeter Solutions, Director of Wildfire Prevention

FORTIFY was successful in keeping wildfires from developing along a four-mile test stretch of a California highway in 2019.

FORTIFY contains an environmentallybenign hydrogel made from renewable resources that can be applied to grass and plant life in high-risk areas where wildfires often ignite.

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

25

BY PROFESSOR EMERITUS HERB BAILEY

You did well on the fall problems, with many solvers being listed below. As I get older, my son, Mark, a 1976 chemical engineering alumnus and frequent Challenge solver, will be assisting me with future columns. This issue’s Spring Bonus is challenging, and I am hoping for at least eight solvers.

SPRIN G PRO BLEM 1

SPRIN G BO N US

Find all possible solutions of the equation: |x + 3| = 2x + 1

∆ABC is isosceles, with angles as shown.

Show that BEF =30.

SPRIN G PRO BLEM 2

Hint: Show, in sequence, that the triangles, with base segments BC, CG, CF, GF, BE, and FE, are all isosceles. (Triangle with base GF is also equilateral.) Determine all angles as you proceed.

Consider the following banking transactions: Deposit $50 and make each of these withdrawals as fallows: Withdraw Withdraw Withdraw Withdraw Total $50

B

40

$20, leaving $30 $15, leaving $15 $9, leaving $6 $6, leaving $0 Total $51

20

This was his first Challenge solution in more than a decade.

50

C

A

E G

FALL BO N US SO LUTI O N Problem: Let ABC be a triangle and D a point on AB. If BC = 7, BD = 5, CD =3 and AD = 6. Find AC. Solution: Let E be the point on AB such that CE is perpendicular to AB. If x is the distance CE, then BE= BD + DE or œ49 – x2 = 5 + œ9 – x2. After squaring, collecting and squaring again, we find x 2 = 27/4. Also (CA)2 = x 2 + (EA)2,

C

where EA = 11– BE =11 – œ49 – x 2 = 9/2.

x

Thus (CA)2 = 27/4 + 81/4 = 27.

Hence CA = œ27 .

B

D

E

A

Send your solutions to Herb.Bailey@rose-hulman.edu or to: Herb Bailey, 8571 Robin Run Way, Avon, IN 46123. Alumni should include their class year.

Congratulations to the following solvers of the summer problems: ALUMNI: J. Moser, 1956; A. Sutton, 1956; D. Bailey, 1959; J. Kirk, 1960; W. Perkins, 1960; R. Archer, 1961; R. Ireland, 1961; J. Ray, 1961; J. Tindall, 1961; A. Cleek, 1964; S. James, 1965; J. Albertine, 1969; R. Lowe, 1969; S. Jordan, 1970; E. Arnold, 1971; D. Jordan, 1971; W. Pelz, 1971; D. Hagar, 1972; G. Houghton, 1972; D. Bryant, 1973; R. Kominiarek, 1973; M. Marinko, 1973; J. Zumar, 1973; T. Rathz, 1974; D. Wheaton, 1974; P. Eck, 1975; M. Bailey, 1976; J. Schroeder, 1976; T. Greer, 1978; S. Warner, 1978; R. Priem, 1979; J. Slupesky, 1979; R. Joyner, 1980; P. Gunn, 1981; S. Nolan, 1981; M. Taylor, 1982; J. Marum, 1983; B. Downs, 1983; B. Green, 1983; R. Marchant, 1983; K. Shafer, 1983; C. Wilcox, 1985; C. Hastings, 1986; B. Wright, 1986; D. Johnson, 1987; M. Lancaster, 1987; J. Jachim, 1989; C. Abdnour, 1989; J. Allen, 1990; B. Burger, 1991; R. Hochstetler, 1991; J. Zamora, 1991; E. Geib, 1993; T. Litherland, 1993; P. Murfey, 1993; M. Pilcher, 1998; C. Ehrhart, 1999; S. Nelson, 2000; J. Askren, 2001; C. Cole, 2001; V. Roczniak, 2006; T. Homan, 2007; M. Milam, 2007; M. Trowbridge. 2008; J. Sedoff, 2009; H. Kim, 2010; D. Schoumacher, 2010; M. Schoumacher, 2010; D. Straub, 2010; M. Peterson, 2018; and R. Waite, 2019.

FRIENDS: C. Cheney, T. Cutaia, A. Foulkes, L. Gainter, J. Ley, J. Marks, L. Metcalfe, L. Puetz, E. Robertson, J. Robertson, B. Schact, R. Schoumacher, A. Tyrrell, J. Walsh, J. Walter, J. Wilcox, and S. Wong 26

Paul Hahn relishes the days when he had to show his work as a Rose-Hulman student and later as a software department manager with Rockwell Automation. So, it wasn’t surprising that he sent several pages to document his handwritten solutions to a recent Bailey Challenge.

“I thought everyone needed to show their work. If my answer is ‘long,’ then I would really like to know what the minimum acceptable answer is,” says Hahn, a 1979 mathematics graduate.

F

20

Where did the extra dollar come from?

To whom does it belong?

HAHN STILL SHOWING HIS MATH SOLUTIONS

“I have taken stabs at the Challenges but did not submit them because I did not want to spend the time writing up my solutions. If there is a shortcut, I would really like to know it,” states Hahn, who spent his professional life in the aircraft avionics industry. “For safety and quality reasons, everything we built went through a peer review process. I am just used to having to explain how I do things.”

There’s no exact science to solving the problems, according to Hahn. “If a solution pops quickly to mind, then I will jot it down. Otherwise, I typically spread out doing one problem a day, putting in one half hour to maybe a couple of hours for each problem,” he says.

“This includes the time to write up the solution for submission. Obviously, it also depends on the complexity of the problem. The real stumpers can take quite some time.”

As for his time at Dear Old Rose, Hahn remembers never having enough time to get everything done. There also was the college’s closure during the blizzard in the winter of 1978, the debate on whether students should be allowed to use calculators on tests, and “having fun studying that newfangled thing called a microprocessor.”

— Dale Long, Executive Editor

Combs, Sigman Join Rose-Hulman Board

Palmer Representing Alumni on Trustees

Trio Ready to Begin Alumni Advisory Board Terms

Chemical engineering alumni Tonya Combs and Chuck Sigman are providing insight to the Rose-Hulman Board of Trustees after becoming leaders in their career fields, each with an understanding and appreciation for development of higher education strategies. They began terms this spring.

Paul Palmer Jr. II begins a three-year term July 1 as alumni representative to the Board of Trustees, chosen by the Alumni Association’s advisory board.

Kameron Eisenhour, Steven Schmitz and Amanda (Austin) Stapleton are preparing to begin two-year terms July 1 on the Alumni Advisory Board, following their election at the group’s spring meeting.

Combs, a 2001 alumna, has been vice president and deputy general patent counsel with Eli Lilly and Company since early 2019.

Previously, she was senior director and general patent counsel for the company’s biomedicines business unit, and team leader and general Combs counsel for the oncology business unit. Combs began her career as a chemical engineer at Lilly Research Laboratories after earning her RoseHulman degree. She received a law degree summa cum laude from Indiana University’s Robert McKinney School of Law. Sigman is joining the BOT for a full term after representing alumni on the group. He is senior budget analyst in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer for the Office of Administration within the Office of the President of the United States. He has received several Sigman federal government honors for the formulation and execution of systems covering multiple areas of the White House. Sigman graduated in 1980 and developed an interest in finance, earning a master’s degree in business administration from Indiana University. He received the Rose-Hulman Alumni Association’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award in 2000 and is a devoted Alpha Tau Omega fraternity chapter alumnus.

Palmer

The 1989 mechanical engineering alumnus is a professor of marketing with Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, and has earned a reputation as a leader in targeted marketing, licensing/partnership development and non-traditional marketing.

Palmer has 30 years of experience in industry and higher education, and has had business and management success with Procter & Gamble Company, Hasbro Inc. and American Greetings Corporation. At Hasbro, he served five years as senior brand manager for Star Wars toy products, during the release of Star Wars Episode’s I and II movies. He also managed key licensor relationships with Lucasfilm, Walt Disney and Cartoon Network.

The personable former RHIT football player developed highly successful partnerships with Muhammad Ali, best-selling author T.D. Jakes and comedian Ellen DeGeneres. His team earned the 2007 American Greetings Chairman’s Award for Innovation and 2002 Toy of the Year for the Star Wars Interactive R2D2.

Palmer will replace Jeffrey Myers, president of Big 4 Enterprises of Louisville, Ky., who served three years. Still serving their terms are Ashvin Lad, vice president and co-founder of Breakwater Chicago in Illinois, and Jeff Papa of Zionsville, Ind., who is chief of staff and general counsel for the Indiana State Senate.

Eisenhour, a 2017 biomedical engineering graduate, wants to give back to Rose-Hulman after being actively involved in campus activities as a student, including being freshman class president. He is an assembly engineer with North American Lighting in Paris, Ill., and worked as an installation engineer with robotics and automation projects.

Schmitz became senior manager of starship integrated products early in 2020 with SpaceX, where he had several key leadership roles since graduating as a mechanical engineer in 2007.

He played a key role in development of Space X’s revolutionary Falcon 9 rocket. Schmitz received Rose-Hulman’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award in 2015 and has helped recruit several alumni to SpaceX. Stapleton has traveled throughout the world since earning her mechanical engineering degree in 2006. She currently is senior director of operations with Belcan in Cincinnati, Ohio, after being chief engineer for engine control systems with Collins Aerospace Systems and a controls hardware engineer with Rolls-Royce. She was president of Rose-Hulman’s Society of Women Engineers chapter and captain of the varsity soccer team.

This trio will replace the expiring terms for Anthony Primozich, a 2000 mechanical engineering alumnus; David Sandborn, a 2011 mechanical engineering graduate; and Stefani Vande Lune, who earned an applied biology degree in 2006 and a 2008 master’s degree in biomedical engineering.

Moody Cited as Influential Black Corporate Executive Alumnus and trustee Darin Moody’s engineering and leadership skills have earned distinction as one of the 2020 Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America, by Savoy magazine. The recipients were recognized for their executive and business leadership in national and global-leading corporations.

Alumni News

TAKING NOTE ALUMNI AWARDS

Eisenhour

Schmitz

Stapleton

Homecoming October 2-4

Moody, a 1987 chemical engineering alumnus, is senior vice president for manufacturing with Eli Lilly and Company, where he has worked since graduation. In his current role, Moody manages people and production facilities throughout the world, along with coordinating a global network of external manufacturing partners He also has been vice president of corporate engineering, operations general manager and a production plant general manager, after starting as a process design engineer.

Moody

Along the way, Moody has been a loyal supporter of Rose-Hulman. He became a member of the Board of Trustees in 2007 and has helped lead efforts to increase diversity within the student body, funding scholarships to attract talented underrepresented students. Moody was presented an honorary doctorate degree from his alma mater before presenting the Commencement Address to the Class of 2019.

rose-hulman.edu/homecoming

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

27

Alumni News

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Recognizing Career Accomplishments, Service to Others Ten alumni will join members of the faculty, staff and student body in receiving 2020 Alumni Achievement Awards from the Rose-Hulman Alumni Association for their considerable contributions to their professions, communities, alma mater, and institute. Being honored later this year will be:

Honor Alumni Awards The Alumni Association’s highest alumni award recognizes exceptional achievement in any field, vocational or voluntary service to society.

George Rodibaugh

Michael McEvoy

His skills as an engineer, designer and problem solver made distinguished contributions to General Motors and, later, Xerox. With GM, he assisted in the design of several well-known automobiles, including the Camaro and Firebird.

At Xerox, Rodibaugh oversaw engineers and facilities throughout the world, and managed the turnaround of four facilities from the brink of closure. He lives in Rochester, N.Y., where he is active in his church and is a member of the community’s international business council.

He has assisted in the development of groundbreaking advances in technology. With Motorola, he helped develop the first generation of cellular phones. At Adobe, McEvoy led the engineering efforts for all imaging and video products, including Photoshop, Premiere and After Effects. He also has been an executive and founder of startups in the Internet of Things, Blockchain, messaging, and enterprise software spaces. Now, he’s creating a new generation of ecommerce marketplace solutions as co-founder and chief operating officer of Shoptype.

Electrical Engineering, 1973

Computer Science, 1975

Career Achievement Award

This honor highlights alumni whose professional achievements have brought distinction to themselves, credit to Rose-Hulman and benefit their communities.

Rick Henthorn

Gregory “Chip” Stein

A pioneer in the specialty medical field of cardiac electrophysiology, Henthorn has contributed to the health of people in his community and world through his medical practice, academic teaching and published medical research.

He established the first laboratory dedicated to cardiac electrophysiology at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Since leaving academic medicine, he has been devoted to practicing patient-centered medicine and has been named one of the region’s top physicians on several occasions.

He is the managing principal for Tank Industry Consultants, a nationally accomplished company specializing in storage tank design, maintenance and inspection. He also oversees American Water Works Association standards for steel and composite water tanks, is a member of the Steel Tank Institute/Steel Plate Fabricators Association’s board of directors and a principal member of the National Fire Protection Association. He is active in community and youth service organizations in Carmel, Ind.

Bioengineering, 1973

Kevin Rees

28

Mechanical Engineering, 1987

Mechanical Engineering, 1981

David Urbanek

As chief of the maintenance airworthiness engineering division for the systems readiness directorate within the U.S. Army’s combat capabilities development command, Rees has earned military accommodations for coordinating all maintenance and sustainment engineering support efforts for military helicopter operations worldwide. This puts him in charge of approximately 125 engineers and an annual operating budget of more than $30 million. He also has founded Rees Engineering, which conducts engineering inspections on a pro-bono basis for residential and commercial clients, about half of whom were victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Has recently become executive vice president of manufacturing and quality operations with Elanco after spending 18 years in a variety of roles with Eli Lilly and Company. Urbanek's career has taken him throughout the world. He was Lilly’s senior director of emerging markets manufacturing, senior director of global diabetes manufacturing and senior director of the external drug products operations. Urbanek also was general manager of the company’s production operations in Ireland, England and Germany.

Mechanical Engineering, 1988

Alumni News

HONORABLE MENTIONS Distinguished Young Alumni Award Alumni are recognized for achieving significant success within their first 10 years after graduation in the areas of career accomplishments, community service and dedication to Rose-Hulman.

Chad Conway

Michael Schoumacher

Mechanical Engineering, 2012

Mechanical Engineering, 2010

Specializing in leading-edge sustainability products, Conway is co-founder and director of product development with Span in San Francisco. He's bringing software-optimized electrical hardware to make solar, electric vehicle charging and home batteries more affordable. This came after he led product management with Tesla Energy, including the successful launch of the innovative company’s Powerwall residential home battery. Conway also leads Rose-Hulman’s alumni network in the San Francisco area.

As a product quality engineer, Schoumacher supervises Cummins’ signature 15-liter engine product line. He is using his engineering, problem solving and business skills to help become a community leader in Columbus, Ind., where he lives with his family. At Rose-Hulman, Schoumacher earned all-conference honors as a tennis player and was the first RHIT men’s varsity player to win more than 100 matches during his collegiate career.

Thomas Foulkes

Benjamin Seibert

Electrical Engineering, 2015

Computer Engineering/Physics, 2010

He is ready for his next adventure after earning a doctorate earlier this year from the University of Illinois as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and Siebel Scholar for Energy. Foulkes seeks to tackle problems related to the sustainable design of large electrical systems, such as the U.S. power grid.

He has been exploring the commercialization of advanced technology through VentureWell and NSF I-Corps programs.

His academic interests have led him to make innovations in small satellite autonomy technology as chief engineer for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M. In this role, Seibert oversees more than 100 engineers throughout the U.S. conducting $300 million in projects that are revolutionizing the National Security Space Architecture.

Seibert also has led a nine-nation allied and commercial satellite partnership that hopes to strengthen public-private space collaboration and enhance combined space capabilities.

Honorary Alumni Award

A faculty and staff member is recognized annually for demonstrating strong and selfless commitment to the institute and its students and alumni, along with professional achievement and dedication to the betterment of their departments.

Rachel Romas Student Alumni Association Award

Diane Evans

An outstanding member of the Student Alumni Association is honored annually for exhibiting excellence in academics and character, while demonstrating a strong commitment to Rose-Hulman initiatives and having the promise of post-college success.

Professor Engineering Management

Mike Fulk

Technician Mechanical Engineering

Seiji Takagi Senior Mathematics

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

29

Alumni News

CLASS NOTES

50s Walter R. McIndoo (EE, 1956) and Paul H. Lewis (EE, 1957) received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who’s Who. McIndoo spent nearly 40 years in the automobile electronics industry with General Motors, retiring in 1992 as director of the semiconductor business unit.

Lewis is renowned as an emeriti professor at Michigan Technological University and an electrical engineer with more than 60 years of distinction in his technical field.

60s William (Bill) W. Myers (MA, 1969) is analyzing a variety of interesting math or technical topics for Medium, an internet platform for writers of all interests.

He lives in retirement at The Villages in central Florida.

70s Ronald L. Loyd (CHE, 1972) was appointed to the Board of Works for the City of Winchester, Ind., where he has lived in retirement after being president with the Ohio Valley Gas Corporation.

Denis J. Radecki (MA, 1973) was recognized for more than 35 years of volunteer service to the Indiana Society of Professional Engineers’ MATHCOUNTS competition. He also has served as treasurer of ISPE’s Francis Vigo chapter.

Charles (Chick) E. Sweeney (CE, 1972) has retired after a 45-year career with Alden Research Laboratory in Seattle. As the senior technical fellow, he oversaw more than 400 hydraulic design and analysis

projects, mostly in the Pacific Northwest. Two of his projects were awarded the American Consulting Engineers’ Council Grand Conceptor Award. In 2015, Sweeney received the Northwest Hydroelectric Association’s Pamela E. Klatt Award for outstanding service to the hydropower industry.

Art Nelson (ME, 1975) has retired after a lengthy career as director of marketing and sales with Toray Fluorofibers Inc. He has moved to North Myrtle Beach, S.C. Steven Sibrel (EE, 1975) has been named a fellow with the American Society of Quality, based upon career and professional achievements. He is a senior supplier quality engineer with Harman/Becker Automotive Systems.

Steven K. Rowe (CE, 1978) has been promoted to vice president of sales with Arcosa Lightweight, the largest North American producer of rotary kiln expanded shale and clay lightweight aggregate. He has worked for the company since late 2018.

Michael H. Peters (ME, 1979) is board chair and co-owner of Silk Road Gemological Laboratory and Lapidary in Kabul, Afghanistan. This adds to a long list of positions in industry and education.

PETERS Since 2016, he has been an instructor and senior adviser for Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.

Michael E. Leakey (ME, 1988) is vice president of LEAKEY sales and marketing with Link Manufacturing, a leader in specialty engineered suspensions. He brings more than 32 years of sales, engineering and marketing management experience.

Mike formerly was managing director of truck and defense sales with IMMI. Matt E. White (ME, 1989) is the senior vice president with Drax Biomass Inc., based in Monroe, La. He had been director of manufacturing and engineering with Rockwater Energy/Select Energy Services.

90s

80s W. Darin Moody (CHE, 1987) is a new member of Conexus Indiana’s board of directors. The non-profit initiative is positioning the state for advanced manufacturing and logistics industries opportunities. Moody is a senior vice president with Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis.

SWEENEY

John A. Collett (CE, 1988) was the first recipient of the Greater Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce’s Advocate of the Year Award. He is chief executive officer of Wabash Valley Asphalt in Terre Haute.

Kevin R. Fesler (ME, 1990) has become vice president of business development with Top Aces Corp., a provider of contracted adversary air services. He had a distinguished 24-year FESLER Air Force career, including being executive director of the Aerojet Rocketdyne project and assisting with the National Defense Industrial Association’s precision strike weapons group.

Todd A. DeVore (ME, 1993) is now the vice president of manufacturing with Ice House America, the world’s largest manufacturer of ice vending machines.

Ware Leading Government’s Cybersecurity Strategies As the Department of Homeland Security’s new senior cybersecurity official, Bryan S. Ware (AO, 1992) is being kept busy as America faces potential cyber attacks that originate from throughout the world.

Ware was confirmed as assistant director for cybersecurity for the DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency early in 2020, following nomination by President Trump. He had spent the previous year as assistant department secretary for cyber, infrastructure and resilience policy.

In the new role, Ware is working to streamline the reams of data collected by government analysts to make it more useful for tracking hackers.

Another top priority is modernizing the agency’s data systems, tools, artificial intelligence, and analytics.

30

Ware’s background as an artificial intelligence entrepreneur should be useful to the CISA. His professional career started with leading defense contractors, working on advanced technology programs, including the Star Wars program, early unmanned aerial vehicle payloads and counterterrorism technologies. He has been issued multiple patents in artificial intelligence and mobile technology.

In 1998, Ware founded an artificial intelligence company, which was acquired by Haystax in 2013. He continued to serve in leadership roles with the firm, as chief technology officer and chief executive officer until 2018, when he moved into government work.

Kerry J. Phillips (CE, 1995) is vice president of private sector services with KSM Consulting, a technology, data and management consultancy based in Indianapolis. He formerly was the company’s business performance practice director.

Ashvin P. Lad (CHE, 1996) has started a three-year term as an adviser for the Archbishop of Chicago’s Catholic Charities organization.

Tony Ragucci (PH/MA, 1996) is now director of engineering with Leonardo DRS, a defense contractor based in Dallas. He is supervising engineering product development for infrared sensors products. He formerly spent two years in engineering leadership roles with Raytheon.

Kevin M. Unger (EE, 1996) has been promoted to assistant vice president of the electronic warfare and signals intelligence solutions business unit with SRC, Inc. He has been with the Syracuse, N.Y.based company for 23 years.

Kelly (Sullivan) Noel (EE, 2002) is now vice president for corporate construction and real estate with UPMS in Pittsburgh. She formerly was vice president of facilities with Advocate Aurora Health and Aurora Health, both in Milwaukee.

Jerry G. Kezar (EE, 2000) has been promoted to director of U.S. Army counter-unmanned aircraft systems programs with SRC, Inc. The not-for-profit research and development company specializes in areas of defense, KEZAR environment and intelligence services. He had been a program manager.

Cody R. Kothera (ME, 2004) has been promoted to vice president of sales with Kent Corporation, where he has worked in technical sales since August of 2016.

Charles Clancy (CPE, 2001) has been added to the board of directors with Virginia Tech’s Hume Center for National Security and Technology, an organization he once led. He is vice president for intelligence programs with MITRE, a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to research and development in the public interest.

Gerald W. Rea (OE, 2004) is chief executive officer of Toralgen Inc., an Indianapolis based startup that’s received $1.7 million to support commercialization of nanopill technology. The system encapsulates existing drug molecules inside proprietary nanoparticles.

LaSandra D. Edwards (CE, 2002) is now a senior engineer with Bennett Engineering Services, Inc., based in Roseville, Calif. She formerly spent more than four years with Brown and Caldwell, and 13 years with MWH Global.

UNGER

Barry C. Portman (ME, 1997) is the chief operating officer of Houston-based Blackbuck Resources, a company supporting water infrastructure development for the oil and gas industry. He formerly was a vice president with Pioneer Natural Resources.

Bradley Garrett (ME, 1998) has returned to a vice president role with Allegion in Carmel, Ind., this time overseeing business operations. He served as vice president with VMS BioMarketing in 2019, after being with Allegion for nearly 12 years.

Ferenc Pankotai (MSME, 1998) is manager of combustion engineering and additive manufacturing with Solar Turbines in San Diego. He has more than 20 years of experience in gas turbine engine operations and engineering management.

00s Matthew T. Ervin (ME, 2000) is the director of biologics external manufacturing and advanced surgery strategy with Baxter International, based in Bloomington, Ind. He spent five years as the company’s director of technical services.

Elizabeth Hagerman (CHE, 2000) has returned to her biotechnology roots, as the first executive director of University of Wisconsin Health’s innovation initiative, the Isthmus Project. It supports the system’s health care professionals’ ideas and projects.

Charles N. Elwood (EE, 2002) has started his own business intelligence consulting firm, SolisMatica. It has expanded to help companies connect information from disconnected data silos/departments and create actionable insights with content-rich visuals.

Gregory Hays (MSEMGT, 2002) has been appointed senior scientific technology manager for rapid prototyping with the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic in Charleston, S.C. He has more than 25 years of experience in federal government and industry technical positions.

HAYS

Melva J. (Lucas) Holt (CHE, 2002) has founded PAISE Leadership, a professional development training and coaching agency in the Atlanta area. She formerly worked in human resources for Kaman Industrial Technologies and General Mills’ plant in Covington, Ga. Jennifer A. (Anderson) Mrzlack (ME, 2002) has been promoted to president with Indianapolis-based PSG Energy Group. She also is a vice chair and board member with the Solar Energy IndusMRZLACK tries Association. PSG Energy Group is owned by Envelop Group, whose managing partners include Travis G. Ihnen (ME, 1999) and A.J. Wilkerson (ME, 1997).

W E WANT YOUR NE WS!

NOEL

Alumni News

CLASS NOTES

Conrad S. Tucker (ME, 2004) is now a mechanical engineering professor, specializing in machine learning, at Carnegie Mellon University.

He was a member of a team that earned the Best Paper TUCKER Award in the area of virtual environments and systems at the 2019 American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Computers and Information in Engineering Division Conference.

Tucker formerly directed the Design Analysis Technology Advancement Laboratory at Penn State University.

Amee Wicks (CE, 2004) was honored among the 40 Under 40 for 2019 within the Sarasota, Fla., region

by The (Sarasota) Business Observer. She is a project manager with Kimley-Horn and Associates and the community engineer for Babcock Ranch, the nation’s first all solar-powered master-planned community.

Huixin Bi (MSEE, 2005) is a research and policy officer in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s economic research department. Her duties include advising on monetary and economic policy issues. Bi joined the bank in 2015 as a senior economist after earning a doctorate in economics from Indiana University.

Lance W. Gassert (CE, 2005) was recognized among Terre Haute’s 12 Under 40 for 2019, by The Terre Haute Tribune-Star, for his career and community achievements. He is vice president with Garmong Construction Services.

GASSERT

Send news and photographs to alumniaffairs@rose-hulman.edu.

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

31

Alumni News

CLASS NOTES

Zaiss Meets Twin Triathlon Challenge How about spending a day doing a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run, then doing it all over again the next day. That’s what Jennifer M. Zaiss (CHE, 2011) did this past fall in becoming the first American woman to complete two triathlons on the same weekend.

First, she finished the Ironman Maryland in 13 hours and five minutes on September 28. That time was important since Zaiss figured she had to complete the event within 13:30 in order to make it to Tennessee in time to compete in the Ironman Chattanooga the next day.

“I like to set big, scary goals and then chase them down. If it doesn’t scare you, it’s not big enough,” she says. “I think it’s fun to see physically what I’m capable of doing, but realizing that it really all comes down to having the mental strength to just keep putting one foot in front of the other while you’re deep in the hurt locker.”

There was never a point where she wanted to quit, stating “I’m too stubborn for that.” Making the challenge even worse was an extremely hot day in Tennessee, with a heat index of above 100

Laura J. Hemming (CE, 2005) is the chief of master planning and real property in support of the U.S. Army’s European garrisons. She has been based in Germany since September of 2018.

Adam P. Jarboe (BSME, 2005/MSEMGT, 2007) is a 2020 Young Lion Award recipient as part of Foodservice Equipment Reports’ annual Industry Excellence Awards. The honor recognizes individuals under the age JARBOE of 40 who have made a meaningful impact on the food service equipment industry.

He is senior sourcing lead for equipment at Chick-fil-A, based in Atlanta.

Micah L. Houtz (EE, 2006) is now a principal engineer in the New Hampshire office with Wunderlich-Malec Engineering, Inc., his employer for the past five years.

David M. Knapp (CHEM, 2006) has joined the Freeborn & Peters law firm’s litigation practice group. He is focused on intellectual property enforcement and defense casework in the KNAPP Chicago office. Knapp earned his law degree from George Washington University and has a doctorate from the University of Illinois.

Derek Trobaugh (AB, 2006) has become a senior research scientist in the area of virology/biopharma discovery with Elanco. He spent nearly eight years as a research assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

32

degrees. A personal challenge came between 16 and 20 miles of the final distance run when the physical toll on her body was nearly overwhelming. She eventually crossed the finish line in 15:05:40.

“I can’t even begin to describe how immense the feeling of accomplishment is knowing that you mentally and physically persevered through whatever challenge you set for yourself and crossed that finish line. The challenge doesn’t have to be something big like this,” Zaiss says. I’m finding out that we’re capable of so much more than we realize, if we’re just brave enough to believe in ourselves. You can do hard things.”

The twin triathlons prepared Zaiss for an Ultraman—a three-day event featuring a 6.2-mile swim, 263-mile bike ride, and a double marathon (52.4-mile run)—which she completed in a little more than 29 hours during Valentine’s Day weekend in Florida.

Her next challenge: completing a doctoral degree in oceanography from the University of Southern California.

Clint Hammes (ME, 2007) and Kara (Horn) Hammes (BIO, 2009) are turning their love of travel and sense of adventure into creating the Brown County Barn Burner, a family getaway experience in Nashville, Ind. Clint is a facilities engineer with Big Woods/Quaff ON!/Hard Truth Distilleries, while Kara is Brown County’s health/human sciences/natural resources educator for the Purdue Extension Service.

Erin K. O’Connor (BE, 2007) received the Office of Student Affairs’ Jess Lucas Alumni Leadership Award as a former residence assistant who is having a distinguished professional career. She is a O’CONNOR major in the U.S. Air Force, serving as a physical therapist who leads clinic operations for the special tactics squadron at Joint Base Lewis-McChord Base (Wash.). O’Connor is a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists and a board certified orthopedic specialist.

Joseph Rottman (BSCPE, 2007/MSEMGT, 2008) is now a product performance manager at Caterpillar Inc.’s regional office in Tucson, Ariz. He has worked for the company since graduation.

Aaron Szczesny (BSME, 2007/MSEMGT, 2011) has been promoted to project manager with EN Engineering, an oil and energy company based in Warrenville, Ill. He has worked for the firm since being an intern.

Wöli (Bob) I. Urbe (CS, 2007) is a new intellectual property litigation associate with Emerson Thomson Bennett, an Akron, Ohio-based law firm. He has extensive experience representing cases before U.S. district courts

and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Urbe earned a law degree in 2013 from Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law (N.Y.) Chastity Williams (ME, 2008) is now a staff engineer with GE Aviation, where she has worked since graduation.

Mark Intihar (BSEE, 2009/MSEMGT, 2011) is a sales account manager with Aptiv in Cupertino, Calif.

He has been with the company since 2017 after more than six years with Delphi.

Nicholas Corkill (CE, 2009) is a senior civil engineer with Burns & McDonnell in the Chicago area. He spent seven years with Jacobs Corporation.

Matthew R. Melton (BSME, 2009/MSEMGT, 2011) is now an energy efficiency analyst with TRC Companies Inc. in northwest Indiana. He also is a minority owner and chief information officer of Region Ale Tap House and Eatery in Schererville, Ind. Bryan Wong (ME, 2009) is in his sixth year as a CrossFit athlete, ranking within the top 100 male competitors internationally and top 50 in the U.S. When not competing or training, Wong is a senior manufacturing engineer with Medtronic in Warsaw, Ind.

10s Cody Fogwell (ME, 2010) is now supply chain manager with Acutronic USA Inc. in Austin, Texas. He previous spent nearly eight years as a project engineering manager with Parametric Solutions Inc. Samuel M. Howell (EP, 2010) lectured throughout Japan in March and was the featured speaker at John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory’s Europa Clipper Lecture

Series. He is an ocean world research scientist within NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s planetary interiors and geophysics group.

Nicholas B. Addante (CE, 2013) has been promoted to project manager with Manhard Consulting in Lincolnshire, Ill. He has worked for the firm since graduation.

Katelyn Stenger (ME, 2015) is a graduate research fellow with the University of Virginia’s Environmental Resilience Institute.

Christopher M. Wlezien (ME, 2010) received the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Dedicated Service Award for his many years as global chief judge of the organization’s human powered vehicle competitions.

Durushka I. Ahmed (CHE, 2013) is now manager of technology consulting operations with Accenture’s New York City office. She has worked for the company since 2017 after being with Tate & Lyle and Schlumberger.

Qiaoyou “David” Dou (EE, 2017) has realized a personal goal of opening a Chinese restaurant, Yellow Ducky Express, in Rantoul, Ill. He formerly was a software developer in nearby Champaign, Ill.

Spencer Bohlander (ME, 2013) has returned to Apache Corporation as a drilling engineer and product manager in Houston. He was a drilling supervisor with the company from 2013-18 before becoming a drilling advisor with Moblize in 2019.

Zachary C. Glick (ME, 2017) has become a student in the Mundelein (Ill.) Seminary, based at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake. He previously served in the U.S. Air Force.

Emily N. Meyer (CHE, 2011) has been promoted to project manager with Burns & McDonnell, her employer since graduation.

Marc A. Pardee (EE, 2011) is a senior security engineer with Lucid, based in Salt Lake City. He has nine years of web application and cloud security experience.

Keegan Superville (BE, 2011) is now a commercialization director with TriMed in Santa Clarita, Calif. He has worked for the medical device company since 2015.

Shaun R. Wendel (ME, 2011) has been promoted to assistant vice president and treasury officer with STAR Bank in Indiana.

Bobby L. Withrow (EE, 2011) is an engineer with Aurubis Buffalo Inc. in Buffalo, N.Y. He had spent eight years in technical leadership roles with ArcelorMittal in northeast Ohio.

Lynn Connors-Smith (MSEMGT, 2012) is now leading the development, testing and data collection of metrics operations within the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Crane, Ind. She has worked at the center since 2003.

BCMC: Biochemistry/Molecular Biology ECON: Economics

|

|

BE: Biomedical Engineering

EE: Electrical Engineering

|

|

Joseph Byrd (ME, 2013) is a plant maintenance and capital projects manager with Austin White Lime Company in Austin, Texas.

Matthew Kane (ME, 2013) has been promoted to advance materials engineer with Fitbit. He has been working for the San Francisco company since August of 2015.

Richard P. Thai (CS/SE/MA, 2013) is an Android engineer with Stripe in the San Francisco area. He spent more than three years as a data and Android engineer with Reddit.

Zachary T. Troope (ME, 2014) has become global bonus and liquidated damages monitoring leader with General Electric’s heavy-duty gas turbine fleet, based out of Atlanta. He is a former member of GE’s Edison Engineering Development Program.

Thomas Foulkes (EE, 2015) was named one of nine 2019 Siebel Scholars, a program recognizing exceptional students from the world’s nine leading energy science universities. He has earned a doctorate in electrical engineering/power electronics at the University of Illinois.

BIO: Biology

EMGT: Engineering Management

| |

BIOE: Biological Engineering EP: Engineering Physics

|

|

CE: Civil Engineering

MATH: Mathematics

| |

Alumni News

CLASS NOTES

Ellie K. Hong (ME, 2017) is a front-end software developer with DeveloperTown in Indianapolis, after spending two years as an engineer with Allison Transmission.

Sydney K. (Short) Paul (EE, 2017) is a data scientist with Neal Analytics in Bellevue, Wash. She is completing a master’s degree in data science at University of Notre Dame.

Wade Stallings II (ME, 2017) has been promoted to senior engineer in the injection molding division with Eli Lilly and Company, where he has worked since graduation.

He also owns D3D Technologies, an Indianapolis-based firm that encourages inventors and their inventions.

Lujia (Luke) Zhang (CS/ SE/MA, 2017) was a finalist for the United Way of Central Indiana’s 2020 ELEVATE Awards, among more than 100 applicants who have a passion for community service and volunteerism.

He is a data scientist with DemandJump in Indianapolis.

CHE: Chemical Engineering

|

ME: Mechanical Engineering

CHEM: Chemistry

|

|

CPE: Computer Engineering

OE: Optical Engineering

|

PH: Physics

|

|

MAJORS KEY CS: Computer Science

SE: Software Engineering

Adams Continues Moench Professorship's Alumni Heritage Thom M. Adams (ME, 1990) is continuing the legacy of outstanding alumni educators serving as Rose-Hulman’s esteemed Herman A. Moench Distinguished Professor. The honor recognizes Adams’ outstanding work as a mechanical engineering educator and academic scholar.

Faculty chairs honor members of the Rose-Hulman faculty for their exemplary accomplishments in teaching and academic scholarship.

Adams follows alumni Moench Distinguished Professorship honorees Robert Steinhauser, Keith Hoover and Richard Ditteon, who retired late in 2019.

“Herman Moench’s name is still revered on campus and I’m humbled to be carrying on his name as I walk through Moench Hall each day,” says Adams.

Like Moench, Adams has inspired students while facilitating their education.

He is one of the few faculty members to have received the institute’s Dean’s Outstanding Teaching Award (2005) and Trustees’ Outstanding Scholar Award (2019).

Adams is cited as a pioneer in the field of micro-electro-mechanical systems.

Moench was a distinguished alumnus, professor and administrator who twice served as the institute’s interim president. He died in 1990.

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

33

Alumni News

CLASS NOTES

Rosebuds Joshua R. Loudermilk (CHE, 2010) and wife, Megan, welcomed their first child, Riley Lynn, on Jan. 3, 2020. The family lives in northern Virginia. Joshua is a space systems acquisition officer with the U.S. Air Force.

Nicholas M. Giardino (BSME, 2001), and his wife, Christy, welcomed their first child, Hailee Grace, on Oct. 5, 2019. The family lives in South Elgin, Ill. Nick works for Marmon Foodservice Technologies, where his engineering innovations have earned induction to the Marmon Patent Society.

Anna C. (Rector) Elder (AB, 2013) and husband, Nathan B. Elder (CHE, 2011), had a son, Edison Joseph, on May 13, 2019. The family lives in Hershey, Pa. Anna is a pediatric resident at Penn State Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hershey Medical Center and Nathan is a project manager for The Hershey Company.

Ryan L. Parker (ME, 2012) and wife, Samantha, welcomed their first child, Washington Lee, on Oct. 9, 2019, in Brownsburg, Ind. Ryan is a project engineer with Marathon Pipeline.

Weddings

Samuel S. Beck (ME, 2014) married Katie Neenan on Nov. 23, 2019, in Columbus, Ohio, with several Rose-Hulman friends, faculty and staff in attendance. The couple resides in Grapevine, Texas, where Sam is a member of the sales and marketing team with BNSF Railway in Fort Worth.

Matthew W. Wittstein (BE, 2006) married Christina Bailey on Nov. 30, 2019, in Greensboro, N.C., where the couple resides.

Former Rose-Hulman swimming and diving coach Michael Caruso was a groomsman. Matthew is an assistant professor of exercise science at Elon University.

Susannah K. Yoder (ME, 2008) married James Clews on Aug. 10, 2019, in Mishawaka, Ind. The couple met while working at Manufacturing Technology, Inc., where Susannah is a lead mechanical engineer. They reside in South Bend, Ind., but also spend time at MTIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operations center in the United Kingdom.

Catherine J. Pfaadt (EE, 2014) and John M. Burt (EE, 2014) were married on Oct. 5, 2019, in Bloomington, Ind. They live in Spencer, Ind., and are electrical engineers with Technology Service Corporation.

34

Crystal L. (Hurtle) Meyer (ME, 2015) and husband, Garrett Meyer (ME/ MA, 2014), had their first child, Dominic Gerard, on Sept.

25, 2019, in Cincinnati, Ohio, where they reside. Crystal is an engineer with The Gravity Group and Garrett is an engineer with Black & Veatch.

Morgan R. Anderer (CE, 2015) married Todd A. Clapp (CE, 2015) on August 31, 2019, in Sarver, Pa. They live in Lakewood, Colo. Todd works as a structural engineer at Martin Consulting Engineers while Morgan works as a civil engineer at Baseline Engineering.

Matthew H. Hoyert (ME, 2017) married Hannah Scheibel on July 6, 2019, in Valparaiso, Ind., where the couple resides. He is a mechanical maintenance process engineer with ArcelorMittal.

Lane M. Geier (ME, 2018) married Mackenzie Baker on Dec. 21, 2019, near Monticello, Ill. The couple resides in Indianapolis, where Lane is an application engineer with Garrett Motion.

In Memoriam Cox Provided Counsel, Leadership as Trustee Dedicated trustee and supporter Benjamin Guille Cox, 73, died Nov. 18, 2019, in Terre Haute. He was a lifetime member of the Board of Trustees, serving as chairman from 1995-2001, and received an Honorary Doctor of Engineering from Rose-Hulman in 2002. Throughout the years Cox provided wise counsel, loyal leadership, and dedicated support to the institute. That commitment was paved by his father, Benjamin Guille Cox Sr., who also was a member and chairman of the trustees. A graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Law School, Guille returned to his hometown to practice law for 44 years and became an influential community leader. He and his wife of 52 years, Cynthia, were loyal supporters and friends of Rose-Hulman.

Alumni News

CLASS NOTES

Luegenbiehl Built Educational Bridges Across World Caring educator and visionary administrator Heinz C. Luegenbiehl, 71, died March 1, 2020, in Las Vegas. He taught courses in philosophy and professional ethics during a 34-year tenure on the Rose-Hulman faculty. His professional publications primarily covered topics on engineering ethics, liberal arts education, and the social dimensions of technology. As head of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Luegenbiehl was instrumental in promoting an East Asian Studies program that helped establish an academic relationship between Rose-Hulman and Kanazawa Institute of Technology. He also taught at Nanzan University in Japan as a Fulbright Faculty Scholar.

Fred Maienschein (CHE, 1945), 94, died Feb. 3, 2020, in Tempe, Ariz. He retired as director of the engineering physics and mathematics division with Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

John A. Smith (ME, 1949), 98, died Dec. 2, 2019, in Gardner, Kan. He retired after a 25-year career with Western Electric Company.

Raymond Baker, Jr. (ME, 1951), 91, died Nov. 30, 2019, in Sarasota, Fla. He retired after founding Elcom Sales, BKT Associates and R. Baker Electronics.

William R. McKeen IV (ME, 1951), 90, died Dec. 11, 2019, in Bloomington, Ind. He retired as a division manager after 30 years of service with the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Crane (Ind.) Division.

John C. Soucie (EE, 1952), 92, died Jan. 26, 2020, in Indianapolis. He was a rocket engineer with Naval Avionics for 32 years.

Robert L. Trotter (EE, 1957), 84, died Jan. 16, 2020, in Decatur, Ill. He was an engineer with Illinois Power for 38 years.

Larry R. Arnold (MA, 1964), 76, died Feb. 2, 2020, in Arlington, Tenn. He retired as a tenured professor with Tulane University’s A. B. Freeman School of Business.

Patrick C. Hauert (ME, 1964), 78, died Dec. 29, 2019, in Olympia, Wash. He served in the U.S. Navy for 30 years, retiring as a captain in the aviator corps. He commanded a fleet attack squadron, a fleet attack training squadron, and carrier air group.

Joseph (Bud) Weiser (ME, 1964), 78, died Dec. 11, 2019, in Middletown, Ind. He worked as an engineer in Indiana, Hawaii, and California before teaching science at Centralia Community College in Washington.

Duane R. Wood (ME, 1964), 78, died Dec. 14, 2019, in Cedarville, Ohio. He retired as vice president of academics with Cedarville University.

Norman G. Schuld (CHEM, 1965), 77, died Jan. 5, 2020, in Sheldon, S.C. He had a 33-year career with Exxon Corporation.

Survivors include his son, Mark J. Schuld (CHE, 1991).

William A. Holmes (ME, 1967), 74, died Jan. 26, 2020, in Asheville, N.C. He spent more than 30 years as an engineer, entrepreneur, and college professor before becoming a talented sculptor in retirement.

His most prized work was a bronze bust of legendary Rose-Hulman professor/dean/ administrator Herman Moench for a special campus tribute by the Class of 1967.

Charlé Rae Rupp (PH, 1969), 72, died Jan. 3, 2020, in Clay City, Ind. He had 15 patents for his technology innovations with General Electric, Digital Equipment Corp., and National Semiconductor.

He also assisted the development of several Silicon Valley startups and taught at University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

Charles A. Grunloh (ME, 1972), 69, died March 6, 2020, in Teutopolis, Ill. He was a founding partner with Milano & Grunloh Engineers of Effingham, Ill., until his retirement in 2014.

Gerald E. Riechert (EE, 1973), 68, died Dec. 7, 2019, in Anthem, Ariz. He worked with General Dynamics, GTE Corporation, and A.G. Communication Systems.

Robert D. Cales (CE, 1974), 67, died Nov. 16, 2019, in Indianapolis, Ind. He retired after a 42-year career as an engineer with the Indiana Department of Transportation.

Brian D. McCarty (CE, 1976), died Nov. 17, 2019, in Alexandria, Va., and was buried at Arlington Cemetery in February. He retired as a colonel after 23 years of service with the Air Force. McCarty was deputy director of research and acquisitions and chair of the medical modernization panel for the Office of the U.S. Air Force Surgeon General. He was presented the Alumni Association’s Career Achievement Award in 1996.

David M. Jennings (CHE, 1983), 58, died Dec. 1, 2019, in Noblesville, Ind. He was an engineer with Johnson Controls for several years, helping redesign the library at IUPUI and building several hospitals throughout central Indiana.

Steven E. Maurer (ME, 1984), 57, died Nov. 15, 2019, in Brazil, Ind. He was a plant engineer with Tredegar Film Products.

Rodney R. Earlywine (CHE/ CHEM, 1986), 55, died Sept.

14, 2019, in Owatonna, Minn.

He retired after serving as a plant manager and safety auditor with Akrema Inc. Earlywine also worked for several chemical companies in Indiana and Tennessee.

Martin C. Severance (ME, 1986), 55, died Feb. 20, 2020, in Louisville, Ky. He spent more than 30 years in refrigeration manufacturing, primarily with General Electric Company.

Paul R. DeStefano (BSPH, 1990; MSAO, 1992), 52, died March 7, 2020, in Seymour, Ind. He was manager of optical engineering and regulations with Valeo Lighting Systems of North America. He also had a patent for a system and method for controlling a lighting and/or signaling device.

Jared S. Lesser (CE, 2003), 38, died Sept. 30, 2019, in Indianapolis, Ind.

Preston R. Pameijer (CHE, 2012), 30, died Oct. 12, 2019, in Bloomington, Ind. He was a senior product development engineer with Cook Medical.

SPECIAL FRIENDS Mark Farner, 62, died March 24, 2020, in Terre Haute. The longtime ARAMARK employee served as the campus’ food service manager before retiring in 2014.

David L. Gibbs, 68, died Nov. 20, 2019, in Terre Haute.

He was director of the Rose Chorus from 2004-11 and accompanied several student performers at campus shows.

Lucien H. Meis, 85, died Feb. 27, 2020, in Terre Haute. He was a longtime friend and philanthropic supporter of the institute and its leadership. His wife of 54 years, Alane, is an emeriti trustee.

Stacey Muncie, 49, died March 8, 2020, in Cory, Ind. She was a digital storyteller and editor in the Office of Communications and Marketing. In these roles she was a frequent Echoes contributor and helped develop some of the clever marketing materials that were popular with alumni and prospective students. Alumni survivors include her husband, Jerry (ME, 1994), and daughter, Maddie (BC, 2019). A Muncie Scholarship Endowment Fund has been established.

Donations can be made at www.rose-hulman.edu/muncie.

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

35

DOWN MEMORY LANE

Touchdowns

e c u a S o c a T &

ALUMNI MEMOIRS BRING ROSE’S PAST TO LIFE

From strolling through downtown Terre Haute in a gorilla suit to record-setting plays on the gridiron, two recently published alumni memoirs offer colorful windows into Rose-Hulman’s past.

In one, “Rose Poly and Me,” 1959 civil engineering alumnus Carl (Rocky) Herakovich describes a hardcharging football star diving into a muddy end zone to score a record-setting touchdown, etching his name in school lore and NCAA records for all time.

The other memoir, “Our Mascot was a Fire Truck,” 2006 mechanical engineering alumnus Ben Vosmek reveals the inside scoop on one of the best-known pranks ever committed on campus—the filling of a Resident Assistant’s Jeep with thousands of taco sauce packets. There’s also a score of other examples of what can happen when engineering students let off steam from their studies.

“I had a lot of fun writing it,” says Herakovich, the author of three academic textbooks as an emeritus professor of civil engineering at the University of Virginia. “I wrote it as much for my descendants as for the people at Rose.”

NO ANIMAL HOUSE LIFESTYLE Working for approximately five years, Vosmek wrote his book, in part, as an antidote to the stereotype of college and, especially, fraternity life that’s perpetuated

by Hollywood.

“I wanted to show that you can have a great education and a great fraternity experience, and it doesn’t have to include any of those negative connotations,” he says.

“Rose Poly and Me” takes you from Rocky’s upbringing as a second-generation American growing up outside of Chicago through his career as a talented studentathlete, and finally to his days coaching and teaching at the institute for the 1962 and 1963 seasons. It features remarkably detailed descriptions of plays on the gridiron, including each of the four touchdowns he scored at Earlham College in his final game. Those scores helped secure an undefeated season for Rose in the fall of 1958 (the last in school history). That gave Herakovich the points needed to be the top-scoring player in the NCAA that season with 168 points.

His 21 points per game average set a national record that would stand for 30 years. He was named a Little College All-American by the Associated Press and his name is still scattered throughout Rose-Hulman’s football record books today.

Vosmek’s book includes stunts such as his appearance on the sidelines of an Indiana State University basketball game wearing a gorilla suit. Then, there’s the time he wrapped every item in a fellow student’s dorm room in tin foil. Other antics, that Vosmek calls “neardeath stupidity,” leave you wondering how he survived

Pi Kappa Alpha's fire truck makes several campus appearances each school year, as do several pranks by students.

36

STORY BY ARTHUR FOULKES

DOWN MEMORY LANE

One of the most infamous pranks in RHIT history came when students filled an RA's Jeep with more than 40,000 taco sauce packets.

adventures, including an exploding tennis ball, a red-hot piece of cable shooting out of a flaming automobile tire, and a burning propane tank that “lifted off into the sky like a strange fire-breathing pig.”

The number of pranks and misadventures described in Vosmek’s book is in the dozens. The best known, and still remembered on campus today, is when an RA’s Jeep was filled with more than 40,000 taco sauce packets. Vosmek describes the prank from planning to execution, concluding with the problem of how to dispose of the packets when the humorous adventure was over.

NEARLY MISSING A KICKOFF Herakovich’s book includes its own misadventures, including the day he and a fraternity brother overslept and had to be rushed to Franklin College in time to compete in a Saturday afternoon football game.

Rushing a little too fast, they were stopped by a police officer, who they hoped would understand their necessity to get to the game. Instead, they got hauled before a Justice of the Peace. It turned out that the police officer’s brother was the quarterback for Franklin.

Although set in very different time periods, each book gives readers a feel for what it was like to be a student at Rose during the writers’ undergraduate years. This includes the stress of exams, mountains of homework, memorable and influential professors, and enduring dates and friendships.

“Rose is really not like any other place in the world,” Vosmek says. “It’s like a family.”

From his perspective, Herakovich states: “As an engineering professor, I’m very proud to have gone to Rose. I had a number of good friends and teammates, a lot of fun, and an education that provided me with an excellent foundation for a successful life.” n

Both memoirs include several photographs, in fact, photos are a central feature of “Rose Poly and Me.” Vosmek, a proud member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, ends his book with the organization’s Preamble, which sets out the noble purposes of the “Pikes.” Herakovich ends his book with thoughtful observations and some advice for his alma mater.

Carl Herakovich was a decorated football player and professor who returned to RHIT with his 1959 classmates to mark their 50-year anniversary.

“Rose Poly and Me” is available through Apple Books and “Our Mascot was a Fire Truck” is available online through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

ECHOES

|

SPRING 2020

37

5500 WABASH AVENUE TERRE HAUTE, IN 47803 Address Service Requested

PARTIN G SHOT

Chemistry and biochemistry professor Rebecca DeVasher mixed the right virtual formula this spring to provide students with the personal attention, creativity and sense of humor to make online learning fun and interesting. Her students were appreciative, with one stating, “Your efforts are so evident! I love your humor and your love for your students. Thanks for all you do.” Find out more about new ways our professors remained connected with their students on Pages 10-11.

STAY CONNECTED with Rose-Hulman through our website www.rose-hulman.edu.

Also become a fan of Rose-Hulman’s Facebook page or follow us on Twitter and Instagram @rosehulman.