Echoes -- Spring 2021

SPRING 2021

Commencement 2021

A DAY TO REMEMBER

Class of ’21 Got Its Walk, Others Will Be Recognized This Fall

As life begins a return to relative normalcy this fall, so too will activities at Rose-Hulman with several in-person events being planned on campus during Homecoming, October 8-10.

Activities are being planned to recognize members of the Class of 2020 along with the 1970 and 1971 50-year graduation classes throughout the weekend.

Also, the Office of Career Services is planning an on-campus Fall Career Fair on October 6 in the Sports and Recreation Center.

We look forward to having you and others back on campus this fall!

More Commencement Items on Pages 10-12

Find out more about Homecoming plans at www.rose-hulman.edu/homecoming.

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Commencement 2021

A DAY TO REMEMBER

Contents

IN THIS ISSUE

10

SPRING RENEWED

16

14

SPECIAL EFFORTS

WORKING TOGETHER

COLUMNS/ FEEDBACK

6

OPEN SPACES

4 Message from the President

36 The Bailey Challenge

CAMPUS CONNECTION

Inside Cover A Walk to Remember 6 New Opportunities

10 Photo Album: Diploma Day

13 Supporting Students

14 Serving the Community

16 Campus News: New Programs

22 Changing Face of STEM

Day of Giving Sets New Records It took just 24 hours for more than 533 Rose-Hulman supporters to contribute a record $331,900 to help meet the institute’s greatest needs, including student scholarships, in the 2021 Day of Giving that was part of Attitude of Gratitude Week festivities.

This year’s contributions from individual alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of Rose-Hulman topped last year’s Day of Giving fundraising total of approximately $320,000. The number of individual donors also surpassed the 450 participants from the 2020 drive.

The following generous individuals provided matching gifts to further incentivize giving during the April 9 event: President Robert A. Coons, Trustee Tonya Combs (CHE, 2001), athletic coaches and the Rose-Hulman Varsity R Club, Brad Bechtel (ME, 1992), Bob Schacht (CE, 1972) and his wife, Yvonne, Roger LaCosse (ME, 1971) and his wife Linda, Dennis Paustenbach (BSCHE, 1974; HDENG, 2007), Steve Jugle (BSCHE, 2006/ MSCHE, 2007), and Emily Asman Jugle (CHE, 2013), and an anonymous donor.

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Contents

IN THIS ISSUE

32

COOL JOB

44

FIXER-UPPERS

24

WEEKEND WARRIORS

SPECIAL FEATURES

22

SHINING LIGHT

Celebrating Diversity 20

Minority Voices 23

Checkered Ambitions 24

Crossing Horizons 28

Lights, Camera, Action 30

NASA Problem Solver 32

Alumni News: New Leaders 33

Alumni Awards 34

Class Notes 37

Weddings 41

Rosebuds 42

In Memoriam 42-43

Memory Lane: Big Plans 44 Flying High Inside Back

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: Charlie Ricker, Interim Director; Katie Hoffmann, Assistant Director; Holly Kowalski, Administrative Assistant; Carrie Bose, Events Coordinator 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 Operations Manager; Hayley Williams, Communications Strategist Cover Design: Traci Nelson-Albertson Page Design: Chris Denison Contributing Writer: Herb Bailey

Contributing Photographers: American Structurepoint, Lydia Bahr, Bubba's Pics, Zac Chambers/Theta Xi Fraternity, DELV Design, Stephanie Drenten Ferro, Kenton Hipsher, Indy Racing Images, Adam Janeira/I’m the Villain Films, NASA Glenn-Rami Daud/Bridget Caswell, Mic Orman, Project One Studio, RATIO Architects, Hilary Reeves/Saltchuk Resources, Cari Rohrmayer/CRMH Architecture + Commercial Interiors, Ruby+Associates Inc., Shawn Spence, University of Tennessee Communications and Marketing, and Royce Wilkinson Rose-Hulman Archives Support: Ryan Roberts, Associate Librarian, Logan Library and Information Center 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 is District's Best Echoes earned Gold first-place honors in the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education’s 2020 Best of CASE V district publication contest for institutions in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. This marks the fourth consecutive year that the magazine has been recognized in this contest and second Gold distinction.

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From the President

FOREVER ROSE

I t is a little tempting to take a victory lap with this column.

After all, a year ago, we were not sure what the 2020-21 academic year would look like. Would we be able to teach our students in-person, remotely or a combination of both? While we focused primarily on in-person learning as much as possible, hybrid and online delivery methods were also utilized. In all aspects of campus life we spent significant time and effort implementing a series of safety protocols designed to keep our students, faculty and staff as healthy as possible.

And we succeeded.

None of this means the cost of COVID-19 to our community was not high. Many of us suffered heartbreaking losses during this past year. My heart goes out to everyone for whom this year has brought immeasurable loss.

We Prospered and Improved Yet, with this spring it feels as if a new day is emerging. Vaccination rates are rising and new cases are falling. We celebrated Commencement inperson and outdoors on our beautiful new athletic field (Pages 10-12), and we are looking forward to welcoming the Class of 2020 during Homecoming this fall to celebrate in person their own graduation milestone which they did virtually in 2020.

As this issue of Echoes will show, we did not merely survive the past year, we prospered and improved.

Work continued on our wonderful new academic building (Pages 6-9), which is set to welcome students this fall. Our new Noblitt Scholars program enabled us to welcome dozens of passionate, diverse and dedicated first-year students to campus; two of our faculty earned Fulbright Fellowships; we launched two new programs, Rose Squared and Rose Accelerate; and we crowned yet another student Goldwater Scholar. Meanwhile, more than 530 of our alumni and friends combined to donate a record $331,709 in a single day during our 2021 annual Day of Giving. We appreciate all the continued support of our alumni as we look for a strong finish to our $250 million Mission Driven fundraising campaign for Rose-Hulman.

BY ROBERT A. COONS, PRESIDENT coons@rose-hulman.edu

Thanks to our masking, social distancing, frequent testing, contact tracing, quarantining, and other policies outlined in our ever-evolving Rose Ready guidelines, (and, more importantly, our community’s compliance with those guidelines) the positivity rate for COVID-19 on our campus remained below one-half of one percent—consistently far below the national, state, and local averages.

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The institute also continued to receive votes of confidence from outside sources, including the Lilly Endowment, which awarded the AskRose Homework Help service a $1.46 million dollar grant to continue their good work and to increase our use of online technology in assisting middle

“ Many of us suffered heartbreaking losses during this past year.

My heart goes out to everyone for whom this year has brought immeasurable loss.”

and high school students with mathematics and science homework. The Endowment also awarded us, along with two other area institutions of higher education, $8 million to fund a new first of its kind consortium designed as a pilot program to expand access to and improve student mental health services to students on all three campuses.

(See Campus News, Pages 16-19) As you will read in this issue, our alumni continue to make incredible contributions in their fields, including space exploration, auto racing, movie making, and civil engineering. And Linda and Mike Mussallem have again blessed the institute with a generous contribution, this time funding fullride scholarships for students from Mike’s native northwest region of Indiana (Page 13).

“ As you will read in this issue, our alumni continue to make incredible contributions in their fields, including space exploration, auto racing, movie making, and civil engineering.”

From the President

FOREVER ROSE

We’re a Work in Progress So, yes, it is temping to take a victory lap, but we won’t. We know the work here is never completed.

We are constantly striving to improve and discover new ways to fulfill our mission to deliver the world’s best science, engineering and mathematics education while giving our students the individual attention and support they each require to excel.

As alumnus, former trustee and long-time friend of the institute, the late Hal Brown stated in a fine tribute he drafted to mark the 100th anniversary of his father’s graduation from Rose Polytechnic in 1921, our students and our institute will always remain a work-in-progress. In the same way that the sculpture of the Self-made Man that stands outside of our Sports and Recreation Center is incomplete, so are we all. Our desire to evolve, grow and improve never stops.

So, please indulge in a little pride as you read this issue of Echoes, but remember, at Rose-Hulman, the best is always yet to come.

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Cover Story

COMING ATTRACTIONS

LABS, DESIGN SPACES, CLASSROOMS & INTERACTIVE ARTWORK All Part of New Academic Building

NEW BUILDING NEW OPPORTUNITIES N

early two years after initial planning and start of construction, excitement is building at Rose-Hulman with the opening of a new academic building late this summer. With its new classrooms, laboratories, workspaces, and an interactive artistic exhibit that includes a programming component for students, the $29 million, 70,000-square-foot building further enhances the institute’s leadership role in undergraduate science, engineering and mathematics education.

Situated between Moench Hall and Myers Hall on the east side of campus, it is the first academic-centric building added to the institute in nearly 25 years. The building is also the first on campus to meet new WELL-certified standards for design interventions, operational protocols and policies with a commitment to fostering a culture of health and wellness—important criteria in this post-COVID-19 pandemic era.

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Cover Story

COMING ATTRACTIONS

The building’s design supports active student engagement through flexible and easily adaptable spaces for classrooms, laboratories and design studios, and breakout space for students and teams to collaborate on projects.

“These academic features are welcome additions to our campus, says President Robert A. Coons. “This building continues our commitment to provide our students and faculty with leading-edge facilities and equipment to educate tomorrow’s STEM leaders and innovators. It also was our desire to design a building that meets our current and future needs, with special attention paid to sustainability, health and safety.”

The project is being supported through a $15 million lead gift from an anonymous donor, along with other individual and family donors, as part of the Mission Driven Campaign for Rose-Hulman.

WHAT’S INSIDE THE BUILDING: - State-of-the-art chemistry laboratories - Design studios - Flexible classrooms - Collaboration workspaces - Faculty innovation spaces

The new academic building, between Moench and Myers Halls, is the first academic-centric building added to campus in nearly 25 years.

The building was designed by RATIO Architects of Indianapolis and construction was managed by Garmong Construction Services of Terre Haute.

Several subcontractors and local laborers were involved in the project since the summer of 2019.

A NEW ‘HOME’ FOR MANY AREAS Provost and 1985 mechanical engineering alumnus Rick Stamper points out that the new building has multiple purposes and will be used by several academic departments for classes, laboratories and interdisciplinary projects. It will be the new home base for the institute’s expanding engineering design program; provides more space for chemistry and biochemistry instruction and research; and introduces a new food science development and testing laboratory. Students also will have access to prototyping laboratories that include laser-cutting devices, 3D printers, machine tools, and CNC machines.

“The new chemistry and design labs will have a dramatic impact on the experiences of nearly every future Rose-Hulman student,” states Stamper. “Chemistry is a foundational science for almost every one of our majors and design is a central

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Cover Story

COMING ATTRACTIONS (CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE)

activity for all engineering majors. The new academic building improves our capability to deliver great experiences in both of those areas.”

Stamper adds, “A central feature of our engineering design program is the experiential hands-on nature of the curriculum. That sort of curriculum demands a special type of facility that the new academic building delivers. However, I am particularly excited about what the new building does for our chemistry program.

That department has always provided our students with incredible experiences with access to amazing instruments and equipment. The new building will put on full display our outstanding chemistry department and the wonderful experiences our chemistry faculty provide students.”

Coons remarks that the new classrooms, laboratories and workspaces will allow the institute to increase academic instructional, research and faculty office opportunities in other current academic buildings throughout campus. These future plans are presently under discussion by administrators and academic department leadership.

ARTWORK BRINGS ‘DEPTH’ TO STEM A dazzling one-of-its-kind interactive artwork is the focal point of the building’s central atrium and showcases engineering ingenuity, scientific wonder, and artistic beauty.

Standing at 30 feet tall and 17 feet wide, the “Depth of Field” artwork has more than 13,000 programable light-emitting diodes

Artist Adam Buente designed the “Depth of Field“ artwork to reflect the rhythm of life and the heartbeat of the students within the building.

The atrium's interactive artwork has more than 13,000 programmable LEDs that will showcase a multitude of colors throughout each day.

speckled throughout 360 custom-made components. Those will showcase a multitude of colors every minute throughout each day, reflecting the ever-changing conditions within the building environment.

Each morning, as the sun rises, warm-colored tones are introduced and expanded throughout the day. As the sun sets, the colors change to cooler shades—to be repeated the next day, but with slightly different color palates.

“ This building continues our commitment to provide our students and faculty with leading-edge facilities and equipment to educate tomorrow’s STEM leaders and innovators.”

— Robert A. Coons Rose-Hulman President

Learn more about the new academic building at www.rose-hulman.edu/AcademicBuilding 8

The “Depth of Field“ artwork had a “wow“ factor that intrigued Board of Trustees treasurer Tom Dinkel (BSME, 1972/HDENG, 2015) and his wife, Susie, who supported the project's creation and installation.

“ We saw supporting the art project as a different way of supporting a place (Rose-Hulman) that means so much to both of us and the Terre Haute community. We wanted something that affects the lives of all Rose-Hulman students.”

Cover Story

COMING ATTRACTIONS

— Tom Dinkel (BSME, 1972/HDENG, 2015)

“This artwork will reflect the rhythm of life and the heartbeat of the students within the building,” says artist Adam Buente, who specially designed the artwork with business partner Kyle Perry of Indianapolis’ Project One Studio. “It will be different every second of every day. Each image will never be repeated.”

As a special feature, Rose-Hulman students will be able to program features of the artistic arrangements through future courses in science, engineering, mathematics, humanities, and the arts.

“Like the artwork itself, this project has boundless possibilities,” says Kay C Dee, associate dean of learning and technology and professor of biology and biomedical engineering.

DINKELS ADORE ‘WOW’ FACTOR Tom Dinkel, a 1972 mechanical engineering alumnus, and his wife, Susie, provided a charitable gift to cover the cost of creating and installing the artwork. The couple met as undergraduate college students in Terre Haute—Susie is an Indiana State University nursing graduate—and remained in the community to raise their family.

Tom ultimately became president and chief executive officer of Sycamore Engineering and its associated enterprises. He has supported Rose-Hulman as a longtime member of the institute’s Board of Trustees, currently serving as its treasurer, and mentor for the campus’ Alpha Tau Omega fraternity chapter.

Rose-Hulman students will be able to program features of the artistic arrangements in future STEM courses.

“This artwork had a ‘wow’ factor that intrigued us. Hopefully, students will enjoy the opportunity to work directly with the piece as it brightens their day.”

— Susie Dinkel

“We saw supporting the art project as a different way of supporting a place (Rose-Hulman) that means so much to both of us and the Terre Haute community.

We wanted something that affects the lives of all Rose-Hulman students,” Tom Dinkel says.

President Coons adds, “Like the artwork itself, this project has taken on a life of its own, thanks to the vision, imagination and creativity of the artists, our faculty, staff and students, and the support of Tom and Susie Dinkel. Designed to take maximum advantage of natural light, we wanted the atrium to be a showpiece that provides a ‘window into Rose,’ shining light on all of the innovation that will be taking place in this exciting new campus building.”

The Dinkels appreciate that the Depth of Field exhibit melds aspects of art and engineering, with each of its panels being specially fabricated to fit together like a giant puzzle, controllable through a central computer system, and held onto the wall by strong magnets.

“This artwork had a ‘wow’ factor that intrigued us,” says Susie Dinkel. “Hopefully, students will enjoy the opportunity to work directly with the piece as it brightens their day.” n

Come and See at Homecoming

After its grand opening for the start of the 2021-22 school year, the new academic building will be open for visiting alumni during this year’s Homecoming, October 8-10.

Provost Rick Stamper (ME, 1985) provides a quick tour inside the new academic building and showcases many of its exciting new features: www.rose-hulman.edu/BuildingTour ECHOES

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Photo Album

COMMENCEMENT 2021

PHOTOS BY BRYAN CANTWELL, MIC ORMAN & SHAWN SPENCE

A Walk & Outdoor Commencement to Remember The Class of 2021 has left campus to begin members' professional careers, graduate school studies, military commissions, and other ambitions with the analytical skills to put them in the winner’s circle in solving future challenges in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

That was the message 1990 mechanical engineering alumnus and Team Penske President Tim Cindric told the 416 members who received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from President Robert A. Coons during the institute’s 143rd Commencement—the first year-end event to be conducted outdoors at Cook Stadium’s Phil Brown Field. Another 65 students participated in the ceremony in anticipation of completing their degree requirements this summer or fall.

Cindric gave the Commencement Address and earned an honorary degree from his alma mater. (See more on page 11) He told the graduates: “Throughout your time here at Rose, everyone has been exposed to numbers, formulas, hypothesis, and all kinds of physical and mathematical problems. It didn’t really dawn on me that the biggest thing I was learning while solving these problems wasn’t really the answer. It was the way in which I was trained to approach a problem. Independent of the curriculum or the major you pursued while you were at Rose, each one of your professors was teaching you the same thing but in different way. They were teaching you process. Each one of you will leave here today with the ability to solve virtually any problem because you know where to go to locate the constants and you have been trained to utilize process to determine the answer.“

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COMMENCEMENT 2021

Cindric, Millett Receive Doctor of Engineering Honorary Degrees Presented Doctor of Engineering honorary degrees this year were: Tim Cindric, a 1990 mechanical engineering alumnus who as Team Penske President has overall management responsibilities for racing operations, including teams racing at the top levels of the NTT IndyCar Series, Monster, the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

He also oversees Penske Technology Group, Penske Restoration, the Penske Heritage Center, and Penske Racing Museum. Under Cindric’s leadership, Team Penske has earned more than 300 race victories, including eight Indianapolis 500-mile races, and 19 series championships.

This year’s Commencement culminated a challenging 2020-21 academic year that had students, faculty and staff wearing masks around campus and experiencing classes and laboratory sessions with social distancing measures and a mixture of in-class, hybrid and online course offerings, albeit under health and safety requirements.

“Did you sometimes wonder if this day would ever arrive?“ President Coons asked the institute’s newest alumni.

“As we reflect on your time here, it’s tempting to focus on the past 14 months because of how unusual that period has been. But your experience at Rose-Hulman has been so much more. I cannot overlook the role each of you played in promoting the health and safety of our community during the past year. It is difficult enough to graduate from Rose-Hulman, but to do it in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, with all of the hardships entailed, is truly amazing. You can always be proud of the part you played in our successful navigation of this global challenge.“ Other speakers were Kelly Noel, a 2002 electrical engineering alumna and president of the Rose-Hulman Alumni Advisory Board; Senior Class President Patricia Giraldo and Student Government Association Past-President Coleman Weaver, both electrical engineering graduates; and Jarvis Faught, vice president of the South Asian Student Alliance, who received a civil engineering degree.

Mark Millett, Steel Dynamics president and chief executive who has been instrumental in building the company into one of the largest and fastest growing steel producers and metals recyclers in the U.S. The company’s operations include the Heartland Flat Roll Division in Terre Haute and its leadership team, featuring several Rose-Hulman alumni, has created a best-in-class, innovative steel company that has been committed to operating in an environmentally responsible manner.

Celebrate Commencement with the Class of 2021: www.rose-hulman.edu/commencement2021

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Photo Album

COMMENCEMENT 2021

Student Awards Herman A. Moench Distinguished Senior Commendation

(graduate having commendable influence on the Rose community)

Grant Stamper, Biology

John T. Royse Award

(most outstanding graduate, based upon academics, student leadership, activities, and campus citizenship)

Kaylee Pate, Chemical Engineering/ Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Heminway Gold Medal

(graduates with highest academic achievement)

Karen Folz, Chemical Engineering/ Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Marc Fournier, Computer Engineering and Computer Science Hailey Heidecker, Electrical Engineering Andrew Johnson, Computer Engineering and Computer Science Kaylee Pate, Chemical Engineering/ Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Faculty/Staff Awards Dean’s Outstanding Teacher Cliff Grigg, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Board of Trustees’ Outstanding Scholar Robert Throne, Electrical and Computer Engineering

President’s Outstanding Service Dawn Miller, Operations and Recruiting Manager, Office of Career Services and Employer Relations

John T. Ying Excellence for Student-Faculty Collaboration Audrey Brand, 2020 Optical Engineering Alumna Hossein Alisafaee, Physics and Optical Engineering

Hero Rose The more than 100 employees who provided extraordinary efforts in helping the institute deal with the numerous ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020-21 school year.

Superhero Rose Andrea Baysinger, Ryan Brimberry, Jake Campbell, Megan Elliott, and Erik Hayes (BSME, 1997/MSME, 2001) for their tireless efforts in helping navigate a once-in-a-century health challenge

Excellence in Service Office of Public Safety

Shining Star Patty Eaton, Director of Student Accessibility Services

Make a Difference Carol Clampitt, Facilities Team Member 12

Campus News

GIVING BACK

Mussallems Continue Student Support with $4.1M Gift Mike Mussallem has not forgotten his roots in Gary, Indiana, or the important role his Rose-Hulman education has played in providing the pathway for his success as a global life sciences leader.

That’s why the 1974 chemical engineering alumnus and his wife, Linda—a native of Ottawa, Illinois—have established a $4.1 million scholarship fund to support students from northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland region to attend the institute.

The scholarship will be focused on supporting students from diverse socioeconomic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Each scholarship recipient’s academic career will be enhanced through unique international opportunities and leadership experiences.

President Robert A. Coons states, “Linda and Mike share in our commitment to educating the mind, body

GENEROUS SUPPORTERS The Mussallems have generously supported the institute over the last several years.

They provided the $9 million lead gift in 2016 to expand the student union, now named The Mussallem Union.

They added a $1.5 million gift in 2019 to support the construction of The Pi-Vilion, an award-winning sustainable free-standing structure adjacent to the student union.

Linda and Mike Mussallem have generously provided donations to support the expansion of the student union, an additional pavilion and, now, future scholarships for students.

and soul of each Rose-Hulman student. Their past gifts have been transformative for our campus, and this latest generous donation will significantly impact our students as well. This scholarship fund will provide opportunities for a multitude of students they wouldn’t get anywhere else.”

The new Mussallem Scholarship program will provide scholarships for six students annually.

Combined with institutional aid, the scholarships will cover full tuition for four years—allowing the institute to attract and retain high-achieving high school graduates interested in studying undergraduate STEM areas.

Mike Mussallem has been chairman and chief executive officer of Edwards Lifesciences since 2000.

He is a Rose-Hulman trustee who received an honorary degree in 1999 from the institute and was the featured speaker at the 2015 Commencement.

“ In the early 1970s, Rose-Hulman provided a welcoming environment for me as I moved from Gary and created an outstanding foundation for my future opportunities and career. Linda and I believe Rose-Hulman provides unique and special opportunities to students from this region who have interest in studying science, engineering and math, and we are proud to help make this a reality for them.”

— Mike Mussallem (CHE, 1974) Chairman/CEO, Edwards Lifesciences

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Campus News

HELPING HANDS

g n i d ad color to a communit y

NOBLITT SCHOLARS WORK TOGETHER TO CREATE MURAL

“What we try to do is help communities create that quality of life that is so important,” Crouch told the Terre Haute Tribune-Star. “We see that this is an investment that is going to lift up not just this area but all of Terre Haute.”

Neighborhood residents offered words of encouragement to the Noblitt Scholars while stopping to watch the students’ efforts during workdays.

Another passerby shouted “it looks beautiful” from her car while admiring the project.

A group of inaugural Noblitt Scholars worked together this spring to give back to the Terre Haute community by helping design and create a large-scale mural for the city’s historic 12 Points neighborhood that’s already receiving rave reviews from local citizens and Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch.

Thirty first-year students spent several afternoons painting shades of red, blue, purple, green, and orange to create a sunrise scene, accentuated with three large hearts, across a 62-foot long wall of the PARQ building within the neighborhood, which features the intersection of three major city streets.

Husband-and-wife PARQ co-owners Mark and Tiffany Baker hope the mural will become a source of pride for neighborhood residents and a popular spot for visitors to pose for photos.

That’s what Crouch did while visiting the area whose 12 Points Revitalization, Inc. organization that’s seeking state assistance to support further economic and community development opportunities.

Noblitt Scholars Director Christine Buckley learned about the neighborhood leaders’ idea for creating the mural and thought it would be ideal opportunity for students seeking to work together on a group project, preferably outdoors and off campus, after spending most of the 2020-21 school year impacted by COVID-19 health and safety restrictions.

“I'm hoping the Noblitt Scholars see the power of their STEM expertise to provoke change,” says Buckley.

“Our students have skills and abilities that can impact a community. This is just one aspect of the Noblitt Scholars experience that will benefit them throughout their careers as professionals. They need to give back to others.”

“ It’s nice to be working together to help bring hope, joy and energy to this community through this mural.

It’s been a labor of love for all of us.”

— Amelia Robinson 2021 Noblitt Scholar

See the Noblitt Scholars working together to create the mural at www.rose-hulman.edu/muralproject 14

Campus News

HELPING HANDS

A group of Noblitt Scholars spent two Saturdays this spring painting a sunrise scene with two hearts on the wall of a building in Terre Haute's historic 12 Points neighborhood.

Noblitt Scholar Amelia Robinson, a biomedical engineering student from Georgetown, Kentucky, agrees, stating, “It’s nice to be working together to help bring hope, joy and energy to this community through this mural. It’s been a labor of love for all of us.”

She continued, “It’s a great feeling to have us all together, especially given the year that we’ve had. This is really the first time that we as Noblitt Scholars have been able to meet up. To have this positive impact in the community is amazing...to what a small act of kindness can do.”

The Noblitt Scholars program, supported by a $10 million gift from 1973 biological engineering alumnus Niles Noblitt and his wife Nancy, guides and supports highly motivated, self-directed learners as they identify an area of interest to them, develop expertise in that area, and turn their passion and knowledge into action. Each year, through a rigorous and competitive application process, Rose-Hulman selects 55 first-year students representing diverse academic interests and backgrounds to become Noblitt Scholars. n Learn more about the Noblitt Scholars program at www.rose-hulman.edu/noblittscholars

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Campus News

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Rose Squared Program Pairing 4-Year Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees A new combined bachelor’s and master’s degree pairing will allow students to put their eligible credits earned before attending Rose to work and obtain two degrees in just four years at no additional cost.

The pilot program, named Rose Squared (R2), allows eligible students to earn a Bachelor of Science in their chosen major and a Master of Engineering Management in the same four-year period. Future expansion of the program to other academic departments will enable offering additional combined bachelor’s and master’s degrees that can be completed in four years.

The program is especially appropriate for high school graduates entering Rose-Hulman with several qualifying advanced placement, international baccalaureate or other earned college credits.

2 degrees in 4 years 2 degrees in 4 years

In the engineering management pilot track, students are afforded the flexibility to take graduate-level engineering management courses during the final two years of their four-year RHIT education.

A Rose-Hulman master’s degree in engineering management offers the business training of a Master of Business Administration with an added STEM focus.

Learn more about Rose Squared at www.rose-hulman.edu/r2

Math Department Recognized Nationally for Outreach Efforts The Department of Mathematics’ long-standing, wide-ranging and sustained efforts to inspire future problem solvers and scholars have been recognized for the first time by the American Mathematical Society with its Award for an Exemplary Program or Achievement in a Mathematics Department.

AMS cited the department’s outreach efforts aimed at elementary and middle school students, high school students, undergraduate students, master’s students, and doctorate students. These programs have included annual Sonia Math Days, Girls Adventures in Math, MATHCOUNTS, Rose-Hulman High School Mathematics Contest, and Undergraduate Mathematics Conference.

Also, the Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal has published more than 450 scholarly articles written exclusively by undergraduate students since 2000.

Annual Sonia Math Day is among activities organized by mathematics faculty and students to inspire kids' interest in math.

Professor and mathematics department head David Rader points out that all these outreach activities involve mathematics faculty and undergraduate and master’s students from a variety of academic programs. “It’s their energy and commitment that has built and expanded these fine outreach programs,” he says.

Civil Eng. Earns ACI Department, Student Honors For the 10th time in the last 11 years, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has been designated an “Outstanding University” by the American Concrete Institute (ACI). This recognition is based on students’ participation in concrete-related activities and educational initiatives.

Also, Luke Greenwood earned the ACI Foundation’s Future Concrete Industry Leader Fellowship, one of the nation’s most coveted honors for an undergraduate civil engineering student. It features a $10,000 educational stipend, paid travel expenses and attendance fees to two ACI conventions, and assistance in finding an industry mentor. He is an intern this summer with TLF Engineers in Indianapolis.

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Lilly Endowment Grants Expand Student Mental Health, AskRose Helpline Services Two Lilly Endowment Inc. grants are supporting a not-for-profit consortium to expand student mental health resources and bringing online technology to the AskRose Homework Help service.

Colin Beach Rides Research, Internship Waves to Goldwater Scholar Award A variety of undergraduate research and internship experiences have provided biochemistry student Colin Beach a pathway to recognition as a 2021 Goldwater Scholar, an honor bestowed upon the nation’s top STEM college students. He is the 12th RHIT student to be named a Goldwater Scholar in the past 16 years.

Five research and internship opportunities over the past three years have accentuated valuable classroom and laboratory experiences in biochemistry, medical physics and nanomedicine. They have provided Beach with a foundation for creating and applying modern treatments to diseases.

As a research assistant last summer with Indianapolis-based Health & Science Innovations, the Dayton, Ohio, native contributed to group research on the COVID-19 pandemic, proposing an inhalable medication combination to improve treatments for infected patients.

He contributed to the team’s understanding of the virus and its molecular biology, means of infection, and resultant illness.

On campus, Beach worked on research projects this school year modelling the inhibition of the DDAH enzyme with targeted chemical structures and examining protein behavior of the estrogen receptor to predict characteristics of certain cancers.

This summer, he will be part of a public health research team at Eskenazi Health's research office in Indianapolis.

“I have been driven toward a career in biomedical research partly because of my natural love for math, science and hands-on work. Together, my educational and work experiences have provided a unique insight to the dedication that is required of research,” says Beach, who has a perfect 4.0 grade-point average through his junior year. “I hope to continue this focus in biomedical research for many years and develop innovative ideas, in both treatment and education, that can help in the betterment of human health.”

Learn more about Colin at www.rose-hulman.edu/colinbeach

Campus News

WHAT’S HAPPENING

A $8 million grant will establish, starting this fall, a MINDful College Connections collaboration with nearby DePauw University and Saint Mary-of-theWoods College to more efficiently and effectively focus on preventive care strategies and increase student access to mental health services. This is part of the endowment’s Charting the Future of Indiana’s Colleges and Universities initiative to help institutions assess and prioritize their most significant challenges and opportunities and develop strategies to address them.

“High anxiety, stress, and depression have been growing issues in U.S. higher education for the past decade,” says President Robert A. Coons.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has provided additional student mental health challenges that need to be addressed. This grant enhances our efforts.”

Another $1.46 million grant will allow AskRose to implement video tutoring into its traditional phone, chat and email services to help middle school and high school students understand their math and science homework problems. The video tutoring option will facilitate an easier method for students and tutors to share discussions about problems involving symbols, equations, diagrams, and graphs. Meanwhile, students are becoming more familiar with online educational technology, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.

Tuition to be Kept Flat for 2021-22 The Rose-Hulman Board of Trustees has approved not increasing tuition for the 2021-22 academic year for continuing and new students.

The decision was made in response to the economic uncertainty that the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced into families’ lives.

President Robert A. Coons and his executive cabinet recommended holding the line on tuition for the upcoming school year to help the many students and families still recovering from the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our goal is to find ways to continue to make a Rose-Hulman education affordable for all students and their families, which is especially important in these uncertain times,” Coons says. He notes that the school is examining ways to further reduce costs for students.

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Campus News

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Two Academic Areas Getting New Leadership Experienced educators and scholars Kimberly Henthorn and James Hanson will be taking over leadership roles within the institute’s Department of Chemical Engineering and Department of Civil and Environment Engineering, respectively, starting on July 1.

Provost and 1985 mechanical engineering alumnus Rick Stamper says, “Dr. Henthorn and Dr. Hanson have been

exemplary classroom instructors and scholars. Department leadership will just add to their impressive academic careers.”

Henthorn, associate professor of chemical engineering, will be leading the department in which she earned a bachelor’s degree in 1999. She specializes in particle technology and two-phase microfluidic systems, has joined students in researching chocolate production, and has sought to introduce new experiments into the department’s labs.

Henthorn will replace Adam Nolte, who will remain on the department’s faculty.

Hanson, professor of civil and environmental engineering, has taught structural engineering courses in the department since 2002. He is an American Concrete Institute Fellow, has earned the Dean’s Outstanding Teacher Award, is a former He succeeds Kevin Sutterer, who will remain as a professor in the department.

Henthorn

Hanson

SWE Members Bring STEM into Focus Society of Women Engineers student chapter members used stop-action videography and sketch animation, along with student interviews, in producing a series of videos on social media this school year in hopes of inspiring and encouraging young women to become tomorrow’s engineers and scientists.

The videos also introduced viewers to all RHIT’s academic areas.

The project was organized by SWE outreach chairs Emma Goodman and Tori Szalay after COVID-19 precautions prevented members from participating in planned educational activities in Terre Haute. Chapter president Taylor Lueking was featured in a video about her mechanical engineering major.

“We wanted people to hear girls talking about STEM,” says Szalay. “Videos provide a type of immortality that made us feel that 2020 wasn’t just a ‘throwaway year.’”

Lueking

Goodman

The stop-action videography featured in the civil and environmental engineering video took 120 hours of production work. Szalay used her artistic skills and knowledge as a computer engineering student to draw the electrical circuitry involving resistors, inductors, and capacitors, along with several cartoon characters—all using a whiteboard.

“The popularity of the videos has encouraged us to keep doing this,” says Goodman, a chemical engineering major.

View the videos at www.rose-human.edu/swevideos

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Faculty Duo are Latest Fulbright Scholars Professors Paul Christensen and Wayne Tarrant are the latest RHIT faculty to be named Fulbright Faculty Scholars, the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program.

Christensen, associate professor of anthropology, is doing fieldwork in Japan through June 2022 for a project titled Diverging Tokyo: Poverty, Revitalization and the Shaping of a Meaningful Existence Project Narrative. His findings will become the basis for a future book project examining a meaningful existence in contemporary Japan.

Tarrant, associate professor of mathematics, will spend the 2021-22 academic year helping educators in Kenya make the transition to emphasize more inquiry-based learning.

He notes that many teachers in the African country feel completely unprepared to deal with the change. He has collaborated with faculty and students at Nairobi’s Strathmore University for the past three years.

A dozen current Rose-Hulman faculty and staff have participated in the Fulbright program.

Christensen

Tarrant

Berry, Holden Named Endowed Giacoletto, Innovation Faculty Chairs Outstanding achievements as educators and scholars have earned Carlotta Berry the Lawrence J. Giacoletto Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Joshua Holden the Endowed Chair for Innovation in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Education. They will begin three-year terms September 1.

Endowed faculty chairs honor members of the RHIT faculty for their exemplary accomplishments outside Rose-Hulman and further supports their professional activity in both national and international circles of scholarship.

Berry will create an advanced mobile robotics course that will explore a different topic each year throughout the three-year endowed faculty chair term. She also is planning to offer independent study and research opportunities for students interested in robotics. (Learn more about Berry on Page 22)

Berry

Holden

Holden plans to develop and teach courses related to the integration of art with STEM on campus, several in conjunction with the Artist in Residence program.

Possible course topics will be generative art, poetry and mathematics, fiber art, and elements of color theory.

Internships, Career Services Get Top Marks

New Summer Program Lets Students Accelerate Degrees

Rose-Hulman been cited as America’s top private college for providing internship opportunities for students, along with a top-10 ranking for career placement— key elements in the institute being named a Best Value College for 2021

by The Princeton Review.

A new virtual Rose Accelerate program will allow high school students nationwide who will be juniors and seniors in the fall to earn college credits that will provide a valuable head start on earning Rose-Hulman degrees. The courses are taught online by RHIT faculty to high school students meeting entry academic requirements and having access to participate in online courses.

The education services company annually names the colleges with the country’s highest return on investment ratings, after analyzing student surveys and more than 40 data points covering academic offerings, cost/financial aid, career placement services, graduation rates, and student debt.

RHIT ranked No. 1 among private colleges providing the Best Value Colleges for Internships, based on students’ ratings of accessibility of internship placement, and No. 8 among private colleges with the Best Value Colleges for Career Placement, based on student ratings of career services as well as PayScale.com’s alumni salary levels and job satisfaction surveys.

The institute’s career preparation services contribute to a 98% 10-year placement rate for all graduates within six months of Commencement.

PERCENT OF ROSE STUDENTS WHO COMPLETE AN INTERNSHIP, CO-OP OR RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:

94% COMPLETE ONE

70% COMPLETE TWO

31% COMPLETE

THREE OR MORE

Campus News

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Rose Accelerate allows students great flexibility for their times at RHIT, setting them up for specially tailored academic programs to their STEM interests, the ability to participate in study abroad, or gaining co-op work opportunities.

Courses being taught this summer are Chemistry/Chemistry Lab, Calculus 1, Introduction to Software Development, Introduction to Film Studies, Japanese Popular Culture, and Music Theory 1.

Learn more about Rose Accelerate at www. rose-hulman.edu/accelerate

Golf Teams Make History at NCAA Championships, Win HCAC Titles This was a historic spring for the women’s and men’s golf teams with each qualifying for the NCAA Division III championships after winning Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference titles.

The women’s team placed 14th at the NCAA tournament, the best national finish for an RHIT women's athletic team. The squad won the conference tournament by 86 strokes. And, the future would seem to be bright with the team’s postseason roster consisting of one senior, one sophomore and three first-year college players.

Meanwhile, the men’s team placed 21st at the NCAA championships. Max Gogel, a 2021 mechanical engineering alumnus, became the first Rose student-athlete to earn the NCAA Elite 90 Award for having the highest grade point average among competitors at an NCAA championship event.

Get the latest about Rose-Hulman at www.rose-hulman.edu/news ECHOES

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Alumni News

HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS

ALUMNI IN SPOTLIGHT DURING BLACK, WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTHS

Williams

Palmer Moody

Harrison

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Matthews

he life stories and professional profiles of several Black, African American and African descent alumni along with alumnae were featured as Rose-Hulman celebrated Black History Month (February) and Women’s History Month (March) on the institute’s website, www.rose-hulman.edu, and social media.

These projects, which also included several faculty, staff and students, were organized by the Office of Communications and Marketing in collaboration with the Center for Diversity and Inclusion.

Black History Month featured alumni trustees Jeff Harrison (EE, 1989), Warren Mickens (ME, 1977), Darin Moody (CHE, 1987), and Paul Palmer (ME, 1989). Other alumni highlighted were Kenton Hipsher (BIO, 2017), Joe Matthews (EE, 1991), Thomas Reives (ME, 2008), James Stewart (MA, 1969), Robert Wilkins (CHE, 1986), and Linnell Williams (ME, 2019).

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Stewart

Hipsher

Wilkins

Reives

Faculty and staff profiled were John Aidoo, Carlotta Berry, Craig Downing, Dexter Jordan, Alexander Kamasah, Richard Onyancha, and Yosi Shibberu.

There also was a look at the improving racial diversity on campus that’s part of a larger effort to make RHIT welcoming for everyone regardless of ethnic background, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other distinguishing characteristics. Members of the institute’s student chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers provided insight on this initiative.

View the Black History Month profiles at www.rose-hulman.edu/blackhistory.

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omen’s History Month profiles included alumna trustee Tonya Combs (CHE, 2001), Alumni Advisory Board President Kelly (Sullivan) Noel (EE, 2002) and alumnae Erin Gawron-Hyla (CHEM/MA, 1999), Kimberly (Hayden) Henthorn (CHE, 1999), Megan Heyman (MA, 2008), Kristen (Latta) Merchant (AB, 2011), and Erin O’Connor (BE, 2007).

There also was a look at back at the 25-year anniversary of coeducation with personal reflections from Sara (Speckhard) Ayres (ME, 1999), Kendra (Itskin) Basler (ME, 1999) and Sara Zembrodt (ME, 1999) along with Henthorn and Gawron-Hyla.

Alumni News

HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS

Faculty and staff featured were Rebecca Bercich, Patsy Brackin, Christine Buckley, Kay C Dee, Rebecca DeVasher, Diane Evans, Bernadette Ewen, Kathy Hammett, Amy Helliwell, Ella Ingram, Kathy Kassissieh, Kristen Loyd, Lisa Norton, Michelle Marincel Payne, Lori Olson, Linda Price, Susan Smith Roads, and Luanne Tilstra. n Recap the Women’s History Month profiles at www.rose-hulman.edu/womenshistory.

Henthorn Heyman

Noel

O'Connor

Merchant Gawron-Hyla

Combs

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Faculty Feature

DIFFERENCE MAKER

Carlotta Berry is Changing the Face of STEM Education Black engineering faculty matter.

That’s the assertion electrical and computer professor Carlotta Berry and others within the Black in Engineering community have undertaken to inspire positive change, share experiences and stand in solidarity with activism efforts for Black people in America.

After all, she points out that Black faculty represent only 2.4% of faculty in STEM fields.

Nationwide Black Lives Matters protests following George Floyd’s death in late May 2020 brought together Black academics and scholars to discuss their shared experiences with discrimination, marginalization and alienation within higher education, through the hashtag #BlackInTheIvory.

Disappointed to learn that few engineering or computer science faculty were participating, Berry used a sabbatical leave for the 2020-21 school year to work with academic colleagues across the U.S. to discuss social justice, how to improve the climate for STEM faculty, and help institutions promote diversity and inclusion. A Black Engineering Faculty Speak video series, co-produced by Berry, has approached such topics as “What it means to be Black in Robotics?,” “When did you fall in love with engineering?” and “We Rise.”

Berry remarks, “I became an engineering professor 20 years ago while sitting in class and realizing that I had never had a professor who looked like me, acted like me, or even seemed interested in me. I wanted to change the face of engineering by showing that the profession could be cool, interesting, exciting, engaging, and, most importantly, diverse.”

She co-founded Rose-Hulman’s Building Undergraduate Diversity (RoseBUD) program, encouraging students from underrepresented groups toward STEM careers, and helped student scholars organize an annual SPARK! campus event that

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Carlotta Berry (center) celebrated Commencement with graduating student members of the National Society of Black Engineers' campus chapter. She and others have helped increase diversity within the student body in recent years.

has high school and college students working on hands-on projects.

Those efforts have had Berry recognized with the TechPoint Foundation for Youth’s 2021 Bridge Builder Award, Women in Robotics’ 30 Women in Robotics You Need to Know About—2020, and FIRST Indiana Robotics’ 2020 Gamechanger Award. This spring she earned Rose-Hulman’s Lawrence J. Giacoletto Endowed Faculty Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering, starting September 1, to support her future initiatives in robotics education. (See story on page 18) Rose-Hulman President Robert A. Coons says, “We’re proud to see Dr. Berry getting much-deserved recognition for being a longtime leader in STEM education, especially in getting youths interested in engineering through robotics. Her passion for teaching and enthusiasm for helping others are contagious as an educator, mentor, academic adviser, and faculty colleague.”

Kenton Hipsher Telling Black, Brown Professionals’ STEM Stories

STORY

BY DALE LONG

Speaking with his high school-aged nephew about future career aspirations, 2017 biology alumnus Kenton Hipsher recalled his career planning experience and a problem many people of color face growing up—the lack of young professional mentors and public awareness about careers, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Alumni Feature

INSPIRING OTHERS

After all, Black and Hispanic people with a bachelor’s degree or higher make up only 17% of the nation’s STEM workforce; Black people occupy 3.2% of the senior leadership roles at U.S. large companies; and less than 1 percent of all Fortune 500 chief executive officers in the country are Black.

Hipsher founded The #BlackProfessionals Project in June 2020 to inspire Black and Brown youths by highlighting YouTube and social media interviews with professionals—several of them fellow Rose-Hulman alumni (see note on page)—sharing their career experiences and journeys. He also utilizes LinkedIn and Facebook communities to connect kids with professionals from underrepresented groups, and partners with schools and community groups across America to share his professional journey.

The interviews are casual conversations, recorded through Zoom from his home studio, that typically last about 30 minutes.

“It has been super cool learning where these professionals have come from, what they are doing and the challenges they have encountered along the way, especially how they learned and adapted from those experiences,” Hipsher says. “I have been hyped by the love and positivity that I received from other Black and Brown professionals who saw the work I’m doing.”

Hipsher has recorded more than 40 interviews, with nearly 30 being posted on The #BlackProfessionals Project’s YouTube channel.

As for Hipsher’s journey, the Indianapolis native took his strong foundation in the sciences, nurtured

The #BlackProfessionals Project features 2017 biology alumnus Kenton Hipsher interviewing Black and Brown professionals about their career experiences and journeys.

by RHIT’s quality biology program, to earn a master’s degree in microbiology from the University of Georgia.

He worked in a variety of technical jobs before settling in California and managing sales with Geltor, Inc., a biotechnology company. Don’t be surprised if Hipsher’s own story isn’t featured in the project soon. Stay tuned!

On The Web The #BlackProfessionals Project interviews can be viewed at: www.youtube.com/c/TheBlackProfessionalsProject/videos

Alumni Provide STEM Insights

Kenton Hipsher has tapped into a familiar group to provide The #BlackProfessionals Project viewers information about a variety of STEM careers—several of his former RHIT classmates, track and field teammates, and National Society of Black Engineers chapter members. This alumni group includes Angelica Cox (MA/ECON, 2015), mathematics teaching; Jada Davis (EE, 2018), electrical engineering; Stanley Hogan (BE, 2018), process automation; Malcolm Marshall (BE, 2017), patents and innovation; Jae Murray (ME, 2018), production engineering; Isaiah Smith (SE, 2017), project coordination; Vashon Solomon (CPE, 2015), embedded systems; Marcus Tucker (ME, 2015), manufacturing; and Linnell Williams (ME, 2019), a second lieutenant in the U.S. Space Force.

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Alumni Feature

SPEED RACERS

WEEKEND RACING WARRIORS STORY BY DALE LONG

ALUMNI TRIO STILL CHASING R ACING DRE A MS, CHECKERED FL AGS

T

hough a Rose-Hulman graduate hasn’t yet been behind the wheel in the Indianapolis 500 or Daytona 500, a trio of mechanical engineering alumni have rubbed tires, bumped fenders and dashed to the finish line with some of motorsports’ elite while enjoying successful driving careers.

Two years after graduating, 2007 alumnus Shane Hollingsworth put his name alongside motorsports hall of famers A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti and Al Unser Sr. as winners of the United States Auto Club Silver Crown series’ prestigious Hoosier Hundred race at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. That 2009 victory came after a harrowing pre-race week, but more about that later.

“Driving a race car is an exhilarating experience, and the sensation of speed and adrenaline is hard to replicate in other things. I also enjoy competing against some incredibly talented drivers to see who’s best.”

— Derek Bischak (ME, 2011)

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Another sprint car racing veteran, 2011 graduate Derek Bischak, has scored victories against NASCAR Cup Series champions Tony Stewart and Joey Logano, while being named the Silver Crown series’ 2019 Rookie of the Year.

Meanwhile, the budding racing career of 2018 alumnus Dakota Jackson already includes top-three placings during the past two Midwest sprint car series championship seasons and being named the Hoosier Auto Racing Fans’ 2009 First-Year Driver of the Year. His racing resume also features a national championship in the smaller-scale micro sprint car series and four national division titles in five years competing in the entry-level quarter midget racing circuit.

Derek Bischak started racing at age 6 and has had success throughout his racing career.

THE NEED FOR SPEED, COMPETITION Each drivers’ passion for racing developed well before attending Rose-Hulman, and still thrives today as they are using their engineering degrees as leaders in technical careers and settling into lives with family and cherished friends from racing.

Jackson got into a quarter-sized midget racer at 5 years old at the Indiana State Fairgrounds; Bischak at age 6 and soon was spending 40 weekends a year competing—and being a place winner—at racetracks throughout the country; and Hollingsworth’s racing ambitions started at age 9 and advanced as an adult to gain notoriety in the Silver Crown series, competing alongside drivers with present and past ambitions of driving in the televised Indy Racing League and NASCAR series.

“The competition, the thrill of winning and desire to be better,” says Hollingsworth about why he’s still racing today, albeit at only a handful of races annually. “There is an adrenaline rush (in racing) to push yourself to the edge and strive for improvement, whether that's finding speed on the car or yourself as the driver.”

Jackson, the younger of the trio, adds, “I’m approaching 26 years old in June and (racing) is what I have done for over 75% of my life…I enjoy working on the car, putting it on the racetrack and seeing the reward of the hard work in the shop pay off at the track. It’s a thrill unlike anything I have ever been able to find anywhere else—to compete and try to be better than the next guy or do something that others think is not possible.”

Alumni Feature

SPEED RACERS

That’s a thrill also shared with Bischak, who states, “Intellectually, it’s a challenge to figure out the setup and dialing it in as track conditions change, and then making in-car adjustments during the race and figuring out the best ways to set up another driver for a pass or navigating lapped traffic. Driving a race car is an exhilarating experience, and the sensation of speed and adrenaline is hard to replicate in other things. I also enjoy competing against some incredibly talented drivers to see who’s best.”

(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

Dakota Jackson estimates that he has spent more than 75% of his young life at the racetrack. Now, family responsibilities have slowed the pace of his racing.

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Alumni Feature

SPEED RACERS (CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE)

LOTS OF TURNS, UPS AND DOWNS Bischak held off a hard-charging Stewart to win the 2012 Rumble in Fort Wayne midget car feature race.

“I had the lead early before he overtook me about halfway. However, a couple laps later he experienced mechanical issues and dropped out, so I was able to cruise to the win from there,” says the proud race winner. “Tony races—and wins—frequently at that event, so I’ve competed against him numerous times.”

Another brush with a racing legend came much earlier when Bischak helped introduce the son of former NASCAR driver Mark Martin to quarter midget racing at a track in New Smyrna, Florida. Martin was familiar with Bischak’s father as a dealer for one of the quarter midget series’ largest equipment suppliers.

Derek showed the younger Martin the intricacies of driving a car and making necessary adjustments in the garage to get maximum track performance.

At the end of the week, Mark Martin presented Derek $100 for his efforts.

“I now say that the first ‘job’ I ever had was as a race car test driver!” recalls Bischak.

Shane Hollingsworth put his name alongside racing's elite after winning the 2009 Hoosier Hundred.

The highs and lows of racing were experienced by Hollingsworth early in the 2009 racing season. His sprint car was stolen, along with a trailer, while parked overnight at a hotel during a cross-country trip to a race in Arizona. This required another car being built completely from scratch. However, mechanical problems kept the motor from starting the morning of the Hoosier Hundred race in Indianapolis. Even more problems developed during pre-race practice.

Necessary repairs were made, and despite limited practice, Hollingsworth went on to win one of the nation’s most prestigious sprint car races.

“Managing the ups and downs is probably the biggest challenge (in racing),” he says. “I always have tried to not let the ups be too high and the lows too low.

Staying focused and having fun were the keys. I always had fun because if it wasn't fun, it wasn't worth it.”

The alumni racing trio has competed alongside each other at different stages in their racing careers.

Each driver admits that racing at any level is expensive and a blown engine, accident on the track or stolen race car can impact the rest of the racing season. The key to success is getting aligned with a race team that has deep financial resources and experienced technical crews.

MIXING SUCCESS AT ROSE AND RACING All three racers are from Indiana and chose to attend Rose-Hulman as a pathway toward desired engineering careers. They each continued racing, on shortened schedules, while concentrating on schoolwork, athletics and other extracurricular activities. Bischak was a record-setting runner for the institute’s track and cross country teams, and Jackson was a student manager for the men’s basketball team, while being involved in Greek life.

“There is an adrenaline rush (in racing) to push yourself to the edge and strive for improvement, whether that's finding speed on the car or yourself as the driver.”

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— Shane Hollingsworth (ME, 2007)

“It took some balancing and a lot of miles on Interstate 70 to make it all work, but it did somehow,” says Jackson, a native of Columbus, Indiana.

“I always tried to pick my classes so that I did not have to start first thing on Monday mornings and that I was done by noon on Fridays. There were many times I was rushing out of a class on Fridays to make it to the (race’s) drivers’ meeting and then rolling

STILL SCRATCHING RACING ITCH Hollingsworth’s affection for mechanics comes in handy as vice president of sales with KAPP NILES, a global machine tool builder for gear manufacturing.

He lives in Lafayette, Indiana, with his wife, Courtney, who met at a Midwest racetrack, and their daughter Ava, 10, and son Connor, 8.

into my 8 a.m. classes on Mondays, with little to no sleep and my (racing) wristband still on my arm.

It was not an easy task, but I had a drive not to quit racing even though my education was my focus.”

Hollingsworth modified his racing schedule throughout his four years as a Rose-Hulman student. He spent nearly every weekend at his home in Indianapolis working on developing cars for the upcoming racing season.

“This gave me a different experience for sure than other students,” he admits. “I wasn't the Dean List student, but I do have a mechanical engineering degree from Rose-Hulman and that's what is important. Rose was challenging, just like racing.

It expected the best from you to be successful and I think those experiences have helped me for my career path.”

“I enjoy working on the car, putting it on the racetrack and seeing the reward of the hard work in the shop pay off at the track. It’s a thrill unlike anything I have ever been able to find anywhere else—to compete and try to be better than the next guy or do something that others think is not possible.”

— Dakota Jackson (ME, 2018)

EEKEND RACING

They may have been on the track during weekends, but the racers were back on campus each week pursing their mechanical engineering degrees.

Meanwhile, Bischak is a product engineer with Allison Transmission in Indianapolis and Jackson is a senior field test engineer with Cummins Inc., overseeing operations in Alaska and North Carolina. Jackson and his wife, Haley, had their first child, a son, Charles, on May 10. Parenthood has caused him to sell his more open-wheel sprint cars for safer and larger late model racers to compete on dirt tracks throughout Indiana.

Alumni Feature

SPEED RACERS

“I think I will still be able to get enough racing in to scratch my itch, so to speak, but still allow time to do everything else life will throw at us,” Jackson says.

“The decision to attend college, especially one like Rose, was the right decision, no matter how bad I wanted to go give racing for a living a try. It has afforded me the opportunity to reconnect with my now wife, be around my family more, and make a nice living that allows me to keep racing in some capacity. I think I could join the racing world in the engineering capacity, if I want to at some point, with the contacts I have made through my own racing. For now, I am still focused on my own racing and starting a family.”

Bischak adds, “I chose Rose as it is one of the best engineering schools in the country, and it is only a couple hours from where I grew up (Angola, Indiana).

Getting an engineering degree simply made sense for me. I had always excelled at math and science classes, and it seemed a natural fit based on all the work I’d done on race cars growing up. I knew that engineers earned good salaries, and with the racing background, it seemed like a natural path to either the automotive or racing industries.

“Growing up, the goal was to make it to one of those top series, more so NASCAR because it had more recognition and popularity in the late 90’s and 00's,” Bischak states. “I don't have any regrets. There are still talented drivers racing at this level (sprint cars), so the races are competitive and challenging.”

While it wasn’t Indy or Daytona, Hollingsworth and Bischak have raced 500 miles. They competed with the nation’s best small-track drivers in this year’s Little 500 at the Anderson (Indiana) Speedway, on the eve of the Indianapolis 500. n

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Alumni Feature

BRIDGING GAPS

Spanning Engineering Horizons Andrew Twarek Leads Award-Winning Project Repainting Mackinac Bridge

Prize Project The Mackinac Bridge Paint Platforms project has earned the following awards: • 2020 Other Structures Outstanding Project Award National Council of Structural Engineers Association

• 2020 Honorable Conceptor Award

American Council of Engineering Companies/Michigan

• 2020 E. Crone Knoy Award

Society for Protective Coatings (Seaway Painting)

• 2019 Excellence in Structural Engineering, Best Neighboring State Project Award Structural Engineers Association of Illinois

W

hen the Mackinac Bridge, the world’s fifthlongest suspension structure, needed sprucing up after more than 60 years connecting Michigan’s peninsulas, new and innovative engineering approaches were required to strip its two towers to bare metal for a fresh coat of paint.

An elaborate, first-of-its-kind movable platform system designed by Ruby+Associates, fabricated by Moran Iron Works and used by Seaway Painting, allowed that massive job to be done efficiently, while also earning several structural engineering awards. This includes the Society of Protective Coatings’ E. Crone Knoy Award for outstanding achievement in industrial or commercial coatings. (The award was named for the deceased 1958 mechanical engineering alumnus.)

Andrew Twarek, a 2005 civil engineering graduate, was the engineering team project manager for Ruby+Associates tasked with using state-of-the-art

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techniques and creative new products to solve problems that provide long-term service.

“It’s not often that an engineer gets to work on such an iconic structure,” states Twarek about the bridge, with a suspended length that stretches 8,614 feet between anchorages and has a total length of approximately five miles. “Most projects are on firm ground, with straightforward loading. This project was 500 feet in the air above water, so the wind load was significantly higher (considering winds regularly exceeding 100 mph at the top of the towers). The combination of aluminum and steel with the hoists involved added another layer of complication to the design.”

The Ruby team designed two different hanging platforms to allow for removal and collection of the original leadbased paint, and to repaint

Two different hanging platforms were designed to allow for removal and collection of the original lead-based paint, and to repaint the Mackinac Bridge's two towers.

Alumni Feature

BRIDGING GAPS

“ We had a general concept, but then had to figure out how to overcome the hurdles and make it work efficiently. When it received statewide and national attention, that was just the icing on the cake!”

— Andrew Twarek (CE, 2005)

Project Manager, Ruby+Associates

the towers. A davit-like “outrigger” system mounted to the top of the tower supported the platforms, which were raised and lowered using traveling hoists and cables to allow painting the upper 320 feet of the towers, high above the bridge deck used by an estimated 11,600 motorists daily.

The tower leg platform was designed to be preassembled and erected into place in two sections.

Once assembled, the tower leg platform encircled three sides of the tower leg, with removable planks across the fourth side to allow it to travel past the tower struts.

The upper work surface was made of grating to allow sand and paint particles to fall to the bottom platform for vacuum extraction. Steel was used for strength at the floor level, with an aluminum superstructure to reduce weight and allow painting on multiple levels at once. Canvas walls ensured that debris was contained and both blasting and painting work was able to be performed in high-wind conditions.

The Mackinac Bridge repainting project between Michigan's peninsulas took place 500 feet above water and with winds regularly exceeding 100 mph at the top of the towers.

Making the entire process possible, Ruby engineers also provided erection engineering, construction engineering, heavy lift, and fabrication detailing services to complete the project.

Then, the entire system was reused to complete the bridge’s south tower in 2020.

Twarek states about the once-in-a-lifetime project, “It took a lot of innovation to develop the right system.

The project wasn’t a ‘cookie cutter’ project, where we are asked to run some numbers and develop fairly simple solutions. We had a general concept, but then had to figure out how to overcome the hurdles and make it work efficiently. We’re very proud of what our team accomplished. When it received statewide and national attention, that was just the icing on the cake!” n

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Alumni Feature

CREATIVE FOCUS

G N I K A M OVIE M GIC MA STORY BY ARTHUR FOULKES

ADAM JANEIRA FOLLOWING NEW INSPIRATION FOR FILM SUCCESS

The need for commercial video and film got so sporadic during the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic that 2014 mechanical engineering alumnus Adam Janeira thought he might have to go back to work as an engineer.

Not that he minds engineering. In fact, Janeira says he still uses his engineering skills every day to solve problems. It’s just that those problems are now in the film business.

Janeira owns I’m the Villain Films, an Indianapolis-based company he started after his Rose-Hulman graduation to make television commercials, corporate and commercial videos, and short films. Business was booming until COVID-19 brought nearly everything to a halt.

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“There just wasn’t anything coming in.

We were just sort of surviving,” he says.

Then, fortunately, around March 1 of this year, video projects resumed.

“Now, it’s like drinking from a fire hose,” he says. “I think I had three days off in March. It’s a good problem to have.”

In addition to getting married in October 2020, Janeira didn’t let the slowdown go to waste. He used the time to reevaluate his goals as a filmmaker and take on some new projects, including faith-based videos and films.

“The fun part was, during that down time, rethinking what’s important,” he says.

Alumni Feature

CREATIVE FOCUS Projects reflecting his company’s new direction toward more content creation have included a six-part Bible study series titled “Better Together,” commissioned by a suburban Indianapolis church. Another project is a faith-based grief-sharing documentary being directed

by Janeira’s wife, Kelsey. And, a third project is a feature-length film, currently untitled, which is in the pre-production phase.

However, Janeira has no plans to abandon commercial and film work, where he has made an impressive name for himself. He was executive producer for a 22-minute film, “The Automaton,” that was named Best Short Film at the Twin Cities Film Fest and Best Narrative Short at the Denver Underground Film Festival.

Set in the late 19th century in the American northwest, “The Automaton” is the story of a young widow whose brilliant late husband leaves her a thinking, speaking robot in the barn of his South Dakota farm. The robot, masterfully portrayed using the technology available in the 1890s, develops a mother-son relationship with the widow, bringing some happiness into her otherwise joyless life. Sadly, a nosy neighbor takes it upon herself to get involved, bringing about a classic clash between technology and tradition.

“This was a fun story to tell. It really spoke to me,” says Janeira, who screened the film during an appearance at Rose-Hulman in December 2019 as part of the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts’ visiting speaker series.

Janeira says Rose gave him skills that can be applied to the film industry or virtually any other career.

“This is just one industry where you can be an engineer without having the title, engineer,” he told students during his visit.

While short films have been featured at film festivals, earned awards and gained coveted distribution contracts, that’s one area of his business he seems I'm the Villain Films' Adam Janeira talked about his film-making experiences as a visiting Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts speaker on campus.

Watch I’m the Villain Films’ “The Automaton“ trailer at https://tinyurl.com/3b3dcbu3.

prepared to leave behind. Feature-length films are far more marketable, he says.

Janeira is currently co-writing a feature-length film and has plans for more in the future.

Before launching I’m the Villain Films, Janeira worked as an engineer and credits his Rose-Hulman education with giving him the tools he needs to solve the problems that surface in filmmaking. He also credits his time at Rose-Hulman with deepening the Christian faith that is now guiding his business. In fact, he read the Bible for the first time while a student on campus.

“It took me about three years, but I finished the Bible while at Rose,” he says.

So, as usual, the next steps for Janeira and his business are hard to predict, just like watching one of his films. One of the secrets to his success seems to be a willingness to follow his inspiration wherever it takes him. And, while business sputtered a little during the past year, that slowdown provided time for new inspiration from a settled personal life.

“It’s hard to have regrets when you wind up in a place where you’re happy,” he says. “The pandemic certainly helped to push us to rethink the way that we are doing business. I don’t know where that’s going to lead us necessarily, but I’m pretty confident it’s going to lead to someplace cool.” n

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Alumni Feature

SPACE PIONEER

COOL JOB

NASA’s Monica Guzik Takes Science from Cryogenic Lab to Space

STORY BY DALE LONG

You would think that working at NASA would be cool enough, but it gets even cooler, literally, for 2010 chemical engineering alumna Monica Guzik, whose award-winning cryogenics work is making long-duration space exploration possible.

Guzik has spent most of her career as a gas and fluids system engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center outside Cleveland, before being promoted in early 2021 to the Office of the Chief Engineer to oversee a variety of highly technical, out-of-this-world projects.

Cryogenic rocket propulsion systems rely on the combustion of a cryogenic fuel, typically hydrogen or methane, as well as oxygen to provide thrust. It’s a process advocated by the late Rose Polytechnic mechanical engineering graduate Abe Silverstein that propelled America’s space program.

Today, the revolutionary Hubble Space Telescope has sensors that gather data at near-absolute zero temperatures while propellants for human exploration missions to the moon and Mars must be stored for several years to make long-term missions possible.

“In cryogenics, the environment is almost always warmer than the “It is really amazing to propellant, even on the imagine that hardware that dark side of the moon, I helped design, assemble which reaches a surface and test—that I've actually temperature of -183 degrees physically helped put Celsius during lunar night,” together—will be flying says Guzik. “Technology on the International development is always Space Station.” exciting—finding new ways

— Monica Guzik (CHE, '10) to accomplish new things

Systems Engineer, NASA or to do something better, faster or cheaper is always rewarding. NASA is pushing the envelope in all those areas—with humans on Mars being our ultimate goal. There are a lot of challenges to solve to get there.”

Guzik received NASA’s Early Career Achievement Medal in 2016 for leading efforts to develop advanced fuel cells for a power system on a rover. A year later, she earned a

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Monica Guzik has helped develop award-winning technology since joining NASA after graduation.

One of her latest innovations will be sent to the International Space Station this summer.

NASA Silver Award for further fuel cell applications on upper stages of cryogenic rockets. Another engineering honor resulted from developing hardware demonstrating the elimination of cryogenic boil-off during a mission.

Now, Guzik’s work to develop a facility to obtain two-phase flow boiling and heat transfer data in microgravity is scheduled to be sent to the International Space Station on August 1. She will join family, including younger sister, 2012 optical engineering alumna Carolyn Guzik, for the project launch.

“It is extremely rewarding to be able to take a technology from a laboratory environment, develop that technology into something that can be applied to an actual NASA mission, and then see the technology actually become baselined for use in a future mission,” Monica says. “Being able to work with the scientists and technologists to make their innovative ideas come to life, and then to work with mission planners and leaders to showcase these ideas as they may apply to a future mission, is really incredible. And, it is really amazing to imagine that hardware that I helped design, assemble and test—that I’ve actually physically helped put together—will be flying on the International Space Station.” n

Stone Ready to Provide Insight as BOT Rep Semi-retirement has brought 1986 electrical engineering graduate Robert “Bert“ Stone more time to assist Rose-Hulman and its leaders achieve the institute’s strategic goals as the Board of Trustees new alumni representative, beginning on July 1. He will replace 1996 chemical engineering bachelor’s/1998 biomedical engineering master’s alumnus Ashvin Lad, whose three-year term concluded with this spring’s BOT meeting.

Active Alumni Key to RHIT’s Future: Murthy Incoming Alumni Advisory Board (AAB) President Kedar Murthy (CHE, 1984) has a call to action for the institute’s nearly 18,000 alumni: We need you to get involved.

Stone

Stone has spent more than 30 years in the electro-mechanical equipment and water pump industries in various technical and executive leadership roles. He retired as senior vice president of Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Franklin Electric Company, and president of its international water systems business unit.

Stone has since lent his expertise on helping industrial product companies—large and small—to achieve their strategic vision, by advising on global sales, marketing and business development initiatives, consulting on mergers and acquisitions and integration activities, and coaching a small software start-up’s entrepreneurial founders.

He has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Through many years of corporate travel and a seven-year residence in Europe, Stone has developed an appreciation for different cultures and diversified teams around the globe. He also has served on numerous not-for-profit boards, including Chicago-based Smart Love Family Services and Fort Wayne’s AWS Foundation.

His son and daughter-in-law, Benjamin and Melissa (Arbelaez) Stone, are 2018 biomedical and 2019 civil engineering alumni, respectively.

New AAB Leaders & Members In July, the following new leaders and members will begin two-year terms within the Alumni Association’s Alumni Advisory Board: Vice President — Nellie Hohne The 1999 mechanical engineering alumna has been actively involved in the AAB since joining the group. She currently chairs the awards committee. Hohne and her husband, Dan (CHE, 1999), have supported a scholarship fund for several years.

Both received the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award in 2008.

Alumni Board Member— Alyssa Riley The 2000 chemical engineering alumna is a pediatric nephrologist and case mix index physicians adviser at Dell Children’s Medical Center in Texas.

Alumni News

TAKING NOTE

Hohne

Riley

Alumni Board Member— Mike Chaney The 1981 chemical engineering graduate spent 38 years with Procter & Gamble, retiring as senior vice president of global supply. He will receive an Honor Alumni Award, the association’s highest recognition, later this summer for his career achievements and service to society and community. (See profile on Page 34) Chaney

Take Me Out to the Ballgame in Chicago Chicago area alumni are invited to enjoy the crosstown Chicago Cubs-White Sox rivalry at Wrigley Field on Sunday, August 8, starting at 12:20 p.m. (CST), from Brixen Ivy’s Wrigley Rooftops, located at 1044 W. Waveland Ave. A $181 ticket gets you entrance to the building, all you can eat, drink, indoor access, and an incredible view of the game. There will be a private field-level viewing deck for our alumni group!

TICKETS ARE LIMITED. If purchased by July 2 at noon, Rose-Hulman will cover $20 of your ticket cost!

Find out more about alumni events at www.rose-hulman.edu/alumnievents.

“The AAB exists to serve as the connection between the alumni and the school,“ says Murthy, whose two-year term begins July 1, succeeding Kelly (Sullivan) Noel (EE, 2002). “The board is stronger than its ever been due to my predecessors who brought a sense of purpose, camaraderie and focus on what is relevant in the world today,“ he adds.

Murthy has several goals to continue aligning alumni, the AAB and Rose-Hulman, including supporting the institute’s diversity initiative which he believes is one of the important programs in the college’s history.

“Diversity is ‘top-of-mind’ within the AAB,“ he says. “We have over 500 international alumni and finding a way to include this voice is imperative in today’s world. Student recruitment is more challenging due to the high cost of education, competition and changing demographics, so the AAB will find a way to support Rose in this challenge. Finally, with a 24-member AAB team, meeting three times a year, members’ tenure and in-person contact is short. Therefore, I want every AAB member to look back and know they made a meaningful contribution.“

Murthy

Murthy has been the chief commercial officer with Boston Materials since 2019. He has more than two decades of general management experience in global manufacturing industries with a strong understanding of international markets. He has a master’s degree in chemical engineering from University of Wisconsin, serves on the Boston Latin School Association, and as an adviser to several startup companies.

Murthy joined the AAB in 2017 and has chaired the career services committee and AAB nominating committee, working with fellow board members and the Office of Alumni Relations to recruit new members to further Rose-Hulman’s goals.

“My Rose education taught me perseverance, coming to realize that many things were possible.

I am lucky to have had some great career and life experiences, some far from the engineering world, and I look forward to sharing them with a broader audience,“ he says.

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Alumni News

AWARD WINNERS

Recognizing Career Accomplishments, Service to Others Eleven alumni will join members of the faculty, staff and student body in receiving 2021 Alumni Achievement Awards from the Rose-Hulman Alumni Association for their considerable contributions to their professions, communities, alma mater, and institute. This year’s award winners by category are:

Honor Alumni Award The Alumni Association’s highest alumni award recognizes exceptional achievement in any career field, vocation, and service to society.

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

Michael O. Chaney

Kevin L. Bartley

He spent 38 years of service with Procter & Gamble, retiring as senior vice president of global supply. In this role, Chaney managed manufacturing, engineering, quality assurance, and supply chain design of such iconic brands as Gillette, Braun and Venus. He also was involved with company affinity groups supporting diversity and military groups, along with a variety of community organizations.

He has spent a 38-year career supporting technical innovations in telecommunications with AT&T Bell Laboratories and its spinoffs, including current employer Nokia. He led projects for the federal government, Sprint PCS, United States Cellular and several international clients. He earned Bell Labs’ distinguished technical staff member award and has been honored for work on the U.S. government’s long-distance telecommunications service management system.

Chemical Engineering, 1981

Larry J. Geier

Biological Engineering, 1972

This oncology, hematology and internal medicine physician is known as “the gene whisperer“ for his groundbreaking work in cancer genetics. Geier’s program of genetic risk evaluation and cancer risk management has become a model for cancer prevention programs across the world. He has had more than 4,000 genetic consultations and identified nearly 500 patients with cancer-causing genetic traits.

Lucius ‘Gus’ A. Taylor Mechanical Engineering, 1976

As chief engineer for the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s weapons systems division in Crane, Indiana, Taylor established the military’s Mobile Technology and Repair Complex in Afghanistan and helped deploy advanced weapons and night vision projects. He retired in 1995 as a lieutenant colonel after earning numerous honors for command, combat and staff experience in several Army units.

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Career Achievement Award

Computer Science, 1982

Mark O. Caswell

Mechanical Engineering, 2001

As chief executive officer, he drives the culture and leadership that has helped Resultant (formerly KSM Consulting) grow from a 20-person Indianapolisbased firm to one that has nearly 300 employees in five offices across the U.S. He likes teaching others about business leadership, innovation and digital transformation and is helping future generations of entrepreneurs as a member of Rose’s Sawmill Society.

David C. Yates

Electrical Engineering, 1984

He’s in a second career as an engineer and consultant with Kaleidoscope Innovation after retiring from Johnson & Johnson in Cincinnati.

Yates has 160 patents from 35 years of medical device design and received J&J’s Hoffman Chairman’s Medal for technical and scientific achievement. His passion for music has launched multiple products in the professional audio industry as well as electronic/audio design enterprises.

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.

Daniel R. King

Biomedical Engineering, 2010 He is a senior leader whose roles in health care technology research/development and product/ marketing management have brought products in advanced wound care, burn and surgical spaces.

These advances have included a next generation burn management device and award-winning product development. He also has been a volunteer emergency medical technician and firefighter in his community.

Mariya ‘Marsha’ O. Krisenko Applied Biology, 2010

As a medical science liaison at Novo Nordisk in Chicago, she has done extensive work in the field of diabetes, launching two new treatments for type 2 diabetes—one for adults and another for youths. She received multiple national postgraduate fellowships before earning a doctorate in medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology. She serves on RHIT’s Department of Biology and Biomedical Engineering advisory board.

Collegian Rose Award

This honor recognizes an alumnus who as a faculty and staff member has helped elevate the institute’s mission, strengthened the bridge between alumni and campus, and proven themselves to be an advocate for lifelong relationships with their alma mater.

Alumni News

AWARD WINNERS

Kimberly Henthorn Chemical Engineering, 1999 Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering

Honorary Alumni Award

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

Erinn (Sheridan) Reilly Biomedical Engineering, 2010

She has dedicated the last 10 years to bringing firstin-class medical technology to the market, presently as director of clinical and biomedical products with FAST BioMedical, where she has worked since being an intern. Reilly directs aspects of all clinical studies and collaborates on engineering design and development of devices. She holds six worldwide patents. Away from work, Reilly mentors FIRST Robotics teams.

Alumni Awards Event This year's Alumni Awards will be presented AUGUST 21, 2 P.M. Learn more about past and present alumni award winners at: www.rose-hulman.edu/alumniawards

David Purdy

Professor Mechanical Engineering

Ryan Brimberry Associate Dean of Student Affairs

Rachel M. Romas Student Award 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’s initiatives and having the promise for post-college success.

Cyrus Luczkow

2021 Graduate Biomedical Engineering

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BY PROFESSOR EMERITUS HERB BAILEY

We had nearly 125 solvers meeting the challenge of our fall issue problems. There were some familiar names and several new ones on the list. Hopefully, you will enjoy this issue’s challenges as well.

SPRIN G PRO BLEM 1

The total cost of one chocolate bar and two identical packs of gum is $4.15. One chocolate bar cost $1 more than one pack of gum. Determine the cost of one chocolate bar.

SPRIN G PRO BLEM 2

A census taker arrived at the door of a grizzled Montanan and asked about the number of children the woman had and their ages. The woman had little use for census takers and the government in general and said simply, “I have three sons and the product of their ages is 72. The sum of their ages is my house number.“ She then stood silent. The census taker looked up at the house number and said, “That is not enough information.“ At this time, the woman stated, “The oldest can read.“ She then slammed the door. The census taker went away happy. How old were the children?

SPRIN G BO N US

If a circle is inscribed in a triangle with vertex angles 30, 60 and 90.

What is the area of the triangle divided by the area of the circle?

Hint: The center of the inscribed circle (incenter) is found at the intersection of the three angle bisectors. [Extra credit is awarded for solving without using trigonometry.]

Michelle average (5, 10, 15, 16, 24, 28, 33, 37) =168/8 =21 Daphne average =20 =140/7. 168 –140 =28 removed

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There is no other solution than reflection/rotations. Since the center squares each touch six other squares, the center squares have to be the end numbers of the sequence: 1 and 8. That forces the upper and lower squares to be 2 and 7.

Of the four outer squares, 3 and 4 have to be opposite (away from) 2 while, 5 and 6 have to be away from 7.

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FALL BO N US PRO BLEM 1 SO LUTI O N

There is a repeating pattern of remainders (R) for the series of 3n when divided by 5 (1,3,4,2). The pattern recurs in intervals of 4. So, 3n = 30, 34, 38, 312, 316, and 320 all have remainder =1. Since these n values are all divisible by 4 and 10,000 is also evenly divisible by 4, the remainder when 310,000 is divided by 5 must also be 1.

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 fall problems: ALUMNI: T. Jones, 1949; D. Camp, 1955; J. Moser, 1956; A. Sutton, 1956; P. Cella, 1958; D. Bailey, 1959; J. Kirk, 1960; W. Perkins, 1960; R. Archer, 1961; L. Hartley, 1961; J Ray, 1961; J. Tindall, 1961; R. Lovell, 1963; S. James, 1965; R. Kevorkian, 1966; R. Lowe, 1969; W. Myers, 1969; T. Winenger, 1969; J. Walter, 1969; J. Hightower, 1970; S. Jordan, 1970; J. Moehlmann, 1970; K. Moran, 1970; E. Arnold, 1971; D. Jordan, 1971; R. LaCrosse, 1971; W. Pelz, 1971; J. Witten, 1971; D. Hagar, 1972; G. Houghton, 1972; D. Moss, 1972; J. Sanders, 1972; R. Engelman, 1973; R. Kominiarek, 1973; M. Marinko, 1973; D. Van Laningham, 1973; J. Zumar, 1973; T. Rathz, 1974; D. Wheaton, 1974; D. Willman, 1974; W. Crellin, 1975; P. Eck, 1975; D. Copeland, 1976; B. Hunt, 1976; J. Schroeder, 1976; D. Walker, 1976; G. Matthews, 1977; T. Greer, 1978; R. Strickland, 1978; M. Clouser, 1979; R. Priem, 1979; J. Slupesky, 1979; S. Bagwell, 1980; M. Dolan, 1980; R. Joyner, 1980; J. Koechling, 1980; L. Smith, 1980; J. Farrell, 1981; S. Nolan, 1981; R. Roll, 1981; M. Taylor, 1982; R. Downs, 1983; S. Hall, 1983; J. Marum, 1983; B. Wade, 1983; G. Schafer, 1985; M. Solanki, 1985; C. Wilcox, 1985; G. Harding, 1986; C. Hastings, 1986; J. Vierow, 1986; M. Walden, 1986; D. Johnson, 1987; M. Lancaster, 1987; B. Seidl, 1987; S. Sarma, 1988; T. Sorauf, 1989; G. Heimann, 1990; P. Acevedo, 1991; R. Burger, 1991; J. Harris, 1991; R. Hochstetler, 1991; P. Kimmerle, 1991; R. Wilkinson, 1991; J. Zamora, 1991; R. Virostko, 1992; R. Antonini, 1993; W. Haas, 1993; T. Westbrook, 1996; W. Lewis, 1997; C. Mills, 1998; M. Pilcher, 1998; C. Ehrhart, 1999; B. Creel, 2000; T. Kibbey, 2003; G. Rahman, 2003; W. Casey, 2004; J. Somann, 2004; S. Tourville, 2005; R. Gulden, 2006; K. McCarthy, 2006; T. Homan, 2007; J. Krall, 2007; D. Schoumacher, 2010; M. Schoumacher, 2010; C. Drake, 2013; J. Althouse, 2015; J. Khusro, 2016; T. Mulc, 2016; Z. Watson, 2019; and J. Martin, 2020.

FRIENDS: T. Cutaia, A. Foulkes, B. Harding, M. Holmes, P. Hines, J. Ley, M. Loper, J. Marks, J. Mathis, M. Moore, P. Nilsen, L. Puetz, E. Robertson, J. Robertson, C. Rozmaryn, R. Schoumacher, D. Shafer, L. Stafford, J. Walsh, E. Wern, and J. Wilcox.

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As a research scientist, Royce Wilkinson enjoys the interface between chemistry and biology. He also takes delight in solving the mathematical Bailey Challenge problems in each Echoes issue and putting his answers on paper.

For the past five years, the 1991 chemistry alumnus has submitted detailed solutions to show his enjoyment in the quarterly problems and support for the Challenge, a unique fixture of Rose-Hulman’s alumni magazine.

FALL PRO BLEM 1 SO LUTI O N

FALL PRO BLEM 2 SO LUTI O N

WILKINSON MIXES MATH FORMULAS

“I usually work on the problems for a few minutes in the mornings as I am getting ready for work,“ says Wilkinson, an assistant research professor of microbiology and immunology at Montana State University. “Often, I will think about possible solutions over the next few days and try them out in the margins of Echoes. If I think I have the basic solutions figured out, I will spend some time on a Saturday morning writing up the solutions and then submitting them.“ Wilkinson enjoys tackling geometryoriented Challenge problems as well as those needing logic-based solutions. “As a biochemist, my daily math usually doesn't extend much beyond C1V1 = C2V2. So, it is nice to try solving things that push beyond some basic math skills,“ he says.

After graduating from RHIT, Wilkinson earned a doctorate in a natural products lab isolating and characterizing bio-active secondary metabolites from fungi. Since then, he has worked in a wide variety of labs ranging from biochemistry to organic synthesis to immunology and virology. He currently is a researcher in MSU’s Wiedenheft Laboratory, studying bacterial CRISPR defense systems.

“I enjoy the day-to-day bench work in a lab and the problem-solving that is a constant part of science when things don't work the way you expect or hope that they will work,“ he says.

— Dale Long, Executive Editor

50s Carl T. Herakovich (CE, 1959) has been presented the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award

by Marquis Who's Who. He is an engineering professor emeritus at the University of Virginia and made significant academic contributions in studying the mechanics of fibrous composite materials.

80s Steve A. Whitaker (BSME, 1981/MSME, 1991) has retired as chief engineer with BorgWarner Inc., where he worked since 1983.

Bill J. Pine (CE, 1985) received the Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association’s Most Active Member Award. He is director of construction asphalt quality control operations with The Heritage Group.

Robert J. Schukai Jr. (EE, 1986) has been promoted to executive vice president for technology development, fintech and new infrastructure with Mastercard.

Patrick P. Wildemann (ME, 1986) has come out of retirement to be a part-time consultant with Leonard DRS systems, a company specializing in defense, security and aerospace.

Adrian C. Lawhorn (MA, 1988) has taken his expertise on sports personality/behavioral data and analytics to serve as a sports data specialist with Profile.

He also continues to work with DBA Wizard Sports, a company Lawhorn founded in 1996.

Seenu Sarma (EE, 1988) is the senior vice president and chief procurement officer of Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, a regional amusement-resort operator.

He formerly had leadership roles with Dean Foods and Deloitte Consulting.

Kurt R. Auzins (EE, 1989) is now a data analyst with Dickinson Fleet Services. He formerly had similar roles with other companies in the Indianapolis area.

90s John E. Ball (EE, 1990) is senior vice president/general manager with ServiceNow's customer workflow business unit. He has more than 25 years of experience developing enterprise software products.

Dennis Black (EE, 1990) is general manager of Steel Dynamics’ new Southwest-Sinton (Texas) Flat Roll Steel Division, scheduled to begin operations later this year. Since 2016, he had been general manager of the company's Vulcan Steel Products Division in Alabama.

Brett A. Starr (ME, 1990) has written and self-published the book of poetry “Random Acts of Poetry: Best Read with Coffee or Tea.“ Daniel J. Keown (CHE, 1991) has been promoted to general manager of Steel Dynamics’ Columbus (Ohio) Flat Roll Steel Division, operations that he helped reengineer and operate after acquisition in 2004.

He has worked for the company since 1998.

Jeff A. Hansen (CHE, 1992) has been given additional responsibilities as vice president of human resources, health and safety with Steel Dynamics. He is shaping strategies related to environmental resources, potential capital investments and climate-related objectives.

Andy K. Stirn (CHE, 1992) has been promoted to vice president of injection machinery and aftermarket for North America with Cincinnati-based Milacron. He has worked for the company since 2011.

Jay Tarrh (ME, 1992) is now leading quality global operations and lean systems with Wabash National’s western region.

Alumni News

CLASS NOTES

Bryan S. Ware (AO, 1992) is chief executive officer of Next5 after being assistant director for cybersecurity at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Brock A. Taylor (CPE, 1994) is the new director of HPC software with Advanced Micro Devices after having the same position with Intel Corporation.

Tony S. Locker (EE, 1995) was promoted to senior vice president of product management with Tripp Lite, overseeing operations for more than 5,000 products. He had been vice president within the division.

Daryl L. Peterson (ME, 1995) is the first managing director of the University of Notre Dame’s Engineering Innovation Hub and professor of practice within the College of Engineering. He had more than two decades of experience in manufacturing with Deere & Company.

David E. Orr (ME, 1996) has been named a partner with W&W Holding after being vice president for manufacturing/innovation with MacuLogix.

Henneke, Moeller Named Fellows in Career Fields Alumni Greg L. Henneke and Trevor M. Moeller have achieved career distinction as fellows in their professions.

Henneke (CE, 1975) was recognized as an American Society of Civil Engineers fellow, an honor bestowed upon only 3 percent of ASCE members, for celebrated contributions to the industry and creative solutions that have enhanced lives.

He has spent 24 of more than 40 years contributing to civil engineering through his work with American Structurepoint, currently as senior vice president. He has helped the Indianapolis-based company grow to have more than $100 million in revenue and over 500 employees. Henneke also has served the public sector in various roles with the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Indianapolis Department of Public Works.

Moeller (ME, 1991) was named a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for significant contributions during 10 or more years of active engineering practice. He is an associate professor with University of Tennessee’s Space Institute, leading nearly $8 million in research programs examining dynamics of thruster diagnostics, rocket programs and high-enthalpy flows. Moeller has had more than 41 papers featured in professional journals and conference proceedings and has received one patent.

Moeller

Henneke

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Alumni News

CLASS NOTES Chip E. Bradway (CE, 1997) is now an associate and senior project manager with CE Solutions. Since 2010, he has worked on complex, fast-paced projects for the Carmel, Indiana-based company.

Jessica S. (Huggins) Bastin (CE, 2001) is the county engineer for Madison County, Indiana, after spending a year as executive director of facilities at Anderson University.

Jae E. Billingsley (ME, 1999) has been promoted to manager of industry solutions and strategic partnerships with CAE Healthcare.

Dan R. LaBar (ME, 2001), a senior data scientist with Resultant, was among TechPoint’s Tech 25 Class of 2020 for helping to grow Indiana’s tech and tech-enabled companies.

LaTisha A. (Arroyo) Egenolf (CHE, 2001) is president of Direct Path Alliance, a woman- and minority-owned business that helps clients align and calibrate operations for peak performance.

Cmdr Andy M. Cain (ME, 1999) is a military assistant to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Agency administrator. He completed a two-year command of the Navy’s USS Helena Los Angeles-class attack submarine.

Jeremy C. Price (CPE, 1999) is a technical trainer with Amazon Web Services after having the same role at Rackspace Technology.

John J. Straigis (CHE/ME, 1999) has completed several long-distance running races throughout the western U.S., including a 30th place finish in a 238-mile event near Moab, Utah.

00s Bryan W. Egli (CE, 2000) has been promoted to vice president of operations with Thieneman Construction, Inc. Hansong “Andy“ Liu (MSEE, 2000) is head of China business operations with Novotech Health Holdings.

Mandy L. (Smith) Loftus (EE, 2000) is a project manager with Elanco’s production plant in Clinton, Indiana.

Jamie E. (Funk) Miller (CPE, 2000) is now leading information technology security strategy and planning with Corteva.

Maceo R. Lewis (CE, 2001) has been promoted to senior capital improvement project manager with Black & Veatch.

Dan S. Young (EE/ME, 2001) is an acoustic engineer and laboratory director with U.S. Navy’s Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory.

Steve A. Corbin (BSEE, 2002/MSEMGT, 2012) received the Department of Defense’s STEM Education and Outreach Advocate of the Quarter Award. He has worked for 20 years with the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana.

Sean R. Durrant (MSAO, 2002), laser systems group scientist at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren (Virginia) Division, was a recipient of the group's Black Engineer of the Year Award.

He is supporting the development of directed energy weapon systems to combat naval threats.

Clint E. Ferguson (CE, 2002) is vice president of business development with Chicago-based Infrastructure Engineering, Inc. He will establish strategies for the firm’s core business and targeted industries.

Kevin A. Klues (EE/CS, 2002) is a principal software engineer on NVIDIA’s Cloud Native team.

Joel M. Smith (CHE, 2002) co-authored the Applied Statistics Manual, named one of the most popular books published in 2020 by Quality Press. He is director of rapid continuous improvement at Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc. Lindsey R. VanSchoiack (CHE, 2002) is now a consultant with Spiral Medical Development and Blake Consulting Group.

Joshua T. Reed (CE, 2003) is a senior vice president for equity originations with Merchants Capital.

Sid L. Stamm (CS, 2003) has been granted academic tenure as a computer science and software engineering professor at Rose-Hulman.

Anne E. (Trueblood) Trobaugh (ME, 2003) is deputy director of global quality at Flowserve in Southlake, Texas. She formerly worked at Cummins Inc. Matt L. Colatruglio (ME, 2004) is a product manager with Fire-Dex, a company providing personal protective clothing for emergency response personnel.

Laura J. Hemming (CE, 2005) is deputy garrison manager with the U.S. Army’s Garmisch community in Germany.

Larissa M. Oaks (ME, 2005) is the indoor environmental quality specialist with the U.S. Green Building Council, managing LEED technical development/maintenance quality credit certifications.

Aaron R. Roberts (CE, 2005) has returned to WSP as a senior project manager. He worked for the firm in 2013-14.

Neil P. Myers (ME, 2006) is global controls design lead for Carrier.

Crystal N. Reichert (PH, 2006) is co-owner and social media manager with Stellar Candle Company in Frankfort, Indiana.

Eric D. Wojak (CE, 2006) is vice president of development for luxury-leased homes with Thompson Thrift’s Watermark residential division in Indianapolis.

Drenten Ferro on HVAC ‘Woman to Watch’ List Stephanie Drenten Ferro (ME, 2011) has been named one of Engineered Systems Magazine's 20 to Watch: Women in HVAC for 2021. She is project manager and energy engineer with Heapy Engineering’s building optimization practice in Cleveland, Ohio.

Drenten Ferro is skilled in sustainable planning, renewable energy, mechanical engineering, project management, and business development. Past projects have included leading a team that completed a massive energy review for the Ohio Veteran Affairs’ six statewide campuses.

She has earned a master’s degree in engineering for sustainable development at the University of Cambridge (England), is a certified energy manager, and is a member of the Association of Energy Engineers.

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Canfield Promoted to COO with Indy Firm Cash E. Canfield (CE, 1994) is now the chief operating officer and a partner with American Structurepoint, Indianapolis’ largest civil engineering company. He is responsible for ensuring the firm’s profitability and strategic, sustainable growth throughout the country, driving key company performance indicators, and monitoring and adjusting various production units for maximum efficiency. He also assures that all processes and systems operate efficiently.

Cash previously served as an executive vice president responsible for executive oversight and quality assurance of all transportation projects. He has more than 27 years of experience in the design and management of more than 100 transportation improvement projects. He led efforts on the $55 million pavement replacement and widening of three miles of I-80/94 in northwest Indiana, the most heavily traveled truck route in the country, and the $175 million “Super 70“ project in Indianapolis.

Alumni News

CLASS NOTES

Cash gives back to RHIT by being a member of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s board of advisors and Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity alumni advisory board.

Yaw Aning (CE, 2007), co-founder and chief executive with Malomo, was among PitchBook's 53 Black Founders and Investors to Watch in 2021.

Ben B. Mitchum (ME, 2007) is a senior engineer with Alfons Haar, Inc., and continues to be an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati.

Mike Shepard (ME, 2007) is an entrepreneur-inresidence with Elevate Ventures, a private venture STEM development organization.

Adam N. Kirn (BE, 2008) is an associate professor of engineering education in the Department of Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Ben T. Lauer (ME, 2008) is a principal flight reliability engineer within a five-member team responsible for SpaceX’s Crew and Cargo Dragon vehicle missions.

Danny T. Sing (BSME, 2008/MSME, 2012) is a senior mechanical design engineer with Ouster.

Ross D. Uthoff (OE, 2008) has been promoted to principal engineer in optical systems with Lumotive.

Abisha (Varatharaj) Gross (BE, 2009) is now a quality engineer with Medtronic.

Beau D. Inskeep (BE, 2009) has been promoted to supervisor of product development with LifeNet Health.

Ryan H. Westlund (ME, 2009) is a senior manager of radiant heating and cooling in the building solutions division at Rehau, Inc., in North Carolina.

10s Michael Z. Jones (BSSE/CS/MA, 2010; MSSE, 2016) is a lead software engineer with Genesys.

Greg T. Neumann (CHE, 2010) has been promoted to associate professor, with academic tenure, in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Rose-Hulman.

Gina M. Olson (ME, 2010) has completed a doctorate in robotics from Oregon State University and is a postdoctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon University.

Kirk M. Thompson (AB, 2010) is a spine surgeon at Campbell Clinic Orthopaedics in Memphis.

Kyle J. Boone (CE, 2012) is a reliability program manager with Amazon.

Sutton Coleman (ME, 2012) is an operations strategy lead for Raytheon Technologies’ missiles and defense division.

Yueheng Dou (ME/EE, 2014) is a member of Johnson & Johnson's Research & Development Leadership Development Program.

Sarah C. Irish (CHE, 2014) is a reliability manager with Element Six. Matthew J. Kane (ME, 2014) is now a product design engineer with Google.

Erik R. Hoeg (EE, 2012) is a software development engineer with Amazon.

Esther Kim (BCMC, 2014) is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern.

Whitney H. (Baenziger) Horsley (BE, 2013) is a pediatrician with Samaritan Health Services' Mid-Valley Children’s Clinic in Albany, Oregon. She earned a medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine.

Matthew T. Mercer (SE/CS/MA, 2014) is a software engineer with NIKSUN.

Priscilla A. Magee (CE, 2013) is now the director of government affairs with the National Elevator Industry after serving as outreach manager with the American National Standards Institute, both in Washington, D.C.

Anthony “TJ“ Shevchenko (ME, 2014) has been promoted to program manager with Kimball Electronics.

Alex P. (Bledsoe) Rybicki (CHEM, 2013) has been promoted to value stream manager with Catalent Pharma Solutions.

Jacob A. Weldon (EE, 2013) has become a logistics field service engineer with Peak-Ryzex.

Kelli P. (Greenberg) Aellen (BE, 2014) is a senior quality engineer at JunoPacific.

Nic A. Bander (CE, 2014) was among four high school finalists for Vanderburgh County Outstanding Educator of the Year. He is a computer science teacher at the Southern Indiana Career and Technical Center in Evansville.

Luke D. Reichert (CHE, 2014) has been promoted to engineering manager with TekModo.

Elaine M. Schaudt (CE, 2014) is a construction manager with Tesla, helping bring online a critical part of the company’s San Diego-area supercharger network.

Zachary T. Troope (ME, 2014) is the energy storage systems after sales service manager with the Saft innovative battery development firm.

Deanne M. De Keizer (CHE, 2015) is now an application specialist with Crane ChemPharma & Energy.

Erin (Campbell) R. Wang (BE, 2015) has been promoted to quality systems engineer with Philips Medical Systems Inc. Chelsie S. Donnelly (CE, 2016) is a tier III civil engineer with Black & Veatch.

Joe Kaltenthaler (ME, 2016) is now managing solution architects with Lev and president of Five Loaves Two Fish, a faith-based global non-profit.

Ian G. Ludden (CPE, MA, 2016) has been named a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow as a computer science doctorate candidate at the University of Illinois.

ECHOES

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SPRING 2021

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Alumni News

CLASS NOTES

Saltchuk Logistics VP drives Continuous Improvement When Seattle-based transportation/distribution company Saltchuk began building a continuous improvement framework within its logistics operations, officials recalled the skills and work of Krista S. (Elliott) Williams (ME, 2002) as a process improvement consultant. They hired her in 2018 to be the director of operations and continuous improvement and since November 2020 as vice president of Saltchuk Logistics.

Williams is leading a commitment to continuous improvement within Saltchuk companies providing air cargo, domestic shipping and logistics, international shipping and logistics, marine services, petroleum distribution, and trucking services throughout North America.

She also is always looking to improve the world, being passionately engaged in several international causes. Williams and her husband have built their family through international adoption from Ethiopia, funded the construction of clean water wells in Uganda, and launched hundreds of small, women-owned businesses in East Africa and the Caribbean. Her artisan cooperative in Haiti is enabling women to earn a sustainable income to care for their children and providing a pathway for Haitian families out of poverty.

Jeremiah L. Tate (CPE, 2016) is a hardware design engineer with Microsoft after spending more than four years with Intel Corporation.

Donglai Guo (CPE, 2018) is a software development engineer with Amazon in Seattle after earning a master’s degree in computer engineering from Columbia University.

Dieter J. Schultz (BSCE, 2016/MSEMGT, 2017) was promoted to business planning advisor with ExxonMobil.

Gabriele J. Razma (BE, 2018) is a biomedical engineer with Kablooe Design.

Lecea Sun (ME, 2018) is a mechanical design engineer in the CoRE rotation program with Lam Research.

Marissa A. Wilkins (BSME, 2016/MSEMGT, 2017) is strategic partnership manager with Verizon in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

Lucas J. Weier (SE, 2018) is a software engineer with Scientia.

Alex J. Crowley (CS, 2017) is a software engineer with Emplify.

Jenner D. Wile (SE/CPLS, 2018) is a software engineering with ADESA.

Lingxiao Gong (EE, 2017) is a cell manufacturing control development engineer with Tesla.

Collin W. Wojcik (CE, 2018) is a senior staff estimator in renewable engineering and project management for Invenergy.

Nate T. Green (ME, 2017) is co-founder and technical director with Perfect Harvest, a startup providing management and consulting services for the indoor agriculture industry.

Ariel M. Bohner (BIO/BMA, 2019) has accepted a National Institutes of Health fellowship supporting her clinical research in veterinary medicine at Cornell University.

Jennifer A. Mobley (BSCHE, 2017/MSCHE, 2018) is a technical representative with CTE Global Inc.

Sarah A. Sawin (BSME, 2017/MSEMGT, 2020) is a system engineer with Aerodyne Industries.

BCMC: Biochemistry/Molecular Biology CPE: Computer Engineering EN: Environmental Engineering

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BE: Biomedical Engineering CS: Computer Science

EP: Engineering Physics

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BIO: Biology

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BIOE: Biological Engineering

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ME: Mechanical Engineering

CSPL: Computational Science

MATH: Mathematics

W E WANT YOUR NE WS!

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ECON: Economics

Logan Fenimore (CHE/CHEM, 2020) has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to study reprocessable thermoset polymers as a chemical engineering doctorate student at Northwestern University.

Devin JT Williams (ME, 2020) won best overall male weightlifter and set four Indiana state records at the 2020 USA Powerlifting Rage Against the Barbell event. He lifted 1,780 pounds across three categories.

CORRECTION:

Casey D. Garner (MA/CPLS, 2019) has been named a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow as a mathematics doctorate candidate at the University of Minnesota.

Gary L. Newell (ME, 2017) has been promoted to design engineer with Kinze Manufacturing Inc.

20s Alexa Kovacs (MA/ECON, 2020) was named Indy Hackers’ 2020 Rising Star of the Year for her Indiana tech community advocacy efforts. She serves as a junior data scientist with Resultant.

Zilong Zhou (EE, 2018) is a chip integration engineer with Stealth Startup after earning a master’s in electrical and electronics engineering from the University of Southern California.

Malcolm D. Marshall (BE, 2017) is a technical specialist with the Faegre Drinker law firm in Indianapolis.

Brennan H. Santaniello (CHE, 2019) is a technical associate with Elanco.

In Fall Echoes, a Class Note item should have identified Jeff E. Froyd as a mathematics alumnus. We regret the oversight.

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CE: Civil Engineering

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OE: Optical Engineering

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CHE: Chemical Engineering

EE: Electrical Engineering

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MAJORS KEY CHEM: Chemistry

EMGT: Engineering Management PH: Physics

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SE: Software Engineering

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

Alumni News

CLASS NOTES

Weddings Showing Rose Pride on Couple’s Special Day Rose-Hulman had a significant role in bringing together Cassidy D. Cain (ME, 2016) and Tyler J. Duffy (SE/ECON, 2016) and this fact was woven into the fabric, literally, of the couple’s Nov. 20, 2020, wedding at the Ritz Charles Ballroom in Indianapolis.

Reveal Suits of Dallas created specially designed suitcoats with Rose-Hulman’s logo and institute-red colored lining for alumni groomsmen (from left) Caleb Allen (ME, 2016) and Collin Wojcik (CE, 2017), father of the bride Mike Cain (ME, 1985), groom Tyler Duffy, and groomsmen Joey Arthur (ME, 2016) and Kris Geyer-Roberts (BSME, 2013/MSEMGT, 2014). Each groomsman's name and graduating class was stitched over the inside pocket of the jacket.

Tyler came up with the idea after creating a special jacket to celebrate RHIT economics professor Dale Bremmer’s retirement in 2019. The jacket was such a popular attraction that Tyler approached pickup basketball playing partner Carlton Dixon, Reveal Suit’s owner, to create six more for the wedding.

Alumnae bridesmaids were Helena Bomber (ME, 2016) and Sheree (Williams) Allen (ME, 2015).

The couple lives in Dallas, where Cassidy is a project engineering supervisor with RTT Engineered Solutions and Tyler is a principal consultant with FT3 Consulting.

Thomas (TJ) Demos (ME, 2016) married Carly Nicole Trimarche on Oct. 9, 2020, in Huntsville, Alabama. They reside in New Orleans, where TJ is a manufacturing engineer with Boeing Corporation.

Anderson L. Adams (MSBE, 2015) and Greg W. Williams (ME, 2010) were married Aug. 22, 2020, in Cincinnati. The couple met at the dog park in Terre Haute and after briefly living in New Hampshire they now reside in Dayton, Ohio. Anderson is a health and fitness coach while Greg is pursuing education to become a career firefighter.

Rosemary K. Yost (CHE, 2015) and Matthew Clay Dolesh (ME, 2016) were married Sept.

12, 2020, in North Canton, Ohio.

They live in Trenton, Ohio. Rosemary works as a process engineer at the Shepherd Color Company while Clay works as a manufacturing engineer at Middletown Tube Works.

Stephen Dupal (CPE, 2006) and Dongjing Wu were married Nov. 3, 2020, in Washington, DC. They live in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Stephen is a microwave design engineer with Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Katie E. Overton (CS/MA, 2004) married Joseph Loll on Nov. 8, 2020, in Loudoun County, Virginia, where they reside.

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SPRING 2021

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Alumni News

CLASS NOTES

Rosebuds

Mona (Yan) Jiang (MSEE/ CPE, 2013) and husband, Jay Jiang (MSEE/CPE, 2011) welcomed a son, George, on March 7, 2020, in San Diego, California. Both are software engineers with Qualcomm Inc.

Corbin W. Lee (ME, 2016) and wife, KaLeigh, welcomed their first child, Piper Joyce, on June 12, 2020. The family lives in Shelbyville, Indiana. Corbin is a design engineer at VIP Tooling.

Jennifer E. (Hardyniec) Bohlander (CE, 2011) and husband, Spencer R.S. Bohlander (ME, 2013) had their first child, son Ashton Ryder Smith, on April 23, 2020, in Houston. Jennifer is a structural bridge engineer with HNTB Corporation while Spencer is a drilling engineer with Apache Corporation.

Allison (Parrent) Wood (ME, 2016) and husband Joseph L. Wood (CPE, 2016) welcomed their first child, Peyton, Dec. 8, 2020, in Novi, Michigan.

Katrina (Yoder) McCullough (EE, 2014) and husband, Wesley McCullough (EE, 2014), had their first daughter, Sylvia, on Nov. 26, 2020. The family lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where Wesley is a senior systems engineer. Katrina is homeschooling the family's four children.

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ALUMNI

Sarah M. (Rice) Fine (BE, 2008) and husband, Alex T. Fine (CS, 2007), added a daughter, Katherine Suzanne, to their family on Oct. 26, 2019. They also have a daughter, Mary Gwen, and live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sarah is an associate director of engineering with Collins Aerospace while Alex is a program engineering manager with BAE Systems.

Jean E. (Jendry) Braun (AB, 2007) and husband, Zachary (Zack) E. Braun (CS, 2006), welcomed identical twin boys, Lucien Edward and Maxwell Ernst, on Jan. 14, 2021. The family lives in Cumming, Georgia. Zack is a senior manager of security operations with Ionic Security Inc.

John R. White (CE, 1947), 97, died Feb. 26, 2021, in Rockville, Indiana. He was associate director of physical facilities at Indiana State University for 35 years.

Edward “Ned“ A. Koonmen Jr. (ME, 1948), 94, died Jan. 18, 2021, in Sparta, Wisconsin. His career included positions with the Trane Company, Chrysler Corporation and McQuay Perfex.

James L. Worick (EE, 1949), 99, died Oct. 10, 2020, in Casey, Illinois.

He retired after 35 years of service with Public Service of Indiana.

Harry H. Johnson (EE, 1952), 93, died March 6, 2021, in Michigan City, Indiana. He had several management roles during a 37-year career with Northern Indiana Public Service Company.

Larry F. Leonard (CHE, 1952), 90, died Feb. 14, 2021, in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. He retired as director of international distribution after a 32-year career with Union Carbide.

Andrew J. Hettlinger (CS, 2009) and wife, Allie, had their second son, Luca Rowan, on Nov. 11, 2020. The family resides in Avon, Indiana. He is a principal software engineer with Indiana University.

Eric M. Schue (ME, 2007) and wife, Ashtin, had a daughter, Cora Noel, on Nov. 19, 2020, in Indianapolis. Eric is a staff engineer with Carrier Global Corporation.

Jill M. (Floyd) Birt (AB, 2008) and husband, Kyle R. Birt (ME, 2008), had their first child, Lassen Jerald, on March 13, 2020. The family lives in Indianapolis. Jill is an office coordinator for Athletico Ltd. and Kyle is a regional technology manager with Archer Daniels Midland Company.

Caleb D. Nickels (CE, 2013) and wife, Brooke, had a son, Parker Dean, on Nov. 11, 2020. The family lives in Clinton, Indiana. Caleb is a lead estimator with Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives Inc.

In Memoriam

Braden L. Hudson (ME, 2002) and wife, Tasha, welcomed a son, Benjamin Evander, as their sixth child on Feb. 24, 2020. The family lives in Bloomfield, Indiana. Braden is an engineer with the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana. Proud grandfathers are Billy J. Hudson (CE, 1974) and Steven D. Clark (MSEE, 1978).

Willian’s Technical, Legal Wisdom Helped Institute, Clients Former Board of Trustees Chair Clyde F. Willian (CHE, 1952/ HDENG, 1995), 90, died Dec. 7, 2020, in Chicago. Dedicated to his family, legal clients and alma mater, Willian was a patent trial attorney and former president and lead partner of the Brinks, Gilson & Lione law firm.

His passion for engineering led him to patent law and defending patent protection, with clients that included the Coca-Cola Company, British Petroleum and General Electric. He was bestowed an honorary doctorate from Rose-Hulman in 1995 and received the Alumni Association’s Honor Alumni Award in 1978.

David Badger (EE, 1953), 89, died Jan. 4, 2021, in Indianapolis.

He earned the Alumni Association’s Honor Alumni Award in 1987 and was inducted into the RHIT Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006. Badger combined engineering and legal interests in a 50-year career as an intellectual property attorney.

C. Donald Latham (CE, 1953), 89, died on Nov. 1, 2020, in Paris, Illinois. He retired as a district design engineer with the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Randal “Randy“ L. Malone (CE, 1953), 89, died Oct. 27, 2020, in Mattoon, Illinois. He was a supervisor for the Illinois Department of Transportation along with leading DeWitt and Coles county highway departments.

Robert W. Ray (ME, 1953), 89, died March 1, 2021, in Munster, Indiana.

Charles E. Cooper (CE, 1956), 86, died Dec. 19, 2020, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He spent more than 25 years working with the Indiana Department of Transportation and Magnavox.

Philip S. Jones (CE, 1956), 86, died Oct. 29, 2020, in Columbus, Indiana. He retired as an engineer with the Indiana Department of Transportation.

Richard A. Newgent (CHE, 1957), 85, died Nov. 4, 2020, in Davidson, North Carolina. He was a senior process engineer with GenCorp Inc. Robert L. Travis (CE, 1957), 85, died Dec. 16, 2020, in Thornville, Ohio. He worked for Mead Corporation for several years before retiring as general manager with CVN Industries.

Oliver I. Case (ME, 1958), 84, died Oct. 4, 2020, in Etowah, Tennessee. He worked with several U.S. steel producers before becoming a farmer.

Leon “Mick“ Cole (CHE, 1958), 84, died Oct. 5, 2020, in West Lafayette, Indiana. He retired as a plant manager with Pfizer Inc. John R. Davis (ME, 1959), 83, died Nov. 3, 2020, in Shelbyville, Kentucky.

Robert A. McCardle (ME, 1961), died in August, 2020, in Cloverdale, Indiana, where he was a family physician.

Robert D. Michael (EE, 1961), 82, died Feb. 11, 2021, in Lancaster, South Carolina.

David G. Staggs (BSCE, 1964/HDENG, 1995), 83, died Jan. 17, 2021, in Louisville.

He specialized in geotechnical and environmental engineering for projects throughout the world and was formerly managing partner of Dames & Moore.

Gerald F. Zinngrabe (ME, 1964), 77, died Jan. 12, 2021, in Wildwood, Missouri. He worked for General Electric Company and Regal Beloit Corporation.

Robert A. Englehart (ME, 1969), 73, died Jan. 13, 2021, in Owensboro, Kentucky. He retired after a 38-year career with Texas Gas Transmission Corporation.

F. William “Bill“ Grube (CHE, 1970), 73, died Nov. 24, 2020, in Greenwood, Indiana. He earned the Alumni Association’s Honor Alumni Award in 2016. He founded and was vice chairman of the board with Calumet Specialty Products Partners and also founded Legacy Resources and Monument Chemical Company.

Michael R. Tatum (ME, 1971), 72, died Oct. 19, 2020, in Willowbrook, Illinois. He spent his career working in insurance for Corroon & Black, Willis, and Aon. Daniel R. Pate (CHE, 1973), 68, died Oct. 23, 2020, in Evansville, Indiana. He worked in the food industry for 32 years with Durkee, Pillsbury and General Mills.

Paul M. Chilson II (MA, 1973), 68, died Aug. 28, 2020, in Saint Charles, Missouri. He was a data manager with BioMedical Life System.

John E. Hardesty (ME, 1974), 68, died Jan. 9, 2021, in Louisville.

He retired as a maintenance supervisor with International Paper Company.

Roy C. “Curt“ Moore (EE, 1978), 64, died Feb. 7, 2021, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was a technical project manager with Collins Aerospace.

Anilkumar “Anil“ Patel (CHE, 1979), 61, died Oct. 24, 2020, in Brea, California.

Robert M. Haskins (EE, 1980), 62, died Jan. 1, 2021, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He worked for Collins Aerospace for 33 years.

Steve T. Kennedy (CHE, 1981), 62, died Nov. 12, 2020, in Lake Forest, Illinois. He earned the Alumni Association’s Career Achievement Award in 2001. He was a serial entrepreneur who sought to leverage new, emerging technology to solve social, economic and climatology problems.

David A. Lovell (EE, 1982), 60, died Feb. 6, 2021, in Greenfield, Indiana. He owned his own company and worked as an engineer for many years.

Andrew Curosh (ME, 1986), 57, died April 6, 2021, in Portage, Indiana. He worked with U.S. Steel Company for 22 years.

Michael T. Bell (ME, 1990), 52, died April 14, 2021, in Michigan City, Indiana. He had worked with Boss Industries and Sullair Air Compressor.

Rhett T. Harper (CE, 1993), 49, died Jan. 26, 2021, in Brandon, Florida. He spent 28 years as an engineer with Jacobs Engineering.

Kevin C. Ketzler (EE, 1994), 49, died April 19, 2021, in Decatur, Indiana. He was a computer analyst with several companies.

Patrick T. Swisher (SE, 2013), 30, died Nov. 16, 2020, in Indianapolis. He was a software engineer with Indiana Interactive.

Benjamin S. Breece (ME, 2018), 24, died Sept. 19, 2020, in Richmond, Virginia. He had been employed with Dominion Power.

Jacob W. Meister (SE, 2021), 24, died Feb. 16, 2021, in Terre Haute following a lengthy illness.

SPECIAL FRIENDS Roger F. Casale, 76, died Feb. 9, 2021, in Peachtree City, Georgia. He was an associate professor of military science and supervised the senior cadet drill team.

Martha “Marty“ J. Cornelius, 88, died Nov. 15, 2020, in Terre Haute. She was an adjunct humanities and social sciences instructor and coached the Model United Nations team.

Ronald C. Sclight, 72, died Jan. 30, 2021, in Terre Haute. He was superintendent of buildings and grounds at Rose-Hulman for 16 years.

FACULTY/STAFF Kline Helped Bring Innovation, Entrepreneurship to Campus Dedicated entrepreneurship educator and administrator William A. Kline, 66, died March 20, 2021, in Terre Haute. His influence was spread across campus—as associate dean of innovation, engineering management professor, supervisor of Branam and Kremer Innovation Centers, and former director of Rose-Hulman Ventures. He developed the award-winning Innovation Canvas and assisted with an economic development program that’s impacting Shelbyville/Shelby County, Indiana. Kline was a three-time RHIT Excellence in Service Award recipient.

Survivors include daughters Celeste (Kline) Huster (BE, 2015) and Maria Kline (BE, 2019).

Alumni News

CLASS NOTES

Mottel Mixed Right Educational Chemistry Longtime chemistry educator Edward A. Mottel, 71, died Aug. 8, 2020, in Terre Haute. He contributed to student success for 39 years, helping develop the integrated first-year curriculum that emphasized STEM collaboration and co-authoring a manual that became a staple of general chemistry courses for three decades. Mottel also was an adviser to Rose-Hulman’s Triangle fraternity chapter, Wabash Valley Councilor of the American Chemical Society, lifetime member of the Alpha Chi Sigma national chemistry fraternity, an annual contributor to the Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, and loyal member of the National Science Teachers Association.

Welch’s Innovative Coaching Led to Team, Athletes’ Successes Hall of Fame athletics coach and trusted friend/mentor William M. Welch, 96, died Dec. 22, 2020, in Terre Haute. He was head cross country coach for 20 years and head track and field coach for 16 years, helping teams and athletes achieve numerous conference and national championships and All-America honors.

For his many coaching innovations and team/ athlete accomplishments, Welch was enshrined in the national Track and Field Hall of Fame and Indiana High School Track and Field Hall of Fame. Induction into the RHIT Athletic Hall of Fame followed in 1996 and the college’s outdoor track was named in Welch’s honor.

ECHOES

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SPRING 2021

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DOWN MEMORY LANE

Fraternity STORY BY DALE LONG

Fixer - Uppers Rose-Hulman’s Alpha Tau Omega, Lambda Chi Alpha and Theta Xi fraternities share core values of unity, respect, honor, and service. Now they also have a common purpose of expanding, improving and even moving their iconic homes to solidify their brotherhoods and chapters’ rich histories.

“We all benefited in many ways from our time in the chapter and many of us firmly believe it helped form who we are today,” state ATO leaders in a newsletter to alumni this spring that announced extensive renovations to the campus’ oldest fraternity house.

“This is about the renewal of a chapter to ensure we leave a lasting legacy.”

The same call to action made necessary improvements to the nearby Lambda Chi Alpha chapter house and ambitious plans to move the Theta Xi chapter from a turn-of-the-century home in downtown Terre Haute to a renovated former school building that’s a little more than two miles west of campus.

“We want to make the experience the best it can be to protect and embellish the life of Lambda Chi,” says Erik Jansen (EE, 1978) president of the chapter’s housing corporation. “We got so much from our fraternity experience. We’re just trying to share those experiences with our past, present and future members.”

Lambda Chi Alpha members have spent several years adding modern-day amenities to improve its chapter house.

Lambda Chi Was Ready to Act Lambda Chi Alpha’s house, originally built in 1977, was in need of several modern upgrades, including a new central heating, ventilation and air conditioning system—a first for the building. When COVID-19 health restrictions left the house vacated in spring 2020, the chapter’s housing corporation took advantage of the opportunity to implement its long-awaited improvement plans.

Other aspects of the project included the installation of energy-efficient light-emitting diode lighting and smoke/fire alarms in all rooms, renovating the kitchen, repainting all rooms, and replacing carpeting, furniture, mattresses, and window blinds.

“It was a wonderful experience to see it all come together,” states Mike McPherron (CHE, 1979), who managed last summer’s project while being assisted by Hank Doherty (CE, 1979), Kent Salitros (CE, 1975), Darius Samz (BE, 2012), and special adviser Tom Miller. “It has been fulfilling to see actives and alumni working together to renovate our house and live our mission and values,” says McPherron.

Assisting in the project was the fact that the chapter had enough in its endowment to cover all the nearly $400,000 in expenses. There also were benefits from an involved housing corporation including Ed Malone (CE, 1980), Jim Nordmeyer (CHE, 1978), Jenner Wile (SE/CPLS, 2018) and Chris Hockaden (BE, 2017).

ATO Keeping Up With Times Big things are planned for the 52-year-old ATO house, named in honor of the late chapter adviser/mentor Ronald Reeves (EE, 1958). Projects include replacing an antiquated boiler system and installing new plumbing, electrical service, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning for common meeting areas. Plans also call for adding features to the kitchen and upgrading living quarters with improved electrical service, new flooring, energy-efficient windows, and climate controls. All rooms will get a fresh coat of paint.

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In addition, digital services and new functionally designed study rooms will be made available in each of the building’s two wings, supporting virtual learning and increased technology bandwidth requirements.

There also will be a new, contemporary and attractive entranceway, with an accessibility-compliant elevator, along with enhanced landscaping and symbols. “[Rose-Hulman] has been doing an exceptional job keeping the campus up to date, able to meet the needs of students, and a beautiful, welcoming home for four years,” says longtime chapter member Bob Pease (CHE, 1980). “Honestly, fraternity row and the houses in town have not kept pace. Those of us working on the fraternity campaigns not only wanted to make our second homes a more attractive and fit- for-purpose home for today’s students, but also consistent with the overall quality of the school and campus.”

Theta Xi Planning Big Move

Alpha Tau Omega has several plans underway to improve the campus' oldest fraternity Rose Hulma Reno house, including a new contemporary entranceway.

Theta Xi alumni will be undertaking the most ambitious of these fraternity projects.

The Kappa chapter is in the process of planning to renovate a large building at 231 Blakely Avenue, near Terre Haute’s Heritage Trail, and then moving from its roots at the southeast corner of South Sixth and Park streets. Members have lived in the house since 1954, but have simply outgrown its amenities, including five bedrooms, one full bathroom and two additional half bathrooms.

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The chapter’s current $3 million capital campaign will cover the planned house improvements and provide funds to establish a housing maintenance endowment, while supporting better alumni relations efforts to increase alumni chapter involvement.

Joining Pease in organizing ATO’s project have been Rob Banerjee (ME, 1978), Bill Daugherty (CE, 1987), Chuck Sigman (CHE, 1980), Rick Stanley (ME, 1978), Bruce Ungethiem (ME, 1977), and J.P. Williams (ME, 1999).

Theta Xi is planning to convert a former school house that's two miles west of campus into the chapter's new home.

The architectural rendering showcases the project's plans.

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“It has likely reached the end of its useful life as a fraternity house,” assesses chapter alumni leader Jeff Papa (ECON, 1993), who is leading the project’s fundraising efforts.

“It could be a beautiful restoration project in a wonderful neighborhood for another party but, even fully restored, it simply would not meet the modern-day needs of a fraternity. It is also, of course, quite far from campus (nearly seven miles).”

A rehabilitation project will convert three floors of the former elementary school into space to house members in single and double rooms, with a kitchen, dining room, chapter meeting room, study lounge, and plenty of storage space.

“It’s an ideal location for us and will help ensure that Theta Xi will grow and prosper as a campus chapter,” says Zac Chambers (ME, 1994), the chapter’s housing corporation executive. “We have a long way to go, with lots of fundraising (covering estimated $1.2 million preliminary costs) and planning. But we’ve already purchased the building and are now examining the project’s endless possibilities.

We’re excited to get to work.” n

ECHOES

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SPRING 2021

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PARTIN G SHOT TAKING ROSE (AND ROSIE) TO NEW HEIGHTS Seth Knoll (CE, 2018) showcased his Rose pride by flying a school flag on top of a 312-foot-tall wind turbine being installed near Lyford, Texas. He was the lead engineer on Infrastructure and Energy’s Big Ray Wind Farm project, consisting of 200 towers that will generate 440 megawatts of clean energy to the power grid for nearly 400,000 homes in the region and beyond.

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