The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/114745
I It was almost October, and Lindsey Machamer '13 was a little nervous. The mechanical engineering/environmental sciences double major had not yet found a compelling subject for her MQP, the major qualifying project all seniors need in order to graduate from WPI. She had kicked around a few ideas, but had found nothing that truly excited her. Her worries, however, would have to be put aside temporarily as she walked across campus to the WPI Call Center at Higgins House, where she would join several other students and spend the next few hours reaching out to some of the university's more than 33,000 alumni. It wasn't long into her shift before serendipity struck in the form of Ted Coghlin '56. Machamer began with basic housekeeping details that keep the school's database current, such as conƂrming his email and work phone number. When that was Ƃnished, Coghlin, a steady donor who has been very much engaged with WPI since graduating, turned around the conversation and began asking Machamer questions: What's your major? What do you hope to do when you graduate? What's your MQP? "I haven't decided about my MQP," Machamer admitted. To which Coghlin countered, "Would you be interested in attending a meet- 40 Winter 2013 ing on a sustainable energy project at the Treasure Valley Boy Scout Reservation in nearby Rutland? There might be something there you can Ƃnd for your project." So Machamer went, and learned how a company with which Coghlin is connected, North Andover-based Nexamp, was developing one of the largest solar panel arrays in New England. She couldn't have dreamed of a better project. "It was perfect," recalls Machamer, whose MQP will design solar panels to light many of the campsites at the Boy Scout camp. "It had the environmental element I was looking for and the practical aspect I needed." Now in her fourth year working at the Call Center, Machamer has developed a light-hearted style that makes it easy to speak with graduates. Her secret? "I smile when I'm on the phone," she says. "If they can sense I'm excited talking to them, it makes it easier to have a good conversation." Machamer's high school science teacher encouraged her to pursue engineering and defy the archaic stereotypes that still abound that women are only cut out for the liberal arts. Coming from Berkley, Mass., a town of just over 6,000 residents located between Boston and Providence, she liked WPI's small-campus atmosphere and its unique seven-week term structure. Moving into Morgan Hall as a freshman, she befriended her new roommates and quickly developed the kind of college friendships that can last a lifetime; three years later, she continues to live with them, now in an apartment in the neighborhood near campus. She also plunged headƂrst into campus activities, taking on leadership roles on WPI's Student Green Team and in the body image peer group Positively. She also has been inducted into the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society and Chi Epsilon civil engineering honor society. Upon graduating in May, Machamer hopes to join a civil engineering Ƃrm to analyze how a project will affect the land on which it is to be built. DIALING FOR DOLLARS Every weekday throughout the academic year, a team of two dozen students from a wide range of backgrounds take to the phones. They speak to upwards of 60 potential alumni donors during each shift, updating contact information, sharing recent happenings on campus, and—most important—asking these graduates to support WPI. That adds up to more than 8,200 quality conversations each year, leading to more than 3,000 gifts to the Annual Fund. "The student Call Center is one of our most important ways to engage alumni," says Jennifer Gamache, director of the WPI Annual Fund. "For many alumni, this is the only personal interaction they have with the school after they graduate, so it's very important to WPI on several levels." Finding the right students to work at the Center can be challenging, especially at a school full of engineering majors who might be more comfortable pulling an all-nighter in the Stinger Lab than picking up a phone to talk with people they don't know. But according to Ashley Hubacz, the assistant director of annual