The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/406282
Fall 2014 61 class notes "Coding 101" and "Know How." He recently became engaged to Svetlana Chmakova, an artist and author from Toronto, Canada. Chris Tashjian is manager, Endoscope Process Engineering, at Karl Storz. 1996 Six weeks after completing his frst 100-mile ultramarathon, the Zion 100 in Utah, Steve Labranche ran the Grand Canyon, 24 miles from south to north rim. 1997 José Lopez and his wife, Carmen Arrigo, moved to Barcelona. 1998 Kim (Farrell) Dunkelberg ('00 MS MSE) is fnishing up her post-baccalaureate teacher licensure program at Worcester State University and is returning to the workforce after 10 years to be a 6th-grade science teacher at Wayland (Mass.) Middle School. "I'm looking forward to using my engineering background to implement an inquiry-based chemistry and physics curriculum with a fun team of students and teachers!" she writes. 1999 Paul Graves (MS EVE) vacationed on Cape Cod this summer with his wife, Jane, their two daughters (ages 10 and 13), and extended family. "We had a blast on a whale watch out of P-town, doing a little hiking, and mostly playing on the beaches both on the bay side and ocean side," he writes. Julie Kernis and her husband, Brad Phinney, welcomed a daughter, Cara, in July. 2000 Melissa (Wright) Hayes writes, "After many years of bench research in molecular biology, microbiology, and immunology, I have joined the Regulatory Affairs department at Becton-Dickinson Diagnostic Systems in Sparks, Md. I oversee molecular in-vitro diagnostic device product development for infectious diseases from a regulatory standpoint, ensuring the development of safe and effective products. The new position has been extremely challenging and rewarding." 2002 Mike Perkins clocked in 1:49:06 at the Mt. Washington Road Race, running the Auto Road from base to summit. His time was good enough for him to place 406th, out of 1,060 runners. 2005 Gregory Krane moved to Gainesville, Fla., in July 2014, to begin residency training in anatomic pathology at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. He and his wife, Farleigh, look forward to meeting any WPI alums in the Florida area. Joe Vaughn ('08 MS FPE) writes, "I've been living in Macau SAR, China, for the past seven years, working as a third-party consultant for the local government on the casino resort developments. In July 2013 I proposed on the summit of Mt. Fuji in Japan, and on Feb. 22, 2014, I married my wonderful wife, Tippi (Tam), in Hong Kong. We had a small ceremony on a Hong Kong tram, and it was ftting that we cut the cake as we passed by the Wan Chai fre department." 2006 Laura Handler is director of service design and strategy at Tocci Building Co. Her recent projects include Autodesk's headquarters in Waltham, Mass., and the Alexandria Center at Harvard's Kendall Square campus. '01 Paul and Amanda (Kight) Muller recently moved from Leavenworth, Kans., where Paul graduated from the Army's Command and General Staff College. Along the route to their new home in Redondo Beach, Calif., they celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary by renewing their marriage vows in Las Vegas with Elvis (of course). Paul is now serving at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, and Amanda is a senior systems engineer at Northrop Grumman.