The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/50105
classnotes It was my first experience visiting a Central or South American country. The weather was a welcome break from our horrible winter! Our hotel was located just across the street from the white sand at Flamingo Beach. Of course, in the afternoons the swim-up bar in our hotel pool was more attractive than the beach." Ari Copeland '03 received the Allen B. Roberts Award from the F1 Section of the American Water Works Associa- tion for his outstanding volunteer work in youth education for the water profession. Previously a civil engineer with Black & Veatch Corp. in Florida, he recently accepted a position with the AWWA in Denver, where he will be working under the Technical and Education Council supporting WQTC and ACE conferences. Andrew Keefe '03 was named chief engineer of BPG Motors, a start-up in Cambridge, Mass. The company's hybrid electric dual-tracked military vehicle was featured on engadget.com, and AOL Autos Transloic video channel did a segment on BPG's self-balancing motorbike. 22 cine and Biomedical Sciences in May. "I currently work for the USDA Center for Epidemiology and Animal Health," she says, "but I'm looking to pursue a career practicing mixed animal medicine." Damon Blanchette '02 writes, "I've worked at Smith Col- lege in Northampton, Mass., almost since graduation. My son just turned 7. I'm now back at WPI very part-time, working on my master's in computer science (focusing on real-time graphics), and I should be done when my thesis is complete by the end of 2011." Nick Sherwood '02 writes, "I just finished my PhD this sum- mer at Cornell University, working on silicon nanophotonics for use in future optical microprocessor interconnect networks. It was fun, cutting-edge work. I'm now at a start-up called Tor- nado Medical Systems in Ithaca, N.Y., using my optics knowl- edge to make tiny medical devices. I took a month-long tour of the north of Spain—I can summarize the trip as warm and delicious. Anyway, life is good, WPI, and I think of you often." Frances-Feliz Zgambo '02 married Thomas Kearns Feb. 14, 2011. She is pursuing her MS in quality management at the National Graduate School in Falmouth, Mass. They cur- rently reside in New Bedford with their two children, Thomas and Jazmin. Glenn Donovan '02 writes, "My wife, Erin, and I welcomed our second child, Liam, in August. His sister, Ellie, celebrated her second birthday in April. I have been working at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, R.I., since June 2002. 78 Fall 2011 This past year I was honored to receive the Arthur S. Flem- ming Award for excellence in federal service in the category of Applied Science, Engineering, and Mathematics." Heather (Maisey) Buschman '02 was promoted to scientific communications manager at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., where she edits the institute's website and blog. Jayne McAlary '02 married Ryan Swiercinsky July 16, 2010, in Aruba, where they met on vacation in 2004. Engineers celebrating with them in paradise were classmates Tiffany Howland, Elena (Kozulin) Gaudette, Brian Blackwell, and Julie (Bolduc) Blackwell, along with Jackie (Maio- rano) Caceci '03, Cati Knab '03, Jason Gaudette '03 and Jennifer (Patoulidis) Flynn '01. 22 Kerri (Hufnagle) and Michael Wojcik '02 an- nounce the birth of Matthew Frazier on July 14, 2011. They live in Coventry, Conn. Mike is Northeast regional sales man- ager for MECO Biopharmaceutical. Kerri is staff engineer in the Propulsion Systems Analysis group at Pratt & Whitney. Elaine (Warner) Sanfilippo '02 recently launched her new business, AdopTee's, which designs and sells pet-themed T-shirts to raise money for animal rescue and welfare groups. "In just under 10 weeks, we've donated over $1,000 to the cause," she says. Find out more at adopteesonline.com. Patrick Baxter '03 writes, "My girlfriend and I recently trav- eled to Costa Rica to attend her brother's wedding in March. Sarah (Linderme) Xavier '03 and her husband, Jeff, welcomed their first child, Nathaniel Bradford, April 8, 2011. Chris Gordon '03 has worked for the Missile Defense Agency since 2003 as a contractor with SAIC, along with occasional support to the missile intelligence agencies. For the past two years, he has served as lead contractor for the Flight Test Design and Planning division. He received an MS in systems engineering from the University of Alabama-Hunts- ville in May 2010. Chris lives in Huntsville with his wife (high school sweetheart), Jess; son, Gabe; and daughter, Julia. Darren Torpey '04 and Vickie Wu '03 were married Sept. 10, 2011, in Natick, Mass. Vickie went back to school to start a career in food service. She's a cook for Aramark and works at Biogen's Weston, Mass., office. Darren is a web developer for Punchbowl.com, a consumer-facing start-up in Fram- ingham. He also runs Boston Game Jams, a community of professional and amateur DIY game developers who gather on weekends to collaboratively design and construct original video- and board games from start to finish. Erica Bartos '04 started a new job teaching physics and math at a high school in Charlottesville, Va. This was her third summer working for Sail Caribbean, a program for middle school through college students to learn to sail and scuba dive, study marine biology, and do community service in the British Virgin and Leeward islands. Andrew Smith '04 recently changed jobs—from software engineer at New England Baptist Hospital in Boston, to proj- ect manager, applications, for the UMass Memorial Lab Infor- mation Systems department in Worcester.