The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/65892
classnotes 4Dennis Murphy '69 retired after a long career as a sys- tems engineer and entrepreneur. He recently published his first novel, Brain Waves (see p.71). He and his wife, Diane, live in western North Carolina with their three cats. John Paolillo '69 writes, "After 14 years with IBM, I went to work in Nashua, N.H., for Digital Equipment Corp. (now Hewlett-Packard), where I've been an information developer for the past 28 years. I've been working out of my home office since HP's lab was closed four years ago. Judy and I have been married 23 years and we have a teenage son and a 22-year-old daughter. The apples haven't fallen far from the tree: our daughter is graduating from RPI this year with a bio- medical engineering degree, and has already secured a job with Epic Systems in Wisconsin; and our high school senior was recently accepted to his first-choice college—WPI! While many of my classmates are no doubt already retired and living a life of leisure, I long for the time when, no longer burdened with college tuition payments, I can finally retire." Peter Blackford '70 writes that he's enjoying life in "the business no one ever got into on purpose—design and man- ufacture of high-temperature electrical/electronic wire and cable. It's a great opportunity to actually utilize every discipline studied at WPI on a daily basis, which is just one of the things that keeps it interesting. My firm is weathering the recession under the corporate parentage of Berkshire Hatha- way. Our kids are grown, our fourth grandchild is due soon. Passing the 15-year mark in Naples, Fla., we don't miss winter, or four-letter words like snow, cold, spin, and skid. I'm still a car guy, too, with a couple of Lotuses and a 33-year-old Benz in the garage, as well as one of the first Priuses sold in Florida. Yes, our successful Project for the Clean Air Car Race in 1970 assuredly played a part in becoming an early adopter of HEV technology. I belong to the Naples-Marco Island Region of the AACA (aaca.org) and plan to participate in the upcoming AutoWeek Fantasy Camp in May." Wally Thompson '70 says he's far from retirement. "I am having too much fun creating and constructing new wind projects in Central and South America, as director of engi- neering for Arctas Capital Group out of Houston. I just finished a 65 MW wind project in Nicaragua and began construction of the next 60 MW project, adjacent to the first project. I expect to continue with wind project developments in Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. Eventu- ally, I will learn to speak Spanish! I have been working in this field almost since the time I left WPI, and I've enjoyed visiting or working in more than 30 countries around the world." Joseph Carter '71 is still in Cleveland working in ENT in the county hospital (MetroHealth). He's been married to Alison for 36 years. Son Ben is an engineer in Detroit, and daughter Maggie will graduate in June in special ed. "One more to get through school—Sasha, adopted from Russia 1996, is a senior in high school. I'll go to El Salvador on my fourth 68 Spring 2012 4 medical mission next January. Would love to hear from any '71 classmates!" Frank Catanzaro '71 says, "I just finished building a 3D virtual website for the Millennium Project, an international Global Foresight Think Tank. See http://cyber.mpnodes.info. Three other projects had me commuting from South Korea to Kuwait. I am head of Millennium's Cyber-Futures Node." 5Gordon Govalet '71 writes, "My wife, Annie, and I re- cently visited Paris to fulfill a promise I made over 20 years ago: We would celebrate her 60th birthday in Paris. We stayed for a week and walked everywhere, visiting numerous neigh- borhoods and Paris icons. We found the city to be beautiful and clean. People were very friendly, expecting no more than the polite greetings and goodbyes in French. If you have not been, you need to add this to your life's list of places to see." Wayne Holmes '71 received the 2011 National Fire Pro– tection Association Standards Medal. Retired VP of HSB Professional Loss Control, he currently provides independent consulting services in fire protection and code compliance. He is a fellow of the Society of Fire Protection Engineer. Kevin O'Connell '71 of New Haven, Conn., recently passed the IRS exam to become an enrolled agent. He continues at H & R Block as a tax advisor. Abbas Salim '71 retired in September of 2009 after 26 years at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company and 40 years as an aerospasce power systems architect and expert. The company praised his outstanding leadership in the design and operation of spacecraft electrical power systems. Abbas now lives is in New Jersey and consults for Lockheed Martin Corp, Aeroflex, and Aerojet. 5 David Hayhurst '72 is dean of the College of Engineering at SDSU. A supporter of Project Lead the Way, a nationally recognized program for preparing middle- and high school students for careers in engineering, he also leads two NSF- sponsored programs to transition veterans into engineering. He and his wife, Mari, raise, show and judge AKC champion Great Danes, Whippets and Boxers. Donald Polonis '72 says, "I am controller at ITT Power Solu- tions, which is now part of the ITT spinoff called Exelis. This is a milestone year for me: a new company and 40 years since WPI. June also marks our 40th wedding anniversary, and it's been a quite a ride. Pat and I traveled to the Shanghai World Expo, and last year we cruised to Rome and Florence. How- ever, soon most of our travel will be stateside, from our future winter home—a condo in Davenport, Fla., located minutes away from Disneyworld, Seaworld, Universal's Harry Potter- land, and LEGOLAND. Our granddaughters Madie ( Madelyn) and Ava enjoy making the annual inspection of the condo, and look forward to visiting the Kennedy Space Center on the 50th anniversary of John Glenn's space ride this year." Jim Tarpey '72 has retired from Orange and Rockland Utilities as vice president, operations, after a 39.5-year career. He is now president and senior partner of Grey Hare Advisors LLC, providing utility and managerial consulting services to the gas and electric industry. He remains as board chairman of the Rockland Community College Foundation and is an active member of the Society of Gas Lighting, as well as a senior mem- ber of the IEEE. Jim and his wife, Stephanie, live in Goshen, N.Y. 6Conrad Baranowski '73 says, "I have been working at American Power Conversion (owned by Schneider-Electric) since 2000, currently as a staff project manager in Billerica, Mass. I have done a lot of business traveling, to the Philip-