The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/65892
classnotes Jan Pierson '73 says, "I've been living and working in Pittsburgh since graduation in the insurance industry. I mar- ried a local girl 35 years ago; we have six children and three grandchildren." Richard Sargent '73 and his wife, Dianne, have seven chil- dren and four grandchildren. They celebrated their 30th anni- versary in 2003 with a trip to Italy. They live in Spencer, Mass. Alexander Vrachnos '73 reports: "Living in Greece in a real Great Depression crisis environment. My wife, Eleana, and I have a daughter who's studying law at Athens University, and a son in sixth grade. I have founded my own company install- ing photovoltaics, mainly on rooftops, and have also been involved actively with Tropical Green Technologies, develop- ing and getting ready to bring to market hydrogen fuel cell generators and other H2 technology products like H2 refuel- ing stations. I am seeking investors to take part in the upcom- ing boom for such products in the near future." Jim Briggs '74 holds the post of implementation coordina- tor with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. He manages transportation enhancement projects for the Philadelphia region by day, and works as an amateur magi- cian by night. Gasper Buffa '74 serves as president of Meadville Forging Group, supplying products to automotive and industrial markets. Ken Charak '74 writes, "After 28 years at Procter & Gamble and 10 years at Ethicon Endo-Surgery (a Johnson & Johnson Company), I will retire from Corporate America later this year. On tap is spending more time with family (especially grand- son Sir Martin), some creative writing, some travel, and spe- cialized consulting for small businesses seeking to regis- ter medical devices and pharmaceuticals with the FDA and other health authorities worldwide." Baltasar Sanchez '74 says, "After WPI I got my MS in ChE from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and SU, then worked for Procter & Gamble, both in Mexico and in Cincinnati. I quit the corporate world to come to my hometown and help my dad in the coffee roasting and merchandising business. My wife, Heidi, and I have three children. I'm still running the family business in troubled Southeastern México and am contem- plating retirement in a couple of years." Peter Thacher '74 reports, "Sarah and I have enjoyed skiing the slopes of cheap and cheerful Bansko, Bulgaria, with her brother's family. We have also enjoyed skiing the Dolomites in Italy with friends from work. Last September, classmate Staporn Phettongkam and his wife, Addy, visited me in North Haven, Maine. The seven-year renovation of our house in Spain has finally been completed. We bought a restaurant called La Luna near our house on the Costa del Sol. At work, I led a cross-functional team that developed an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) project at Jazan, Saudi 70 Spring 2012 Arabia. This plant will supply utilities to a future Jazan Refinery, supply electrical power to the kingdom's grid, and should be- come the largest IGCC in the world. We look forward to retire- ment and catching up with our many friends back in the USA." Vermont Business Magazine has named Jon Anderson '75 as one of the top business lawyers in the state. Armand Balasco '75 is vice president of technology con- sultation at Polestar Technologies in Needham Heights, Mass. Ray Cibulskis '75 has retired from Maui Electric Company after 12 years as supervisor of commercial services and is now consulting on renewable energy projects. His Maui home is completely solar powered. David Fowler '75 joined Courion Corp. in Westborough, Mass., as chief operating officer. John Gabranski '75 recently retired from the partnership at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He joined legacy Coopers & Lybrand in 1978 after receiving his MBA from Columbia Uni- versity Graduate School of Business. He currently provides business consultation to two of his former clients while enjoy- ing the balance of working while retired. He is honored to have been recently asked by Dean Karen Oates to serve on WPI's Arts and Sciences Advisory Board. "Want to know what it's like to be a one-man band and do it all?" writes Peter Hatgelakas '75, president and CEO of Intrepid Exploration LLC in Pittsburgh, Pa., "from mapping the geology, seismic geophysical acquisition and mapping, leas- ing, contracting rigs, supervising drilling, design casing pro- gram and cementing, stimulating well flowback, pipeline and production equipment design, and production of the gas into line? All that work so I can give the best energy source on the planet away for $2.47/Mcf!" Bob Horner '75 writes, "I continue to enjoy my new job as public policy director for the Illuminating Engineering Society in New York City. I work out of my home office—what a difference from the previous corporate world! Several times a month, I visit Washington to "educate" the legislators and regulators. My wife, Pam, is doing well and looking forward to retiring next year. My son James is an accomplished auto/truck technician, working mostly on diesel vehicles, and Daniel is a junior at UMass Dartmouth enjoying economics and business." Bill VanHerwarde '75 has a daughter, Grania, in the WPI Class of 2015. Doug Whitman '75 reports, "After working 30 years in the Middle East, I am retiring at the end of March and returning to Worcester. Not sure yet what I will be doing during my retire- ment, but spoiling the grandchildren is on the list." David Erickson '76 says, "I live in Topsfield Mass., with my wife, Alexandra. Our daughter, Michelle, has flown the nest. I am a principal EE at Infraredx in Burlington, Mass., develop- ing optical and ultrasound medical technology for cardiac catheters. My hobbies include sailing, electronics, and mountain biking." Ed Fasulo '76 joined Morton Salt in 2007 and managed the Perth Amboy, N.J., facility until he and his wife recently relo- cated to the Tyler, Texas, area. Ed is now plant manager for the Grand Saline facility, which produces all types of salt for vari- ous markets in North America and parts of South America. Bob Grande '76 is still living in Branford, Conn., and working at UIL Holdings Corp. (parent of former employer The United Illuminating Company) in New Haven as a busi- ness relationship manager in IT. He writes, "I occasionally rock out on guitar with our appropriately named classic rock band, MidLife Crisis." Mike Abrams '77 writes, "I've entered the 'work less, travel more for fun' stage of my career. And when I can combine the two, even better! Last year saw trips to Barcelona, Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Salzburg, Puerto Vallarta, Vancouver, and a driving tour of SW Ireland. I went back to WPI a couple of times during the year, as well (Homecoming was a blast), and anticipate more visits as a member of the Alumni Association BOD. I've been a self-employed consultant for the last 11 years, mostly doing instrumentation design of seismic data acquisition systems. I've been in Houston for 32 years now, and I find it a great city to live in. Our 35th wedding anniver- sary is coming up in June, the same amount of time I've been out of WPI. Unfortunately I will miss our 35th reunion, as it coincides with a trip to Scandinavia. Maybe I'll see you at the next Homecoming." Bill Cunningham '77 is launching OneMorePallet.com and hopes to go live in the spring. It has been selected by the Kaufmann Foundation as one of the top 50 start-ups in 2011. Bill's daughter, Sarah, graduated from Xavier University and landed a job in Boston at InkHouse. Bill says, "So, if you need any public relations work, I'll be glad to connect you!" Robert Desourdis '77, '79 (MS EE) writes, "I'm a VP for technology and a senior systems architect at Science Appli- cations International Corporation (SAIC), working from my home in Fairfax, Va. I have done a number of public safety communications projects, including a statewide interoperabil- ity plan for Massachusetts in which I employed WPI and my former MS thesis advisor, Jim Matthews. Artech House pub- lished my fifth technical book in 2009, Achieving Interopera- bility in Critical IT and Communication Systems. In that work, I explore 25 documented failures of leadership and planning, from Pearl Harbor to 9-11 and Hurricaine Katrina. I've since added the Gulf Oil spill, otherwise known as "Deepwater Ho- rizon." In all cases, failed leadership and planning were the culprits, not "technology." My other books were about the Internet in Emergency Communications, public safety com- munications, advanced high-frequency radio, and meteor