WPI Journal - The Magazine for WPI Alumni

SPRING 2012

The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)

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classnotes 29 Jeremy Chapman '09 writes, "I returned to the US from a year-and-a-half stint teaching in Turkey, and recently started a job in southern Indiana. I test and install new engines for Cummins. Looking back, I noticed that of all my WPI expe- riences, my IQP in Copenhagen had the greatest impact on my life. It was an ideal opportunity to develop the core skills of teamwork to tackle unexpected challenges, which I've come to find out, is worth more to my job than other engineering skills. The IQP also made the rest of the world seem much more friendly and accessible, has which shaped the last two years of my life. WPI people are everywhere! In Istanbul, I was visited by roughly 10 WPI faculty, staff, and alumni. I'm hoping to find some WPI alums in Indiana. If we've lost touch, or you're in the area and want to get together, please email me: jeremyrchapman@gmail.com." Since graduation, Chris Drouin '09 has been living in Watham, Mass., where he works as a marketing and website research analyst for Vistaprint. In his spare time, he sings in the Harvard-Radcliffe Community Chorus, hikes, bikes, and works on his game design ideas. Jo-Ellen (Sullivan) '09 and Derek Duval '08 (MS FPE) were married on Aug. 27, 2011, on Cape Cod— "right in the midst of Hurricane Irene!" they report. Jo-Ellen left her position as a senior bioprocess associate with Bristol-Myers Squibb and is now a software engineer for Zenith Technologies. Derek is at NFPA in Quincy. 30 Jennifer (Himottu) and Keith Flanders '09 married in October 2011. "After dating for almost five years (since we met in our freshman orientation group)," she writes, "Keith proposed right after we both graduated from grad school. We ended up in DC, where I'm a structural engineer for Thornton Tomasetti and Keith is a fire protection engineer for Aon. That made it a little tough to plan a wedding back in Massachu- setts, but everything went very smoothly, and everyone had a wonderful time. More than 25 alumni were guests—they may have been the only ones who understood that our programs were designed to look like engineering blueprints!" Nick Gilligan '09 is at Midé Technology Corp., a high-tech R&D; firm focused in the aerospace and defense industries. His projects have ranged from machining to computational fluid analysis simulations. His team developed actuating con- trol surfaces for a long-range sniper round, performing analy- sis and offering design modification recommendations for solar power inverters. Recently promoted to production man- ager, he oversees the production of piezoelectric actuators, sensors, and vibrational energy harvesters. Nick enjoys cy- cling and sailing, and plans to relocate to the San Francisco Bay Area. Jason Hu '09 writes, "WPI, you can't get rid of me! I'm still collaborating with my professors in the BME Department on many of my company's research projects." Jen Keating '09 is an R&D; engineer at Grove Instruments, working on a noninvasive blood glucose meter. "We're em- barking on an exciting year with many projects in store," he says. "I just began taking a graduate course at WPI in digital signal processing to expand my skill set here at Grove. I'm planning a trip to Africa next fall, which will include a visit to my IQP Site in Windhoek, Namibia. I am excited about the poten- tial for professional and personal development that all of these have to offer." Katy Levinson '09 reports, "I quit my job at the venture capital firm and started two ventures: amacron.com (which mails nonperishable college necessities to students who can't walk to a bulk food store, much less carry everything back), and sendmeawesome.com (which mails people awesome stuff). Both ideas gained surprising traction, but I have been sidetracked by efforts to keep a hackerspace, the Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, Calif., open. To comply with local build- ing codes, our community is working to raise a quarter million dollars to renovate the space or get a new one. (Feels like something right out of an IQP!) You can check out our efforts at hackerdojo.com/Assemble." Cara Marcy '09 recently competed a two-year stint in the Peace Corps, serving as a sustainable agriculture volunteer working with an association of cacao farmers in the coastal region of Ecuador. "My main projects have been with farmers practicing organic farming techniques," she writes. This in- cludes raising worms and making their own organic insecti- cides and liquid fertilizers. In addition, they started a micro- enterprise, a co-op that cuts out the middle man and provides fair pricing for their products. I am looking forward to returning to the States, but will miss my new family, the sights, the sounds, and the smell of chocolate roasting in the mornings. I plan to return to grad school this fall to study sustainable international development." Kyle Miller '09 and his bride, Orianna Duinker, were married in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with several other members of the WPI community present on the happy day. They lived in Oxford, England, for two years before their Aug. 19, 2011, wedding, and have moved to Toronto. Kyle says, "I'm now working for the aerospace firm Solar Ship (solarship.com). We are developing a new type of aircraft that derives part of its lift from a buoyant gas, and the remainder from its aerodynamic shape. Our prototype is on the runway regularly." Anthony Petrocchi '09 writes, "In November I began work- ing at the Rhode Island School of Design as an assistant con- struction project manager within the institution's Facilities De- partment. I am enjoying the position greatly, and it gives me the opportunity to live in my home state, where I get to be with my girlfriend and see friends and family (and WPI for occa- sional visits). I'll receive my master's in civil engineering/con- struction management from WPI in May. In the near future I plan on just keeping a steady career and enjoying life!" 29 84 Spring 2012 Army First Lt. Mitchell Riley '09 began a one-year deploy- ment to Hemand Province, Afghanistan, in August 2011. "Looking forward to getting home and attending lots of class- mates' weddings," he writes. "Yike, we're getting to that age!"

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