SPRING 2019

ROSE-HULMAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

 IN THIS ISSUE
Contents

12
EXPLORING DEEP SPACE

COLUMNS/FEEDBACK

2 Message from the President

14
3 Elephant Ears: Readers’
Feedback & #RosePlates JOY RIDES

32 The Bailey Challenge 4

BLAST FROM PAST

COVER STORY: TO THE

MOON AND BEYOND
18
BIG DIG
4 Space Pioneers
6 Mission Critical
7 Launching Pad
11 Mars Generation

CAMPUS
CONNECTIONS
12 Photo Album:
Astronomical Wonders
25 Creative Spaces
28 Happening Place
31 Answering the Call
Back Cover
Parting Shot: Aquaponics

‘To the Moon and Beyond’

T-shirt Available for Purchase
Celebrate Rose-Hulman’s many contributions to America’s space program by proudly
wearing a special commemorative “To the Moon and Beyond” T-shirt that features
the colorful image from the cover of this issue. Each T-shirt costs $10. Order online at
rose-hulman.edu/MoonShirt. Orders must be received by June 13, and will be shipped by
FRONT BACK June 28 — so you will have it in time for the 50th anniversary of the moon landing this July.
 IN THIS ISSUE

Contents
25
TINKERING AROUND

31
MAKING A SPLASH

21 SPECIAL
FEATURES
SHARK TANK 40
TIME CAPSULES Behind the Wheel 14

Indy’s Big Dig 18

Entrepreneurial Spirit 21

Guest Opinion: 24
Productivity Principles

Alumni News 33

Class Notes 34

37
Weddings

38
Rosebuds

In Memoriam 39

Memory Lane: 40
Note Takers

PUBLICATION CREDITS
Vice President for Communications and Marketing: Mary Wade Atteberry Contributing Photographers: Astrobotic, Brad Bailey, John Bivens, Blue Origin Media Relations,
Vice President for Institutional Advancement: Steven P. Brady Gib Bosworth, Guy Chriqui, Richard Ditteon, David Dvorak, Samuel Howell, Jason Jones/Jones Foto Inc., Echoes Goes Gold
Chrissy Meyer/Root Ventures, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center, University
Alumni Association President: Kelly (Sullivan) Noel, Class of 2002 of Notre Dame, David Wojahn and Heather Weist Echoes earned a Gold first-place
Office of Alumni Relations: Charlie Ricker, Assistant Director; award in the Council for the
Class Notes/Alumni News Contact:
Katie Hoffmann, Assistant Director; Holly Kowalski, Administrative Assistant
Send alumni news and address updates to alumniaffairs@rose-hulman.edu Advancement and Support of
Executive Editor: Dale Long
Echoes is published by: Education’s Best of CASE V district
Contact E-mail: Dale.Long@rose-hulman.edu Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, 5500 Wabash Ave., Terre Haute, IN 47803 publication contest for institutions in
Creative Director: Traci Nelson-Albertson
Digital copies of this and past issues are available Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota,
Staff Writers: Arthur Foulkes and Dale Long
at www.rose-hulman.edu/echoes Ohio and Wisconsin with 2,999 or
Staff Photographer: Bryan Cantwell
fewer full-time students. This is the
Staff Videographer: David Essex It is the policy of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to admit students on the basis
of their academic ability. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology does not discriminate second straight year that the magazine
Contributing Writers: Herb Bailey and Steve Kaelble
based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, citizenship status, disability, has earned recognition in this contest.
Contributing Designer: Chris Denison veteran status or sexual orientation.
Cover Design: Jason Nye

ECHOES | SPRING 2019

 @ROSEHULMANPREZ
From the President

One of our shared values in the Rose-Hulman Many of our faculty make it a point to call on every
community is to be lifelong learners. In the various student during a 50-minute class, including Dr. Rick
administrative roles I’ve served here in my nearly 30 Ditteon who, after 35 years of teaching, is as animated
years, I can surely attest to this being an environment as ever in his Physics II lecture. Several of our faculty
of continuous learning. use humor and props to illustrate concepts. I watched
in amusement as Dr. Phil Cornwell incorporated
Since my appointment to president by the Board of
singing and dancing into his Mechanical Systems
Trustees last year, I’ve probably learned more than I
course. If you’ve ever watched Olympic athletes
have at any other time here. Much of that has recently
perform, you know you’ve seen the best in the field.
come in the classroom, sitting alongside our brilliant
That’s how I feel after observing our faculty at work.
students and learning from our highly engaged faculty.
This experience also has affirmed my faith in our
After all, it’s in the classroom where we deliver on
students. They come to class well prepared and often
our educational mission to provide our students
challenge their professors as much as their professors
with the best
challenge them. In Soully Abas’ Design and Color
undergraduate
course, it was impressive to see a group of engineering
STEM education
majors attack this non-technical subject with as much
with individual
vigor and enthusiasm as they do their STEM subjects.
attention and support.
Considering their workloads, extracurricular activities
I really wanted to
and the difficulty of their courses, the performance
see for myself how
of our students is nothing short of remarkable. It is
it all happens.
clear to me that we are still recruiting the best and
So far, I’ve observed the brightest at Rose-Hulman.
more than a dozen
We also continue to see the impact lifelong learning
classes in subjects
has on Rose alumni. In this issue of Echoes, we focus
covering everything
on the tangible contributions Rose alumni, faculty and
from thermodynamics
students have had, and continue to have, on humanity’s
to the ins and outs of
exploration of outer space—from putting an astronaut
intellectual property
on the moon to today’s efforts to reach to Mars and
BY ROB COONS, law. As a quasi-
PRESIDENT beyond. With this summer’s 50th anniversary of the
student, I’ve learned
coons@rose-hulman.edu moon landing, it’s natural to reflect on where we’ve
about lift-to-drag ratios, Gauss’
been and where we are going.
Law, and the impact of the
percentage of iron in the composition of steel and I’m very proud to be a part of this remarkable
cast iron, to name only a few topics. institution and its continuing tradition of excellence
and success. Thank you for being part of our story and
But, most importantly, I was able to see with my own
please join me in celebrating those aspects of our past,
eyes the interactions between our excellent faculty
present and future featured in this issue of Echoes.
and students. It was impressive to see some of our
more “seasoned” faculty, after decades of instruction,
continue to be vibrant in their lectures, committed to
their students and passionate about the subject material.

2

A GOOD BEACH READ —First Electronic-only Issue Coming this Summer
As you pack up your books and digital readers for that long-anticipated summer vacation, be sure to download the new, all-digital summer edition of Echoes and take
it with you! For the first time, we are experimenting with a slimmed-down, digital-only format that will contain special stories, features and videos to entertain you this
summer. The issue, accessible through www.rose-hulman.edu/echoes, will be ready for your reading pleasure in July, and we’ll send you a vacation postcard
from Terre Haute, Indiana, to let you know when it’s online. For readers who prefer magazines you can roll up and tuck under your arm, do not fear; we will continue
to print and mail the Fall and Spring issues of Echoes to your door. (But we hope you’ll at least peek at the digital issue.) After you’ve had a chance to peruse the
summer issue, let us know what you think of it; we welcome feedback as we continually review how best to serve Rose-Hulman and our alumni. Send your comments
to Executive Editor Dale Long at dale.long@rose-hulman.edu.
Tantalizing Tangrams
Inspiring Others
I enjoy reading Echoes. My husband, Matt Walter, is an RHIT graduate (CHE,
2001). I was organizing a Girl Scout robotics camporee this spring, helping
the girls to earn the robotics badge. The Tangrams shapes and images within
the fall 2018 issue piqued my interest. If possible, could you share the puzzle
images as a PDF file? I would like to incorporate these into our badge work.
– Jennifer Walter
(Editor’s Note: See the tangrams in Echoes’ online version
at www.issuu.com/rosehulman Spring 2019 issue).
Campus Hijinks
Still Bring Chuckles
Every class has stupid little stories that others may find amusing.
Here are a few that I recall.
I and two other students decided during one summer in the mid-1980s
to hold a campus protest. I was bored and convinced Resident Assistant
Mark Bower (EE, 1987) and another member of the Class of 1987 to make some
signs and protest around the student union. The board of trustees was meeting inside
to discuss the admission of girls to the college. Some men scowled, while others laughed
and engaged us in conversations. The three of us linked arms when approached by
Gary Flora, the campus’ head of security. He and others knew it was all in good fun.
Also, I know that the bottom of Speed Lake is covered with unusual items from student
hijinks. A bowling ball is down there somewhere. One winter day, a classmate was
throwing his bowling ball as high as possible to crash on the ice-covered lake. We
watched in amusement from the dining hall. Eventually, the ball broke through the
ice and was gone forever. The entire dining hall erupted in laughter.
These memories still bring a chuckle or two for me and, hopefully, for others.
– Gregory J. Sharp (CHE, 1985)
The R on Your Car
We’ve seen some clever examples of how our alumni and friends
personalize their Rose-Hulman license plates. Got a special
message on your plate? We’d love to see it! Share on social
media using #RosePlates or email to longd@rose-hulman.edu.
We might feature it on Rose-Hulman’s social channels, website
or in an upcoming issue of Echoes.
We welcome getting feedback on stories in each issue.
Send Elephant Ears items to: dale.long@rose-hulman.edu or Dale Long, Executive Editor-Echoes,
CM 14, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, 5500 Wabash Ave., Terre Haute, IN 47803.
READER FEEDBACK
Elephant Ears
Billboard Kept Up With the Times
I was encouraged to hear that Rose was renovating the iconic Clabber Girl
Baking Powder billboard east of campus. This sign has many entanglements
with my childhood, Rose and career as a process engineer.
Growing up in Brazil, Ind., (not South America) I passed the sign many
times before coming to Rose in the fall of 1971. From the time I got
my first watch, I would check on the sign’s claim of “Five Minutes
to Terre Haute.” I guess that taking data to check the accuracy
of claims at the age of 6 years old is was my eaerly sign
of “nerdom.”
My first job from Rose is rooted in the earliest days of Hulman
and Company (owner of the Clabber Girl Corporation). In 1975,
the A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company of Decatur, Ill., was
expanding rapidly with the commercialization of the first
generation of high fructose corn syrup. They hired three 1975
Rose chemical engineering grads — Bill Hausmann, Greg
Hausmann (no relation) and myself. It turns out that Staley,
now Tated Lyle, was founded to produce corn startch by wet
milling of corn. The company became the sole supplier of corn
startch to Hulman & Company for Clabber Girl Baking Powder.
I’m looking forward to seeing the renovated sign later this year.
– Michael L. Patrick (CHE, 1975)
Blue-Ribbon Drive for Success
l have had an incessant drive to build things throughout my
life. My earliest recollection is building a concrete in-ground
swimming pool for my sister’s dolls. I spent half of my
corporate life building a large-scale power plant.
In retirement, my passion has turned to building a giant
party pavilion at my farm, creating numerous pieces of
furniture for my children and grandchildren, making ornate
mailboxes for my neighbors, and producing elegant jewelry
chests. A rocking horse that I created won a blue ribbon
(and $8 prize) in the woodcraft competition at the Kentucky
State Fair.
I guess some hobbies are addictive.
– Frederick Wright (ME, 1962)
ECHOES | SPRING 2019 3
 SOLUTIONS
Taking Note

Putting the Pieces of

Tangrams Together. . .
I n the fall issue, we asked our readers to take a tangram of seven
distinct shapes (below) and form a variety of puzzles that were located
throughout the publication, starting with Rose-Hulman’s popular ‘R’ logo.
Here are how the pieces fit together to form the distinctive shapes.
We hope you enjoyed this special feature.
– Dale Long, Executive Editor

3A
 SOLUTIONS

Taking Note
INSIDE COVER PAGE 6

PAGE 18 PAGE 22

PAGE 26 PAGE 29

ECHOES | SPRING 2019 3B

 LIFTOFF
Cover Story

to the moon-
and beyond
Alumni Embedded
STORY
BY DALE
LONG

in Space
Exploration

FROM authoring the memo

that set the timetable for America’s first trip to the moon
in 1969 and making the calculations that charted the
navigation for that historic landing, to helping develop
current rocket, telescope and communications systems,
Rose-Hulman alumni have played important behind-the-
scenes roles in advancing America’s space exploration.
So, as the United States prepares to celebrate the
50-year anniversary of mankind’s first moon walk,
Echoes examines those Rose connections from the
early days of the space program to present day,
as the country readies for new exploration of the
moon — and sets its sights far beyond.

4
 LIFTOFF

on

Cover Story
To
the M and Bac
o k-
by the End
of the Decade
A S A PIONEER OF AMERICAN
AIR AND SPACE EXPLORATION,
ABE SILVERSTEIN (BSME, 1929;
MSME, 1934; HD, 1959) WAS A
CREATIVE ENGINEER WHOSE
CONTRIBUTIONS PLAYED A LEADING
ROLE IN DEVELOPING THE NATIONAL
AERONAUTICS AND SPACE
ADMINISTRATION (NASA), SET THE Alumnus Abe Silverstein’s knowledge of propulsion systems made him a valuable
AGENCY’S COURSE FOR EXPLORING member of the original National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and,
THE MOON, AND CONTRIBUTED TO later, the first director of space flight programs for NASA. He led the Mercury,
THE DEVELOPMENT OF AVIATION Gemini and early Apollo missions that eventually put a man on the moon.
TECHNOLOGY FOR FUTURE
SPACE MISSIONS.
It was Silverstein who suggested to
NASA administrator James Webb
the Lewis Research Laboratory
in Cleveland, Ohio (now NASA’s
OF SPECIAL NOTE...
Glenn Research Center). Byron MacNabb (EE, 1932), an engineer
(HD, 1965) that “we could go to the at General Dynamics Corp., was involved in
moon” and could achieve that goal Neil Armstrong was one of several development of more than 200 rockets, spacecraft
“by the end of the decade.” young engineers, scientists, and and satellites. He oversaw development of America’s
aviators Silverstein mentored. The first intercontinental ballistic missile, the Atlas, which
Within days, in two famous became a booster rocket for manned and unmanned
administrator noted Armstrong’s
speeches in 1961, President John F. space flights in the 1960s. “Mr. Mac” directed
love of flying and encouraged him
Kennedy set the space program on programs that sent the first unmanned space vehicle
to become a test pilot in hopes of
a course to putting a man on the to the moon and initiated explorations of Mars and
joining NASA’s astronaut program.
moon before 1970. Venus. He directed launch operations for Mercury
Silverstein retired in 1969, shortly space flights.
Silverstein spearheaded the
after Armstrong’s historic moon Donald Fordyce (BSME, 1956; HD, 1990) and
development of the revolutionary
walk, and died in 2001 as America’s Richard Wegrich (ME, 1958) helped create
Centaur liquid hydrogen rocket
space program had moved on to components for the
and led NASA’s Mercury (1961-63)
focus on the Space Shuttle and Hubble Space
and Gemini (1965-66) programs,
International Space Station. Telescope. Launched
helping to select the original seven in 1990, it provided
astronauts for Mercury’s manned After Silverstein’s death, former scientists with their
missions. He was asked to manage NASA Administrator Daniel S. first unobstructed
the Apollo program, but decided Goldin said, “[Silverstein] was a view of the universe
to lead the work of engineers and man of vision and conviction… due to its location
scientists on projects for the launch His innovative, pioneering spirit outside of Earth’s
vehicle program as director of lives on in the work we do today.” atmosphere. Fordyce
was brought in to
manage the Hubble
program after having Fordyce
Abe Silverstein (bottom)
a successful career at
shows NASA officials one of
Fairchild’s space systems division, where he was vice
the several instruments at
president. Wegrich directed development of the
the Lewis Space Center near
temperature-control system for the stellar eye piece,
Cleveland, Ohio, which helped
making possible new discoveries, data collection and
develop the revolutionary
photography from the telescope.
Centaur liquid hydrogen rocket
for America’s space program.

ECHOES | SPRING 2019 5

 LIFTOFF
Cover Story
Calculated Risk
A Trajectory Of Success For This Rose Grad
F ROM THE GROUND NAVIGATION DESK AT NASA’S JOHNSON SPACE CENTER,
DICK OSBURN (MA, 1967) HAD A FRONT ROW SEAT FOR TWO OF
THE MOST IMPORTANT RADIO TRANSMISSIONS IN THE HISTORY OF
SPACE EXPLORATION:
“The Eagle
Has Landed”
- Announced Neil Armstrong on
July 20, 1969, as America landed
on the moon for the FIrst time
“Houston, We’VE
HaD a Problem
HERE”
- Alerted JACK SWIGERT on April 14,
1970, about an anomaly within
the Apollo 13 spacecraft
Osburn was among a smart
group of new college graduates
who joined NASA with only 2 1/2
years remaining to achieve
President Kennedy’s challenge
of landing a man on the moon
within the decade of the 1960s.
He describes the atmosphere in
America’s nascent space program
as “electrically charged.” There
was an abundance of talent and
optimism, but no road map to
follow. Everything from calculating
spacecraft trajectories and landing
procedures to communication
and fuel conservation—“We had
to figure it out as we went along,”
he says.
“The high (from achieving the
moon landing) lasts for a long
time. I’m still on the high today,”
he admits. “I get emotional when
I hear (Armstrong’s transmission)
and will probably for as long as
I live. Everybody knew we were
doing something special. I don’t
know if we knew how special
it was.”
6
His other memorable
moment, for far different
reasons, came less
than a year later when
Osburn was in the
middle of his shift
in Mission Control
when an oxygen tank
exploded inside the
Apollo 13 spacecraft.
He was the first
controller to report the
problem to the mission’s
flight director.
“We knew immediately
that we were in trouble,”
Osburn recalls.
His problem-solving skills were
put to good use as engineers
figured out a way to return the Dick Osburn describes the unique atmosphere inside
Apollo 13 crew to Earth safely— Mission Control in the early days of NASA’s missions to
scenes that were depicted vividly the moon: www.rose-hulman.edu/Osburn
in the Ron Howard-directed
“Apollo 13” movie.
“We encountered real-world
problem solving at its best and a
situation that was out of our hands,
millions of miles away,” Osburn
OF SPECIAL NOTE...
recalls. “We had to communicate James Dunlop (EE, 1952) developed the
things accurately, make sure nickel-hydrogen battery that powered satellites,
the Hubble Space Telescope and International
things were understood, and
Space Station. His prototype battery is on
that it was a right decision.” display at the Smithsonian Institution.
His 36-year career in space
Guy Etheridge (ME, 1985) had a
exploration started with NASA’s distinguished career with NASA before his
Apollo 7 mission, the first manned death in 2006. He was program manager for
Apollo flight, in the fall of 1968, Kennedy Space Center’s Research Integration
and continued with NASA’s Office, interacting with engineers and scientists
Skylab missions and early across the globe, and was widely recognized
Space Shuttle flights. as an expert in space life science.

on the
Horizon
alumni help spacex,
blue origin
blast off
S EVERAL ALUMNI ARE PLAYING
KEY ROLES AS SPACEX AND
BLUE ORIGIN BREAK NEW
GROUND IN SPACE EXPLORATION
AND MAKING SPACE
COLONIZATION POSSIBLE.
The latest development came this
spring with the launch of SpaceX’s
Falcon Heavy rocket carrying
the company’s first mission for
a paying customer. Reusable
hardware is part of Falcon Heavy’s
appeal, reducing the cost of
spaceflight. The rocket is the most
powerful vehicle flying today,
according to reports. Also, its $90
million price tag is a third of the
price of its closest competitor.
Steven Schmitz (ME, 2007) is
a senior manager for SpaceX’s
avionics mechanical engineering
operations. He formerly supervised
the design and analysis of avionics
mechanical systems for the Falcon
9 and Dragon space flight vehicles,
which led to the development of
the Falcon Heavy rocket.
Jeff Van Treuren (ME, 2010) is
test director for space exploration
Costenaro Malik
technologies, including rocket
development, at SpaceX’s
operations in Texas.
Ben Lauer (ME, 2008) is lead
build reliability engineer for
sub-assemblies in SpaceX’s Dragon
spacecraft, based in California.
Other alumni contributors include
Katie Piens (ME, 2007), a build
reliability engineer, and Tim Balz
(ME, 2017), a launch engineer,
both at SpaceX’s flight operations
center at Cape Canaveral in
Florida. In California are James
Jones (ME, 2010), a manufacturing
engineer for propulsion systems;
Samuel Throne (ME, 2015), a
structures engineer at SpaceX’s
operations; Spencer Jackson (ME,
2016), a structures engineer; and
Brian Greenblatt (ME, 2017), an
integration and test engineer.
Meanwhile, Michelle Costenaro
(CHE, 2001), Ian Malik (CHE/
ECON. 2014) and Heather Wiest
(ME/ECON, 2011) share Jeff Bezos’
dream of developing technology to
enable people to live and work in
space through his private company
Blue Origin. Key components of
the project are reusable rocket
engines and launch vehicles that
will dramatically lower the cost of
access to space.
LIFTOFF
Cover Story
Alumni involved in a variety of SpaceX projects include (from
left) Katie Piens, Steven Schmitz, Tim Balz and Jeff Van Treuren.
Costenaro is a manager with
Blue Origin’s test and launch
engineering team, leading efforts
to develop conceptual designs,
budgets and schedules for planned
upgrades to the launch pad for
the company’s New Shepard
reusable launch vehicle. She also
assists with the design of new
test facilities in launch sites in
Washington and west Texas.
Malik is a mechanical engineer in
the test facilities group, designing
and supporting a variety of
test stands and ground
support systems.
Wiest is a
mechanical
engineer in
Blue Origin’s
launch facilities
development
group, located in
Merritt Island, Fla., Wiest
and is helping with
the construction of a launch
pad at the Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station for the New Glenn,
a reusable heavy-lift two-stage
rocket that’s capable of carrying
people and payloads routinely to
the Earth’s orbit and beyond.
ECHOES | SPRING 2019 7
 LIFTOFF
Cover Story

learning
from the
moon & planets
T HE SCIENCE LEGACY OF THE APOLLO MISSIONS IS YET TO BE FULLY UNDERSTOOD.
RESEARCHERS WILL SOON BEGIN STUDYING PIECES OF THE MOON THAT HAVE BEEN
CAREFULLY STORED AND UNTOUCHED FOR NEARLY A HALF CENTURY— ONE OF SEVERAL
PROJECTS THAT ARE PROVIDING A FRAMEWORK FOR FUTURE FLIGHT MISSIONS.

All of this work is being done Gene Cernan in December of 1972.

by the NASA’s Solar System
Exploration Research Virtual
Institute (SSERVI) and its deputy
director Brad E. Bailey (PH, 1998),
based at the Ames Research Center
in California.
Teams will examine one of the
three remaining lunar samples
from Apollo missions 15, 16 and 17
which have never been exposed to
Earth’s atmosphere. Of particular
interest are samples that were
vacuum-sealed on the moon
after being collected by Apollo 17
astronauts Harrison Schmitt and
Today’s scientists can’t wait to get
their hands on nearly 1.8 pounds
of rocks and core samples from
below the moon’s surface.
“It’s remarkable that we’re still
learning lessons from the Apollo
space program 50 years later,
and what we’re about to learn
should help set the course for our
future aspirations in space,”
says Bailey.
These new scientific studies
will prepare for the next era of
exploration of the moon and
beyond, according to Bailey.
NASA’s SSERVI is a virtual,
distributed organization of 13
teams with nearly 500 researchers
across 100 institutions who are
focused on merging scientific
and space exploration endeavors.
Bailey has recently taken a new
job at NASA headquarters, where
he will enable scientific payloads
and instrumentation to get to the
moon’s surface. These projects
will help pave the way for
humans to return to the moon.
Howell
Above, sample
of moon rock.
OF SPECIAL NOTE...
Samuel (Sam) M. Howell (EP, 2010) is
focusing on the premise of life underneath Europa’s
100-kilometer thick water ice shell. He has recently
been added to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
team as an ocean world research scientist.
Howell says, “This is the best candidate for life
beyond Earth in the solar system. The thick
ice shell shows many of the same processes
as plate tectonics on Earth.”
That’s why he is co-leading NASA’s
Honeybee robotics collaboration to
develop technology to drill through
Europa’s ice shell and reach its ocean.
He uses computer simulations of the
ice and published information to
develop system requirements and
science observation strategies.

Brad Bailey has spent his entire career

studying astrobiology and other scientific
endeavors at NASA’s Ames Research
8
Center in California.

A look at
mars jupiter
S CIENTISTS ARE LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE CONDITIONS
ON THE PLANETS MARS AND JUPITER THROUGH RESEARCH
PROJECTS ASSISTED BY ALUMNI.
Thomas A. Werne (BSMA/EE,
2007; MSEE, 2007) is a NASA
technical group supervisor at the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory and
was the flight software lead for
the space agency’s recent Mars
Cube One (MarCO) project.
Two briefcase-sized satellite
spacecraft known as “CubeSats”
accompanied the space agency’s
InSight lander, which touched
down on Mars late in 2018. This
was the first time CubeSats were
used in deep space exploration.
Thomas noted during the mission,
“A big part of MarCo is to prove
something like this can be done.”
He has expertise in the develop-
ment of small spacecraft systems
and software systems that assist
in the study of space-based data.
Elsewhere, in JPL’s Systems
Engineering and Formulation
Division, Daniel
(Dan) L. Dvorak
(EE, 1972)
Learn more about
Rose-Hulman’s involvement in
space exploration: past, present and future
at www.rose-hulman.edu/Beyond
LIFTOFF
Cover Story
&
has been improving systems
engineering and software
architecture for semi-autonomous
spacecraft. He helped develop
early flight software technology
for the Mars Science Laboratory,
now known as the Curiosity rover,
that operated on Mars earlier this
year. Dvorak says, “Higher levels
of autonomy are increasingly
important for deep space missions
because round-trip light-time
delays can be hours long for
the outermost planets in our
solar system.”
After starting at NASA/JPL
in 1996, Dvorak worked on
technology that has made
spacecraft, like the Deep Space 1
project, more autonomous and
able to complete activities with
less intervention from operators
on Earth. He also led a NASA
study on flight software complexity
which led to the creation of the
NASA Software Architecture
Review Board, which has provided
constructive feedback to improve
software reliability, verifiability Daniel Dvorak of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
and portability. Dvorak led the helped develop early flight software technology for the
review board for several years. Curiosity rover that traveled on the surface of Mars.
A Rose-Hulman graduate also
had a hand in NASA’s Juno space
probe, which provided scientists about Jupiter’s composition
a close-up view of Jupiter in and its origin, and by extension
2016. Software engineer Karl the origins of the solar system,
particularly Earth. Ammerman
R. Ammerman (1996, CPE)
developed and implemented worked at Lockheed Martin in the
the interface flight software space exploration systems division
that was critical to that mission. and now is a software development
The mission uncovered more engineer at LGS Innovations.
ECHOES | SPRING 2019 9
 LIFTOFF
Cover Story
Making
space hauling
profitable
T ODAY’S SPACE RACE HAS NINE COMPANIES DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGIES
AND STRATEGIES TO RETURN AMERICA TO THE EARTH’S MOON, INCLUDING
THE DELIVERY OF CARGO THAT COULD TURN IT INTO A RESUPPLY AND
REFUELING STATION FOR SPACECRAFT TO GO MUCH DEEPER INTO SPACE.
Hoping to win the race is Astrobotic
Technology, a Pittsburgh robotics
company that was awarded a
$10 million contract last fall from
NASA to create a vision-based
precision landing system for
their lunar lander, Peregrine. The
lander is being designed to deliver
cargo shipments for companies,
governments, universities, non-
profits and individuals—showcasing
that such transport could become
a profitable venture.
Ander Solorzano (EE, 2013),
a lead systems engineer for
Astrobotic, spent nearly three years
Ander Solorzano has assisted in the
development of Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander
scheduled for a mission to the moon in 2021.
10
working to develop the Peregrine
lander through the Lunar CATALYST
program at NASA’s Marshall Space
Flight Center (Maryland) and John
Glenn Research Center (Cleveland).
He has supervised the implementation
of the vehicle’s electrical power
storage, power generation, power
management, guidance navigation
systems, and avionics control systems.
Peregrine provides a delivery
service to the moon, carrying
nearly 200 pounds with rovers,
science experiment modules and a
variety of commercial technology
demonstration payloads bolted to the
top and undersides of one
of its four payload decks.
Once on the surface,
Peregrine functions as a
local utility station that
will provide power and
communication to deploy,
support, and facilitate the
operation of its payloads
on the surface of the moon.
“We have a core lander with
adaptable payload decks,
depending on the customer’s
needs,” Solorzano says.
Peregrine’s maiden voyage
is planned for early 2021
and Astrobotic
already has 12
signed commercial deals
for that first mission.
IN OTHER WORK...
Guy Chriqui (ME, 2011) is a senior research engineer
at Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Center, where
his work focuses on opto-mechanical systems design and
development. He leads the development of a photonic
integrated circuit-based imaging system that could
significantly shrink the telescope (by factors of 10 to 100
times) through interferometric
imaging approaches.
Before joining Lockheed Martin,
Guy’s career path included
assignments at Boeing, NASA
and Moon Express, leading
teams that developed Lunar
Micro Rovers in an effort to
make a commercial off-the-shelf Chriqui
rover a reality.
Ronald K. Neumeyer (ME, 1986) has seen the
ups and downs of the space industry during more than
30 years as a research engineer with Aerojet Rocketdyne,
which provides propulsion systems and energetics to
domestic and international customers in the space, missile
defense and strategic systems, and tactical systems areas.
The California-based company has had a successful hot-fire
test of engines that were remnants from the Space Shuttle
program in hopes of using them in NASA’s Space Launch
System for the first crewed mission back to space.
Neumeyer honed his engineering skills by analyzing test
data of engines developed for the shuttle program, and
helped perfect liquid rocket engine programs used on
Delta IV rockets to launch satellites. He is currently working
on the RS-25 engine, with new controller electronics and
manufacturing techniques, for NASA’s future Space
Launch System program.
Kris Verdeyen (EE, 2000) is a principal electrical
engineer at Texas’ Houston Mechatronics, which is developing
an Aquanaut remotely operated/autonomous underwater
vehicle to assist with oil and natural gas exploration without
the expense or hassle of a tether. Just prior, as a robotics
engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, he managed the
development of NASA’s Valkyrie full-scale humanoid robot
to explore the potential of bipedal walking on Mars and
other planets.
Verdeyen

the mars
generation
student marisa dimperio
has eyes on the skies
M ECHANICAL ENGINEERING
STUDENT MARISA DIMPERIO
HOPES SHE’S IN THE RIGHT PLACE
AT THE RIGHT TIME, AS THE SPACE
PROGRAM REFOCUSES EFFORTS
TOWARD RETURNING HUMANS
TO THE MOON AND AN EVENTUAL
MISSION TO MARS.
The junior isn’t bashful about her
love of astronomy and rockets,
as her social media hashtag
@TheCosmosNerd would attest.
Her profile proclaims: “One day
I’m going to be an astronaut,
just give me a few years to get
the degrees I need first.” And,
Dimperio has been known to
draw pink rockets in the bottom
righthand corner of
her resume in hopes of
attracting interest from
potential aerospace
companies for future
internships or co-ops.
She was among a group
of potential Mars
explorers featured in the
Netflix documentary
“The Mars Generation,”
after spending a portion
of three summers in
simulated space
missions at the U.S.
Space Camp. A photo
on Dimperio’s
Instagram page shows
her holding a
Dimperio handwritten sign
proclaiming:
“We Cannot Be ‘The
Mars Generation’
Without Going to Mars.”
She says, “I love everything
Rover Challenge
about rockets, and becoming Team Members
an astronaut would be my dream
job. It’s so fascinating that we’re
once again looking to test our
creative minds and engineering
abilities in something that’s
really big. The moon is before
our very eyes every night.
There’s nothing stopping us,
except ourselves. Then, Mars
would be the next step. We
have to keep dreaming big.”
LIFTOFF
Cover Story
ALSO CREATING...
Physics and optical engineering
students helped NASA develop an innovative,
early-stage solution to a high-priority need
within America’s space program through
a two-year $500,000 grant. Undergraduate-
and graduate-level students worked with professors
to design and test semiconductor lasers which
could enable high speed free-space optical
communication systems.
A group of Rose students (below) is
inspired by NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge
to create a vehicle that could be capable of traversing
the surface of another world. This is the first year that
the Robotics Club has participated in the authentic
engineering experience, which builds off the former
Great Moonbuggy Race. In preparation for entering
the 2020 competition, the student team has been
building and testing technologies that enable rovers
to perform in a wide variety of environments.
Students Discover, Name Asteroids
Telescopes inside the institute’s Oakley Observatory
on campus and Oakley Southern Sky Observatory
in Australia are allowing students to discover new
asteroids and other astronomical wonders, and to
co-author articles for the Association of Lunar and
Planetary Observers’ Minor Planet Bulletin. Their
work is under the mentorship of observatory director
Richard Ditteon (PH, 1974). Astronomy Club members
host events, like an annual May the Fourth be With
You (May 4th) open house, to allow the campus
and community to view a variety of astronomy
events and learn more about the sky above.
ECHOES | SPRING 2019 11
 IN FOCUS
Photo Album

Telescopes at Rose-Hulman’s campus Oakley Observatory and Oakley Southern Sky Observatory in
Australia are providing students with different perspectives — from both hemispheres — of the Milky
Way galaxy, a variety of nebula, a blue-white star spiral galaxy and other astronomical wonders.
Many of these objects have been captured by physics professor Richard Ditteon (PH, 1974), director of
the institute’s Oakley Observatories, through the lens of a digital camera. The observatories also are
allowing students to discover and name new asteroids in honor of alumni such as Gene Glass (EE, 1949)
and Niles Noblitt (BIOE, 1973), along with president-emeritus Samuel Hulbert — all longtime supporters
of the astronomy program. “We have several more yet to name,” says Ditteon.

Students get within-this-universe experiences in the campus’

Oakley Observatory, under the guidance of observatory
director/physics professor Richard P. Ditteon (PH, 1974).

12
 IN FOCUS

Photo Album
Above, the sun, appearing purple, has a large, perfectly round spot that actually is the
planet Venus. At right, is M83, a spiral galaxy similar to our own Milky Way galaxy.

Students use a variety of

telescopes in the campus’
Oakley Observatory to
study the skies.

ECHOES | SPRING 2019 13

 VINTAGE RIDES

Cars
Alumni Feature

CLASSIC
STORY
BY DALE
LONG

Alumni
Preserving
the Past through
Love of Vintage Autos
Electric and autonomous vehicles may be the
current rage of the automotive world, but nothing
beats the good-old horsepower, sleek styles and blazing
accessories of a vintage Porsche, Corvette or Buick Roadmaster.
At least that’s the case for alumni Gib Bosworth, John Malmquist and
David Wojahn, who each has amassed quite a collection of exotic automobiles
of different shapes, sizes and colors that have attracted the attention of car David Wojahn has kept this 1950 Buick
collectors and enthusiasts throughout the world. Roadmaster in pristine, unrestored condition.
The vehicle has been featured in the
Buick Club of America’s magazine.

14

Every classic car has its own
distinctive story—just like the
retired engineers who prize them.
Gib Bosworth is a mechanical
engineering graduate who sold
large turbine engines to help
utilities power homes throughout
the U.S., before he settled into
living in a mountainous region
east of Phoenix, Ariz. From inside
a large garage he goes about the
tedious task of restoring and
rebuilding replicas of the Porsches
that dominated the racing world
in the 1960s and 1970s.
John Malmquist is a civil
engineering alumnus who had
success as an engineer and
financial representative, and has
classic Corvettes scattered in shops
near his homes in Wisconsin and
Oklahoma. Versions are in pristine
benchmark condition, while others
have been modified to race on
road courses throughout the U.S.,
including the famed Indianapolis
Motor Speedway.
And, David Wojahn is a retired
chemical engineering major who
helped Texaco, Chevron and
smaller companies find oil on
land and offshore throughout
the country and Gulf of Mexico.
His home south of Denver was
designed with a garage large
enough to keep his collection of
Buick and Pontiac speedsters from
1949 through 1971, along with a
family car or two.
1972 911 ST Toad Hall Racing Tribute
VINTAGE RIDES
Alumni Feature
1972 911 ST Kremer Racing Tribute
Passionate About
Porsches
Bosworth became fascinated
with the Porsche’s
handling, speed and style
after taking his first ride
in the vehicle in 1988,
and soon thereafter
buying his first 911 SC
(Super Carrera) model for
leisure driving while working in
Alaska.
“I began reading everything I
could about this little car company
that was dominating the racing
scene, all the way back into the
1960s,” says the 1966 graduate.
“There was just something about
that car that caught my attention.
I was impressed with how tight
they were in driving and the feel
while being behind the (steering)
wheel. There’s nothing quite like
it... Some people work on cars
as an investment and some as a
hobby, but I’m passionate about
whatever car I’m working on
at the moment.”
And, that “moment” could last Bosworth
several years as Bosworth goes
about copying every minute detail
of popular Porsche 911 versions “ The joy is modifying the cars,
that are coveted by vintage car
collectors throughout the world. chasing down the parts and
This work has him traveling learning as much as possible
throughout the country to find
just the right engines, carburetors,
about each one of them. Each
headlights, fender flares and other car is special in its own way.”
chrome details, along with the — GIB BOSWORTH, ME, 1966
distinctive racing-trim decals
and color patterns that make
each car so unique.
From 2002 to 2006, Bosworth
poured his energy into replicating
a silver Martini & Rossi RSR
model, and followed that with a
distinctive viper green 1972 911 ST
model. His most ambitious project
was recreating the light yellow
911 sport model that originally
had been specially produced by
(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) 1972 911 ST Porsche Martini & Rossi Tribute
ECHOES | SPRING 2019 15
 VINTAGE RIDES
Alumni Feature
(CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE)

Porsche designers for Toad Hall Motor Racing

to compete in the 1972 racing season, including
the 24 Hours of Le Mans (the only 911 to finish).
Starting with the bare shell of the 911 ST model,
Bosworth went about putting everything together,
enlisting the help of restoration experts, painters
and decal makers to produce just the right look
and performance qualities. No detail was missed,
right down to through-the-grille lights, signature
steering wheel, period-looking seat belts and dual
outlet sport muffler. The finished model drew
considerable attention from die-hard collectors
and Porsche fans.
“The joy is modifying the cars, chasing down the
parts and learning as much as possible about each
one of them. Each car is special in its own way,”
he says. “There’s few people willing to take the time John Malmquist sits in one of the
several vehicles in his collection,
and financial resources to do this. You get attached
including a 1969 Corvette that
to each project because they’re a labor of love. You
has raced throughout the country.
spend so much time on each of them that they’re
so hard to release (sell) at the end of each project.”
Other cars in his collection include a 1972 Corvette
Getting Up To (High) Speed Coupe, with distinctive white- and red-colored interior
fixtures, that has only been driven for 66,000 miles;
Attention to detail also is important to Malmquist,
a modified 2000 Corvette that John’s son, Adam,
who classifies his collection of Corvettes, street-worthy
has used to compete in events within the annual
hot rods and AMX classic sports cars as works of art.
Pirelli World Challenge; and a 1969 Corvette, with
“People buy artworks to enjoy and admire them, an engine capable of producing 550 horsepower,
not for their (financial) value. That’s precisely the that has competed on the road course at the famed
case for me,” he says. “I like to keep and restore these Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Road America
cars. We’re just caretakers so that future generations (Wisconsin) racing venues.
can enjoy seeing them
“The 1969 car is our little plaything,” admits
in their purest form.”
Malmquist, a 1969 alumnus. “There’s
Several of Malmquist’s nothing better than putting the pedal to
“ People buy artworks restored Corvettes have the floor and getting up to 155 mph down
to enjoy and admire earned elite benchmark- the front straightaway at Road America.”
grade quality standards
them, not for their for having the original
Later, he achieved a lifetime goal by circling
the oval speedway used for the Indianapolis
value... I like to keep engine, chassis and paint
500-Mile Race, completing nine laps at speeds 1971 Pontiac GTO
coating, and no changes
and restore these cars. to original interior
nearing 160 mph. 455 HO

We’re just caretakers amenities. And, not
so that future surprisingly, the vehicles
attract considerable
generations can attention whenever
enjoy seeing them Malmquist appears at
Sportscar Vintage Racing
in their purest form.” Association events
throughout the country.
— John Malmquist, CE, 1969
“There’s not many non-professional drivers who
can say they’ve run on the oval and road course at
Indianapolis (Motor Speedway). I checked one of my
bucket list items there,” remarks Malmquist with a
chuckle. “Really, there’s no better feeling than being out
on the open road, clutching the steering wheel, hearing
the engine rev up and having the wind sail through
your hair. I enjoy the mechanics about these really
cool cars. Being an engineer, who wouldn’t?”

16
 VINTAGE RIDES

Alumni Feature
Like Members of the Family
Wojahn’s interest in cars dates back to when he and highways—or “giving them some exercise” as he
was 3 years old and first laid eyes on a 1950 Buick refers it—on days when rain isn’t in the forecast.
Roadmaster in the family driveway. By the age of 5,
“You have to drive them. I take them out for a drive
he could identify the manufacturer and model of
once every month or two, for about 20 to 25 miles
every car he observed on the road during travels.
at a time, at high speed and in stop-and-go traffic. I
So, it shouldn’t be surprising to find that Wojahn will bend over backward to keep my cars in original
now is the owner of eight vintage cars covering unrestored condition,” he says. “I have these cars for
his youth, teenage years and beyond—from a 1949 me. I don’t even have to drive them. I could just sit in
Buick Super Convertible to a 1962 Buick Electra a chair in my garage and admire all of them. They’re
to a 1971 Pontiac GTO to a 1998 Firebird that special to me.”
WS6 Trans Am with just 3,700 miles.
Throughout the years, his stable of
cars also has included a
“ Every one of my cars has a specific reason
1957 Chevrolet that I purchased it. They have become like
Bel Air, 1958 members of the family.”
Corvette and
a 1962 Chevy — David Wojahn, CHE, 1975
Impala.
“I’m a car
enthusiast, not a
collector,” admits the 1975
graduate. “I don’t have plans to sell
1964 Chevrolet
Impala Super Sport
the eight I currently have. They’re all my
favorites. Each has a special story and history for me.”
Like a version of his family’s 1950 Buick Roadmaster
that was found in a showroom of a Milwaukee car
dealership after a 17-year search. Wojahn first noticed 1949 Super Convertible
a 1964 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport model being
washed in a driveway while visiting his mother’s
home in Niles, Mich., during the summer of 1988.
He engaged in a friendly conversation with the car’s
owner with each return trip, learning more about
its history. Twenty years later, Wojahn was given
an opportunity to purchase the car.
“Every one of my cars has a specific reason that I
purchased it. They have become like members of
the family,” he states.
In fact, he has organized birthday parties for members
of his collection, used cars in family weddings and
other special occasions, and just happened to own the
same 1964 Buick Electra twice. He admits, “I knew
I shouldn’t have sold it in the first place. So, when it
came up for sale again, I just had to get it back, where
I could give it the attention it deserves.”
Wojahn keeps the vehicles in immaculate condition,
with low mileage and occasional drives on local roads David Wojahn and his wife, Patricia, are the original owners
of the red 1998 Trans Am WS6, which is the youngest car in
the family fleet and has been driven for only 3,700 miles.

ECHOES | SPRING 2019 17

 DOWN UNDER
INDY’S BIG DIG
INDY’S BIG DIG
Alumni Feature
DEEP UNDERGROUND TUNNELS
ADDRESSING A CITY’S WASTEWATER,
SEWAGE OVERFLOW ISSUES
Indianapolis residents have spent the past
seven years working, living and playing
in Indiana’s capital city while being
mostly oblivious to a massive public
works project that’s forging a 28-mile-
long network of deep rock tunnels 250
feet beneath their feet.
The $2 billion DigIndy Tunnel System
is being built to virtually eliminate
combined sewer overflows (CSO) into
area waterways by 2025—complying
with a federal consent decree and state
regulations to improve the quality of
area waterways, while providing future
economic development benefits.
More than 800 communities across the
U.S. are facing similar issues regarding
18
STORY BY
DALE LONG
PHOTOS BY
BRYAN
CANTWELL
the need to transform antiquated
combined storm water and wastewater
sewer systems to mitigate the overflow of
untreated waste into streams, rivers and
reservoirs. It takes as little as a quarter
inch of rain to overwhelm Indianapolis’
outmoded system, which can occur an
average of 60 to 70 times annually.
Citizens Energy Group is addressing
these problem by constructing a series
of tunnels ranging from 1.7 miles to
7.9 miles in length below the city. The
public charitable trust acquired the city’s
water and wastewater assets in 2011.
The system goes like this: Diversion
structures are built into existing CSO
locations to intercept the flow and

prevent discharge into waterways.
Flow is routed through new surface
collection sewer systems to centralized
drop shafts that transport wastewater
vertically into the deep tunnel system in
the bedrock underneath Indianapolis’
metropolitan area. The tunnels will
collect more than 270 million gallons
of raw sewage during a wet weather
event and transport it to an advanced
wastewater treatment facility south of
the city for eventual treatment when
capacity at the plant becomes available. The entire project is scheduled to
This prevents overflows of the system.
Value engineering strategies and cutting-edge
deep rock boring techniques have reduced
project costs and allowed for an additional
tunnel to be added to the network.
DOWN UNDER
The DigIndy project features a series
of deep rock 18-foot diameter tunnels
that will virtually eliminate combined
sewer overflows in Indianapolis. DEEP INSIDE ‘DIGINDY’
Here are the basics about the largest civil engineering
In preparation for the DigIndy work, project in Indiana history:
further enhancements were made that
SCOPE: The deep rock tunnel storage system features
more than doubled the capacity of
a network of six segments covering 28 miles; the 18-foot
two advanced wastewater treatment
diameter concrete-lined tunnels are 250 feet below
plants in the city.
ground. The sewage treatment plant is being expanded
Several Rose-Hulman alumni are to handle 550 million gallons of waste per day.
involved in the project— one of the
largest civil engineering endeavors in TIMELINE: Planning began in 2006, with construction
starting in 2012. The first 10 miles of the tunnel system
Indiana history. Mayor Joe Hogsett has
opened in late 2017. Completion is set for 2025.
classified DigIndy as a “transformational
project for Indianapolis.” COST: Capital budget, $2.4 billion; additional
One of those alumni, Citizens Energy improvements to two advanced wastewater treatment
Group President & Chief Executive plants will increase Citizens Energy Group’s project
Officer Jeffrey Harrison (EE, 1989), says commitment to $4 billion.
DigIndy has already prevented almost GOALS: Reducing combined sewer overflows into
one billion gallons of sewage from area waterways by up to 97%, meeting a federal
overflowing into five local tributaries mandate to clean up Indianapolis’ antiquated sewer
since the first 10-mile tunnel segment system; addressing 134 past Combined Sewage
opened in December of 2017. Overflow discharge points; reduce CSO frequency to
“DigIndy is now functioning just as it two to four per year (from 60 to 70 previously).
was designed,” Harrison states. WORLD DRILLING RECORDS: The Tunnel
Using deep tunnel technology has Boring Machine has set records for most feet mined
reduced disturbances to neighborhoods in one day, 409.89; most feet mined in one week,
along the project route, adds alumna 1,690.04; and most feet mined in one month, 5,755.15.
Jessica (Huggins) Bastin, manager of
OTHER TECH INNOVATIONS: For the first
water and wastewater design in Citizens’
time, the boring machine has been able to back up and
capital programs and engineering
maneuver to begin digging other segments of the tunnel,
division. Value engineering strategies instead of being taken apart and transported to the
and cutting-edge deep rock boring start of the new section. This revolutionary construction
techniques have helped reduce costs development has produced substantial project cost and
and maximize savings. In fact, value production time savings, along with increased storage
engineering efforts have allowed for capacity for the system. (See image below)
the construction of a two-mile-long
sixth tunnel in lieu of a network of
surface interceptors, minimizing
disruption to neighborhoods while
providing additional system storage
capacity at a lower capital cost.
The halfway point of the mining portion
of the project was completed last fall.
conclude in 2025.
“We have worked hard to find
innovative ways to keep the project
ahead of schedule and under budget,
Citizens Energy Group image of tunnel boring tool
(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)
ECHOES | SPRING 2019 19
 DOWN UNDER
ALUMNI HELPING KEEP
PROJECT ON TRACK
The following alumni have an
active role in several aspects
of the DigIndy project:
Jeffrey A. Harrison (EE, 1989),
Citizens Energy Group’s president
and CEO (top administrator for
the public charitable trust that
acquired Indianapolis’ water
and wastewater assets in 2011)
Jessica S. (Huggins) Bastin (CE,
2001), manager of planning and
design, engineering division,
Citizens Energy Group (supervising
overall project design and
implementation since 2015)
Maceo R. Lewis (CE, 2001),
Project Manager, Black & Veatch
(design team member since 2009)
Chelsie S. Donnelly (CE, 2016),
Project Design Engineer, F.A.
Wilhelm Construction Inc.
(design team member since 2016)
Donnelly Bastin
View these videos in our digital edition:
www.rose-hulman.edu/DigIndy
In Her Own Words: Jessica Bastin
discusses why the DigIndy project
was needed to improve quality
of life in Indianapolis
In His Own Words: Maceo Lewis
talks about anticipating and
reacting to problems in the
massive DigIndy project
In Her Own Words: Chelsie
Donnelly reacts to seeing the
tunnel system for the first time
since concentrating on surface
aspects of the project
20
(CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE)
while maximizing benefits for the environment,”
says Bastin (CE, 2001). “This project impacts
nearly every person in the city, whether they live
or work here.”
The project has required Citizens and
contractors, including Black & Veatch and F.A.
Wilhelm Construction, Inc., to work closely
with city government officials, transportation
and parks entities, and local citizens and
neighborhood groups. Residents are starting to
see construction of the surface sewers and drop
shaft sites as Citizens works to correlate work
with other improvement projects throughout
the city, including bridge replacements,
Lewis
neighborhood redevelopment projects and
rapid transit system projects.
Maceo Lewis (CE, 2001) is a project manager
for Black & Veatch’s portion of DigIndy
design, including aspects of the near-surface
collection sewers, deep drop shafts, and deep
tunnel systems. Meanwhile, Chelsie Donnelly
(CE, 2016) is a senior project engineer with
F.A. Wilhelm Construction, which is building
portions of the extensive near-surface collection
sewers that transport flows from the existing
combined sewer systems to the drop shaft sites,
including the infrastructure in the vicinity of
Lucas Oil Stadium.
“The initial challenge was coming up with the
plan. We’re consolidating about 140 overflow
The DigIndy project fea-
tures diversion structures,
a new surface collection
sewer system, centralized
drop shafts and the
deep tunnel system that
transports wastewater
to be treated.
Citizens Energy Group image
points throughout the city into a more
manageable system,” says Lewis, a member
of the project’s design team since 2009. “It is
fascinating to see all of the technologies coming
together. It may seem easy to just separate storm
and wastewater sewer systems, but that’s a very
disruptive and costly solution. It’s phenomenal
to have something 250 feet deep that the
community doesn’t even know is happening.”
Donnelly started working on the project as a
Citizens intern, where she supported efforts
to secure funding for DigIndy through the
Indiana Finance Authority State Revolving Fund
loan program. After graduation, she joined
Wilhelm Construction and has concentrated on
development of the near-surface infrastructure.
Recently, Donnelly had the opportunity to visit
the deep tunnel portion of the construction
project for the first time. A crane lowered her and
other guests in a large cage approximately 250
feet underground to visit the deep tunnel system.
“Seeing the deep rock tunnel in all its glory
was an incredible experience,” she says. “This
is an extremely valuable project because we
want to keep our waterways clean and usable
for recreation.”
Bastin adds, “I went into civil engineering to
make a difference. The most rewarding part of
this project is seeing the impact we’re making
for the environment.”
 NEW VENTURES

Alumni Feature
A LONG AND WINDING ROAD

STORY BY
STEVE
KAELBLE

TURNING CREATIVE IDEAS

INTO COMMERCIAL SUCCESS

a lot of great ideas have been known to hatch

from scribbles on a napkin. For that inspiration to
develop into a successful venture, however, every
budding entrepreneur rapidly discovers a long
and challenging road to be navigated.
(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

Chrissy Meyer is a partner with Root Ventures, a California-based venture capital firm that
makes seed-stage investments in industrial automation, robotics, and hardware ventures.

ECHOES | SPRING 2019 21

 NEW VENTURES
Do’s &
DON’TS
OF SEEKING
$ FOR YOUR
IDEAS
CHRISSY MEYER OFFERS THE
FOLLOWING ADVICE FOR PEOPLE
SEEKING TO GAIN SUPPORT FROM
VENTURE CAPITAL FIRMS FOR THEIR
ENTREPRENEURIAL IDEAS:
DO:
• Research the firm and partner
before you pitch your idea.
• Know the backgrounds of the
people and the companies
they have invested in.
• Start your pitch by explaining
the problem and the size of
the market. Then describe
your solution and team.
• Deeply understand who wants
and needs your product. Talk
to these people early and often.
DON’T:
• Send a cold email. Get a warm
introduction from a shared contact
in your network whenever possible.
• Assume venture capital is the
only way to get funding. VC firms
look for fast growth and billion
dollar markets.
• Ask them to sign a non-disclosure
agreement. VC firms don’t
sign NDAs.
22
(CONTINUED
FROM PREVIOUS PAGE)
Alumna Chrissy Meyer
thrives on helping others make
the journey and arrive at their
hoped-for destination. As a partner
with California-based venture capital
firm Root Ventures, founded by
engineers, she knows that a great “I really fell in
love with early-stage
concept is just the beginning; the fuel
stuff,” says Meyer. “Now that
that moves the idea down the path to
I am a venture capitalist, I get to
reality is capital. Root makes seed-stage
investments in industrial automation, do that over and over again. It’s a fun
robotics, and hardware ventures. “We and rewarding job.”
focus on companies solving really hard, So, how do great ideas become reality?
deeply technical problems,” Meyer says.
People bring forth great ideas every
“We get excited about bringing cutting-
day, seeking investment dollars.
edge technologies into more traditional
industries, such as agriculture,
Unfortunately, Meyer says, the reality
manufacturing and construction.”
is that “we have to say ‘no’ more than
99 percent of the time.”
Meyer, who has a bachelor’s in
electrical engineering from
The first thing to remember is that
a venture investment is a vote of
Rose-Hulman (2005) and a master’s in
confidence in the potential for
the field from Stanford, has more than
commercial success. “The thing a lot
a decade of experience in prominent
of people don’t realize about venture
places within the tech world. She
was an early member of Apple’s
capital is that we’re not investing in your
Watch team, and as an engineering
product or your technology” Meyer says.
“We’re investing strictly in a business.”
program manager had a hand in the
shipment of tens of millions of iPods. To put it another way, a product
Later, she helped roll out new point- can be jaw-droppingly cool from a
of-sale hardware for Square, which technological standpoint but still not
powers retail transactions. She also be a good bet for an infusion of capital.
was director of hardware for Pearl “You have to convince me that it’s going
Automation. to be a massive success for it to be a good

fit for venture capital,” she says. “If it
doesn’t make for a scalable, sustainable
business model, we’re not going to
invest in it.”
Those pushing a new product need
to be able to answer how the product
will make lives easier or unlock a
new technology ecosystem, and they
need to give thought to all kinds of
long-term business questions, such
as the pricing strategy. A prototype
is helpful and, though many hopeful
entrepreneurs show up without one,
today’s prototyping tools make it
more feasible than it used to be.
“When I started working in this
industry, if you had an idea for a
product it was incredibly hard and
expensive to make just one working
prototype. It’s faster now to do one
prototype or even 10,” she says.
But scaling from crafting one or
10 prototypes into manufacturing a
thousand or 10,000 products remains
complicated, and a big undertaking
that must be addressed. “People
underestimate the amount of time,
effort and money it takes to scale.”
Invest ed in Succes s
The good news is, candidates who have
a solid product and a good overall
sense for how to deal with the business
challenges will find that VC firms
like Root Ventures are an amazing
THE BIG QUESTION:
WHY SHOULD I SUPPORT YOUR IDEA?
Root Ventures partner Chrissy Meyer admits that a product can be
jaw-droppingly cool from a technological standpoint, but still won’t be
a good bet for an infusion of financial resources. “You have to convince
me that it’s going to be a massive success,” says the 2005 electrical
engineering graduate. “If it doesn’t make for a scalable, sustainable
business model, we’re not going to invest in it.”
NEW VENTURES
resource for success. “If we think there’s
promise, we’re willing to roll up our
sleeves and help them think through
the business strategy,” Meyer says.
That can be a game-changer.
Think about the typical startup that
has made it from the cocktail napkin
into the garage. “You have a handful of
people and every team member is doing
everything,” Meyer says. In comes the
venture capital firm, bearing not just
dollars but also expertise in creating
business strategy, debugging failures,
meeting legal requirements, reviewing
manufacturing contracts, developing
a supply chain, and all kinds of other
things that may or may not be part of
an engineer’s innate skillset. “When we
invest in a company, we work for them.
Every time we make an investment,
we’re in it for the long haul.”
The “long haul,” though, is not
necessarily forever. If all goes well, the
business will grow, and Root Ventures
may make additional, “follow-on”
investments. But if things continue
to go well and the company keeps on
growing, it will ultimately graduate to
the next level, growing beyond the seed
investment stage that is the focus of
Root Ventures. “There will be a point
in which a company has demonstrated
traction, and is ready for additional
rounds of venture funding,” Meyer says
—a happy ending and a new beginning,
a long way from the cocktail napkin.
A WOMAN IN
A VENTURE
CAPITAL WORLD
When Chrissy Meyer joined Root
Ventures, the company hailed
her consumer and manufacturing
expertise and knack for bringing
ideas to mass-market scale. One
other accomplishment of note
was landing a job as a woman
in venture capital, which remains
a mostly male world.
“Only about 9 percent of
venture capitalists are women,”
Meyer says. That, she adds,
is part of a bigger problem in
the technology world: “Only
15 percent of venture funding
goes to teams that have a
female co-founder.”
As with any issue, the first step
in the solution is acknowledging
the problem. “It starts by people
being cognizant of it,” she
says. And that consciousness is
growing. Meyer is committed to
being part of the solution, and
not just as an example herself.
Among other things, she
participates in awareness-
building events. For example,
last fall she served as a
panelist in a session focused
on “Women in Tech:
Optimizing the Workforce.”
She also networks with other
women who have succeeded
in the tech world. “We meet
on a regular basis with cohorts
and we just get together and
talk about it,” she says. The
hope is to figure out how they
can collectively keep building
opportunities for women to bring
their ideas and expertise to the
table. “How do we help them
to get their foot in the door?”
ECHOES | SPRING 2019 23
 CAREER TIPS
Opinion
Core Principles Can Put You on
the Path to Productivity Success
In his career as a consultant serving manufacturing
and high-tech clients, alumnus Jeff Kavanaugh (EE,
1987) has found that there are essential professional
skills, starting with learnability, which all STEM
professionals must have to be successful.
Kavanaugh, vice president and executive editor for
Infosys Knowledge Institute, the research and thought
leadership arm of Infosys, is author of the book
“Consulting Essentials: The Art and Science of People,
Facts, and Frameworks.” It includes foundational
competencies and enduring skills that were valuable
years ago and will continue to be valuable well
into the future. These areas include critical and
creative thinking, oral communication, written
communication, productivity and leadership.
SEE “CONSULTING ESSENTIALS”
(LIONCREST, 2018) FOR A FULL LIST OF OTHER
CORE PROFESSIONAL SKILLS.
24
He believes the following productivity principles to be
most valuable:
GENERATE INSIGHT: Always be thinking how you can
help your clients or colleagues learn something new.
HAVE FUN: Find aspects of your work that you enjoy,
and that you would do even if you weren’t getting paid.
LIVE WITH INTEGRITY: Feel good about what you’ve
accomplished at work each day.
BUILD YOUR SUCCESS ON THE SUCCESS OF OTHERS:
Focus first on making customers successful, then our
colleagues and finally ourselves.
DELIVER CANDID, HONEST FEEDBACK: Don’t be disagreeable,
but it’s important to be honest. This shows respect.
KEEP COMMITMENTS AND DELIVER A FINISHED PRODUCT:
In consulting, we say “client-ready” and my personal
favorite “done-done.” Completed, checked, proofed and
ready to submit. Your manager should not be the final
editor. This distinguishes a true professional from a
good worker.
SHARE INFORMATION: Effectiveness depends on sharing
what you know with colleagues, while you hope they do
the same.
BRING SOLUTIONS: Be that rare person who brings an issue
and also provides a few prioritized recommendations. It
will be noticed.
BECOME KNOWN FOR SOMETHING: Develop a personal
brand and find an area to excel. You have skills—
whatever is your “superpower,” find a way to stand out.
REMEMBER THAT EVERYTHING COUNTS: Look forward
to the consequences of your actions.
PRACTICE GRATITUDE: It’s not easy to be grateful, but it’s
worth it. If you have food, freedom and opportunity,
you have plenty of reason to be grateful.
BE DIFFICULT TO REPLACE: The amount you are paid
depends on your ability to do what you do, the difficulty
of your role and how difficult it is to replace you. If you
want to change what you earn, change those things.
KEEP A JOURNAL: Journaling draws out inspiration
and provides a fresh perspective. When you wake,
ask yourself what you want to accomplish in that
day. In the evening, ask yourself what you would
have liked to have done differently.
 BUILDING BLOCKS

NEW

Campus Feature
STORY BY
DALE LONG

INNOVATION
PHOTOS BY
BRYAN
CANTWELL

SPACES
FORM HUB OF
ACTIVITY, LEARNING
INSIDE THE NEWEST ENGINEERING DESIGN
AND LABORATORY BUILDING ON CAMPUS,
FABRICATION EQUIPMENT, 3D PRINTERS,
WIND TUNNELS AND DIMENSIONAL
ANALYSIS TOOLS ARE WITHIN EASY REACH
OF STUDENTS IN COMPETITION TEAMS,
CAPSTONE DESIGN PROJECTS AND
TWO NEW MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
CLASSROOMS.
THE 13,800-SQUARE-FOOT RICHARD J. AND
SHIRLEY J. KREMER INNOVATION CENTER
THAT OPENED AT THE START OF THE 2018-
19 WINTER ACADEMIC QUARTER WAS
DEDICATED APRIL 3. LOCATED ON THE EAST
SIDE OF CAMPUS ADJACENT TO THE BRANAM
INNOVATION CENTER AND NAMED TO
HONOR THE COUPLE’S PHILANTHROPY TO
ROSE-HULMAN, THE FACILITY HAS EXPANDED
AND ENHANCED OPPORTUNITIES FOR
INNOVATION AND EXPERIMENTATION.
(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

ECHOES | SPRING 2019 25

 BUILDING BLOCKS
KREMER CHERISHED
A ‘CARING’ CAMPUS
Richard Kremer holds fond memories of the
welcoming campus environment he experienced
after transferring to Rose-Hulman from nearby
Indiana State University and has never forgotten
the understanding displayed by his professors as
he juggled his chemical engineering studies with
the full-time employment he needed to provide
for his family and pay for his education.
“Rose-Hulman is a great place with caring faculty
and staff who help students succeed,” says Kremer
(CHE, 1958). “I am very proud of my association
with Rose-Hulman. It is a special place that opens
doors for its graduates in industry. That was
certainly true for me and I’m forever grateful.”
Kremer became the founding owner of FutureX
Industries Inc., a manufacturing company in
Bloomingdale, Ind., that specializes in custom
plastic extrusion. FutureX Industries has grown
over the course of the past 42 years to become
a leading supplier of plastic sheet materials
to transportation, printing, and manufacturing
industries. Meanwhile, he and his supportive
wife, Shirley, also established a family.
The Kremers’ philanthropy has enhanced
educational opportunities, especially evident
in the KIC. “Shirley and I wanted to make a gift
to Rose-Hulman that would make the greatest
impact in helping students,” says Richard.
Several months after opening, the KIC has become
a popular space on campus. Rose-Hulman President
Robert A. Coons says, “The Kremer Innovation
Center is giving our students the skills, experiences
and mindset to play a key role in developing future
advances benefiting all areas of our lives. Richard
and his career success are excellent examples of
the core values of this institution at work; values
that continue to consistently provide a rock-solid
foundation for the current and future success of
Rose-Hulman and our students.”
26
Members of the Design-Build-Fly (top) and Robotics Club
(opposite, right) competition teams work on adding technical
elements into their projects. Several student teams are utilizing
the expanded areas inside the Kremer Innovation Center.
(CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE)
“The KIC” offers equipment that
students are using to create device
prototypes for a variety of projects.
A CNC router in the Fabrication Lab
(dubbed “Fab Lab”) cuts large sections
of foam and wood to create cross
sections of vehicles for racing teams.
A water jet machine, wood cutting
equipment and new tabletop CNC
router shape metal, thick plastic,
wood and glass into useful parts
of all shapes and sizes.
Four 3D printers coming soon will
allow students to take their designs
from the drawing board (or computer
screen) to fabrication and then
prototype stage—the early stage in the
production cycle of any engineering
project, notes Bill Kline, associate
dean of innovation and professor
of engineering management.
There’s also a new Thermofluids
Laboratory (“Wet Lab”) with a water
channel and other equipment that’s
allowing mechanical engineering

professors to build dimensional
analysis experiences into their fluids
classes, which are being taught in the
adjacent classrooms.
“This is a very high-quality fluids
laboratory,” says associate professor
of mechanical engineering Michael
Moorhead, who consulted on
designing the KIC’s features. “What
we’re able to do here would have been
very challenging previously. Now, if
(professors) think a hands-on example
would help reinforce a teaching
concept in fluid mechanics, they can
go next door and put the concept into
practice.”
Other classes utilizing the educational
spaces are covering such topics as
theoretical aerodynamics, introduction
to design, propulsion systems, fatigue
analysis and combustion.
BUILDING BLOCKS
Rose-Hulman Provost Anne Houtman
says, “The co-location of classrooms
NEW ACADEMIC
and project space is supporting faculty BUILDING FOOTPRINT
in incorporating hands-on activities BEGINS
in their instruction. Also, the KIC
Preliminary construction preparations
is helping us separate larger, messier
began this spring to create a
projects from smaller, ‘cleaner’ ones.”
$29 million academic building
In the middle of the building is a featuring collaboration areas, design
Maker Laboratory, where students studios, flexible classrooms, chemistry
are tinkering and developing creative laboratories and faculty innovation
ideas. In addition, open workspaces spaces. The 60,000-square-foot,
three-story building on the east side
and a conference room are in use
of campus, between Moench and
throughout the day and night by a
Myers halls, is scheduled to open
variety of competition teams finding for the 2021-22 school year.
opportunities to collaborate across
disciplines. A design studio for the new A $15 million lead gift from an
major in engineering design is being anonymous donor is supporting
the project. Opportunities are
added for the 2019-20 school year.
available for donor naming of
“Everything we do is to better serve the building as well as classrooms
our students,” says Kline. “We put in and workspaces. For information,
an open area and really didn’t know if contact Steve Brady, vice president
students would use it. In fact, students for institutional advancement,
just gravitated toward it and it’s at brady1@rose-hulman.edu or
812-877-8784.
become one of most popular areas of
the building.”
ROTZ LAB EQUIPMENT
MOVED TO INNOVATION
SPACES
Wind tunnels, engine testing
rooms and robotics equipment
have a new home inside the
Branam Innovation Center and
Kremer Innovation Center. The
building that housed that equipment
was demolished this spring to
make room for the new academic
building and associated
landscaping. Specifically, a
concourse with green spaces
will take its place, surrounded
by Moench Hall (to the west),
Myers Hall (to the north and east)
and the new academic building
(to the south).
Students can be found throughout each day exchanging ideas
on a variety of projects in the new Kremer Innovation Center.
ECHOES | SPRING 2019 27
 IN BRIEF
Campus News

Glass Outdoor Linda and Mike Mussallem (BSCHE, 1974; HDENG, 1999)
have found another way to impact the lives of students
and campus. The couple recently donated $1.5 million to

Pavilion Expands construct a new three-season pavilion for outdoor dining

and gatherings. It will be located a stone’s throw from

Green Spaces
the the newly renovated and expanded Mussallem Union
(“The Muzz”), where the couple cut the ribbon late last
May 2018 at the dedication of the $25 million project,
for which they provided the $9 million lead gift.
The pavilion will feature sliding glass doors around the
perimeter and sustainable green space with plants covering
a portion of the roof—complementing the nearby student
center and White Chapel. The building will provide seating
for 40-50 people, includes an outdoor grill, and will hold
audio-visual equipment for multimedia presentations
including student movie nights and other gatherings.
In a joint statement, the couple remarked, “We are so
pleased to partner with Rose-Hulman to expand the
student union to the outdoor pavilion, which we hope
will give students an additional space to enjoy, de-stress
and create community. The Muzz and surrounding areas
serve as the vibrant campus center and it is exciting to see
how much the students are enjoying it. We look forward
to this vision for the pavilion becoming a reality.”
Construction of the outdoor structure began this spring
and is expected to be completed in time for dedication
during Homecoming weekend, Oct. 4-5.

Moody to Address
Graduating Class
Alumnus and trustee Darin Moody, a senior vice president with Eli
Lilly and Company, will present the Commencement Address to the
Class of 2019 on May 25.
Moody (CHE, 1987) has been senior vice president since 2016 with
responsibilities for Lilly’s active pharmaceutical ingredient and dry
manufacturing operations. His 31-year career with the Indianapolis-
based company has included leadership roles in corporate engineering,
global health, safety and environment, and maintenance engineering.
Moody also has been a corporate Six Sigma champion as he’s overseen
manufacturing operations for bulk insulin, biosynthetic human
insulin, fermented animal health antibiotics, and biochemical
products. These responsibilities have taken him through the world,
including Lilly production facililities in Speke and Liverpool, England.
As a Rose-Hulman trustee since 2008, Moody has been interested
in initiatives to expand diversity among the institute’s student body,
administration, faculty and staff. He has been a member of several
trustees’ committees. He received the Alumni Association’s Career
Achievement Award in 2007.
Moody

28
 IN BRIEF

Campus News
Hymel Returns as First Maker-In-Residence
Technical content creator Shawn Hymel (CPE, 2006) returned to
campus as the first Maker-In-Residence for a new Maker Week
(March 11-15). He presented a series of workshops that allowed
students to learn new tools and materials to develop creative projects.
Topics covered included an introduction to using Arduino
microcontrollers for building robotics and digital devices; using
Arduino and Python software programming for Internet of Things
projects; applying the tiny and affordable Raspberry Pi computer to
create interactive objects; and using soldering techniques to connect
electronic circuits.
Hymel, former creative engineer with SparkFun Electronics, also
showed students how they can use makerspaces in the new Kremer
Innovation Center and nearby Branam Innovation Center to enhance
their classroom experiences and explore their own STEM interests.
HYMEL

Professors, Administrators & Bear Named New VP for

Staff End Legendary Careers
Award-winning faculty and administrators will end
their legendary Rose-Hulman careers during the
2018-19 school year. These retirees include:
Mike Moloney, the institute’s longest-serving
professor after 51 years of teaching physics and
optical engineering. He earned the Dean’s Outstanding
Teacher Award in 1996.
Jim Goecker, vice president for enrollment
management, has been involved in recruiting more
than 14,650 students—an estimated two-thirds of the
institute’s living alumni—during 32 years in college
admissions. He received the Dorothy Cheesman
Distinguished Service Award this year from the
Indiana Association for College Admission Counseling.
Ed Mottel, who taught inorganic chemistry for more
than 44 years as part of the chemistry and biochemistry
faculty. He has been a longtime faculty adviser with the
campus’ Triangle fraternity chapter.
Phil Cornwell, in his 30th year teaching mechanical
entineering. He received the Dean’s Outstanding
Teacher (2000) and Trustees Outstanding Scholar (2001)
awards, and was featured in the Princeton Review’s
“Best 300 Professors” book.
Dale Bremmer, in his 31st year teaching economics. He
earned the Dean’s Outstanding Teacher Award in 2002.
Jan Jerrell, in her 31st year as a member of the Logan
Library services and business/finance staffs.
Terry Schumacher, after 19 years as associate
professor of engineering management.
Enrollment Management
The institute didn’t have to look very far to find the
ideal candidate to replace retiring Vice President
for Enrollment Management Jim Goecker. Thomas
Bear, senior director for enrollment management at
the University of Notre Dame, will be joining the
leadership team July 15.
Bear brings a wealth of experience
in student recruitment, financial aid
and enrollment management in both
private and public higher education to
the vice presidency at Rose-Hulman.
At Notre Dame, Bear has been
overseeing enrollment strategy
and operations, which includes
management of the offices of financial
aid, student accounts, shared services,
and early outreach and engagement.
Prior to his move to Notre Dame Bear
in 2012, he was vice president of
enrollment services at the University of Evansville
for seven years, and assistant vice president and
dean of admission at Evansville for four years. His
career also included a variety of roles in the Ivy
Tech Community College system, Adrian College
(Mich.) and the Walden School (Ky.).
“Dr. Bear’s extensive experience, strong analytical
skills, passion for his work, and collaborative, open
leadership style were readily apparent during his
campus visit and earned him high marks from
faculty and staff,” says Rose-Hulman President
Robert A. Coons. “These accolades confirmed for
me that we have found the right person to lead our
enrollment management operation forward.”

ECHOES | SPRING 2019 29

 IN BRIEF
Campus News
Students’ Optical Headlight Design Wins Global Contest
A novel freeform optical engineering concept that could refocus the automotive
LED headlight industry earned four students grand prize honors in the 2018
Global Capstone Design Fair that was part of South Korea’s E2Festa engineering
education festival.
The students’ prototype utilizes a complex concept in light-emitting diode (LED)-
based headlights, through light manipulation and shaping. The technology requires
fewer working parts than current headlight models and utilizes molded plastic
instead of the current practice of metal reflector cones. This would make headlights
potentially easier to manufacture, more compact, and cheaper to produce.
Using non-sequential ray tracing, students designed a 3D freeform lightguide to
direct the light source into a road’s legal pattern, without the use of reflectors or
bevels. The headlamp is designed to meet automotive regulations for low-beam
patterns. Developing the idea were seniors Audrey (Audie) Brand and Simon
Tsaoussis, and sophomores Husam Altoonisi and Zhaowei (Zac) Chen. Visiting
optical engineering professor Hossein Alisafaee was the team’s faculty mentor.

Academic All-America Honors a Slam Dunk

Seniors Ally Bromenschenkel and Ryuji Aoki
supplemented their record-setting basketball careers
with top academic performances that earned them
Google Cloud Academic All-America team honors
— marking the first time in Rose history that a men’s
and women’s basketball player have been recognized
in the same season by the College Sports Information
Bromenschenkel Directors of America.
Bromenschenkel was a second-team choice, becoming
Aoki
the second Academic All-American in women’s
basketball history. The mechanical engineering
major ranks among the school career leaders in nine
categories, including games started (109) and points
(1,409), and helped the Engineers win three Heartland
Collegiate Athletic Conference championships and
secure the program’s first two NCAA postseason
tournament appearances.
Meanwhile, Aoki was a third-team Academic All-
American after being the career school record holder
for free throw accuracy (93.2%) and ranking sixth in
school history in 3-point field goal accuracy (40.3%).
He is a senior biomedical engineering major.
Two fall student-athletes earned Academic All-America
honors in 2018: football’s Garrett Wright, first team,
and volleyball’s Bailey MacInnis, third team.
Rose-Hulman has had 137 Academic All-Americans,
including at least one honoree for 34 consecutive years.
That streak ranks sixth among all NCAA institutions
and first in NCAA Division III.

Keep track of latest Rose-Hulman news

at www.rose-hulman.edu/news.
VPs, Academic Heads Appointed
President Robert A. Coons completed his administrative cabinet with the promotions of Matthew D. Davis to
vice president for finance and Megan C. Elliott to vice president for human and environmental services. Coons
had responsibility for those areas in his prior position as senior vice president and chief administrative officer.
Davis is leading groups responsible for finance, administrative services, risk management and facilities operations.
Elliott is overseeing human resources along with public safety, environmental health/safety, custodial services,
the Center for Diversity and Inclusion and Office of Professional and Organizational Development.
Meanwhile, the Office of Academic Affairs has appointed Richard Onyancha as head of the Department of
Mechanical Engineering, effective July 1, replacing Lori Olson, who led the department for five years.
Reappointed department heads are Craig Downing, engineering management; Galen Duree,
physics and optical engineering; and JP Mellor, computer science and software engineering.

30
 HELPING HANDS

Campus News
Kala’s Floating Seat STORY BY
ARTHUR
FOULKES
PHOTOS BY
STUDENTS CREATE ASSISTIVE SWIM DEVICE FOR TODDLER BRYAN
CANTWELL

Seat” went through several stages,

A big smile lights up Kala Steiner’s face as her father
dips the 3-year-old slowly into the swimming pool.
Within an instant, she’s kicking her legs and splashing
her hands. Swimming—until this spring—had
seemed like an unattainable goal for Kala, who has
cerebral palsy and autism, and spends most of her
time in a wheelchair.
But Kala’s father, Ryan Steiner, is not easily deterred.
He wanted Kala to learn to swim, so he turned to
students in Rose-Hulman’s new engineering design
major for help. Part of the program’s allure to
prospective students is that they can work on
projects for real-world clients, such as Ryan and Kala,
beginning as early as their first year.
Ryan’s call for help was a perfect challenge for first-year
students Yiqing Li, Isabella Popoff and Carla Archuleta,
along with sophomore Youhua Lu. The team— a mix of
engineering design and biomedical engineering majors
—was ideal for the task. The students met with Ryan
and Kala, examined a swimming device Ryan had
designed himself but didn’t work as well as he’d hoped,
and got busy designing and building something
completely new that would provide Kala with
the in-pool assistance she needed.
“They asked lots of questions and they were
very thorough,” Ryan says of his meetings
with the students. “They were great.”
Design and construction of what
the students call “Kala’s Floating
including a couple of test runs with
Kala in the campus’ swimming pool.
After about six weeks of design and
modifications, the final version was
ready for delivery in early April. The
students presented it to Ryan and
Kala in Myers Hall.
“We’re all really proud of the work
we put into this,” says Archuleta, a
biomedical engineering major.
The “Floating Seat” is a bit of an
understatement, as it actually allows
Kala to do much more than just float.
She can lie forward on her stomach
in a swimming position and kick her legs, which can
help strengthen them for walking and improve her
neurodevelopment, according to Ryan. The device also
is designed to expand
as Kala grows and gains
weight. And, just for
fun, Kala’s Floating
Seat includes four
flashing lights with
interchangeable color
combinations on
each of its corners.
“We call (the lights)
‘friend makers,’” Ryan
says. “They always
attract other kids in Four engineering design and biomedical engineering students
the pool, and she worked together to create the flotation device to help
loves that.” 3-year-old Kala Steiner learn how to swim this summer.
Ryan hopes Kala can
use her device in the Special Olympics, which has a
swimming event with assistive devices. And, eventually,
he hopes his daughter will learn to swim without it.
For the team that put it together, Kala’s Floating Seat
is a perfect example of why they wanted to become
engineers.
“To think we had this opportunity in our freshman
year is really amazing,” says Popoff, a biomedical
engineering major. “I’m actually getting to help
someone in my community. It’s an amazing feeling.”

ECHOES | SPRING 2019 31

 BY PROFESSOR EMERITUS
HERB BAILEY
CHALLENGES
STIMULATE
LONG-TIME
SOLVER
I must have pushed too hard with the fall challenge, resulting in fewer solvers. So, I hope you find this spring’s problems to be easier, Rich Priem (ME, 1979) is proud
but still challenging to solve. to be classified as a “faithful
Challenge solver,” an honor
arising from his stretch of
SPRI N G PRO BLEM 1 SPRI N G PRO BLEM 2 successful solutions that extends
In the given cryptogram, the letters at right ONE Let A = x2 – 6x – 6 and through at least 26 Echoes
represent distinct digits and there are no +ONE B = x2 + 4x – 60. issues, including this fall’s
carries. Find all possible addition problems Find all possible values of x such that AB =1. problems. (See solvers list below)
that could be represented by this cryptogram. TWO “I was taught that reliability is
an important character trait, and
once committed to something,
I feel compelled to maintain
SPRI N G BO N US PRO BLEM consistency,” says Priem, who
Malfatti circles are three circles inside a given triangle, such that each circle is tangent lives in Katy, Texas. After working
to the other two and to two sides of the triangle. An example is shown in the figure in the energy sector for British
at right. Find the radii of these circles if the length of each triangle side is 10 inches. Petroleum, Amoco and Exxon
Estimate these radii if the triangle has sides 10, 10 and 5. (The lengths are not Mobil, he is now owner of
to scale in the figure.) Priemere GeoTechnology.
As a student, Priem was a
captain of Rose-Hulman’s
math team, coordinated by
SO LUTI O N TO FALL BO N US A math professor Gary Sherman.
Without a series, let ‘x’ be the length of the base of the bottom square and
The 1977 team won first place
‘y’ be the lengths of the bottom triangles. Then we have x + 2y = B and
in the Indiana Collegiate
x/y = H/(B/2), since the triangle with sides x, y is similar to the triangle
Mathematics Competition and
with sides H and B/2. Solving gives x = BH/(B+H) and y = B2H/2(B + H).
H had the highest score among
The bottom parallelogram has area x2 + xy and the bottom square has
y1 x1 y1 Indiana college teams in the
area x2. Thus, the fraction that is in the square is x2/( x2 + xy)=2H/(2H
national Putnam competition.
+ B). This is the same fraction of each successive pair that is included in
the square. Hence, the total area of the squares is the area of the large The Bailey Challenge problems
triangle, BH/2, times this fraction, which simplifies to BH2/(2H + B). remind him of those days he
joined math team member
y x y
Jay Slupesky, an electrical
engineering major, in late-night/
B early-morning study sessions
SO LUTI O N TO FALL BO N US B preparing for exams in Al
With a series, let x1, y1 in the second parallelogram correspond to x, y in the first. Then x1+2y1=x. Schmidt’s theoretical math class.
Using calculations similar to those in Bonus A, we find that r=(x1/x)2 = H2/(B+H)2, where ‘r’ is the area “There was one complex item
ratio of the bottom square to the square above. This ratio is the same for each successive pairs of squares. that we gave up on, rationalizing
The total area of the squares is given by the series x2 + x12 + x22 + . . . The sum of this geometric series is that it was too difficult to put
x2/(1– r). Substituting the above expressions for ‘x’ and ‘r’ and simplifying gives BH2/(2H + B) for the total on the test, and sure enough it
area of the squares. was on the test,” recalls Priem.
“I enjoy the Bailey Challenge
for the mental stimulation, and
affirmation that my skills have not
Send your solutions to Herb.Bailey@rose-hulman.edu or to: significantly diminished over the
Herb Bailey, 8571 Robin Run Way, Avon, IN 46123. Alumni should include their class year. years. Similar to how many folks
Congratulations to the following solvers of the summer problems: get that instant gratification from a
ALUMNI: T. Jones, 1949; C. Hirschfield, 1954; J. Moser, 1957; D. Bailey, 1959; J. Kirk, 1960; L. Hartley, 1961; J. Tindall, 1961; R. Lovell, 1963; A. Cleek, 1964; R. Dutton, 1969; ‘Like’ on Facebook, I get a better
A. Englehart, 1969; B. Myers, 1969; J. Walter, 1969; E. Arnold, 1971; W. Pelz, 1971; D. Dvorak, 1972; D. Hagar, 1972; J. Sanders, 1972; R. Kominiarek, 1973; M. Marinko, 1973; buzz when I submit my solution,
J. Zumar, 1973; D. Wheaton, 1974; P. Eck, 1975; M. Bailey, 1976; B. Hunt, 1976; J. Schroeder, 1976; P. Van de Motter, 1977; T. Greer, 1978; R. Priem, 1979; P. Gunn, 1981;
and again when Herb responds.”
S. Nolan, 1981; M. Taylor, 1982; B. Downs, 1983; T. Endress, 1984; J. Marum, 1983; S. Blonigen, 1986; B. Wright, 1986; M. Lancaster, 1987; C. Abdnour, 1989; R. Burger, 1991;
R. Hochstetler, 1991; P. Kimmerle, 1991; J. Przybylinski, 2006; M. Trowbridge, 2008; A. Rai, 2009; K. Kragh-Buetow, 2010; and L. Evans, 2013.
— Dale Long, Executive Editor
FRIENDS: B. Burchett, T. Cutaia, A. Kremer, J. Ley, L. Metcalfe, P. Nilsen, M. Rosene, J. Walsh and C. Wicker.

32
 TAKING NOTE

Alumni News
Alumni, Campus Reps
Honored for Success, Service
The Alumni Association’s Alumni Awards ceremony recognized a
dozen alumni March 30 for their career successes, while honoring
faculty and staff members along with a current student for strengthening
institute initiatives. This year’s award winners, by category, were:

HONOR ALUMNI AWARD

LIFETIME CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AND INSTITUTE SERVICE
Chris A. Mack (PH/CHEM/EE/CHE, 1982),
co-founder/chief technology officer of Fractilia in Austin, Texas
Benjamin Studevent (AO, 1991), a physics and history

100 Years of Army ROTC on Parade teacher in Louisville, Ky.

John N. Voyles Jr. (ME, 1976), retired vice president
The Army Reserve Officer Training Corps’ Wabash Battalion is Past battalion members can add their names to with Louisville Gas & Electric/Kentucky Utilities Energy Services
celebrating its 100-year anniversary with a year full of events the memorial list by contacting Lt. Col. Matthew Miller at
that started Feb. 16 with a military ball honoring alumnus/ miller8@rose-hulman.edu. The battalion also commissioned CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
retired major general James (Jim) K. Gilman (BIO ENG, the image above in which campus photographer Bryan Cantwell DISTINCTIVE CAREER SUCCESS
1974), and the unveiling of a special monument covered by merged photographs of past and current cadets parading in Charles S. Elmore (CHEM, 1991), head of isotope
dog tags embossed with the names of ROTC cadet graduates. front of Moench Hall on campus. chemistry with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals in Sweden
James S. Freudenberg (MA/PH, 1978), professor
at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Noel Takes President’s Gavel Richard C. Haut (ME, 1974), retired founder of Haut Energy
Kelly (Sullivan) Noel In other officer news, Kedar D. Murthy (CHE, 1984) has Solutions and Technologies in Texas
(EE, 2002) is set to been elected to serve a two-year term as vice president of the James P. Young (EE, 1977), an industry expert in radio
begin her two-year term association. He has recently become chief commercial officer frequency integrated circuits design
as president of the Alumni of Boston Materials, a carbon fiber and advanced composite
Association on July 1. materials company in Boston, Mass. DISTINGUISHED YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD
She replaces Gregory SUCCESS WITHIN FIRST 10 YEARS AFTER GRADUATION
Meanwhile, the following alumni have been selected to serve
(Greg) M. Gotwald Ranjana Chandramouli (CHE, 2014), process engineer
two-year terms on the AA Board of Directors, starting July 1:
(CHE, 2001). with Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, Ind.
Mark A. Renholzberger (CHE, 1982), master
Noel is senior vice president production scheduler with Vertellus Specialties in Indianapolis; Amanda (Mandie) E. Gehring (CHEM/PH, 2008),
Noel of facilities with Aurora Jason B. Carlyle (CS/MA 1998), executive director of team leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico
Heath Care, a not-for-profit technology with J.P. Morgan Chase & Company in Chicago; Garrett Koetter (ME, 2013), regional site supplier technical
health care provider and network of medical professionals Allison P. Bowman-Rogers (EE, 2014), an engineering assistance engineer with Ford Motor Company in Louisville, Ky.
serving Wisconsin and northern Illinois. She was among this specialist with the Ford Motor Company in Louisville, Ky.; and
Chris M. Wlezien (ME, 2010), associate product design
year’s Milwaukee 40 Under 40 class for making a major Dieter J. Schultz (CE, 2016, MSEMGT 2017), an engineering director with McKinsey & Company in Chicago, Ill.
impact on the community. (See Class Notes in this issue) engineer with ExxonMobil Corporation in Houston, Texas.
COLLEGIAN ROSE AWARD
ALUMNI RHIT FACULTY & STAFF MEMBERS
Papa to be BOT Representative Richard E. Stamper (ME, 1985), professor of mechanical
Jeffrey (Jeff) L. Papa (ECON, 1993) of the Youth Enhancement Training engineering and engineering management
has been selected to represent alumni on the Initiative, Inc., an orphanage in Nepal.
Rose-Hulman Board of Trustees. His two-year
HONORARY ALUMNI AWARD
For his career and humanitarian efforts, HONORING FACULTY & STAFF FOR SERVICE TO ALUMNI/INSTITUTE
term of office will begin July 1, 2019.
Papa received the Alumni Association’s
Rebecca B. DeVasher, associate professor of chemistry
Papa is the chief of staff/general counsel for Honor Alumni Award in 2013.
the Indiana State Senate after being a partner Dale H. Long, executive editor of Echoes alumni magazine
Papa replaces Charles (Chuck) L. and director of media relations
at Barnes & Thornburg, where his legal practice
Sigman (CHE, 1980), whose will
focused on immigration, higher education and Papa
government relations matters. He is president
complete his term early this summer. RACHEL M. ROMAS STUDENT
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AWARD
MERITORIOUS SERVICE TO THIS STUDENT ORGANIZATION

Assistant Director Ready to Help Madeline R. Wagner, a senior biomedical engineering major

Katie Hoffmann is a new member of the Office of Alumni Relations, serving as assistant director. She will be leading
the alumni awards program and working with alumni volunteers throughout the country to help them stay involved with See profiles of all award winners at
the institute. Hoffmann spent 10 years in elementary education before taking a few years off to help raise her son. She www.rose-hulman.edu/AlumniAwards2019
has a master’s degree in human resources management.

SAVE THE DATES FOR OCTOBER HOPE TO SEE

HOMECOMING 2019 4-5 YOU THERE!

ECHOES | SPRING 2019 33

 CLASS NOTES
Alumni News

60s 80s Jeffrey (Jeff) S. Gilbert

(BSME, 1985; MSEMGT,
2006) has retired as chief
Ross Kuykendall (ME, Mark C. McCullough executive officer with SEP,
1960) has received the (ME, 1981) is now executive a Carmel, Ind.-based firm
Benemerenti medal from vice president of American he co-founded in 1988 with
Pope Francis for “good merit” Electric Power’s transmission three alumni colleagues.
service to the Roman Catholic division, the nation’s largest The software product design
Church. Kuykendall has been system with more than and development company
a long-time member of the 219,000 miles of distribution collaborates with clients throughout the world.
Charleston, S.C., Diocesan lines serving 5.4 million
Buildings and Renovation Committee, assisting in 10 customers in 11 states. He Eugene (Gene) J.
major building projects. Professionally, he is a retired formerly was executive vice president of the company’s LeBoeuf (CE, 1985) has
project manager with General Electric Company and has generation operation and has spent his entire career with assumed command of the
lived in Bluffton, S.C., since 1998. AEP, based in Columbus, Ohio. 79th Theater Sustainment
Command of the U.S.

70s
Alan L. Smock (ME, 1973) received the first Friend of
Conservation award from the Dubois County (Ind.) Soil and
Water Conservation District. Since his retirement, he has
farmed property in the county, and served as supervisor
and vice chair with the district.
Jack Farr II (BIOE, 1975) was once again named
among central Indiana’s top orthopedic surgeons in
Indianapolis Monthly magazine’s 2018 Top Doctors issue.
He practices with OrthoIndy in Greenwood, Ind.
Jeffrey S. McCreary (EE, 1979) has joined the
advisory board with Spark Connected, a leading technology
developer of advanced and innovative wireless power
system solutions.
Moujalli C. Hourani (MSCE, 1982) received an
outstanding achievement award from The Moles, a national
heavy construction industry professional organization.
He is a distinguished professor and former head of the
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at
Manhattan College (N.Y.).
John N. Hostettler (BSME, 1983; HD, 1999) is
vice president with the Federal Affairs for States Trust, a
new initiative of the Texas Public Policy Foundation that’s
focused on addressing America’s toughest challenges
through federalist-oriented state-based solutions. He
represented Indiana’s 8th congressional district from 1995
to 2007.
Gregory L. Gibson (CE, 1984) has been inducted
into the Indiana Track & Field and Cross Country Hall of
Fame as a contributor.
Army Reserve, based in Los
Alamitos, Calif. LeBoeuf,
who holds the military rank
of major general, is the
associate department chair and director of undergraduate
studies in Vanderbilt University’s Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering.
Jeffrey A. Myers (BSEE, 1987; MSEMGT, 2003)
has become an independent consultant specializing in
utility business operations. He spent nearly eight years in
management with Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky
Utility Energy, and seven years as vice president of
engineering and operations with Central Indiana Power.
Jeffrey A. Harrison (EE, 1989) has been named to
the board of directors for the Indiana Sports Corporation,
a not-for-profit organization hosting world-class sporting
events in Indianapolis.

Mussallem, Umpleby Honored for CEO Excellence

Alumni and Rose-Hulman trustees Michael Mussallem and D. James (Jim) Umpleby have been recognized
among the world’s top corporate executives.

Harvard Business Review put Mussallem (BSCHE,
1974; HDENG, 1999) at No. 15 on a list of the
world’s best-performing chief executive officers. This is
the fourth time he has made the list for transforming
Edwards Lifesciences from a debt-ridden spinoff into
a leading medical device provider.
Mussallem’s 18 years in leading Edward Lifesciences
has seen the Irvine, Calif., company’s value rise 4,000
percent with a stock value exceeding $32 billion.
Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Umpleby (BSME, 1980;
HDENG, 2017) was named 2019 International Executive
of the Year by The Executives’ Club of Chicago. The award
recognizes an individual’s exemplary values-based leadership
and significant contributions to their company and the global
business community.
Umpleby has led the Fortune 50 company since early 2017
and was elected chairman of the board of directors in December
of 2018. In these roles he is leading the company’s execution
of a new enterprise strategy to achieve profitable growth.

Find out more about Mussallem’s HBR Find out more about Umpleby’s honor
award at www.bit.ly/EchoesMuzz at www.bit.ly/EchoesUmp
Mussallem Umpleby

34
 CLASS NOTES

Alumni News
Matthews Setting Example
for Diversity & Inclusion
Joseph (Joe) E. Matthews knows that diversity and inclusion are building blocks that strengthen an
organization. The Gary, Ind., native brings those lessons into his new role as the first diversity officer for
Michigan-based Gentex Corporation.
Matthews (EE, 1991) is in charge of developing and implementing Gentex’s diversity, equity and inclusion
(DE&I) initiatives. He also is providing leadership to the new DE&I Council and helping guide the Women at
Gentex internal business resource group.
Matthews has been part of Gentex’s purchasing department since 2010, serving as vice president of
purchasing for the past four years. He will continue in that role, in addition to the added management
responsibilities of the new position. Matthews also worked with Whirlpool Corporation (2003-08) and
Delphi Technologies (1991-2003), where he was nominated as the company’s Black Engineer of the Year.

Learn more about Matthews’ new role at

www.bit.ly/EchoesMatthews

90s Robert Walker (MSEE, 1994) is the new chief

technology officer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center
at Crane, Ind., where he has worked for 30 years. He is
providing a business-to-business customer management
platform. He is working out of his home in Park City, Utah.

Corbett S. Kull (EE, 1990) has been appointed a responsible for internal science and technology invest- Jeremy J. Newton (CS/ECON, 1997) is now a
director with AgEagle Aerial Systems, an aerial drone ments, technology transfer and an artificial intelligence certified financial planner with StrongBridge Wealth
imagery collection and analytics company. He is senior development laboratory. Advisors in Highland Village, Texas. He has been a financial
director of marketing with The Climate Corp. and formerly planner and investment representative since 2001.
co-founded the agribusiness entity 640 Labs. Kenneth N. Whah (ME,
1994) has been promoted George C. Bergstrom (CS, 1999) is coordinating
Douglas Tougaw (EE, to president and chief activities for the Indiana State Library’s southwest regional
1991) has been re-elected executive officer of Hanson operations. He also is part of the library’s professional
vice president for finance Logistics, whose network development office.
with the American Society of of refrigerated warehouses
includes facilities in Michigan Clay D. Fette (BSCHE, 1999; MSCHE, 2004) is
Engineering Education. He has
and Indiana. He has been the chief executive officer of StemSys, a Florida-based company
served in the position since
company’s chief operating that’s focused on advancing healing techniques and tissue
2017 and has been active in
officer since October 2017 after being director of regeneration. The company has developed the FDA-approved
ASEE since 2000. Tougaw is
North American logistics operations with Whirlpool. biological agent XCelliStem wound powder that introduces
chair and professor of electrical
and computer engineering at Valparaiso University. stem cells into a wound to allow for better healing.
R. Michael Meneghini (CE, 1995) was named
Raman N. Ohri (CPE, 1993) has added the title of among central Indiana’s top orthopedic surgeons in Matthew R. Kane (BSME, 1999; MSBE, 2003)
chief executive officer to his leadership role with SEP, a Indianapolis Monthly magazine’s 2018 Top Doctors issue. co-founded Precision BioSciences Inc., a startup that’s
Carmel, Ind.,-based software development company. He He practices at Indiana University Health Physicians using genome editing to eliminate cancers, cure genetic
started at SEP in 1993 and rose through the ranks as project Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in Fishers, Ind. diseases, and create safer, more productive food sources.
manager, vice president of engineering and president. The Durham, N.C., entity is striving to raise $100 million
Timothy A. Sublette (CS, 1995) is the chief in an initial public offering.
Mitchell (Mitch) A. technology officer of Bolstra, a scale-up company that’s
Landess (BSEE, 1994;
MSEE, 1996) is senior
director of industry 4.0 with
Conexus Indiana, helping
build relationships between
academia and industry to
support the state’s advanced
W E WA N T YOU R N E W S !
manufacturing and logistics Send news and photographs to alumniaffairs@rose-hulman.edu
economy. He spent 17 years as director of business
development and operations with Rose-Hulman Ventures.

ECHOES | SPRING 2019 35

 CLASS NOTES
Alumni News
Federle Inducted into National
Academy of Construction
Mark O. Federle (CE, 1985) was recognized for career achievements as an educator and mentor
to construction engineers by being inducted into the National Academy of Construction. He started the
construction engineering program at Marquette University, where he is now the associate dean for academic
affairs for Marquette’s Opus College of Engineering.
Federle has been a tenured professor at Marquette since 2008 after leading the construction engineering
program at Iowa State University. Before entering academia, he spent 10 years as chief information officer
with the Weitz Company.
A Fellow in the American Society of Find out more about Federle’s award at
Civil Engineers, Federle has worked with www.bit.ly/EchoesFederle.
Engineers Without Borders.

00s Jessica F. (Farmer)

Albert (CHE, 2004) is
Jacob (Jake) B. Wagle
(CE, 2007) has been
Bryan W. Egli (CE, 2000) is a senior project manager a corporate process safety promoted to operations
with Louisville-based Dugan & Meyers. manager with LyondellBasell director with Garmong
in Houston. She previously Construction Services,
David S. Fisher (ME, worked in process safety based in Terre Haute, Ind.
2000) has been promoted with Lubrizol.
to full professor of computer Cecilia M. (Latta)
science, software engineering Michael D. Martin Pierce (CHEM, 2008)
and mechanical engineering, (BSCPE, 2004; MSEMGT, 2011) is the first chief was among the National
with tenure, at Rose-Hulman, customer officer with 10K Advisors, bringing sales and Safety Council’s 2018
effective Sept. 1, 2019. delivery together with a customer focus. He previously Rising Stars of Safety. She
had several positions with Appirio, recently leading the is the chemistry leader for
Singalex (Alex) B. Song company’s Indianapolis delivery center. energy systems specialized
(BSME, 2000; MSEMGT, 2010) has moved to testing and evaluation at
Las Vegas to become an engineer with JT4. He spent four Micah T. Taylor (CS, the Naval Surface Warfare
years as a senior applications engineer with 3M Corp. 2004) has been promoted Center at Crane, Ind.
to associate professor
Jason A. Caron (ME, 2002) has been promoted to of computer science and Nathan M. Adair (ME, 2009) is director of
deputy program manager with responsibility for $73 million software engineering, with engineering with firearms manufacturer Naroh Arms,
in annual explosive projects in cartridge and propellant tenure, at his alma mater, where he helped develop the company’s flagship
actuated devices with the Naval Air Systems Command, starting Sept. 1, 2019. product, the Naroh N1 9mm handgun. He has
based in Indian Head, Md. worked in the firearms industry since graduation.
Andrew Twarek (CE, Guillaume D. Rousson (CE, 2009) has
Kelly K. (Sullivan) Noel (EE, 2002) was among
2005) was featured in an article of Civil Engineering earned a master’s degree in public administration
this year’s Milwaukee 40 Under 40 class for making a
magazine about a structural engineering project completed from Columbia University. He also started a new
major impact on the community. She is senior vice presi-
by Ruby and Associates. He is a project manager for the job as a project manager with Raycliff Capital,
dent of facilities with Aurora Health Care, a not-for-profit
Detroit-area company. a private equity firm in New York City.
health care provider and network of medical professionals
serving Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Richard L. Franko (CE, 2007) is now a national Whitney D. Zimmerman (EE, 2009) has been
account manager with ConvergeOne, based in the promoted to senior consultant with McKinsey & Company,
Heidi E. (Brackmann) Davidson (CHE, 2003)
Denver area, after being an account executive with based in Munich, Germany. He joined the international
has been promoted to textiles development group leader
Venture Technologies for nearly three years. consulting company in the spring 2018.
with Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport, Tenn. She
formerly was an innovation manager with the company.
MAJORS KEY
BE: Biomedical Engineering
| BIO: Biology
| BIOE: Biological Engineering
| CE: Civil Engineering
| CHE: Chemical Engineering
| CHEM: Chemistry
| |
CPE: Computer Engineering CS: Computer Science
| ECON: Economics

EE: Electrical Engineering

| EMGT: Engineering Management
| EN: Environmental Engineering
| EP: Engineering Physics
| MATH: Mathematics
| |
ME: Mechanical Engineering OE: Optical Engineering
| PH: Physics
| SE: Software Engineering

36

10s
Brianna (Bri) Butchart (CHE, 2010) has been
promoted to manager of manufacturing excellence at
International Paper’s mill in Newport, Ind. She has relocated
back to Terre Haute, Ind., after working in Springfield, Ore.
Michael Z. Jones (BSCS/SE/MA, 2010; MSSE,
2016) is now a lead software engineer with Chica-
go-based Mesh++. He formerly was a senior software
engineer with Genesys/Interactive Intelligence and
co-founded his own software company, Aerosta.
Timothy J. Tepe (ME, 2010) has joined Kroger’s
corporate offices as a network strategy project manager.
He formerly had a variety of managerial roles with
Fameccanica North American in Cincinnati.
Meredith L. Woodard (BSOE, 2010; MSEMGT,
2012) is a consultant with the P3 Group in South Carolina.
She previously worked as a project engineer at NWS
Technologies since 2015.
Quinton J. Huffman (CHE, 2011) was among
Ingram’s magazine’s 2018 “20 in Their Twenties”
honorees within business in Missouri and Kansas.
He is an engineering technical manager at Honeywell’s
plant in Kansas City.
Ross M. Kippenbrock (ME, 2011) has been
promoted to engineering manager of Alteryx, an
information technology and service company he has
worked with since 2017.
David J. Sanborn (BSME, 2011; MSEMGT, 2012)
is a consultant in Eli Lilly & Company’s customer service
and logistics division. He has worked for the company
since 2016 after more than three years with Whirlpool
Corporation.
Weddings
Steven J. Stark (SE/CPE, 2010) married
Ali Caldwell on Oct. 13, 2018, in Indianapolis,
Ind. He is a lead software engineer with Genesys
Telecommunications Laboratories.
Virginie A. Adams (CPE/MA, 2012; MSEMGT,
2013) was among this year’s Women Inspiring Strength &
Hope award recipients by the Make-A-Wish organization’s
Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky region. She was recognized
for career success, commitment to community service
and personal commitment to the organization.
Sara M. (Hardin) Hoorn (BSME, 2012;
MSEMGT, 2014) has been promoted to senior
construction project engineer with McKinstry in Seattle.
She has worked at the company since 2015.
Nathan C. Weir (CS, 2012) is a senior frontend
engineer with NovoEd, an education technology company
based in San Francisco.
Emily L. Eckstein (ME, 2013) has been promoted
to senior design engineer with Caterpillar Inc., supporting
development of the D8 track-type tractor. She will work at
resolving machine build issues and build cross-functional
collaboration at the company’s proving grounds in the U.S.,
and assembly facilities in Brazil and Thailand.
Ranjana Chandramouli (CHE, 2014) was a finalist
for the United Way of Central Indiana’s Volunteer of the
Year award. She is a senior process engineer with Eli Lilly
and Company’s Indianapolis operations center.
Matthew B. Etchison
(MSEM, 2014) has been
promoted to chief information
officer of Ivy Tech Community
College after being vice presi-
dent for information technology
for more than two years.
He is a member of Gov. Eric
Holcomb’s executive council
on cybersecurity. Etchison formerly was a senior group
manager with Interactive Intelligence in Indianapolis.
Devin R. Wentz (ME, 2012) married Marilyn
M. Striby (ME, 2012) on June 29, 2018, in Carmel,
Ind. They live in Indianapolis. He is a reliability engineer
with Faurecia and Marilyn is a national strategic account
manager with Johnson Controls International.
CLASS NOTES
Alumni News
Brian G. Kodalen (PH/MA, 2014) has started
a job with the National Security Agency after earning a
PhD in mathematics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Casey J. Levitt (BSBE, 2014/MSEMGT, 2015)
is now the program manager for integrated engineering
services with National Instruments, where she has
worked since 2015.
Benjamin J. McDonald (EP, 2014) is a blaster
with Trinity Energetics in Texas, currently working on
pipeline jobs and quarry servicing.
Emily R. Latta (CHE, 2016) was a member of
the explosives safety team that earned the Naval
Warfare Surface Center’s collaboration award with
the Navy’s general command.
Andrew (Andy) Rhine (CHE, 2017) and
his father have taken over ownership of Cascade
Lakes Brewing, which operates two brew pubs in
Oregon — one in Bend, another in Redmond.
Andy has been a home brewer.
Bradley (Brad) S. Rostron (CE, 2017) has
become an assistant project manager with Principle
Construction Corporation. He formerly was a project
engineer at Tank Industry Consultants.
Jonathan H. Hall (ME, 2018) helped design
the headlights for Toyota’s 2020 Tacoma model.
He is a design engineer with North American Lighting.
Ethan O. Petersen (CS/MA, 2018) has
developed a mobile application, Guess Less, to help
people share clothing sizes and gift ideas. The startup
was featured in a Google case study. He is a graduate
student at Indiana University.
Alexander (Alex) R. Merchant (ME, 2014) and
Kristen N. Latta (AB, 2011) were married on Dec.
15, 2018, in Terre Haute, Ind., where they live. Alex is
a cryogenic engineer with Technifab Products in Brazil,
Ind. Kristen is assistant director of student activities in
the Office of Student Affairs at Rose-Hulman.
Continued on next page
ECHOES | SPRING 2019 37
 CLASS NOTES
Alumni News
Weddings / Continued from previous page

Palmer D. Crampton (ME, 2016) married

Savannah N. Minor (ME, 2016) on Oct. 27,
2018, in Clemson, S.C. Palmer is a project manager
with Invotec Engineering and Savannah is a structural
research engineer with the U.S. Air Force. The couple
lives in Dayton, Ohio.

Alanna Nacar (BSME, 2015) married Casey

M. Dant (MA, 2016) on Oct. 27, 2018, in Terre
Haute, Ind. The couple recently moved to Nashville, Bradley (Brad) G. Strickland (CHE, 2017)
Tenn. Alanna is a quality engineer with Innocor Inc. married Melissa LaChance on July 21, 2018, in
while Casey has become an analyst of ticket research the White Chapel at Rose-Hulman. They are living
and strategy for the National Football League’s in Richmond, Ind. Brad is a lean manufacturing
Tennessee Titans. engineer with Belden Wire & Cable.

Rosebuds
John H. (Jake) Jacobi (EE, 1959) and wife, Judy,
welcomed their first great-grandchild, Rose Catherine, Oct. 8,
2017, in Columbia, Md. She is the daughter of grandson
Blake Doty and his wife, Alisha. Both families live in Maryland.
Jake retired after 53 years as an electrical engineer.
Dax R. Scott (CS, 1998) and wife, Angela, had
their fourth daughter, Emerson (Emmy) Honor, April 4,
2018. The family lives in Streamwood, Ill., where Dax is a
solutions architect with Rightpoint Consulting in Chicago.
Jennifer M. (Meyer) Chagnon (CHE, 2002)
and husband, Armands, welcomed their first child,
Liliana Mina, Sept. 29, 2018. Jennifer is an administrative
patent judge at the United States Patent and Trademark
Office. The family lives in Washington, D.C.
Lewis H. (Hardy) Spry (CS, 2004) and wife, Danielle,
had their first child, Philip Joseph, July 22, 2018, in Avon, Ind.
Hardy is a principal consultant with Revelant Technologies in
Indianapolis, Ind.
Andrea L. (Bollinger) Long (CE, 2008)
and husband, Brandon H. Long (ME, 2006),
welcomed their first child, James Harrison, Sept. 21,
2018, in Denver, Colo. Andrea is a project manager
at the City of Aurora (Colo.) and Brandon is the
engineering manager at Encore Rail Systems.
Andrew J. Hettlinger (CS, 2009) and wife, Allie, welcomed
their first son, Carson, Nov. 30, 2017. The family lives in Avon, Ind.
Andrew is a principal software engineer with Indiana University.
Rachel McHenry (CHE, 2009) and husband,
Eric Brynsvold (SE/CS, 2008) had their first daughter,
Chloe Rose, Sept. 7, 2018. The family lives in Austin, Texas.
Rachel is a data scientist with Walmart Technology while
Eric is an Android developer with Atlassian.
Rachael A. (Spellum) Reese (ME, 2009) and
husband, Logan G. Reese (ME/EE, 2009), had their
third child, Keziah, in August of 2018. The family resides
in Greenwood, Ind.
Katherine (Katie) C. Kragh-Buetow (EP, 2010)
and husband, Christopher J. Kragh-Buetow (EE,
2009/MSEMGT, 2010), had a daughter, Esther Teresa,
Nov. 17, 2018. The family lives in Hillsboro, Ore.
Zachary B. Zdrojewski (EE, 2015) and wife, Artishmie,
welcomed their first son, Malachi, March 6, 2019. The family
resides in Raleigh, N.C., where Zachary is an assistant engineer
with Hazen and Sawyer.
Megan (Chirich) Loyer (EE, 2016) and husband, Brandon
Loyer (EE, 2016), had a son, Chase Samuel, Oct. 26, 2018.
The family lives in Plainfield, Ind. Megan works for Duke Energy
while Brandon is employed with Burns & McDonnell.

38
 CLASS NOTES

Alumni News
In Memoriam
Robertson Put Rubber to Road to Support Alma Mater
Brent E. Robertson (CE, 1962), 78, died Jan. 5, 2019, in Indianapolis. The former Alumni Association president (1995-96) received the
Honor Alumni Award in 1989. He was a proud supporter of Rose-Hulman in central Indiana and made corporate contacts in the tire and rubber
industry to benefit the institute and its alumni. He was director of sales and marketing for Michelin North America for 16 years. Later, Robertson
led a family-owned residential decorative concrete business, and became a consultant for retirement investments and real estate management.

Moore Rose to Top as Respected Educator & Campus Leader

Inspirational Rose educator and mentor Noel E. Moore, 83, died on Oct. 21, 2018, in Bradenton, Fla. He taught chemical engineering for 30
years, was department chair for a decade, and earned the Dean’s Outstanding Teacher Award in 1981. He also was a leading faculty advocate
for coeducation of the institute’s student body and led the popular Operation Catapult program for several years. He was named an emeritus
faculty member following his retirement in 1998.

James P. Laughlin Jr. (EE, 1949), 94, died Jan. 14,
2019, in Evansville, Ind. He spent nearly 40 years with
Seeger Refrigerator and Whirlpool Corp.
Herbert L. Patterson (ME, 1949), 94, died Oct. 26,
2018, in Terre Haute, Ind. He retired after being president
of Patterson Equipment Company and American Tredex
Corporation, overseeing the design and production of the
first inclining hydraulic treadmill.
Raymond H. Naras (CE, 1952), 91, died Feb. 11,
2018, in Chicago, Ill.
John N. Simpson (CE, 1953), 87, died Dec. 9, 2018, in
Plainfield, Ind. He retired after 37 years as an award-winning
engineer with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Richard (Ric) F. Werking (ME, 1953), 89, died Jan.
25, 2019, in Shelbyville, Ind. He retired after serving as
president of Component Sales Associates in Hattiesburg, Miss.
Raymond V. Fischer Jr. (ME, 1956), 84, died
Nov. 26, 2018, in Cleveland, Ohio. He owned his own
business and worked as a manufacturing representative
in the lighting industry.
Samuel T. Vanover (CHE, 1956), 84, died Oct. 12,
2018, in Shepherdsville, Ky. He was a physician for more than
30 years in Bullitt and Jefferson counties and the medical
officer at the Naval Ordinance Station in central Kentucky.
Stanley R. Carpenter (EE, 1956), 84, died Oct. 12,
2018, in Buzzards Bay, Mass. He was an award-winning
philosophy of science professor at Georgia Institute of
Technology for 25 years after being a research engineer
with Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s
Instrumentation Laboratory for nine years.
Frank P. Molinaro (ME, 1958), 82, died Oct. 15,
2018, in Munster, Ind. He retired from the Interlake,
Inland/ArcelorMittal and Danieli Corus steel companies.
William David Wainscott (ME, 1961), 83, died
Dec. 17, 2018, in Kokomo, Ind. He retired after 45 years
with Haynes International.
Robert W. McCoige (CE, 1964), 77, died Dec. 13,
2018, in Elkhart, Ind. He was first engineer for the City
of Goshen, Ind., and later became director of public
works after owning RWM Construction and several
entrepreneurial enterprises.
John H. Ostendorf (PH, 1966), 74, died Oct.
27, 2018, in Vincennes, Ind. He retired after 50 years
as a professor at Vincennes University, where he was
a department chair and vice president of the faculty senate.
Roger A. Nelson (CE, 1967), 72, died
Sept. 28, 2018. He retired after serving as an attorney
and adviser with the U.S. Public Health Service.
James C. Bennett (CE, 1971), 70, died Nov. 6,
2018, in Nashville, Ind. He retired as a civil engineer
who worked on major projects throughout the
Brown County area.
Richard E. Williams (ME, 1971), 70, died Jan. 22,
2019, in Cambridge, Mass. The decorated military pilot
worked with Raytheon Corporation as part of the team
that rebuilt the Baghdad International Airport’s air traffic
control center. He also owned and operated Williams Auto
Electric in Billerica, Mass., until his retirement in 2014.
Randall G. Shoaf (ME, 1972), 69, died Nov. 11,
2018, in Avon, Ind. He retired after a 43-year career as
an engineer with Lennox.
Gary W. Tullis (CHE, 1975), 65, died Jan. 24,
2019, in Bluffton, Ind. He retired as director of quality
systems during a 40-year career with AOC.
Michael R. Walters (MA, 1976), 64, died Oct.
5, 2018, in Indianapolis, Ind. He retired as a lieutenant
colonel in the U.S. Army after serving 22 years of active
duty. Later, he was a teacher at Colonial Christian School
in Indianapolis.
William C. Blanford (EE, 1977), 70, died Jan. 2,
2019, in Lafayette, Colo.
Steven K. Yockey (CS, 1977), 63, died
Dec. 9, 2018, in Hilliard, Ohio. He was a senior
software engineer with AOL and CompuServe.
Robert S. Congdon (ME, 1981), 60, died Dec.
17, 2018, in Zionsville, Ind. He was a senior application
engineer with Eaton Corp. after being a sales engineer
with Westinghouse.
Mark E. Talkington (CHEM, 1982), 59, died
Dec. 31, 2018, in West Bend, Wis. He was a chemist
with Pope Scientific for nearly 25 years.
Max Russell (Russ) Phinney (BSME, 1984/
MSME, 1993), 58, died Dec. 5, 2018 in St. Louis,
Mo. He was a logistics manager for ThyssenKrupp after
spending 18 years as an ordinance engineer with the
Naval Warfare Surface Center in Crane, Ind.
Peter C. Gibbons (EE, 1985), 54, died July 27,
2018, in Irving, Texas. He was president and chief
operating officer with Internet America Inc.
Christopher R. Shadday (CHE, 1989), 52,
died Dec. 26, 2018, in Coventry, Conn. He was a senior
vice president with Rogers Corp. after being president
of Viance LLC and working with Rohm and Haas.
Sean P. Springman (ME, 1997), 44, died Feb. 26,
2019, in Beech Grove, Ind. He earned a law degree and
became a patent attorney in Chicago.
Christopher G. Dupin (EE, 2003), 38, died Nov.
17, 2018, when his private aircraft crashed near Niceville,
Fla. He was transitioning from a career in the U.S. Air
Force, being director of operations for the 40th flight
test squadron at Eglin Air Force Base. He also was a
flight instructor who founded Dupin Air Services and
Gulf Coast Aero Adventures. Survivors include his wife,
April D. (Duncan) Dupin (EE, 2003).
FACULTY / STAFF / FRIENDS
Stephen C. Carlson, 71, died Aug. 18, 2018, in
Terre Haute, Ind. He was a longtime mathematics
professor for the institute.
Joy Sacopulos (HD, 2003), 79, died Jan. 30, 2019,
in Terre Haute, Ind. She was a passionate Terre Haute
community leader who, for almost 50 years, dedicated
herself to developing, improving and preserving the
quality of life of local citizens.

ECHOES | SPRING 2019 39

 DOWN MEMORY LANE
HANDBOOKS
PROVIDE GLIMPSES INTO

TIME
STUDENTS’ CAMPUS LIFE,
EXPERIENCES

CAPSULES
STORY BY
ARTHUR
FOULKES
PHOTOS BY
BRYAN
CANTWELL

L ook around any college campus today and you’ll

see students keeping track of their activities
through their smartphones, iPads and laptops.
One hundred years ago, these personal electronic
devices didn’t exist, but Rose Polytechnic Institute
students still had a wealth of helpful information at
their fingertips through their nifty student handbooks.
These tiny (about the size of a deck of cards) books
were filled with useful information, such as the
names of professors, information about student
organizations, and math and scientific conversion
charts. The earlier handbooks also included calendar
pages for noting upcoming appointments or
recording significant events. Students were issued
the handbooks annually until the mid-1960s.
William (Bill) H. Junker, a 1921 mechanical
engineering alumnus, was one student who used
his handbook extensively. Now part of the Logan
Library’s archival collection, it is loaded with
handwritten details about his daily experiences.
For instance, Junker’s Theta Xi fraternity house
suffered a devastating fire on Dec. 28, 1920, in
downtown Terre Haute. He helped his fraternity
brothers move into a new home on Jan. 4, 1921.

We would love to hear of passages pulled from other alumni’s student handbooks.
Contact Echoes editor Dale Long at dale.long@rose-hulman.edu.
40

And, there were lots of academic
tests noted, along with a VERY
active social life. According to
Junker’s handwritten notes, he had
122 dates during his senior year
alone. Most of the dates were with
a friend named Mary Stark, but “he
seemed to have a lot of girlfriends,”
says his son Allan, a 1950
mechanical engineering graduate.
On Feb. 20, 1921, for example,
Bill Junker had an early date
with Mary and a second date
that evening with Marion Davis.
And, on Feb. 24 came a date with
Mary and a declaration of “The
Decision!” What happened isn’t
disclosed, but he continued to take
Mary to college dances and other
social events through graduation
on June 9. (Allan acknowledged
that Bill and Mary didn’t marry.)
In the page that allowed students
to note expenses from the school
year, Junker noted: “It would be
impossible to account for all the
money spent during the last year
at school.”
And, finally on the memoranda
page he wrote a passage that
has been shared by Rose alumni
throughout the years: “Four
years of work & play, but now for
forty years of REAL STUFF!!!”
(Under that entry he added a large
question mark.)
Mechanical engineering student
Karl A. Froeb was another scholar
whose well-used handbook is
preserved for posterity. He noted
in his 1919-1920 senior-year
handbook that Rose Poly students
celebrated the first anniversary of
the end of World War I (Armistice
Day) by skipping school—an act
that resulted in the entire student
body being suspended for the
following two days. He also took
time to note when all of Terre
Haute’s street lights went dark for
a spell in 1919 due to a local coal
miners’ strike. He and Junker
separately recorded the titles of
silent movies they attended at
various local movie theaters.
A handbook owned by Philip R.
Boller, a 1957 civil engineering
alumnus, includes several
interesting Yells and Chants that
were popular at school events. One
such yell was “Locomotive” with
the following lyric: Nuts—Bolts
—Screws—Gears ... Rose Poly
Engineers Fight! Fight! Fight!”
And, the “Ballad of Rambling
Wreck” includes the passage:
When the students stop their
cribbing and the weary are at rest.
When I’ve made a million dollars
in Wall Street to invest.
When saloons close up at midnight
and on Sunday sell no beer.
Then I’ll be a Poly Grad-u-ate
and a hell of an engineer.
I’m a rambling wreck from old
Rose Tech and a helluvan engineer.
The oldest Rose Poly handbooks
were published by the campus’
Young Men’s Christian
Association with advertisements
for local businesses, such as The
Great Northern Cafe, an all-night
eatery that billed itself as “Poly
Headquarters.” By the 1930s, the
ads were gone and handbooks
were distributed by the Rose
Student Council. Around the
same time, the daily calendar
diary feature was removed
from the handbooks, but space
remained for students to record
Students used their handbooks to keep precise notes
about what was happening on campus and in their lives.
their class schedules and other
special notes.
The books were published during
the Great Depression, World
War II, through the 1950s and
into the early 1960s. There was
also a 15-page correction manual
for the 1960-61 handbook. One
of the oldest handbooks in the
archives belonged to Froeb from
the 1916-17 school year. There is
also a handbook once owned by
legendary Rose-Hulman educator
Herman A. Moench, a 1929
electrical engineering alumnus.
ECHOES | SPRING 2019 41
5500 WABASH AVENUE
TERRE HAUTE, IN 47803

Address Service Requested

PARTIN G SHOT
A student examines one of several tilapia growing in an aquaponics environment
that’s part of an undergraduate research project taking place in the Branam Innovation Center. The project, supervised
by Zac Chambers (ME, 1994), is growing fish and lettuce for use by the campus’ Bon Appetit food service operations.

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