Exciting News from Your Classmates! and a Routine Announcement

by Dr. Filson Glanz

One of the joys of teaching is running into students from the past and finding out what directions their lives have taken since UNHECE (and having to sit through -or cut- my math filled and story filled lectures). Some remember my ethical, literary, political, or environmental comments, and others recall that they have never used any of the material that I taught. But whatever it is that they remember, we all enjoy hearing about those whose lives intertwined with ours for four years - or more! Of course, we all think that what we have done, or where we are in life, is not that significant or that interesting. But isn't it fun to hear about someone with whom you went to UNH? So stop by, call, email, write, fax, stop us in the street, or otherwise contact anyone in the Department and tell us what you are up to! Below are some people WHO have done just that.

1. Sharon Niedfeldt Parshley (BS '83) came up to me at Honors Convocation this spring. She was attending because her daughter, Michelle, was being awarded. Her daughter was a sophomore (by now a junior) pre-vet major in LS&A. Sharon has been at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard working as an Energy Engineer in the group that does energy monitoring and conservation for the shipyard. The Shipyard generates much of its own energy.

2. I ran into Jon Arno (BS '82) in Portsmouth. He is a Sales Engineer with Genesis Associates in Burlington, MA. He says "hello" to everyone in EE. We met at a popular Portsmouth establishment while I was waiting for a National Tap Dance Day gig and he was in for some relaxation after a hard day of sales engineering! (That's my story anyway!)

3. Pam Wilcox (BS '90, MS '92) emailed me. She and her daughter Dani moved recently to Austin, TX where she is working for Ross Technology. They build SPARC microprocessors. Her reason for emailing me was that her company had a consultant with whom I went to grad school over 30 years ago! She likes Austin and thinks it has been a good move, although Dani is still getting used to a city bigger than Burlington ,VT!

4. Sila Berkol Kilicote (BS '94) is still at CMU in Pittsburgh, PA. She is working on various engineering projects including consulting on several buildings around the world, while her husband, Han, finishes his PhD degree in civil engineering. Sila expects to give birth to their first child in September. She is excited about the child and the possibility of Han starting a business when he finishes his degree this year.

5. Mary Ann Fusi (BS '94) is living and working in Nashua, NH at Teradyne, Corp. She has been travelling around the world doing a survey of the technical needs of their clients in the future. She enjoys the travelling, is taking up golf (must be getting into the business aspect of the company?), and enjoys musical events in the area.

6. Lynn Monica (BS '81), who we mentioned last year was still at Motorola in Illinois, stopped by the Department in February. She was asked by Motorola to be in charge of a large team of high school students, teachers and advising engineers to compete in the U.S. First! design/test competition. She was in NH for the Advisors meeting at the U.S. First headquarters. A recent email indicated that her team won the rookie of the year award. She found the experience challenging and rewarding.

7. Brian Martineau (BS '91) called not long ago to tell me to be sure to give my ethics lecture to every class of EEs. He recalled that when he was sitting in class listening to it as the last lecture in EE 541 he could not imagine being in a situation where it would be important. Then some years into his professional life he was placed in an unethical situation. He refused to participate, lost his job, and "blew the whistle." As a result the Navy has better equipment, and Brian has a new job at Cabletron Corp. in Rochester, NH. He is looking into the possibility of graduate school. It was wonderful to hear from Brian.

8. Elizabeth Michaels (BS '93) stopped by last fall. She had been working in the lighting field with the Los Angeles Department of Power and Light. She then worked with a lighting company in the west and then took a job in Maine to get back to New England. She is planning to go to grad school in the fall. She said that her experiences with engineers from other schools made her realize that she had an excellent education at UNH (Oops! I just wrenched my arm trying to pat us on the back!)

9. Matt Mello (BS '92) caught me briefly at an event in Johnson Theater. He is managing entertainment at Jake Ivory's establishment near Fenway Park in Boston. He played dual piano there for some time, then played at another establishment in New Hampshire. He seemed to be doing well, is enjoying life and is engaged to be married in the fall.

I know that there are others I have run into or heard from, but I have not kept a list and can't remember the others - Sorry!

Speaking of "can't remember" I have applied for early retirement which sounds more like dropping off the edge of the earth than I'd like! There are a large number of factors that lead to this decision: UNH will this year have a very large cash shortfall and is trying to get rid of those of us that "can't remember" (I'm just kidding about that part!); it has been six years since my double bypass and I feel the need to work on some projects that I have had in mind before I can't remember them; the Department could probably use some change in teaching styles and faces. Although we do have one new face, it may be a few years before we are allowed to hire anyone else. My many projects include some writing - books and otherwise, multimedia engineering presentation, sustainable engineering projects, robotics lab/neural network projects, internet instructional techniques for engineering, and a few nonengineering projects. By the way, don't count me out too soon, my health is apparently fine, I exercise regularly by running, hiking and rhythm tap dancing! I will be around UNH and the Department for years to come (I hope!) so stop by if you get into the area; I'll be holed up in my current office for at least a year!