Thayer School
A sequel to last month's report of the Engineering Science 21 projects is that the fifteen students who comprised BRACON, INC., the "company" which presented the award-winning design of a household brackish-water conversion unit were invited to travel to Springdale, Conn., to describe the process and demonstrate the model to officials of the American Machine and Foundry Company on January 13. The students were accompanied by Prof. Paul Shannon, their Thayer School faculty "consultant."
A newcomer to the Thayer faculty last fall, Professor Shannon, in addition to his teaching duties in ES 21, found time to present papers during the fall at the American Chemical Society meeting in New York City, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers meeting in San Juan, the Chemical Engineering Conference in Montreal, the Founders meeting of the Society of Engineering Science at Purdue, a Chemical Engineering Symposium at the University of Maryland, an AIChE meeting in Houston, and a student-faculty discussion of computer programming at the University of Pennsylvania.
Jim O'Mara '42 visited Thayer School last fall and left with us a copy of his company's brochure. Jim is a partner in the firm of Greenhorne, O'Mara, Dewberry and Nealon with offices in Riverdale, Md., and Arlington, Va. The firm offers consulting engineering and land surveying services, especially in connection with highways, storm drains, water and sewer projects, subdivision development and shopping centers.
A Christmas card from former Thayer professor Huntington Curtis gives his new assignment and location with IBM as Technical Adviser to Vice President, Research and Engineering, 590 Madison Avenue, New York City. I am told that the Curtises have recently moved their residence from Washington to the New York area.
Charlie Babbitt '32 has responded to my invitation to send in some word of his work and family. For the past twelve years he has been located in Barre, Vt., where he is Sales Representative for the Norton Company (abrasives). Charlie has two grownup daughters and a twelve-year-old son, sees Gordon Lane '33 occasionally, who is an engineer in the Vermont Highway Department, and Gunnar Hollstrom '31 who is Manager of the Diamond Products Division of Norton in Worcester.
Professor Ed Brown '35 and wife Barbara traveled twice to New Jersey in November where son Robert is a junior in an institution having aspirations in football and on the second trip witnessed an exhibition of that game. Ed reports that while there they saw Bob Millmore '58, who is Assistant to the Product Manager, Novoply, U. S. Plywood Corporation; Larry and Mrs.Schwartz '59; A 1 and Mrs. Wertheimer '60, and Dave and Mrs. Lashar '62.
Somewhat earlier in the fall on a similar occasion in Hanover, I caught sight of former Thayer professor Charlie Reynolds, now an Associate Professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Jon Kropper '56. Also seen briefly in Hanover last fall were Ron Read '58, Gordon Starkey '61, LarryDenton '49 and Fred and Mrs. Hart '59.
Neil Drobny '63 was recently advised that a paper submitted by him had qualified him as a finalist in the national competition for the 1963 Daniel W. Mead Prize for Students and that he had been selected as the winner of the prize in Zone I of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
A Christmas card from Jack Hanley '48 brings the news that he completed his Ph.D. work at Illinois last September and joined the University of Minnesota faculty as an Associate Professor. He is teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses in structures. Wife Mary works in the university library and "the children have settled into their new environment and are having a ball. Our big girls are being given a rush at the Minneionka High School and our two boys are taking their lumps learning to play hockey the hard way: from the neighborhood boys on a local pond." The Hanley address is 3812 Oak Road, Minnetonka, Minn.
