Thayer School
With this issue, this column becomes the responsibility of the undersigned. I hope this can be shared responsibility with all of you; please let me hear from more of you soon.
To Bill "Whiffenpoof" Kimball, who ran this column for the past year and now has other fish to fry, the Thayer School Faculty says thanks for doing it so well.
Brian F. Walsh BE'66 received a Master of Science degree in Urban Planning from Columbia University in 1968. After that he spent nine months bicycling through Asia before settling down to a career in urban planning. His work has been in new community developments and specifically in market analysis, financial analysis and initial project programming. He has been with the Rouse Co., which developed Columbia, Md„ and is now with their subsidiary, the American City Corporation, as their Director of Economics and Finance. He is involved in creating two institutions whose basic charge is to improve the quality of life in the Greater Hartford (Conn.) region. One is dealing with inner city renewal and the other is a planning corporation which will develop models of health and education systems for the Hartford area from which estimates and financing proposals may be derived. Brian sums it up by saying that "it offers fascinating opportunities on a continuing basis."
Charles A. Klimmek BE'70 is in the Navy with the Mobile Construction Battalion, Delta Company, and is now stationed at Davisville, R. I. After the middle of November, the batallion leaves for Diego Garcia, a small coral island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, to build a communications station. Charlie's work will be construction supervision and personnel administration.
Dennis Drapkin BE'69 expects to get a degree from the Yale Law School next June.
Philip Jackson's (CE'44) company, the Jackson Construction Co. of Needham, Mass., has been awarded the $9.5 million contract for Dartmouth's Medical Sciences Building. Some conservative eyebrows were raised around the School when it became known that Phil intends to use 5000 psi concrete in the structure.
W. W. Dunphy, EE'62 writes: "Professionally and avocationally I am paying my union dues and hanging on to my slot at the bottom of the Pan American World Airways pilot seniority list. I arrived at this station in life as a result of my experiences flying helicopters for the Marines who were attempting to save our Southeast Asian allies from the perils of international communism. My wife of two years also works for Pan American, which makes it interesting when the girl who comes to the cockpit offering 'Coffee or tea' turns out to be my spouse. You may remember DavidO. Smith ME'62, who is now helping Igor Sikorsky build helicopters for the Marines and other defenders of Democracy."
Merle Thorpe ME'53, an internationally known inventor, developer, and entrepreneur in the general field of high temperature technology and specifically arc and plasma technologies, was described in Business Week of August 22 as "opening new paths for industry." This involves new uses for Merle's Patented induction plasma torch, which was considered as one of the outstanding inventions in the U. S. a few years ago. Merle is now building a 3000 KW plasma torch (at $250,000 the package) for NASA engineers who will use it to simulate a gaseous core of nuclear engine. He expects to build one of 10,000 KW size after this to be used for the manufacture of pure polycrystalline silicon to be used in micro-circuits. If Merle's process is accepted by microcircuit producers by 1975, it may, he hopes, be supplying a $10-million market; by 1980 this market should grow to $100 million. Good luck, Merle!
2nd Lt. James R. Becker B.E.'70 has been awarded his silver wings at Laughlin AFB. Texas, upon graduation from U. S. Air Force pilot training. Jim is being assigned to Langley AFB, Va., where he will fly the C-130 Hercules cargo-troop carrier aircraft with a unit of the Tactical Air Command. WOMEN'S LIB DEPARTMENT
1. Visnja Coviv Gembicki, a 1969 graduate of the University of Technology in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, is enrolled as a Master of Science candidate. She is the wife of Stanley A. Gembicki D.E.'69, who is Senior Engineer for the Digital Systems Corp. in Hanover. Her studies are aimed at coupling computers and new mathematical techniques for solving chemi- cal engineering design problems. Her faculty adviser is Professor Grethlein. She has had some experience in this field in Yugoslavia. She is the second Yugoslavian graduate student we have had; AndrejAplenc ME'70 was the first.
2. Susan Ying Liu, a 1969 graduate of the National Taiwan University, is a candidate for the Master of Science degree with specialization in the field of Computer Science. She will be working with Professor Hayes and will be supported from a grant given by the Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) of the Defense Department for the purpose of improving computer expertise at Dartmouth.
Mike Pender CE'50 is the Commissioner of Public Works of the Town of Hempstead, N. Y., America's most populous township. He has a staff of seven deputy commissioners and undertakes an average of about $6 million worth of construction a year.
Ed Keible M.E.'67, has just completed four years in the U. S. Air Force, where he was a materials consultant in the Jet Engine Division within a Material Management Directorate. He is now a first year M.B.A. student at Harvard Business School and plans to get into industrial management of a materials oriented company after he gets his degree.
Mike Flannery B.E.'66 spent five years in the Navy as a pilot and is also at the Harvard Business School working for his M.B.A.
Past and present members of Thayer's Board of Overseers who attended the Centennial Convocation were: J. Hartness Beardsley D' 37, John D. Dodd D' 22, John C. Woodhouse D'21, James H. Wakelin D' 32, Frank E. Cudworth CE'02, Bob Barr CE'42, Joe Baute ME'54, Henry C. Beck Jr. CE'39, Gordon S. Brown, David M. Lilly D' 39. William F. May, John Schlachtenhaufen ME'63, and Ralph W. Hunter D'31.
Sam Hobbs C.E.'13 of Kennedy Engineers of San Francisco and Los Angela sent in his regrets at not being able to attend the Thayer Centennial Convocation, but hopes to get back to Hanover for his 60th."
Former members of the Thayer Faculty who returned for the Centennial Convocation were: John P. Hatch, Charles Hitchcock Jr. C.E.'39, Charles Kingsley Jr., ChiWing Shen, Charles Reynolds, Merle L. Thorpe ME'53, Jacob P. Frankel, and James Browning D'44.
