On Friday, October 22, 2004, engineering students past and present flocked to Kingston to participate in the second annual Engineering Alumni Day. The event included a Scholarship Breakfast, a College-wide open house, an alumni luncheon, and the second lecture in the Anthony Risica Lecture Series. The festivities culminated in the annual Awards Banquet, where new members were inducted into the COE Hall of Fame and Founders Club.

 Scholarship Breakfast

Engineering scholarship benefactors and their recipients had a chance to mingle at the second annual Engineering Scholarship Breakfast. The number of scholarships awarded this year represented a sharp increase from the year before – more than 300 were bestowed in 2004, up from 75 in 2003.

Among the scholarship recipients, the sense of gratitude was palpable. Drew Brodeur, URI senior with a dual major in chemical engineering and French, was the recipient of the Victor Baxt Scholarship. While thanking his donors, he called his experience at URI “invaluable.”

Engineering Ambassador Nicole Baugh also noted how much she appreciated the support.  In thanking the donors, she remarked, “It was great that I found a scholarship that helped me to realize that we have a great program here.”

Among the donors present was URI alumna Lisa Ahart of Toray Plastics, who was delighted to be able to give to the scholarship program. According to Ahart, the scholarships provide a way of “investing in the future,” and “allow Toray to impact future generations in a way that’s beneficial.” She also mentioned her admiration for URI by describing it as an “institution that has prepared me for my career.”    

Also naming URI’s academic excellence as the driving force for his donation was 1967 graduate Peter Pelletier. He commented, “URI’s engineering program is a great platform from which to launch a career.”

 

 

 

Anthony J. Risica Endowed Lecture Series

In the afternoon, professors, students, alumni and others gathered in the Cherry Auditorium to hear Peter Pelletier, the principal and founder of Pelletier & Associates, give the second presentation in the Anthony J. Risica Endowed Lecture Series. Pelletier  presented a talk on  “Reengineering Corporations.”

 

Awards Banquet

 

The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick, R.I. was the site of this year’s COE Awards Banquet. In addition to the attendees, a number of companies supported the event by sponsoring tables, including Amgen, Bryant Associates, Commonwealth Engineers, Enlabel Global Services, FM Global, Gordon Archibald, Inc., Hexagon Metrology NA, J. H. Lynch & Sons, Inc., Maxson Automatic Machine Co., Raytheon IDS, Robinson Green Beretta Corp., Teknor Apex Co., Toray Plastics (America), and the URI Alumni Association.

 Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri commented that the evening’s inductees and awardees are “a great testament to the University.” He went on to say, “The economy of the future is technology […] it’s great to see the COE moving forward and progressing.” URI president Robert Carothers also alluded to this advancement by mentioning the Dean’s recent introduction of “a new spirit” to the COE.

Following the opening remarks was the induction of the COE Ambassadors. These six individuals were presented with jackets to mark their official entrance into the Engineering Ambassadors Program (for more information about the COE Ambassadors, see page 22).

Later in the evening, four awards were presented for Faculty Excellence. Godi Fischer received the Aurelio Lucci Faculty Excellence Award for research accomplishments in Electrical Engineering, and for his role in the creation of the College’s new capstone design course. James H. Miller was given the Albert E. Carlotti Faculty Excellence Award for research accomplishments in Ocean Engineering. According to the presenter, his talent for “bringing research into the classroom has been exemplary.” The Albert E. Carlotti Faculty Excellence Award for research and teaching accomplishments in Mechanical Engineering was received by Martin Sadd. Reference was made to his textbook on elasticity, and his constant availability to students. Ying Sun was presented with the Faculty Excellence Award for research and teaching accomplishments in Biomedical Engineering. He is a strong asset to URI and has been a “prime mover in establishing biomedical engineering at the college.”

 

Also awarded were the Dean’s Star Awards for Outstanding Service. Recipients included James T. Byrnes, Mechanical Engineering, Phyllis A. Golden, Electrical Engineering, Beverly A. Ladd, Dean’s Office, Artie I. Martino, Dean’s Office, and Michael J. Platek, Electrical Engineering.