Black Hole Son
Dominic Chang ’18 applies theory to reality with black hole research.
Read StoryAs a child who dreamed of a career in science and engineering, Mike Abrams ’77 was drawn to this university because of The WPI Plan, which at the time was a dramatic change in STEM education. Fifty years later it continues to stand as a highly reputed global model for project-based learning.
“The Plan was in tune with the tumult of the early 1970s,” he says. The original Plan included the now-familiar graduation requirements of the Interactive Qualifying Project and Major Qualifying Project, but also Competency Exam, Sufficiency (now known as the Humanities & Arts Requirement), and, of course, the four physical education courses. “There were no other course distribution requirements or, in fact, the requirement to take any courses at all outside of meeting the graduation requirements. We all took plenty of courses, since we had to learn the requisite material to do our projects, but we could go as deep into one area as we wanted. And many of us did. We drank from the fire hose. It was very exciting!”
The WPI Plan provided—and continues to provide—an education that prepares students to be immediately productive in their first job, he says. “All of us who attended WPI together agree that we learned how to learn here. It is a bit of a trope, of course, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. The Plan and the projects were all about putting experience, learning, and people together to solve problems. My WPI education was the perfect pathway to learning how to do all those things.”
Abrams describes his WPI experience as highly formative to his early life as well as one that continues to bring him joy today. “The university became a part of me, and the people I met at WPI and the skills I gained there continue to be part of my life no matter how far I may be from The Hill. Through my involvement with the Alumni Association over the last 10 years, I have come to know another generation of faculty, staff, and students. I find them just as impressive and inspiring as when I was a student at WPI.”
A Colorful Parachute
Following graduation with a mathematical sciences degree (with high distinction), Abrams’s career followed anything but a straight line. He initially planned to continue to graduate school for mathematics, but, as often happens in life, those plans were postponed.
“I spent a couple of weeks with the book What Color Is Your Parachute and did some serious thinking about what I wanted to be when I grew up,” he says. That introspection led to his decision to pursue a career as an electronics engineer.
Mike married his high school sweetheart, Nancy Bailey, and the couple moved to Houston, Texas. It was 1980 and a perfect time to take advantage of the job market created by a newly booming oil industry. He began work at a company designing seismic data acquisition systems used in the exploration for oil and gas.
“I was very lucky in that my boss at that company recognized he could put my mathematics background to good use in signal processing and data analysis,” he says. He slowly worked his way into design engineer roles as he and Nancy attended the University of Houston at night; he earned an MS in electrical engineering and she earned an MS in accounting.
His first job involved software programming, signal processing, hardware design, and firmware programming. Then he was recruited to a smaller company that had ambitious plans to make a big leap forward in seismic data acquisition systems. “I was the second person hired on that team,” he says, “and I had an exciting five years working on that system.”
Nancy and Mike Abrams
There he received his first patent for the reduction of power line interference during data acquisition using adaptive filters. After becoming one of the primary testers of the operation of the complete system, he helped the company enter the systems integration phase. His career evolved into technical marketing and customer training, and he traveled the world in support of marketing and installation of new systems, spending a great deal of time in Canada and Europe, as well as traveling to South America and Asia.
Next, Abrams ran a 20-person project team developing a MEMS (micro-electro mechanical system) accelerometer. The team worked on a closed loop sigma delta converter with the custom silicon sensing element inside the loop and a custom analog IC controlling the loop. Abrams describes this technology as “very cool stuff,” and he received four patents for his work in that program.
Following a brief four-year detour into the world of thermal imagesetters, Abrams eventually went out on his own. As a consultant from 2000 to 2017, he worked on a diverse array of projects, mostly with and for people he had met earlier in his career. “Those projects ranged from marine seismic sources and subsea data acquisition nodes to completely wireless land seismic nodes. And my assignments ranged from digital and analog hardware design, to signal processing and data analysis, to total system design.”
Love = Support
Abrams acknowledges the role WPI played in his professional success, and he says gratefulness is part of the reason for his and Nancy’s generous philanthropic support of the university. “Even with the help of my parents and working part-time jobs during the school year and full-time jobs over the summer, I couldn’t have come to WPI without scholarships and loans. I know the support I received as a student has influenced my giving to WPI over the years.”
I know the support I received as a student has influenced my giving to WPI over the years.
His support of WPI began as a young alumnus almost 50 years ago and ranges from generous philanthropic giving, fervent volunteering, and attendance at university events both on campus and nationwide. He served on the Alumni Association Board from 2011 to 2017 and 2021 to 2024, and more recently on the Presidential Search Committee that brought President Grace Wang to WPI.
Abrams’s most recent gift to WPI supports Beyond These Towers: The Campaign for WPI. The seven-figure commitment to capital projects stands as the fourth-largest gift in university history and was announced as part of President Wang’s inauguration in March. Speaking about the gift, and five others that together total $18.6 million in philanthropic commitments, President Wang said, “Ever since joining WPI a little over a year ago I have been inspired by this community’s passion for our student-centric mission and commitment to our innovative culture. Equally impressive is the passion and commitment of our alumni and friends.”
To date, the Abramses have supported numerous major capital projects on campus, including renovations that created the Alumni Center at Higgins House (resulting in the naming of the Nancy and Mike Abrams ’77 Library in Higgins House), the Nancy and Mike Abrams ’77 Multi-use Lounge and Creative Zone in Unity Hall, and renovations to Stratton Hall, home to the Mathematical Sciences Department. In addition to these significant leadership-level gifts, they are both members of the President’s Circle, WPI’s leadership society for annual giving donors. Their giving has supported, and continues to support, a plethora of university initiatives ranging from academic departments, scholarships, the George C. Gordon Library, and the Emergency Assistance Fund to a wide range of student organizations and varsity athletics and intramural teams.
A Sense of Place
Reflecting on his current relationship with his alma mater, Abrams says, “I enjoy walking around the WPI campus every time I am there. I love looking at the buildings and thinking about the places I went and used when I was a student. I enjoy musing about how the spaces on campus are used by the students today. I observe students to try and learn a bit about their interactions with the campus. The students, faculty, and staff change, but the land and buildings remain. The physical plant needs to change, be renewed, and updated to reflect the needs of the times. Supporting capital projects at WPI satisfies my and Nancy’s desire to help make those needed changes happen.”
Creating space for living and learning on campus remains a priority, he says. “WPI is a relatively compact campus. It is not always possible for students and faculty to find the necessary space for everything they want to accomplish. I hope our gift will help to expand the multiplicity of spaces in which meaningful work, study, and relaxation can occur.”
Looking to the future, Abrams says, “WPI is always changing to meet the times but working hard to stay true to the goals and strengths of The Plan. I am excited to see new leadership at the university who understands and is building on that legacy. I am also excited to see continued growth occur over the next few years. I expect to see even more entrepreneurship and technology transfer come out of WPI. I hope to see it recognized more widely as the leading STEM university that it is. I also hope to see the endowment for WPI grow to hit the $1 billion mark. And, most of all, I remain happy to be a member of the WPI community.”
Evidence of the Abrams’s philanthropic impact can be seen all over campus, including, from left, The Nancy and Mike Abrams ’77 Multi-use Lounge and Creative Zone in Unity Hall, The Nancy and Mike Abrams ’77 Library in Higgins House, and accessibility features in the newly renovated Stratton Hall, due to reopen at the end of August.
Good afternoon, what a magnificent contribution, I am a mother, an international student (Ecuador), my daughter has a scholarship. I understand now the magnitude and I can only say thank you. I am sure my daughter will finish her career at WPI and will be part of this community with these significant contributions.
Thank you very much again.