Class Notes Fall-Winter 2025

Did you get a promotion? Get married? Receive an award? Expand your family? Write a book? Meet a personal goal? Chat with a fellow alum about the good old days? We want to hear from you and your WPI classmates do, too! Tell us your latest news and it may appear in Class Notes—it’s a great way to reconnect with your fellow alumni: classnotes@wpi.edu.

Dwight Harris recently celebrated his 103rd birthday. He writes, “My recollections of the professors who tried to teach me are quite clear in my mind. Some of it must have rubbed off because I had a good career as a product design engineer. I am now living a life of leisure in a senior residence under the watchful eyes of my three children.

“One of my most memorable experiences at WPI was with Professor Johnson. He told our class to come dressed in overalls one day but didn’t say why. When we arrived, he took us to a workshop with a real blacksmith hearth. Our challenge? Forge two metal links and join them together so they could withstand a stress test without breaking. I still remember the sound of the hammer, the heat of the forge, and the pressure of making something that had to hold up. My first attempt failed because it broke under testing. So, I went back, adjusted, and tried again until I got it right. That day wasn’t just about learning to forge metal, it was about perseverance, precision, and learning from failure. These lessons have stayed with me throughout my career. In many ways, that moment symbolized my entire WPI experience: rigorous, hands-on, and always preparing me for the real world.”

John Margo writes, “I am 96 now and living in Houston, Texas, with my wife, Betty. I stay in touch with Schuyler “Sky” Keating ’50 and Dan Harrington ’50, and his wife, Ann. Looking for any other classmates from the Class of 1950 who would like to connect.” 

Bill Krein writes, “This summer I retired for the second time! For the past 30 years, including 15 years with The WPI Business School, I was an adjunct faculty member at WPI. I developed courses in finance for non-financial managers and courses about consulting fundamentals. I also taught project management, engineering economics, and conflict resolution and negotiations. I loved every minute of it. I would never have thought that I would be an alum who would return to teach at WPI.”   

Tumkur Puttaswamy writes, “I retired from ABB Global Engineering and now reside in Greenville, S.C., with my wife, Shashi, and daughter, Samantha. I recently established a scholarship honoring the head of the mechanical engineering department during my time at WPI, Professor Donald Zwiep.”

John Lauterbach writes, “My consulting business, Lauterbach & Associates, LLC, recently completed its 20th year in business and our order book is full. Our business objective is to provide the needed scientific and regulatory affairs advice to the small tobacco product manufacturers and importers needing regulatory approval from the U.S. FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. We were the sole source for the small cigarette manufacturers when they came under FDA regulation in 2009 and were the first to get approvals for those companies. In addition, we were a nonvoting member of the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee from 2010–12. Most of our recent work has involved noncigarette products including whole-leaf products (entire tobacco leaves that have sufficient processing so that they can be folded and placed in hermetically sealed bags) that hobbyists use for making their own tobacco products, and the tobacco, pipes, and accessories used in hookah lounges. These latter products have received little attention from the major tobacco companies, so we have had to develop the science base for the products and the smoke that is produced when they are heated.

“There is also a WPI connection here. Early in 1965, there was a notice on the chemistry department bulletin board advertising summer internships in the research and development labs of National Starch and Chemical Corp. in Plainfield, N.J. I applied and was hired in June 1965 as a summer intern in the starch research group. That was the beginning of my 60-year career in starch and carbohydrate chemistry, as noted in a recent announcement from the carbohydrate division of the American Chemical Society. The WPI connection was that Woody Thune ’38 was a vice president at National Starch. I spent much of my early career in industry at National Starch as manager of the analytical chemistry labs.”

Cary Palulis hosted several classmates from the Class of 1968 for a fraternity brother fishing trip. Attendees included Ed Cannon, John Foley, Bob Pleines, and Dave Hopkinson. He reported that they caught three colorful species of trout on the Congamond Lakes in Southwick, Mass.

Steve Legomsky writes, “The European Union, and two other organizations, hosted me in July 2025 for a European book tour in Berlin, Germany; Florence, Italy; and Leicester, England, to promote my latest book, Reimagining the American Union: The Case for Abolishing State Government. When defending the book’s thesis in front of live audiences, I usually start with assurances that I’m not delusional, and sometimes they believe me. In May 2025, Newsweek published my spinoff op-ed.”

Pratim Patel writes, “After almost two years, I finally finished writing a book titled Connected God to explain, from my perspective/insights, what I think God is really all about. Tackling a sensitive subject like God is both complicated and challenging. This book is for everyone—young or old, religious or spiritual, skeptics or atheists—who is curious to know about the ‘new and realistic understanding of God.’ It is based on science, logic, and common sense. The book is available on Amazon.”

Don Polonis writes, “I’m in my 12th year of retirement, and I can honestly say I don’t feel retired. I gave up my refuge in Davenport, Fla., five years ago when my wife, Ellen, and I migrated to a vacation house in Virginia close to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. We have three grandchildren in Virginia, with Charlotte Ann being the newest, born in spring of 2025. I have the blessed opportunity to interact with my grandchildren and am grateful that I could be with them during their formative years as their after-school teacher and guardian until my son or daughter-in-law returned home from work. 

“Ellen Baker Glosick and I tied the knot in Virginia Beach a few years back. It was the third marriage for both of us, having each lost two spouses. We had the marriage blessed in Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Palmyra, Va., in 2024. Over the course of my life, I ran a farm, became a police commissioner, was a fire commissioner, became a health commissioner, perfected propellor blade manufacturing for Hamilton Standard, perfected electronic assembly of electronic jet fuel controls, became a construction supervisor building homes, started a private engineering consulting firm that had contracts with Notch Mechanical Constructors and Spalding Golf, where I worked with the team developing the process for the dual-center golf ball, and ended my career as an industrial engineer assigned to the controller with K&M Electronics/ITT Exelis. I totally enjoyed this job because of the people and because I worked two weeks as an engineer and two weeks as an accountant.” 

Brian Savilonis writes, “After 44 years as a professor of mechanical engineering at WPI, I have
finally cleaned out the office, keeping all the memories. D-Term was my last class: biofluids. My fondest reflections come from many awesome MQP teams over the years and from the 20+ years of coaching cross country/track. We are staying local (Princeton, Mass.), and I still hope to make it to the WPI track at least weekly. While I’m still running and race walking, it just takes longer, but now I have the time. It has been a blessing to work with so many wonderful students for so long.”

Stephen Wilkinson writes, “I retired from Gillette and Amgen and moved to The Villages in Florida. I continue to help companies improve their efficiency and productivity by serving as a lean consultant. My last project eliminated 100,000 labor hours at Amgen. I recently published my book, Create a Continuous Flow of Improvements (available on Amazon), which provides a detailed description of a simple approach to implementing lean improvements in both manufacturing and healthcare settings. My wife, Emma, and I recently celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary.”  

Domenico Grasso became the University of Michigan’s interim president, having previously held the position of chancellor at its Dearborn campus. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving out of college until 1990, during which time he received multiple ribbons and commendations. He has held various leadership roles at several northeast universities, including director of engineering at Smith College and engineering dean at the University of Vermont.

Bob Hart, a WPI trustee, was featured in the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “LA500 2025” for his work as founder and CEO of TruAmerica Multifamily, a firm that acquires and manages multifamily apartment complexes, with offices across the United States, managing a $15 billion portfolio of properties.

Steve Rusckowski, a WPI trustee, became chairperson of multinational pharmaceutical research company QIAGEN’s supervisory board. He has been a member of the supervisory board since 2023 and chairs the nomination and governance committee. He previously served in leadership roles with Quest Diagnostics and Philips Healthcare.

Chartsiri Sophonpanich, a WPI trustee, was selected as one of four winners of the FICO Decision Hero Awards. This award recognizes global leaders who have leveraged advanced analytics to transform financial services. He is the president of Bangkok Bank, leading the expansion of the bank’s digital processes for nearly 30 years. “Success in analytics is not about having the best technology—it’s about having the right mindset. We’ve embedded analytics into every decision-making layer, making it a part of how we serve customers,” he said.

Gerald (Jerry) Twomey was a guest on the Inside Electronics podcast episode “Design Essentials for Robust Systems.” He is an engineering consultant for Effective Electrons, with a background in electronics design and electromechanical systems. He authored the book Applied Embedded Electronics: Design Essentials for Robust Systems, which discusses the design process for embedded-system electronics.

Walter (Wally) Towner writes that he had lunch with Benson P. Shapiro, Harvard Business School’s Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing, Emeritus, and the former Business School dean Debora Jackson, to talk about The Business School. “Ben shared that he ‘can’t sit still’ and is consulting and writing his 21st article for the Harvard Business Review. I was honored to be in their presence.” Towner is a teaching professor at The Business School at WPI, focusing on industrial and manufacturing engineering and operations management.

Jason Macari was nominated to serve on the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation Board. He has over 30 years of experience in business management, product development, and engineering. He is currently the president and CEO of Macari Properties and owns Baby Delight, Phantom Farms, and Phantom Farms Brewing. His past work experience has been with organizations such as Summer Infant, Hasbro, and Bard, Inc. The Providence Chamber of Commerce recognized him as Businessman of the Year in 2007 and he has volunteered with March of Dimes, Women and Infants Hospital, and Mercymount Country Day School.

Joyce O’Donnell, MS ’94, was featured in the “People Spotlight” series by her employer, AECOM, a global infrastructure consulting firm. During her 15 years with AECOM, O’Donnell has managed various environmental and water projects involving systems design, compliance, and safety. In the article, she advised younger engineers to “adopt a positive approach by saying yes to new experiences.”

Michael Smith, MS, a professor of computer science at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, was named a Harvard College Professor, a five-year professorship awarded for excellence in undergraduate teaching. He has taught at Harvard for more than 30 years and is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery and a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Jim Dunn was appointed president of Warshauer Electric Supply, a Rexel USA company. He has been with the company for the last 30 years, most recently serving as executive vice president. “I’m honored the Rexel team has faith in me to lead this incredible organization over the next several years,” he said in an announcement. “I look forward to continuing the great legacy built by our founder, Martin Warshauer, and then his son Jim Warshauer, our dynamic leader for the past 40 years. This company has excelled for the past 70+ years because we have the best and brightest people in the industry. I hope to inspire them, mentor them, empower them, and challenge them to continue to be the best of the best in New Jersey and beyond.”

David Henry writes, “We had a large WPI Lambda Chi gathering in Cumberland, R.I. Over 120 brothers and WPI alumni attended, with alumni from the ’70s and ’80s, and 2000s.”

Alexander Maranghides was awarded a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal for his decades of work as a fire protection engineer. He led research on wildfires in communities near wildlands and developed standardized methods for post-fire data collection, supporting a national wildlife evacuation framework. The data from this research helped improve methods for fire prevention, firefighting, and evacuation strategies.

Susan Roberts was appointed dean of UMass Lowell’s Francis College of Engineering. She previously headed the Department of Chemical Engineering at WPI and spent 17 years as a faculty member at UMass Amherst, leading the creation of the Institute for Cellular Engineering.

Hernando Carvajal was named regional head of sales operations for BMW Group Latin America. With over two decades at BMW, he has held key roles in the United States, Germany, and Mexico, including product strategy and brand marketing positions. His appointment aims to drive continued success in the Latin American market.

Jacob Anderson was featured in an article by InformationWeek for his work as the founder of Beyond Ordinary, a consulting firm focused on helping organizations drive innovation through leadership development and strategic thinking. His organization partners with companies to challenge conventional approaches and find new ways to adapt to change. He has experience in multiple industries, including technology, healthcare, and finance.

David Elmer was named senior vice president at Weston & Sampson, an environmental engineering firm, where he has worked since 1997, and currently sits on the board of directors. He has 30 years of experience in wastewater collection and stormwater management systems.

James Naughton is an associate professor in the accounting area at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, teaching financial accounting classes for the MBA program. He has been involved in several studies focused on insight into pension plans and their economic risks.

Jeevan Ramapriya joined the Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s board of trustees. He has extensive experience in global trade, policy, and community engagement and currently serves as the executive director of the Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment, working to attract foreign investments and facilitate foreign trading opportunities.

Chris Meyer was appointed chief operating officer at ABLi Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on neurodegenerative disorders. He has over 25 years of global experience in operations and program management with a strong background in late-stage clinical trials. Previously, he served as vice president of clinical operations at Inhibikase Therapeutics, focusing on therapies for Parkinson’s disease and pulmonary arterial hypertension. He has also served in roles at Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Lonza, Axial Therapeutics, and Alkermes.

Michael Weber’s career was featured in an article by BusinessWest. He launched North Star Technology Leadership in 2023, serving as chief technology officer. His organization helps midsize companies improve operations, manage risk, and navigate new technologies with the aim of encouraging business growth. He has a background in IT and business and ran a successful printing business before selling it to start North Star.

Kevin Dumas was promoted to president of Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR), a subset of manufacturing automation company Teradyne. He has held various leadership positions with Teradyne over the past 13 years, including director of product marketing and sales and, most recently, vice president of product at MiR. “I’m honored to be able to lead MiR at such a transformational time for the company and for the broader world of robotics,” he said.

Jonathan Casey was appointed chief executive officer of Raytheon-Rafael Area Protection Systems. For over 20 years, he has served in various leadership roles with Raytheon, including product line director and general manager of the air defense portfolio. His new role oversees the joint venture between Raytheon Technologies and Israeli defense technology provider Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. 

Roberto Farnese, MS, was appointed executive vice president for Omni Helicopters International (OHI). In this role, he leads a new fleet strategy with the aim of increasing efficiency, sustainability, and goal diversification. He has over 18 years of experience in the air mobility sector and said, “I could not be more excited to join such an incredible team of people and to give my contribution to OHI’s continued growth and success.”

Jason Allukian is vice president of business development at Global eProcure (GEP), a provider of consulting, technology solutions, and outsourcing to AI-powered procurement and supply chains. He oversees the development of supply chain strategies and manages projects focused on operational improvements and enhanced safety. Prior to GEP, he held roles with Schlumberger and PowerAdvocate.

Abhishek Mukherji, MS, PhD, led a panel discussion at the Responsible AI event hosted by Centific and Virtue AI in Seattle, Wash., this summer. He is a leader in the artificial intelligence industry, with over 18 years of experience developing AI solutions for Fortune 100 companies, and more than 40 patents and publications. He is currently field CTO for generative AI solutions at Centific in California.

Adam Cartier is now deputy district commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District. He has served in various engineering roles for the U.S. Army at bases across the country and was deployed to Iraq in 2014. He has been awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Air Assault Badge, and German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge (Gold).

Raha Moussavi, PhD ’18, is a senior associate researcher and learning sciences designer for the Center for Certification and Competency-Based Education, with a strong background in higher education teaching. She has worked extensively on creating and refining curriculum and assessments across diverse initiatives, such as game-based learning tools, intelligent tutoring platforms, and competency-based education models. Her work has included developing a teacher preparation program at the High Meadows Graduate School in partnership with MIT.

Xuyu Qian discusses his work in an interview in Genomic Psychiatry. He studied over 18 million brain cells to understand brain development and disorders, such as how Zika virus causes brain damage in babies. He is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. His lab studies autism using advanced imaging tools and lab-grown brain models called organoids.

Vincent Azzolino, an MD/PhD candidate at UMass Chan Medical School, has volunteered for several summers at Camp Discovery, a camp for children with chronic skin conditions. In addition to his involvement with the camp, he was inspired to pursue dermatology after participating in a research study on vitiligo. “I love any type of research with a personal connection,” he said in an announcement. “I’ve yet to find something more exciting than dermatology. There are tons of different disease states you can look at from the bench side, and you have the ability to interact with patients. It’s a great way to balance both.” 

Haley Dyer was the recipient of a Building Women in Construction Inspire Award, presented by the Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts. These awards honor women in regional construction who show exemplary leadership, innovation, commitment, and generosity to their career, colleagues, and the industry. Dyer, who won the Emerging Leader Award, is an electrical estimator at BOND Building Construction. When asked what advice she would give women in construction, she said, “Embrace every step of your journey, no matter how challenging it may seem. For those still finding their footing—whether in a new role, on a tough project, or just trying to keep up—remember that every small step forward is still progress. Stay committed, trust the process, and keep pushing forward. We’re not just here to be part of this industry; we’re here to lead, to uplift one another, and to build something greater than ourselves.”

Julia Vanderstreet joined the Moreau Lab as a graduate student researcher in the Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center at the Oregon Health and Science University. They previously worked in RNA engineering at Moderna in Cambridge, Mass., focused on the effectiveness of RNA therapeutics.

Em Beeler discusses her journey to becoming a high school math teacher in Worcester—and how her story is deeply intertwined with the university—in Episode 19 of The WPI Podcast.