Class Notes

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.

Alvin Lanson writes, “The company I founded in 1970, Polytechnic Industries, has been acquired by a major manufacturer and provider of high-quality weapons support and ground support equipment for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and over 50 international air forces. The affiliated company, Polytech Defense Spares, will remain in Mt. Laurel, N.J., and will continue to manufacture gears, small gun parts, fasteners, and other hard-to-find spare parts for the DOD. After over 53 years as managing director, my retirement commenced at the end of 2023.”

Anthony (Tony) Leketa, MS ’77, writes, “As a member of the National Academy of Construction (NAC), I recently collaborated with John McNeill, WPI’s Bernard M. Gordon Dean of Engineering, and Carrick Eggleston, department head of Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering, to conduct a symposium at WPI that assembled representatives of industry and regional academia to discuss the topic, “Introducing and Embedding Safety Culture Concepts in Undergraduate Education.” It was one of five symposia conducted throughout the United States between August 2022 and February 2023, with the other four being held at the University of Kansas, New Jersey Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Austin/Texas A&M University, and the University of Colorado at Boulder. The results of the five symposia were captured in a document, “Proceedings of the Symposia Series: Introducing and Embedding Safety Culture Concepts in Undergraduate Education,” which was recently distributed to attendees and the Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (BICE) of the National Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. What a great experience to be able to return to the WPI campus to not only work with McNeill and Eggleston, who gave freely of their time and energy to make the symposium a success, but to experience many of the changes to the university and its campus. For those who haven’t been back to WPI in a while, things have changed dramatically—and for the better. I would encourage all alumni to take some time to return and experience all that has changed at WPI.”

Ron Zarrella, WPI trustee emeritus, won the 51st annual Opera House Cup regatta on his sailboat, Alerion Sea Horse. He has competed in this event since 2008. He writes, “We were maybe 500 yards from the finish line before we even thought about winning the overall. We were just looking at our competitors in the Alerion class. As we approached the finish line, we saw Siren coming down on us and if the race was 200 yards longer, they would have passed us. We just got in there, and the adrenaline rush is kind of unexplainable. Today was not a day for sissies. It was a war. It was really hard sailing, hard steering, but you win and it’s worth it.” The Opera House Cup, based in Nantucket, is one of the premier wooden boat races in the country.

Bill Haddad writes, “I have retired from the federal government after working as a clinical psychologist for the Veterans Administration and Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C. I continue to work part-time for Optum Health, providing mental health services to Veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.”

Jay Schnitzer has been named MITRE’s corporate chief engineer, in addition to serving as senior vice president and chief medical officer for the company. In this role, he will help assure technical quality and mission impact across MITRE as well as supporting technical staff development. After joining MITRE in 2013, Jay served as the company’s chief technology officer. He worked for more than 15 years as an attending pediatric surgeon and associate professor of surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, Shriners Children’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School.

Rick Urjil was in a car accident in May 2023 and faces some major health challenges. His brother-in-law Bill Cooper ’67 reports Rick sustained a paralyzing spinal cord injury and is using a wheelchair. He is diligently working on rehabilitation and healing to overcome this life-altering injury. To learn more, visit https://helphopelive.org/campaign/22599/.

Steven Sweeney writes, “I retired from the Department of Defense in 2018 after working for four decades on numerous engineering project teams for the Secretary of Defense, Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics; Agency Headquarters, and Service Programs of national strategic necessity. Now I am volunteering in the Silicon Valley community, tutoring part time, visiting with family, and enjoying our great outdoors, including climbing mountains. Since 2021, I’ve climbed Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Mount Whitney, and Mount Shasta. The adventures continue. Excelsior!”

Jeff Webber writes, “The third book in my Enimnori series was published in August 2023. The series is the continuing story of an engineer from California who is accidentally transported to a medieval(ish) world where magic is real.”

Stephen Wojciak, MSME ’77, reports that he has retired after working 21 years at the GE Mechanical Drive & Naval Turbine and then 25 years at Leonardo DRS Power Technology. He is looking forward to spending time on his various hobbies, including stained glass, guitar, painting, and a ’40 Ford coupe resto rod.

Christopher James writes, “After an estimated 35-40 trips to China over 12 years to work with Chinese governmental officials on air quality, energy policy, and law, I am now (mostly) retired. My wife, Anne, and I are really enjoying traveling the U.S. in our Sprinter van, as well as spending lots of time in Europe for long cycling excursions. We recently completed a 700-km loop with five others around the Netherlands, and I joined my cycling club from Nice (where Anne and I spent the autumn of 2022) for two weeks of cycling in the Pyrenees, just days before the Tour de France passed through. This fall, we are making ‘the big trip,’ driving back to New England to visit with friends and family, and we hope to see some WPI friends there as well.”

Steve Rusckowski, a WPI trustee, has been appointed to the Board of Directors at Baxter International, a multinational healthcare company headquartered in Illinois. The company primarily focuses on products to treat kidney disease and other chronic and acute medical conditions. He most recently served as chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Quest Diagnostics. He currently serves as a director of Tenet Healthcare Corporation and Qiagen.

Joan Szkutak, a WPI trustee, owns SAMsARA Wines—a boutique winery in Santa Barbara that specializes in pinot noir, syrah, grenache, rosé, and chardonnay—with her husband, Dave. SAMsARA Wines has embraced sustainability, and Szkutak offered insights into the industry’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. She says, “We went to lightweight bottles in 2023 because, for us, sustainability is incredibly important. We’re a SIP (Sustainability in Practice) Certified winery, and so we recognize that the biggest impact on the carbon footprint is the weight of the bottles. Now these bottles are sourced in California, along with our grapes, which are sourced right here in Santa Barbara.”

Chartsiri Sophonpanich was featured in the line-up of distinguished speakers for the 21st Forbes Global CEO Conference, held in Singapore. Over 450 prominent business leaders from around the world were included in this prestigious event. Chartsiri is president of Bangkok Bank.

Martin Rowe is Senior Technical Editor at EE World, one of the WTWH family of publications along with Design World.

Scott Harris joined the Board of Directors for the Discovery Museum in Acton, Mass. A mentor in residence at WPI, he was inducted into WPI’s Hall of Luminaries in 2019, and was awarded the 2012 Robert H. Goddard Alumni Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement. He is also a member of the Technology Advisory Network at WPI. Scott co-founded SolidWorks Corp, a computer-aided design company, and Onshape Inc., which works in full cloud implementation of CAD.

Jason Macari’s business, Phantom Farms Brewery, was featured in an article by The Valley Breeze in Rhode Island. The brewery had a soft opening in November and a full opening at the end of 2023. With a sit-down menu and full view of the brewing process for guests, it features various unique options, including fruited beers.

Laurie Ortolano has received the 2023 First Amendment Award from the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications in Manchester, N.H. The honor is a recognition of Laurie’s steadfast commitment to government transparency, which started with right-to-know requests while she was a member of the Litchfield School Board more than 20 years ago. Since then, an article in the Nashua Patch noted that Laurie has worked tirelessly to get access to public financial documents and development information.

Paul Chodak was named executive vice president and chief operating officer at Eversouce Energy, where he has served in various roles, including executive vice president of generation since 2019. The company announcement says Paul will now lead the electric transmission and distribution, gas, water, electric engineering and grid modernization, enterprise emergency preparedness, offshore wind project execution, operations services, and safety organizations as COO. He is also a veteran, having served 12 years in the U.S. Navy.

Robert Kitchen reports that he has retired from Pfizer after a 33-year career in biopharmaceuticals. In his last role, he helped establish and lead the quality control testing labs for the COVID mRNA vaccine.

Lisa Barton has been named CEO of Alliant Energy, a utility company serving Iowa and Wisconsin. She moves into this role after serving as president and COO of Alliant since February of 2023. Lisa began her role on Jan. 1, 2024.

Larry LaFreniere, CEO and president of Electric Supply Center, an electric and light distributor based in New England, has announced a new partnership with one of Boston’s most beloved sports franchises: the Boston Bruins. Electric Supply Center is now the team’s official electrical supply distributor. In an announcement, Larry remarked, “As we join forces with the Boston Bruins, we’re reminded of the parallels between our two worlds—high-level competitive stakes, excellence in all aspects of our work and the relentless pursuit of greatness. We’re honored to be the driving force behind those who build, and now to be part of the foundation that helps propel the Boston Bruins to new heights.” 

Tim Membrino has joined cancer detection firm Mercy BioAnalytics in Natick, Mass., as vice president for program and portfolio management. He previously led product development and operations at Quanterix Corporation as vice president for program and portfolio management. “I’m thrilled to join an executive team that embraces program and portfolio management best practices paired with robust clinical development efforts as we drive Mercy’s test portfolio through the product realization life cycle,” he writes.

Joshua “JP” Onffroy became the vice president of research and development at Johnson & Johnson, where he leads engineering, digital, and clinical teams in delivering robotic hardware and software in the area of endoluminal diagnosis and treatment of cancer and kidney stones. He says, “My WPI foundation continues to empower and embolden my career journey, underpinning a lifelong learning mindset that has encouraged my experience in both hardware and software engineering and has enabled me to cross the chasm from high-tech product development into the medical device space.”

Leila Carvajal Erker founded Cocoa Supply, a company that imports pasteurized cacao pulp from cacao farms in Ecuador and works with brewers to figure out its best use in the brewing process. She was interviewed in the Bean to Barstool podcast about her work.

Jeevan Ramapriya was named executive director of the Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment (MOITI). MOITI plays a crucial role in positioning Massachusetts on the global stage, growing its economic competitiveness, and strengthening its relationships with international partners. “I am incredibly honored and thrilled to join the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment,” he says. “I’m looking forward to creating jobs and leveraging my international network to further global opportunities throughout the Commonwealth as part of Team Massachusetts.” He was previously a managing director in State Street’s regulatory, industry, and government affairs department, where he was responsible for state government relations and public policy–related activities. Before entering public service, he worked as a technology and management consultant with Accenture, assisting in implementing customer relationship management solutions for Fortune 500 companies.

Liz Beatty, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Inato, is working to combat underrepresentation in clinical trials, she tells Outsourcing Pharma. At Inato, a clinical trials platform, Liz focuses on the complex problems of ensuring that access to new and potentially life-saving treatment is equally available to and inclusive of all through
clinical trials.

Steve Flannery was appointed senior vice president and general manager for Avery Dennison Materials Group EMENA. His role oversees the organization’s short- and long-term business, financial, and operating objectives. He has worked for Avery Dennison for over 22 years in the fields of innovation, sales, marketing, and operations.

Deepthi Bathina served as a panelist during the College of Healthcare Information Management Executive Fall Forum in November. Deepthi is the founder and CEO of RhythymX AI, a health company using generative AI to help doctors deliver hyper-personalized patient care. The panel, titled “Helpful or Hype? Emerging Applications of Generative AI in Healthcare,” discussed how generative AI is rapidly changing the healthcare industry and the way we talk about health.

Liz Hitchcock and WPI Trustee Jeremy Hitchcock ’04 celebrated the opening of their Manchester Distillery, in Manchester, N.H., last summer, according to the NH Business Review. The distillery produces premium, American-style gin and vodka, with plans to distill whiskey in the near future.

Anil Ranganath was appointed senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary of TransMedics, a medical technology company that is transforming organ transplant therapy for patients with end-stage lung, heart, and liver failure. “It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to join TransMedics at such an exciting time for the company,” he says. “I look forward to collaborating with the entire team to support a range of growth initiatives and strategies designed to provide industry leading technology, service, and clinical care to the transplant community.”

Gina Aquilano was a featured speaker at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Women in Engineering Leadership Summit this past November. She is an analog devices fellow and senior technology director for the Automotive Electrification and Sustainable Energy Business Unit, where “she drives advanced technology development and system initiatives to support future growth and drive industry-level impact,” according to the IEEE website.

Ryan McDevitt and Matt Shea’s company Benchmark Space Systems—which they founded in 2017 and for which they serve as chief executive officer and chief product officer, respectively—was recently profiled in VTDigger for its successful work in satellite propulsion systems. This summer, the company received $33 million in Series B funding and announced a nearly $3 million U.S. Air Force contract to test safer and more affordable satellite thrusters. Benchmark also expanded with a move into a 40,000 square-foot testing and manufacturing facility in Burlington, Vt.

Sam Feller shared a post from his Awkward Engineer blog about his efforts to counter the habit-forming nature of smartphones and internet use. “Rather than blocking or limiting access to the internet, my idea is to modify websites/apps so that they are less rewarding, which will make it easier for me to control my usage to a more reasonable level.”

Adam Young has served in the U.S. Marines since graduation from WPI. Rising through the ranks, he is currently a lieutenant colonel and most recently served as the operations officer and executive officer at 2nd Marines, where he was deployed to the southwest border in support of U.S. Border Patrol. He was selected to assume command of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines in the spring of 2024. He has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat “V,” and the Combat Action Ribbon. He currently lives in North Carolina.

Ryan Graves was featured in an article by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette about his time as a Navy pilot and his testimony in D.C. about his witness to unidentified aerial phenomena. “UAPs are in our airspace, but they are grossly underreported,” he testified. “These sightings are not rare or isolated, they are routine. Military air crew and commercial pilots—trained observers whose lives depend on accurate identification—are frequently witnessing these phenomena.” Ryan founded the nonprofit Americans for Safe Aerospace, a haven for UAP witnesses often afraid to come forward for fear of repercussions. He hosts a podcast that discusses the latest research on UAPs and has appeared in other podcasts to discuss his experiences.

Funmi Ayobami joined the UMass Chan Medical School Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) in the role of associate dean for student success and engagement. She leads GSBS initiatives in student advocacy, success, and retention, as well as communication, community building, and engagement through development of policy and academic programing. She has a decade of experience in research, education and mentoring, and development and implementation of student success programing at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Kyle Powers writes, “I hope all is well up on Tech Hill! I graduated from the Craft Brewer Apprenticeship program with American Brewers Guild (ABG) in November and am preparing to make a career transition from pharmaceutical manufacturing to the craft beer industry.”

Dave Coughlin, MBA, was a panelist at a GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade)-sponsored discussion on formal vs. informal leadership, which took place in December 2023 at WPI’s Seaport facility in Boston. Currently vice president of growth data science at Barton Associates, Dave is the author and architect of Entry Level Escape. He is an analytics executive with experience at large companies like CVS Health and PwC.

John Guerra, IMGD, released a game, Cobalt Core, on Steam in November 2023. John is the lead gameplay designer at Rocket Rat Games, a small independent studio. In addition to design, he’s also involved with programming, production, and story writing. His prior game, Sunshine Heavy Industries, received an Independent Game Festival Honorable Mention for Excellence in Design in 2022.

Jesse Lehman reports he is now a PhD candidate at UMass Chan Medical School. He uses RNA sequencing approaches and quantitative analyses to determine how quickly mRNAs from different genes are produced and matured. “I came to graduate school to learn how to define and address my own complex biological questions,” he says. “The qualifying exam process reinforced the importance of research autonomy and self-discipline. When I left the exam room, I felt validated in my scientific ability and ready to truly dive into my thesis work.”

Zhuofan (Norberta) Lu appeared in an EE World profile about her work during her summer 2023 internship at Transaera, a Boston-area start-up develop-ing more energy-efficient cooling systems. Noberta, who is currently working toward her MS in robotics engineering at WPI, credits her grandfather, who worked as a radar engineer for the Chinese Air Force, with piquing her interest in engineering. She is especially aware of the need for a diverse engineering workforce. “People with different backgrounds approach problem solving differently,” she said in the article, “especially when it comes to user needs. Diversity in project teams broadens the team’s perspective. Not only do you need different backgrounds, but you also need people with different skills to solve problems.”

Miles Nallen was a panelist at a GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade)–sponsored discussion on formal vs. informal leadership, which took place in December 2023 at WPI’s Seaport facility in Boston. Miles is a strategic account manager at Tulip Interfaces, a frontline operations software company based in Somerville, Mass.

Jeremy Trilling offered tours of his solar-powered innovation studio The ToolBus at the
Craft & Creativity Showcase held in Manchester, N.H. in August 2023, according to
an article in the New Hampshire Business Review. The ToolBus is a makeshift makerspace retrofitted in a school bus that houses 3D printers, laser-cutting tools, digital innovations, and much more.