Many of you who are not engineering majors may not know Bill Mnich. Mnich, a computer technican, is actively involved with supporting the Laboratory Introduction to Embedded Control and Introduction to Engineering Electronics core engineering classes.
He purchases supplies for the labs and is responsible for maintaining the computers in the labs in addition to the smart cars. Mnich put together 42 of the 54 smart cars used in the LITEC course. However most of his work involves repairing the electronics.
Mnich’s job always keeps him busy with things to do. “The one thing about [Rensselaer] ... You think you’ve seen it [all] here but you haven’t. I see different things every day. You never know what you’re going to run into. You’re never going to get bored [working here].” At Rensselaer, Mnich most enjoys the relationships he’s built with the student population over the years. Many of the students he has worked with during his time here have become RPI administrators.
“That’s probably what keeps me here. I’ve had a very good relationship with students. It’s very neat to see students come back to visit. [I was] a small part of their success, but they remember that.” said Mnich. “Watching creativity—it’s really awesome.”
Mnich joined MLAC in 1978 as a field engineer providing maintance to terminals and worked with the company for 10 years. Because MLAC’s biggest customer was RPI, he often did support work on the terminals that existed on the campus then. “I spent a lot of time here,” said Mnich.
In 1986 John Cole offered Mnich a job at Rensselaer—coincidentally, MLAC was on the decline. “I grabbed it up ... The timing was right,” said Mnich. He then spent about seven years with the Electrical Computing Systems division maintaining the graphics. After the computer systems were moved to the CII, Mnich assisted in the wiring and setup of the computers there. When a position to support LITEC became available in 1995, Mnich accepted it.
The LITEC lab originally had 17 Apple workstations and supported project work on intelligent faucet systems before the smart car project was introduced in 1997. The lab, which went through renovations a few years ago, now has 37 Dell computers.
Mnich lives in Loudonville. He is married with three children. His oldest is a network support administrator, his second child is a vice president of a medical supply company, and his youngest is a salesman. In his spare time, Mnich enjoys woodworking and watching both RPI and professional sports.
Mnich was nominated for Poly Person of the Year. Send in your nominations for Poly Person of the Year to features@poly.rpi.edu.
