The morning started with a serious discussion between notable MANE alumni about their own stories and what they saw in the future of mechanical engineering. John D. Dulchinos ’84, President and Chief Executive Officer of Adept Technology Inc, spoke about how he became interested in robotics and the direction of the field, while Van C. Mow ’62 talked about how his life and the lives of his brothers transformed from being born in China to earning degrees from RPI. Mark I. Goldhammer ’70, Chief Engineer for Airplane Performance in Product Development for Boeing Commercial Airplanes; Mark Little ’82, Senior Vice President and Director of GE Global Research; Fred Ling, University of Texas-Austin; Robert G. Loewy ’47, Georgia Institute of Technology; and Sheldon Weinbaum ’59, City University of New York, also gave interesting perspectives on mechanical engineering’s past, present, and future. The celebration culminated on the ’86 field with a catered barbeque, water guns, and the highlight for many students, professor John Tichy playing with his band, Commander Cody.

A party on the ’86 Field is hard to miss, and consequently the MANE barbeque had a good turnout. But why was the symposium, perhaps one of the most interesting group of speakers who have visited this year, underpublicized and held in the lovely but oh-so-tiny Biotech Auditorium? We know it’s not experimental media or a performing art, but why couldn’t the wonderful space of the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center have been used for the midmorning symposium? Though still enlightening, those who had to sit in the overflow room or watch online did not get the full experience of being in a room with RPI alumnae who are now changing the world. And if the event had been publicized to more than the MANE department, the RPI community could have filled the bigger venue.