Sunday, May 17, 2009
Courage to take risks called formula for success
WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
WPI grad Nicole Croteau of Wilbraham, left, advises fellow grad Victoria DeVault of Athol on mortarboard placement before ceremonies yesterday. (RICH DUGAS)
By Aaron Nicodemus TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER — Even when Xerox Corp.was “under siege,” company president Ursula M. Burns told graduating students at
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, she always looked forward to coming to work.
Speaking at WPI’s 141st graduation ceremonies yesterday, Ms. Burns called the notion that work is drudgery “nonsense.”
“I know that people are more likely to be successful if they have a passion for what they do,” said Ms. Burns, the first AfricanAmerican woman to lead Xerox Corp. “Make a promise to yourself today. If, down the road, you find that your career is not fun,
revert to my first piece of advice: Change!”
Change was a theme that the speakers yesterday embraced. Yes, the country is mired in a deep economic funk. Yes, jobs are being lost
and people are struggling. But with that challenge comes opportunity, especially for those with the courage to take risks.
“The truth is that the world needs you as never before,” Ms. Burns said. “We’re finding that some of our old assumptions and ideas
don’t work anymore, and we can use people who are willing to ask, ‘Why do we do it that way?’ and ‘How can we do it better?’ ”
Helen Grenier, the co-founder of iRobot Corp., encouraged students to take risks now, while they are not saddled with mortgages and
family responsibilities. She and another MIT graduate founded iRobot right after college, building it into a multimillion dollar
corporation that invented robots which disable bombs and which vacuum floors.
And she had parting advice for the graduates: “Never do a job that a robot can do.”
Ms. Burns and Ms. Grenier each received an honorary doctorate from WPI, as did George C. Messenger, a WPI alumnus and
recognized authority on transient radiation effects on electronics; and Charles M. Vest, president of the National Academy of
Engineering and retired president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
WPI student Alex Forti of Lynn, fresh from four years of working through complex equations and formulas, told his fellow classmates
that he had, indeed, discovered the formula for success. He explained to the crowd the concept of a derivative, which is most simply
defined as a change. A derivative is equivalent to “rise over run,” he said. The more we rise to challenges — and the less we run —
the greater change we will make, he said.
“I never thought I would stumble onto the ‘formula for success’ so easily,” he said. “Mathematically, it just makes sense.”
The class of 2009 presented the school with a check for $27,705 that will pay for an 8-foot-high bronze goat statue that will stand in
front of the school’s planned recreational center, which is on the drawing board. The goat, long the school’s unofficial mascot, will
finally have a permanent place on campus, they said.
“We hope the statue will stand as a symbol of the pride we all have in the WPI community,” said senior Nicholas L. Pelletier.
The school awarded degrees to 955 students yesterday, including its first bachelor of arts to Nicholas D. Amendolare of Plymouth. Mr.
Amendolare received his degree from the newly formed Department of Environmental Studies. The school awarded 617 bachelor of
science degrees, 312 master’s degrees, and 25 doctorates.
The chairman’s Exemplary Faculty Prize, which comes with $10,000, was awarded to WPI mechanical engineering professor Diran
Apelian, who is also director of the college’s Metals Processing Institute.
Graduates from Central Massachusetts are:
Bachelor of Science
Athol: Victoria L. DeVault **.
Auburn: Dennis W. Proulx ** and Jacqui O. Richardson *.
Berlin: Jason DuBois * and Jason M. Sardell **.
Blackstone: Jessy L. Cusack **.
Bolton: David J. Byler and Ryan D. Hartwell *.
Boylston: Benjamin J. Erle and Jessica A. LaGoy.
Charlton: Michelle L. Carbonneau, Nicole M. Maglione ** and Phillip W. Waldron.
Cherry Valley: Robert F. Bernard.
Clinton: Nelio G. Franco Jr.
Dudley: Patrick S. Hill * and Alexander R. Laferriere.
Fitchburg: Brian C. Costa **, Catherine M. Maki and Dylan P. Streb.
Gardner: Christopher Aho, Daniel P. Dahlberg **, Elizabeth C. Ellis * and Timothy J. Glover.
Gilbertville: Daniel D. Harty *.
Grafton: Maggie A. Becker ** and Timothy J. Volpe *.
Holden: David C. Willens **.
Holland: Courtney I. Hardy.
Hopedale: Nikolas K. Ledoux ** and Stephen H. Shin.
Hudson: Zubin H. Patel **, James A. Roumeliotis *, Bart Shappee * and Andrew D. Zafft.
Jefferson: Christopher B. Lyons and Paul J. Trimby *.
Lancaster: Ryan B. Bates.
Leicester: Michael A. Pagonis.
Leominster: Nicholas D. Careau, Bryan A. Ferguson and Soana LaGuerre **.
Lunenburg: Ethan D. Brown and Annemarie Louise Margot Field *.
Marlboro: Daniel F.C. Butay and Alison J. LeFlore **.
Mendon: Adrian A. Farrell **.
Milford: Samantha L. Bullock, Benjamin J. Campbell, Michael C. Carlin, Ryan A. Missaggia and Xing Wei **.
New Braintree: Jason R. Ogasian *.
Northboro: Kevin M. Black and William J. Stanney III *.
Northbridge: John Benton.
Oakham: Michael C. Case.
Oxford: Matthew J. Silva Sa ** and Jennifer Thompson.
Paxton: Joshua R. Brunelle and Daniel J. Smaltz **.
Pepperell: Kyle Gustafson.
Princeton: Julian Dittami, Matthew T. Houde *, Marisol Sanabria-Erazo and Adam D. White **.
Rutland: Margaret A. Elbag *.
Quinebaug, Conn: Philip N. Hanson **.
Shrewsbury: Travis J. Abele, Daniel Carney **, Michael A. DeMalia Jr. *, Hyungjoon Kim **, Samuel L. Raj **, Dhruv Sarin **,
Daniel W. Tennant ** and Matthew T. Warner *.
Spencer: James R. Letourneux *.
Sterling: Jennifer A. Himottu **.
Sutton: Eileen M. Gribouski and Joseph A. Krasinskas **.
Thompson: Andres D. Lopez **.
Upton: Jonathan D. Baldiga * and James G. Cialdea Jr. *.
Uxbridge: Alexander R. Goudas and Allison P. Smyth **.
Ware: Tanya S. Soffen *.
Webster: Nicole M. Nelson and Christopher J. Stefaniak.
West Brookfield: Alexander G. Christakis **.
Westboro: Syed M. Ali **, Julie M. Hickman **, Ehsun M. Siddiqui and Nadia S. Zahid *.
Westminster: Thomas J. Lynch IV, David P. Munger ** and Nicholas L. Pelletier *.
Whitinsville: Michael J. Susienka **.
Winchendon: Brian C. Benson Jr. *.
Worcester: Gene R. Abbascia Jr. *, Chukwunomso Agunwamba *, Haseeb Ali **, Dante Amoroso **, Kenneth J. Barnett **, Milton
J. Bermejo Calle, Alexander P. Chang *, Eugene Choi **, Leonard M. Cohen, Gregory A. Cole *, Matthew D. Dailey **, Albedith
Diaz *, Chad M. Farrell Jr., Millisent Fury Hopkins *, Elizabeth Glasson *, Olga L. Guizado Arosemena *, James O. Hanlan *, Tahsin
Hassan **, Shinya Iguchi *, Nicholas B. LeCompte **, Alexander L. Levy *, Timothy L. Lontz *, Sean M. Mahoney *, Towa
Matsumura **, Mallory R. McMurrough *, George M. Mungai *, Ashkan Nowtash, Alix R. Orton *, Karen A. O’Sullivan, Olusope
M. Otuyelu, William R. Owens III *, Besnik Pashaj, Gregory D. Pierre-Louis, Cecil Piya *, Joseph G. Politz **, Jordan Preve *, Laura
A. Saltzman **, Sean Seymour, Francis S. Song *, Eric B. Sutman *, Boris A. Svirchuk *, Jan C. Thomas, Douglas K. Tischer **,
Andrew V. Tsitsilianos, Maxwell Welker, Alexander V. Yeganov, An T. Zacharia *, Muxun Zhao ** and Shengshi Zhao **.
Master of Business Administration
Leominster: John T. Powell II.
Milford: Raymond F. Howell Jr.
Northboro: Chibing Liu.
Northbridge: David P. Gardner.
Westboro: David I. Burke and Amy M. Finn.
Worcester: Zhenjing Chen, Rickerson Felix, Lukasz Adam Glinski, Kristen M. Leboeuf and Oscar X. Quint.
Master of Engineering
Gardner: Minh T. Duong.
Leominster: Samuel Dwomoh.
Worcester: Lakshmi P. Alaparthi, Paul Krupaker Reddy Dasari, Viren J. Gabani, Allison M. Hunt, Shannon E. O’Toole and Abhijeet
S. Singhvi.
Master of Mathematics for Educators
Auburn: Lisa Marie Sypek.
Holden: Joseph P. Sullivan.
Pomfret: Jinyung Rumsey.
Worcester: Jennifer L. Durost and Irgena A. Lito.
Master of Science
Auburn: Michael J. Santoro and Justin M. Woodard.
Barre: Amy H. Warren.
Bolton: Ferdinand V. Bernabe.
Boylston: Karl Shen.
Charlton: Carl W. Nelson and Michael A. Orrell.
Clinton: Angela C. Fisher, Mark J. Kozar and Joseph W. Lapointe.
Grafton: Michael W. Gallagher.
Harvard: Jeffrey A. LaPierre.
Holden: Andrea K. Arakelian.
Hopkinton: Kathleen Marie Smart.
Hudson: Yunzhe Vivian Liu.
Lancaster: Sergio E. Obando Quintero.
Leicester: Sarah C. Miczek and Ashley M. Poulin.
Lunenburg: Jason F. Kutarnia.
Marlboro: Jeremy L. Cote, Kevin J. Cox, Christopher L. Darmetko, Matthew T. Fulgenzi, Stuart J. Hollis, Deepa Manur and Rachel E.
Ronayne.
Mendon: Aaron S. Ritchie.
Northboro: Megan K. Murphy, Budhinath Padhy and Gary A. Tishue.
Northbridge: Gregory E. Riley.
Oxford: Beth A. Higgins.
Shrewsbury: Paul C. Balutis, Abhishek Chaturvedi and Wujun Zhu.
Southbridge: Lizbeth L. LePage.
Sutton: Travis T. Grant.
Townsend: Daniel S. Courcy.
Ware: James F. Russell.
Westboro: Amrita Chakraborti and George W. Spencer Jr.
Worcester: Jonathan D. Adler, Amit K. Bagadia, Hua Bai, Prasanna V. Banwat, Adwait A. Belsare, Parth Bhuptani, Stephen W.
Black, Michael J. Brown, Justin R. Carmichael, Laura A. Clark, Jason R. Cox, Kenneth A. Dawe, McConnell W. Dickson, Xiaoxuan
Duan, Himanshu R. Dukhande, Jessica T. Farrell, Brian M. Foley, Patrick W. Gemme, Puja S. Ghatpande, Archana Goyal, Jeanniffer
S. Guerrier, Yu Guo, Robert S. Harito, Deli Hong, Yin Hu, Thomas H. Huynh, Abhishek S. Inamdar, Michael C. James, Artur A.
Janc, Mei Jin, Sujit A. Kadam, Parul P. Kalve, Navroz V. Karovadiya, Piyush M. Karwa, Paul G. Kassebaum, Spence M. Konde,
Kenneth L. Lamkin, Jonathan C. Legare, Ryan C. Lehrmitt, Yiwen Li, Haodong Liang, Pree Limpisuree, Bo-Huei Lin, Dayang Liu,
Wen Di Liu, Martin E. Maccaferri, Amey A. Malekar, Aditi Mathur, Richard W. McGuinness, Terumi Okano, George M. Oprica,
Zachary A. Pardos, Chirag B. Parikh, Shaun M. Price, Amol S. Ragade, Deepa Ram, Cody B. Rank, Trupti N. Sanikop, Gregory S.
Schrecke, Siddharth Sharma, Sijing Shen, Eric A. Stein, Hubert Stepien, Ning Sun, Vadim A. Svirchuk, Yaobin Tang, Wei Tian,
Jacob H. Troiano, Di Wang, Feng Xu, Haiyang Yang, Zhou Yuan, Dawei Zhang and James A. Zimmerman.
Doctor of Philosophy
Holden: Yubing Wang.
Southbridge: Margo T. Frey.
Worcester: Katie A. Bush, Bao-Liang Chen, Marta Dabros, Brian A. Dewhirst, Hamid R. Ghadyani, Mohammad Heidari, Xueying
Huang, Yatao Liu, Ryan T. Marinis, Hala Nabil Mokbel, Erdinc Ozturk, Murali Murugavel Manjakkattuvalasu Swathanthira K,
Kimon Symeonidis and Siju Thomas.
Honors key: * indicates distinction; ** high distinction.
Awards and Honors
American Chemical Society Undergraduate Award in Analytical Chemistry:
Douglas K. Tischer of Worcester.
American Institute of Chemists Award:
Marta Dabros of Worcester.
American Institute of Chemists Undergraduate Award:
Eugene Choi of Worcester.
Harold S. Black Award:
Towa Matsumura of Worcester.
Computer Science Outstanding Junior Award:
Joseph G. Politz of Worcester.
James F. Danielli Award:
Amy H. Warren of Barre.
Etta Kappa Nu Outstanding Electrical Engineering Senior Tutor Award:
Towa Matsumura of Worcester.
Robert H. Goddard Award:
Dante Amoroso of Worcester.
Goldwater Scholarship:
Daniel J. Smaltz of Paxton and Douglas K. Tischer of Worcester.
Graduate Research Achievement Day Award: Gregory A. Cole and Jason R. Cox of Worcester.
Heald Brothers Scholarship:
Jonathan D. Baldiga of Upton and Christopher J. Stefaniak of Webster.
Edward C. Perry Award:
David C. Willens of Holden and Alexander P. Chang and Alix R. Orton of Worcester.
Alfred R. and Janet H. Potvin Award:
Syed M. Ali of Westboro.
President’s IQP Award:
Jessy L. Cusack of Blackstone, Stephen H. Shin of Hopedale, Nicholas D. Careau of Leominster, Daniel W. Tennant of Shrewsbury,
and Kenneth J. Barnett and Sean Seymour of Worcester.
Provost’s MQP Awards:
Stephen H. Shin of Hopedale, Jason R. Ogasian of New Braintree, Allison P. Smyth of Paxton, Daniel Carney and Daniel W. Tennant
of Shrewsbury, Jennifer A. Himottu of Sterling, David P. Munger and Nicholas L. Pelletier of Westminster, Brian C. Benson Jr. of
Winchendon, and Matthew D. Dailey, Karen A. O’Sullivan, Tahsin Hassan and Douglas K. Tischer of Worcester.
Salisbury Prize:
Zubin H. Patel of Hudson, Alison J. LeFlore of Marlboro, Daniel J. Smaltz of Paxton, Philip N. Hanson of Quinebaug, Joseph A.
Krasinskas of Sutton, Allison P. Smyth of Uxbridge, Alexander G. Christakis of West Brookfield, and Eugene Choi and Joseph G.
Politz of Worcester.
Senior Math Award:
Dante Amoroso and Nicholas B. LeCompte of Worcester.
Sigma Xi Graduate Research Award:
Yatao Liu of Worcester.
Society of Manufacturing Engineers Outstanding Student Award:
David C. Willens of Holden and Sean Seymour of Worcester.
Dr. Neil G. Sullivan ’83 Memorial Award:
Philip N. Hanson of Quinebaug.