Tech Times

Ph.D.’s in Class

Surprise Reveals

Fall 2017The Magazine of

The Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation

Ph.D’s. on the facultyIn which we explore what today’s Technites think, and think about

A noted alum visits Tech 73 years after graduation

Alums thank the alma mater

Floyd Warkol ’65 makes buildings smarter

Inside their heads Doctor in the house? Value Engineer Memorable Return “Dear Brooklyn Tech...”

Fall 2017

The Magazine of The Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation

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Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation, Inc.

29 Fort Greene Place Brooklyn, NY 11217www.bthsalumni.org

Surprise Connections 10Unlikely Encounters 14Rising Stars 15, 17Alumni Foundation Annual Report 19

Lifetime Giving Society 23Class Notes 24Last Word 25

contents Inside Tech 2From the Alumni Foundation President 5Principal’s Letter 5

“I need a supercomputer to do my project”

— A Brooklyn Tech student See page 2

Certified by the Forest Stewardship Coun-cil. The Mark of Responsible Forestry.

Note: All objects shown on cover represent actual responses by actual students to the question, “What’s on your mind?” Thanks to Romy Aran, Madelaine Lebetkin, Ayane Naito, Valmira Popinara and Saikanam Siam.

High school teachers have heard all the excuses, so there was little sympa-thy at first when Irwin Huang ’17 came in with his: “I couldn’t finish the project; I didn’t have the right equipment.”

Until Irwin explained further:“I need a supercomputer.” Irwin, as it happens, is a Weston Research Scholar investigating the behavior of light particles in space, at such an advanced level that profes-sional researchers have taken interest in his work.

“I need supercomputers to simulate a three dimensional quantum ran-dom walk,” he later told TechTimes. His calculations had exhausted the capacity of all commercially available computers and those at Stevens Insti-

tute of Technology, where he interned during his Tech years. Supercomput-ers, however, can do in one day what would take a standard PC 20 years.

The Alumni Foundation’s Weston Research mentors reached high level officials at Brookhaven National Laboratory, who agreed to grant Irwin access to their supercomputer after hear-ing him deliver a graduate-level presentation on his project.

Irwin, now a freshman at Stevens, will continue his research connected to BlueGene, Brookhaven’s supercomputer.

it’s happening at fort greeneplace29

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Ange Louis ’19 was one of a small handful of students in her Brooklyn middle school to gain admission to a specialized high school, and she knows why she succeeded: “I would not be at Brooklyn Tech if it were not for the STEM Pipeline program.”

STEM Pipeline, an Alumni Foundation initiative now in its fourth year with generous support from National Grid, intro-duces middle schoolers from underserved communities to technology and science study — and provides preparation

for the Specialized High School Admissions Test.

Expanded in 2016 thanks to a onetime $250,000 state grant, STEM Pipeline in four years has touched the lives of 169 middle school children. The first two cohorts have reached high school, and the results are:

• 41ofthefirst55participantswereacceptedtoTechoranother specialized high school

• 27ofthe41wereofferedadmissiontoTech• 22ofthe27acceptedtheofferandarenowTechnites• 19ofthe22haveagradeaverageof90orbetterinthe

STEM disciplines

One of those 19 is Ange. In addition to participating in City College of New York research into molecular beam epitaxy* at age 15, she mentors seventh and eighth graders every Saturday morning for the STEM pipeline program.

In addition to helping them with admissions test prep, she teaches them 3D modeling on Autodesk software, of which she is a certified user by virtue of her freshman year course-work at Tech.

Of her own experience, she says: “The day of the admis-sions test, all my friends were nervous and I felt prepared. And when I got to classes at Tech, I kept thinking ‘Oh my gosh, I already know how to do this.’”

Of the STEM Pipeline program she says: “It is amazing that the doors to a specialized high school are being opened.”

* The depositing of a thin film crystalline overlayer on a crystalline substrate, currently a key tool in nanotechnology development. Reflecting the growing importance in all professions of “digital citizen-

ship,” computer science is now a mandatory course for all Brooklyn Tech students.

The class, Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles, is college-level. Tech being Tech, it is taken in the sophomore year. “Brooklyn Tech students have shown us time and time again that they are ready to be challenged,” says assistant principal Rosabeth Eddy.

The course was added to the curriculum last year. More than an introduction to coding, it emphasizes creative problem solving and real-word applications, and focuses on exploring how computing and technology shape today’s world.

“These are skills to which all students need to be exposed,” Ms. Eddy adds.

Every generation of Tech-nite has had its own iconic student project: In the pre-digital age it was the leg-endary Step V Block. Other cohorts had their equiva-lent. Today’s Tech experi-ence is more diverse and perhaps, dare we say, more advanced. Here, two current day examples:

Numeric Base Converter: Daniel Khait ’17, Mechatronics and Robotics

“The software program here is LabVIEW 2016. The primary hardware is a myRIO microcon-troller. Daniel built a circuit and designed a pro-gram that converts a numeric value to another number system.” — Teacher Anthony Pigis

“It shows how a student can imitate a conver-sion calculator using nothing but some physical accessories and some sparks of ingenuity.” — Daniel

Robotic Device with Sensory Compo-nents: Lydia Stanford ’18, Mechatronics and Robotics

“The software program is ROBOTC for VEX Cor-tex and the primary hardware is the VEX Cortex microcontroller with VEX robotic components. Lydia’s robotic device is programmed to: • Autonomouslydrivethroughamazewith

predetermined start and end points.• Operateanddriveguidedbyajoystickor

controlling device.• Navigateamazewithsensors,andabump

switch and limit switch to detect obstructions.”— Teacher Anthony Pigis

State Backs Tech Pipeline Project

Anybody Have a supercomputer for Irwin?

32

codeEveryone learns to

Made in Brooklyn (Tech)

Ange Louis ’19, (inset at Tech as a middle school participant in Pipeline, and today as a Technite) is the first Pipeline graduate accepted into Tech’s prestigious Weston Research Scholar program.

Below, three alums recall the defining class projects of their time. What was yours? Tell us.

Mark Perelman ’03: “Tooth-pickbridges,woodenbenches and 25-second marble machines.”

Donovan Wickline ’88 : “The mallet we made in machine shop.”

Laurie Zephyrin ’92: “We made ship models in shop.”

The theme of this issue is “Inside a Technite’s Head.” It explores what motivates, inspires, and drives our amazing students. Having graduated Tech so long ago (1970), I can’t pretend to fully understand what is in the head of every one of our 5,900 students. No one could. But I do have a few observations. The challenges Tech students face today are as real and confusing as they were for my generation, and maybe more so. My generation had Vietnam, the fight for civil rights, the assassinations of Kennedy and King, Watergate, and a counterculture urging us to “tune in, turn on, and drop out.” Today’s students are coming of age in a post 9/11 world with terrorism, Afghanistan and Iraq, the Great Recession and wide-spread distrust of government. Many of us, not just the young, have a growing fear of the future. But, like my generation, today’s Technites have hope, courage and a determined drive to overcome what for many would be overwhelming challenges. Fundamentally, today’s Technites have faith in themselves. By getting the very best education and working very hard, they believe they can achieve and succeed. I saw these traits in Bridget (not her real name), a Tech student I hired some years ago to do office work at my law firm. Bridget was in the law and society major and wanted someday to become an attorney. During the interview for a sum-mer job, I discovered that Bridget, at 16, was the sole person working to support her family. Her mother was dead, her father was disabled, and her sister was a single mom with an infant. On top of that, Bridget had just lost her part-time grocery store cashier’s job. I immediately hired her for slightly fewer hours and a bit more pay. She con-tinued to work at the firm after graduat-ing and while a student at Baruch College. After her father died, she followed her dream of studying abroad, transferring to the 500-year-old University of Aberdeen. Last year Bridget returned to New York, with a Scottish husband in tow, to start law school. Bridget typifies today’s Technites – moving forward regardless of the chal-lenges, with hope and confidence in the future. But like Bridget, today’s Technites also need a bit of help. Please do your part; give them an internship, a summer job or become a mentor. And, contribute to the Alumni Foundation, so these kids get the cutting edge education they deserve and need to achieve and succeed.

Larry Cary ’70PresidentBrooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation

Meeting the Challenge Larry Cary ’70

From T he Principal David Newman I have called this fine institution my home for 18 years as a teacher, head of Health and Safety and Assistant Principal of Su-pervision. Last January I was bestowed the honor of becoming Acting Principal of Brooklyn Tech when Principal Randy Asher joined Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña’s team as the senior ad-viser for talent management. In addition, Principal Asher main-tains a connection to Tech as a Master Ambassador Principal in an advisory capacity to myself. I aspire to continue the great work of my predecessor in STEM education and maintaining and taking Brooklyn Tech to greater heights as a premier STEM school in New York City and the country at large. I have surely hit the ground running, introducing a new major, LIU PharmD, which upon completion guarantees students admission into the Doctor of Phar-macy program at LIU. We now have a state of the art flight simulator to be utilized by our Aerospace Engineering students. In a true partnership between the Alumni Foundation and the administration of the school, we were awarded a $750,000 grant from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams to build a new forensic science laboratory/classroom. This will enable students to explore the field of forensic sci-ence with modern technology, bringing a real world work experience to our students and rendering an environment that taps into how students learn today. I am grate-ful to Matt Mandery and Liz Sciabarra of the Alumni Foundation who assisted me greatly in writing the grant application. This is the largest single grant ever received by the school from any government agency. In addition, we have secured a $200,000 grant from New York City council-member and alum Laurie Cumbo ’93 to build a modern, cutting edge strength and materials lab. I plan to move forward with seeking funds to build a new anatomy lab to facilitate virtual anatomical discovery to prepare our students for the major advancements technology is bringing to the practice. With these funds and plans, we are creating exciting new hubs and iconic class-rooms for learning in the modern world at Brooklyn Tech; I cannot wait to create these new facilities, and for each of you to see them! I look forward to meeting you at the Titans of Tech dinner, career day and Homecoming!

David NewmanPrincipal

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Tech Alum Penelope “Penny” Kokkinides ’87 was one of eight female health care experts invited to the White House to brief the President and top officials on the potential impact on women of health care legislation.Kokkinides, an Alumni Foundation board member, is the chief administrative officer of InnovaCare Health, a New Jersey-based medical management company. Her company has extensive operations in Puerto Rico, and she spoke about how proposals to reform health care would affect the island.

Penny Kokkinides ’87 (second from left) earlier this year at the White House

You did it once… when barely into your teens, at that. But could you do it again….today?Are you still smart enough to qualify for a seat in Brooklyn Tech?Below, some sample questions from the New York City Specialized High Schools Admissions Test. See how you do.(answers on inside back cover)

Alright, let’s say you could pass the admissions test.Could you get out of Tech today – pass your exams, earn stellar grades and earn a diploma?In truth, almost no one flunks out of the 21st century Tech. Still, we can’t help but wonder – how would we fare in Advanced Placement Calculus, Computer Science Principles, and the rest of Tech’s chal-lenging curriculum?Below, questions from actual 2017 Tech final exams.(answers on inside back cover)

(Our) Penny Found in the White House A 15 year old sophomore’s social media savvy netted Tech’s music department a $10,000

grant, and brought a famous performer to the school for a free concert. Kaskade is a multiple Grammy-nominated DJ and producer whom The New York Times called “the new face of electronic dance music.” Burlyn Andall-Blake is a violin-playingTechnite who likes Kaskade’s music. When she learned of a social media contest with his concert and the grant as first prize, she mobilized Tech students to enter en masse. They did, and they won: Tech was named the nation’s “most engaged” high school. The music department will use the grant on new instru-ments and supplies which Burlyn, an orchestra member since freshman year, knew were needed. “This contest was the perfect opportunity for us to get the funds,” she said.

Student Spins A Musical Win

Could You Get iN? Could You Get OUT?

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2. Principles of Engineering: A tow truck used a winch to lift a 10,000 N car, 15 m out of a ditch. if the power of the winch system is 750 W, how long did it take to get the car out of the ditch?

1. Digital Systems Design:

3. Organic Chemistry: Show the synthesis of the desired product from the starting materials.

CH2O

CH3

and

EtOCH3

O

Ofrom

O

O

Solution:

EtOCH3

O

OEtO

CH2-

O

O

O

O+ Na+ + EtOH CH2

O

CH3

NaOEt

- EtOH

O

O

-Na+NaOEt

-EtOH

O

O

CH3

O-

O

O

H2C

O

-

Na+

Na+

O

O- Na

+

O

H+, Δ

- H2O

O

O

aldol tautomerization

Michael addition

Burlyn Andall-Blake and Kaskade

1.

2.

3.

54

“I’m not really special. I’m normal in the sense of what I’ve been given. However in the sense of determination, and what I’m taking from what I’ve been given – that’s where the real difference lies. I am determined to

gain something from the education I’m being provided.” — A Freshman

Aboard any packed morning-rush Brooklyn-bound train, it’s easy to pick out the Technites amid the varied clusters of students from schools all over the city. Just tune out the usual teen talk, and sharpen your ears for drifts of conversation about… calculus, coding and college. Tech Times got to wondering:What thoughts fill the minds of today’s Technites? What are they really thinking as they excel, achieve and grow?

What gets them up in the morning? What gets them through the day? What keeps them up at night? (Hint: it often involves home work.)

Running a four-year marathon through one of the nation’s most challenging high school cours-es, they’re reaching for a coveted spot in a lead-ing college that will position them for careers of achievement and influence. Many of them, soon if not already, will be the most highly educated members their families have ever produced.

Eavesdropping on a crowded subway train can be difficult. Not to mention impolite. But… we wanted to know. So we invited a group of them to share their thoughts. To offer us older alums a glimpse of what – besides a whole lot of smarts – resides inside a Technite’s head.

Ange Louis• Electricalengineering,2019• TakingfourAdvancedPlacementclasses(andfour

others) this year• FirststudenttoenterTechthroughtheSTEM

Pipeline program and become a Weston Research Scholar

• “Ireallywanttobalanceallthethingsinmylifeandmake sure I’m happy with how things are going.”

Joey Jiemjitpolchai• Softwareengineering,2017• StonyBrookUniversityClassof2021• President,programmingteam• BTHSConEdisonsummerintern• “Throughcomputerscienceandcoding,youhavefreedom,power,control.”

Madelaine Lebetkin• Aerospaceengineering,2019• Performsinbandandtheatre• “Ihavebeenraisedtofocusonthe‘destination’orgoal,butitisimportanttoenjoyyourpathtoit.Idonotwanttomissmyentirelifeonmywaytomygoals.Thejourneyisthechancetoexperi-menttowardsthedestination.”

What MoTIVaTEs You?“My parents are my primary motivation.” – Joey

“I like seeing the transformation when someting I drew on paper comes to life with 3D printing and I actually hold it in my hands.” – Ange

“Fear of the future, the college process, family expectations, personal goals and sometimes – competition.” – Maddie

What’s

a Technite’s Head?

76

Theresa Antony• Classof2020• WestonResearchScholar• “BrooklynTechsofarhasbeenajourney.Therearemanythingsstilltoexplore.”

• “Scienceisamazing!”

Hans Montero• SoftwareEngineering,2017• ColumbiaUniversityClassof2021• VPandWebmaster,NationalHonor

Society• ConEdisonintern• “IhitthesnoozebuttonmoreoftenthanIshould.”

Simrun Bose • Classof2020• WestonResearchScholar• Interestsinclude:soccer• “IwanttobesuccessfulinwhateverIdo–academicallyorathletically.Ien-joythethrillofworkingonachalleng-ingproblemandthesatisfactionwhenI’vefinallyfiguredsomethingout.”

James Kettle• Law&Society,2018• Interestsinclude:

“ferocious reading” • PresidentofBTHSskiclub• “Domoreofwhatyouwant,andfollowyourgut.”

I Don’t Leave HoME Without My…

Is it About the JouRnEy or the DEsTInaTIon?“The journey is where all the stories reside, where all the growth and development happens.” – Joey

“I think it’s about the journey. You can reach your goal, but you have to live with how you got to it.” – Ange

“I understand that the journey is important, but I think I will feel kind of incomplete if I go through the whole journey just not to make it to the desti-nation.” – Simrun

– Theresa – Hans– Joey– Karina

“My watch. It won’t die like my phone.” – Simrun

“Pen and paper in my pocket.” – Dominic

“A case full of mechanical pencils and pens in every color imaginable.” – Ayane

“Sweet Mint Orbit gum. It helps me stay focused.”– Maddie

“My notebook. In case creativity strikes.”

– James

Karina Popovich• Mechatronics/Robotics,2019• Interests:“Inventing…helpingstudentsinthetechfield…studyingabroadandresearchingneurology.”

• “Often,Ididnotsharemyideasforfearotherswouldstealthem.Thenamentortoldme,‘Nobodywilleverbeaspassionateaboutyourideaasyou.’AfterthatIbegantoopenupandshare,andthishelpedmeimprovemyideas.”

Ayane Naito• Softwareengineering,2019• Likesto:solvepuzzles• Interests:violin,coding,art• “Weknowwecangetbyonthebareminimum,butwechoosetotrytoimprove,topushourselves,becauseweknowwecandobetter.”

Do You Need coffEE to Get Through The Day?

aDVIcE I’d Give My Younger Self “Don’t stress as much as I did during the first months at Tech. One bad test grade is not going to determine my future.” – Simrun

“Use the center-west staircase, not the east.” – Maddie

“Take a step back from academics and enjoy being with friends and family. Join more clubs.” – Hans

“Spend more time doing what you love. Spend less time procrastinating and just start doing” – Dominic

“Never put off anything to the last minute. Always know your limits in terms of responsibility and work-load.” – Karina

“Be open to change. Talk to new people: everyone is just as awkward as you.” – Joey

Yes:

– Ayane– Karina– Joey– Hans – James (“Too much.”)

No:

– Maddie (“Energems - a chocolate energy supplement”) – Ange – Simrun– Dominic (“Just tea.”)– Theresa

Dominic Yong• Mechatronics/Robotics,2018• Interestsinclude:engineering,physics,

ballroom dancing• Goals:attendatopcollege,workforamajor

company, start a business “that helps the world and inspires young people.”

• “I’dliketoseemoreclubslikeMakerspaceandroboticsthatpromotetheSTEMculture in Tech.” 98

Ray McNeary ’57 and John Stagnaro ’57 (deceased)

Ray: “I played golf and went for pizza and a beer in Rhinebeck, NY with a guy every weekend for 15 years. One day I told him ‘John, I’m going to my 25th high school reunion next week.’ He said, ‘Funny, so am I.’ I told him, ‘But mine is in Brooklyn.’ He said, ‘Hey, so is mine…’”

Tom Carroll ’67 and Jerry Moy ’67

Worked side by side at aT&T for five years. Several years later, on the eve of his 25th BTHS class reunion, Tom showed his daughter his Blueprint yearbook… and was startled to find a page bearing the photo – and signa-ture – of ex-colleague Jerry.

Readers: Did you have a similar experience? Send it to Ned Steele ’68 neds@mediaimpact.biz, editor of TechTimes -- who grilled his medical care provider Marie Chan ’87 extensively about her higher education credentials before start-ing a treatment…. but never asked her about high school…. until he bumped into her one evening… at a BTHS alumni event.

Sophia Khan ’98 and Haig Rickerby ’76

Her recollection: as a dental student, she asked her mentor of several years, Dr. Rick-erby, to review her c.v. and the bond was discovered.

His recollection: a reference he made in class to his high school architecture teacher sparked her curiosity, since he was now a dentist.

Dr. Rickerby influenced his mentee to join a volunteer dentist group serving impoverished children in Jamaica – a life-changing activity she and he continue to do nearly every year.

Eddy Valasquez ’90 and Shaina Doherty ’01

Faculty colleagues at BTHS since 2014… un-aware of their alma mater connection for three years…. or that Eddy had been a teacher when Shaina was a student… until summoned to a story meeting for this magazine at which teach-ers were asked to state their credentials.

She was the professor, he the student in a Carnegie Mellon University architecture class.

IRFaN: “I research my professors before semesters begin. I had my suspicions when I saw she was part of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. They were confirmed one day in a class discussion about high school experiences, and I mentioned elevator crowding.”

ERICa: “CMU’s architecture program is one of the best in the coun-try and has very high standards. Irfan exhibits all the qualities of a prepared, smart and enthusiastic student. Exactly what we would expect from BTHS.”

T2: What grade did you get?IRFaN: I got an ‘A.’

Irfan Haider ’14 and Erica D Cochran Hameen ’92

WENT THERE TOO?It Took A While, But These Technites

Finally Made the Connection.

Talking With….FLoYD WARKoL

T2: What is “value engineering?”A.: It is about offering choices that owners don’t realize they have. We look at a build-ing plan and make recommendations that save money or energy, all with the engineer’s approval. We are contractors: we understand owner costs.

T2: New York’s skyline has changed dramati-cally. What’s new and different inside those new skyscrapers?A.: What you’re looking at is larger buildings, and smarter buildings. You enter the lobby, and the building knows you’re coming. Your iPhone tells it who you are and where you’re going, and the elevator takes you to that floor and that floor only. Smart buildings are prewired for all your possible needs. It’s a fi-ber network highway, running through the building.

T2: What runs on that highway?A.: Security, wi-fi: You always see people walking into a hallway, or toward a window, to get better cell phone reception. Not a problem in new buildings. And systems talk to each other and to us: an air conditioning unit can tell me the leaving temperature and the returning temperature. A chiller will tell me what tonnage it’s drawing, what the water

temperature is going in and out.

T2: So smart buildings are more efficient and economical?A.: You can know where every bit of electric usage is. That helps you shed load, because now you know where the load is. If you have a water leak: the water bill comes only every six months, so you get a bill you didn’t expect for $100,000, and then you know you have a leak. Well, guess what? I could put a device in the building that will tell you instantly. Wa-ter treatment and concern for Legionnaire’s disease: smart meters today will tell you im-mediately if you have a problem.

T2: The new towers even look different. How has technology affected design?A.: All that curved glass? What you can build today, you couldn’t draw not too long ago. You couldn’t dimension it. Square buildings are one thing, but oval shaped with arcs go-ing this way and that way – you have to 3D model that. You think it’s easy putting in pipes and ducts on an angle? Well, what do you do when it curves?

T2: What’s new in energy savings?A.: LEED was the first standard, but the city is moving toward further energy reduction:

better glass, better walls and insulation, better U-values (heat transmission through building elements). And co-generation. The Hudson Yards complex will have 13.4 megawatts of co-generation, plus additional emergency power. If there’s a blackout, the co-gen takes over and you’ll see all our buildings lit up. Not just life safety but enough power to light up the entire complex.

T2: So technology lets the architects draw it and the builders build it. It sounds like the distinc-tions from past days – mechanical engineering for builders like you, coding for the computer crowd, are merging. A.: Now those paths are coming together.

T2: A lot exciting is happening in your industry. Are young people sufficiently aware of the op-portunities?A.: This is a monster industry that doesn’t at-tract as much talent as it should. It is very rewarding. Think about it: you do something, it stays there. Every time you pass by, you know you had something to do with it. That’s some-thing that should be turning students on. But we are one of those industries that aren’t taught in school. Teach them, and young people will find an industry that wants them.

’65Technology is changing how buildings are built… and how we live and work in them. Floyd Warkol ’65 works right on the cutting edge of the changes.An afterschool job as a contractor’s errand boy on Atlantic Avenue gave Floyd War-kol his start in the construction industry. He came to work in a suit on the day he posed for his yearbook photo — prompting supervisors to try him at a desk job for the day...then the next, and the next. By college, they had him managing projects, and he never looked back. Today he is chairman of the board and CEO of KSW Mechanical LLC, a leading subcontractor, deeply involved in the massive emerging Hudson Yards development. KSW specializes in heating-ventilating-air condition-ing (HVAC) systems, but Warkol describes his work as “value engineering.”

1110

10 Hudson Yards

Dr. MacRae Maxfield• Ph.D: Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University• Teaches advanced chemistry at Tech.• 24 years of corporate and academic research in high-strength nylon nano-

composite superconductors, polymer devices for avionics and fiber optic switching devices.

• His post-doctoral research team won a Nobel Prize for work on conductiv-ity of polyacetalene.

• Worked on team that invented a viable rechargeable lithium ion battery.• Holds 23 patents.• Enriches lessons with spectrometers funded by alumni grants.• “I have personal, hands-on experience with much of the content we teach.

When students see real-world applications of the curriculum, the lesson is more lasting.”

• “Every day I jump out of bed, because it is fun to work with motivated students in an ambient where everyone feels good about what they’re doing.”

Dr. Risa Parlo• Ph.D: Biochemistry, New York University• Collaborating with Rockefeller University scientists on the first web-

based neuroscience high school textbook.• Teaches genetics. anatomy and computer science at Tech.• Consulted and worked in computer programming for 14 years.• Introducing a new class this fall in research methodology.• Married to a Technite (Martin Parlo ’72) who “never stopped talking

about Tech” and influenced her to seek a teaching position in the after-math of 9/11, when she was searching for a more meaningful profession.

• Directed student research that determined through DNA analysis that plant life in New York has changed since Hurricane Sandy.

• “The kids don’t know yet what kinds of research questions a scientist can answer, or what techniques to use. I help them understand.”

• “I teach in a one-of-a-kind genetics laboratory made possible by the Alumni Foundation.”

There’s a Doctor in the House...Quite a few, in fact.

Back in the day, many Brooklyn Tech classrooms were populated by second-career educators, deeply seasoned through years of hands-on industry experience.

Welcome to the 21st century equiva-lent: The high school teacher with a doctoral degree.

Nationally, fewer than one percent of all elementary and secondary teachers have Ph.Ds. At Brooklyn Tech, close to five per-cent do. They enrich the educational ex-

perience in ways that industry veterans of yore could not have imagined.

As Tech stretches beyond advanced place-ment classes with courses even more chal-lenging – genetics, multivariable calculus and organic chemistry to name three – these doctorate teachers “bring a depth of insight into the classroom,” notes Alumni Founda-tion Chief Educational Officer Dr. Mathew Mandery. Some have even played roles in discovering the science their students are now learning.

And with Technites engaging in rigorous regional competitions and extracurricular activities of eye-crossing complexity, the teachers guide, advise and enrich. In the laboratory, especially those frequented by Tech’s young college-level Weston Research Scholars, they introduce the fine points of research methodology.

When the time comes – at age 15 or 16 – for those children to don a white coat and join the bench at a university lab, Tech’s ad-vanced-degreed teachers are mentors. Says just-graduated Marva Tariq ’17, “They are in-

siders. We don’t know the social structure of the laboratory, but they explain it to us.”

An advanced-degreed teacher’s impact can be vast. Consider a recent international technical conference, in San Diego, of pro-fessional engineers. One session’s agenda contained four academic presentations: one by the session leader, the rest by young Brooklyn Tech scholars – a feat (funded by the Alumni Foundation) conceived, orches-trated and mentored by research scientist, veterinary doctor and high school teacher Dr. Horace Walcott.

Dr. Horace Walcott• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Tuskegee University• Master’s of Public Health, Tulane University• Ph.D pending• Teaches advanced chemistry and research at Tech.• Publishes or presents one to two research papers annually.• Visiting Scientist, NYU Dynamic Systems Laboratory.• Early pioneer in emerging field of solar hydrogen electric

bio-mimetic energetics.• Interviewed with BTHS and Bronx Science the same day;

Tech made an offer within 12 hours and he accepted it immediately.

• Takes Tech students to present at professional conferences across the country through contributions from alumni.

• “I mentor and guide the students who present, but the research is theirs. My role is exactly that of a major professor at an Ivy League university.”

• “With a Ph.D teacher, students interact with a real scientist. One who teaches not from the textbook but from the bench.”

Dr. Thomas Price• Ph.D: Civil Engineering, Univer-

sity of Washington• Teaches aeronautics and aerospace

engineering at Tech.• Taught college engineering for

12 years; switched to high school because he preferred teaching over research.

• Found the industry’s gold stan-dard aeronautics curriculum too easy for Tech students, so he strengthened it: “I took it one level deeper because of my experi-ence. I couldn’t have done that if I didn’t have an advanced degree.”

• “As a former college professor, I can talk to Tech seniors with a great deal of authority about what they need to leave here knowing.

I’ve seen students fail in college because they didn’t quite have it together. So I tell Tech kids how to prepare.”

• “I’m developing relationships for my classes with key institutions and companies in aviation thanks to help from the A lumni Foundation.”

Dr. Elisa Margarita• Doctor of Chiropractic, NYC Chiropractic College • Teaches advanced environmental science and biology

at Tech in a special plant-filled lab made possible by the Alumni Foundation.

• Practiced in her first profession for ten years before transitioning to teaching: “My passion was in the healing arts, but I had a nudge to teach. I had been a teaching assistant in chiropractic school, and I loved it.”

• “Earning an advanced degree is very intense, and it gives you a way to relate to Tech students. I’ve been able to mentor students who push themselves to go above and beyond – we share the mindset of intense study and dedication to a passion.”

1312

In the middle of Jamaica Bay. I was kayaking.Jim Moffat ’75*

In the observation car of the legendary Blue Train approach-ing Cape Town, South Africa. There were two of them.

Vincent DiNapoli ’57

On a first date after meeting through online dating.Jonathan Goldman ’67

Aboard a sightseeing bus on remote Kangaroo Island off the Australian coast.

Ray Beckett ’82

The 105th Street dog run on the Upper West Side.Alex Yaroslavsky ‘87

* Jim’s girlfriend, Alumni Foundation board member Susan Mayham ’76, cannot top this, although she did meet an elementary school classmate nearly

50 years later – at a Brooklyn Tech Ruby Engineers lunch.

Readers: Do you have a story that matches these? Send it to neds@mediaimpact.biz

unlIkEly EncountersTechnites reveal the strangest place they ever bumped into a fellow alum they’d not met before.

“The job interview didn’t get off to a great start: the interviewers noticed right away that I was just a college freshman.

I knew I’d better start talking about my Brooklyn Tech experiences…”

ANToN BUYNoVSKIY ’16, University at Buffalo

I was in Tucson, Arizona at a recruiting fair, and I was the youngest person there. Almost everyone else was an adult looking for a permanent job.

Raytheon Missile Systems Co. had flown me out for this: I had learned about their company back at Brooklyn Tech, so I had approached them at a career fair at my college.

At that event I told the hiring reps about my Tech aerospace and engineering classes. Next thing I knew, I had an airplane ticket to Tucson for the big interview, all expenses paid.

But now these interviewers were scoffing at my fresh-man status. So I explained how Tech had helped me understand what engineering means. I made sure they knew I wasn’t double-majoring in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering for a vague reason like “I like math and science.” I made sure they knew it was be-cause I had been introduced to the field at Tech. That

I had already studied aeronautics and been in flight school. They understood then that I wasn’t an average college freshman. A few hours later, I received an email telling me how to get a govern-ment security clearance: I was hired as an in-tern in the Raytheon Missile Defense sec-tor, working in safety engineering and test-ing. My summer project was creating engineering and statistical analyses for components of the AIM-9X Missile, and I pre-sented my work to upper management.

R i s i n g S t a r s

14

“I came to Harvard in 2016 as a low-income, first generation student…”

AnnA MAzur ’16, Harvard

It would have been easy to be overwhelmed. But BTHS had done a great job of encouraging students to seek out opportunities. I was prepared to search for the student groups and organizations that would help me adjust to college life.

I noticed that not everyone had this; other students had a much harder time – they came from smaller high schools where everything was handed to them.

Many students at Harvard were unfa-miliar with words such as “halal” or “kosher,” or holidays such as Passover and Chinese New Year, but I already had background interacting with different

groups of people: Tech had repeatedly mixed and matched its student body to expose us to the school’s diversity.

First semester, I was the only fresh-man in one of my courses. I visited my professor at least once a week. I was un-afraid to ask questions. My classmates were often reluctant to do that: they felt intimidated or they did not want to admit to needing help. But Tech had taught me that it is important to take advantage of every opportunity to build relationships and networks, and that it is always acceptable, even highly encour-aged, to seek help when you need it.

Many students had never had such an intensive workload before coming to Harvard. They were very stressed when assignments or exams were piled into one week. But I had been exposed to a similar workload at Tech, and al-ready knew my strengths and weak-ness. The skills and study techniques I acquired at Brooklyn Tech relieved a lot of stress during midterm and finals, and helped me pursue my academics while also leading a healthy social life. BTHS did an incredible job in prepar-ing me for the challenges and de-mands of college.

R i s i n g S t a r s

Readers: Send us your postcard. See the tearoff insert in the fold.

What’s Inside An Alum’s Head:

Thanks, Brooklyn TechTechnites of all ages check in with the alma mater, and express their appreciation for the

career paths it helped them forge.

Dear Brooklyn Tech,In biology lab at Villanova, many students were scared to conduct gel electrophoresis*: it’s a very delicate process. But I stepped up and did it, because I had done it before at Tech. * A technique commonly used in laboratories to separate charged molecules like DNA, RNA and proteins according to size.

PeoNy WoNg ’ 16 Villanova Class of ’20

Brooklyn Technichal High School29 Fort greene Place Brooklyn Ny 11217

Dear Brooklyn Tech,

Thanks for making me feel like I’m

Neo in “ The Matrix” – you ’re plugged

into information, and you can do

things better than everyone else.

T IM C O W A R T ’ 8 6

New York State Court Off icer

Brooklyn Technical High School

29 Fort Greene Place

Brooklyn NY 11217

Dear Brooklyn Tech,Thanks for overwhelming me with homework as a 12 year old freshman. Because it made col-lege easy for me. Tech was an eye-opening and a door-opening experience.

CHeRyL N . WILL IAMS ’94Deputy Chief Administrator, Impartial Hearing Office, NYC Dep’t of Education

Brooklyn Technichal High School29 Fort greene Place Brooklyn Ny 11217

Dear Brooklyn T ech,Thanks for helping me understand how to work collaboratively and think from a scientific standpoint.P E T E R G A M B A ’ 6 3Retired systems engineer

Brooklyn T echnichal High School29 Fort Greene P lace Brooklyn NY 11217

Dear Brooklyn Tech,Thanks for preparing an immigrant kid

who had been in the country only five

years to do well in the very different

environment of yale University.

JeNNy LoW ’ 82

Board Chair, Chinese-American Planning Council

(and current Tech parent)

Brooklyn Technichal High School

29 Fort greene Place

Brooklyn Ny 11217

16

ue to the good offices of those who direct the Alumni Foundation of Brooklyn

Technical High School, I recently found myself revisiting my high school for the first time since gradu-ation seventy-three years ago. In all that time, I must confess, I had not thought much about that teenage chapter in my life and its subsequent effect on my experiences as I jour-neyed through the ever-winding and mysterious path of my long life. To rewind and reflect on those experiences has been an enormous challenge to the memory of my ag-ing brain, as I struggled to open long closed vaults rusty with disuse in try-ing to recover the state of mind of a young man who passed through the ages of 14 to 17 at Brooklyn Tech.

My attendance at Tech covered roughly the same years as American participation in World War II, 1941 to 1945. My environment and state of mind at the time were that of a traditional teenager, a Boy Scout addicted to the Brooklyn Dodgers, an average student with a housewife mother and a mostly unemployed fa-ther caught in the snares of the great depression. We lived on the edge of poverty, often dispossessed from our living quarters and finding refuge in my grandparents’ tiny house in

Brownsville, one step up from the teeming tenements of lower Man-hattan. My life revolved around fam-ily and friends in the circumscribed Jewish neighborhoods of the day.In eighth grade I was offered the chance to take the test for Brook-lyn Tech, having no knowledge of the school or its reputation, but I thought it might help validate my self-worth. I had no abiding interest in technology as such and my ambi-tions were vague and uncertain. I was somewhat surprised and elated when I passed the test. I felt a great sense of pride that, for the first time in my life, I was plucked from the masses. There is something pro-found about such validation. Look-ing backwards, it was a kick up that branded me as special and unique, a species of winner…. as if suddenly I was carried on the shoulders of my peers as a kind of champion. I looked forward to entry as if it was a great adventure. My immersion in the culture of Brooklyn Tech was, to put it mildly, a shock to the system. Suddenly, I found myself out of the ghetto, thrown in with young boys of other religions and ethnic origins. There were the sons of Italians, Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, Poles, Russians, Germans, Greeks. There were no girls, a considerable deficit since I was deeply affected with a stimulat-ing bounty of teenage hormones. I was not very skilled with my hands, although I managed to enjoy the exotic subjects to which I was suddenly introduced. Imagine: black-

smithing, foundry, pattern-making, mechanical drawing, carpentry, metal working. It was a miraculous introduction to the technology of the time. One favorite subject was IP, meaning industrial processes, a compendium of how things were manufactured in those days. There was a sense, embedded in the Tech vision, that the industrial revolution we were passing through was winding down and other tech-nological breakthroughs lay ahead. I see it clearly now as part of the Tech looking-ahead ethos, although I did not see it then. A meal in the cafeteria was 11 cents, with milk being a penny. The New York Times and the Herald Tribune were available to students. If I remember correctly it was free of charge, and it began my life-long ad-diction to The Times, which, much changed in conception, still arrives at my doorstep. Discipline and decorum were practiced to the letter, and detention was punishment for crossing the lines of good behavior and punctual-ity. I think I was detained a couple of times in my four years at Tech. Unfortunately, I could not fully participate in extracurricular activi-ties since after the closing bell I had to rush off to my afterschool jobs: packaging candy at Abraham and Straus, reading telegrams by phone in the vast Western Union building in the downtown financial district, standing behind a cigar counter and numerous other chores for fifty cents an hour. It was a price I had to pay for survival in tough economic

Warren Adler is the prolific author of over 50 works of fiction including ‘The War of the Roses,’ (also a hit movie) ‘Private Lies’ and ‘Random Hearts’. A pioneer in electronic publishing, Adler introduced the first viable digital reader manufactured by Sony in 2007. After being published by the top publishing houses, he re-acquired his complete backlist in 2001 and converted his entire library to digital publishing formats, published now under his own company, Stonehouse Productions.

ReflectionsBy Warren Adler ’45

2016 - A Year of Accomplishments

The Leandro P. Rizzuto ’56 Internship Program – Placed 425 students into internships this year, ninety of which were in the Architecture Construction Engineering (ACE) Mentorship Program. Ten Software Engineer-ing majors had internships in Brooklyn Hospital’s IT depart-ment. Fifteen students from the Electrical, Mechatronics & Robotics, Physics, and Math majors participated in the BTHS-Con Edison Summer Internship Program. Average Cost: $150 per year per student placed.

Josh Weston ’46 Research Scholars Program – Be-tween 50 and 60 students a year participate in independent, cutting-edge research, mostly at colleges in the area. WRSP students Joyce Feng, Jenny Xu and Ching Laam Yuen were recognized for their research in

biodiesel fuels as Semi Finalists in the 2016 Siemens Competition in Mathematics, Science, and Technology. WRSP senior Irwin Huang was named a Regeneron Scholar in the Regeneron 2017 Science Talent Search, formerly run by Intel and Westinghouse. In doing so, Irwin was one of just 300 students to earn this distinction nationwide. Average Cost: $2,500 a year per student scholar.

Jeffrey Haitkin ’62 Faculty Grants Program – With support from Tech’s Parent Associa-tion, 81 grants made in May funded academic and other projects at Tech. Grants funded projects in the departments of bi-ology, chemistry, civil engineering, aeronautics, computer science, English, guidance, mathematics,

physics and physical education. Funding went to school publica-tions, academic teams including robotics, chess, debate, science olympiad, mock trial teams; student leadership activities, full

range of boys and girls junior var-sity and varsity teams. Grants ranged from $170 to $7,500 and totaled $161,560; Cost: About $100 per student directly af-fected.

The Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation supports educational excellence at Brooklyn Tech in a wide variety of ways, including outfitting new labs, promoting original research by Tech students, and supporting faculty efforts to teach cutting-edge science, to name only a few. The Foundation supports efforts promoting diversity and a healthy and positive school cul-ture that welcomes students of all backgrounds. We also support internships and programs useful for understanding the adult world as students must transition into college and into their careers. Here are a few highlights of what the Foundation accomplished this past year. In some instances, a program’s expense is broken down into an average cost per student directly helped to facilitate awareness of what a donation on your part can accomplish. Alumni donations of time, energy and money are always needed. You can donate in many ways by making a one-time contribution, signing up for automatic monthly deductions from your checking account or credit card, or by making a legacy bequest as part of your estate planning. If you wish to donate to the endowment, make a temporarily restricted donation or a legacy or automatic gift, please contact the alumni office to discuss the details. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit tax exempt organization. Your gift is fully tax deduct-ible as provided by law. Our Tax ID Number is 11-2739496.

Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation Annual Report

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“There was a sense that the industrial revolution was winding down and other technological breakthroughs lay ahead.”

Reopening the pages of his Blueprint yearbok

Continued on page 24 1918

2016 Fiscal Year Financial Report

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Computer Integrated Manu-facturing Lab (Ike Heller ’43) and Robotics Program – Funding from alumnus Ike Heller enabled the development of this cutting-edge laboratory. His donation as well as donations by other alumni support our cham-pionship U.S. FIRST Robotics Team. Cost: $40,000 per year.

Renovated Gymnasium Dedication – With the generous support of Ashok Varadhan ‘90, whose donation paid to renovate the first-floor gymnasium and support the basketball team, multi-year renovations were finally completed this year and the gym dedicated to the late professional basketball player Conrad McRae ‘89. Cost: $450,000.

Career Day – 115 professionally accomplished alumni returned to Tech to address nearly 200 classes with about 3,000 stu-dents, about what they do for a living and how they got there. 80 students also attended Resume Writing and Interviewing and Financial Literacy workshops. Cost: $6,200.

Recent Alumni Day – 300 recent alumni (out for 5 or fewer years) returned to Tech to address about 3,000 current students in 200 classes in either their Tech or college majors. Cost: $6,800.

Homecoming - Nearly 900 alumni and their friends partici-

pated in Homecoming this year. Cost: $65,000.

Ruby Engineers – was originally founded to celebrate the 40th anniversary of girls being ad-mitted to Tech. This year, 162 young women in the class of 2017 received certificates for their outstanding performance or participation at Tech. Tech alum, Latrice Walker, a member of the New York State Assembly was the keynote speaker. Throughout the year, there were other speak-ers from the fields of engineering, social work, law enforcement, education and sports. Cost: $4,300.

Mentoring - 15 alumni are now certified as mentors by the City Department of Education and will begin mentoring Tech students in the fall semester. Cost: $200 per certification.

School Culture Advisory Group - This alumni group meets monthly; it was responsible for modifying the orientation program for the 2016 entering class. They are also working on an annual

Founders Day event for September 2018. Cost of activities and planning: $5,000.

National Grid Middle School STEM Pipeline Program - With the gen-erous support of National Grid, 30 to 60 outstand-ing rising sixth graders per year from underrep-resented Brooklyn middle schools are introduced

to the exciting world of science, technology, engineering, and math. The two-year sequence includes free test preparation for the SHSAT. Of those sitting for the test, 66 percent win admis-sion to a specialized high school. A majority of those admitted to Tech were black and Latino. This year a student accepted into the Weston Scholars Program gained

admission to Tech through the STEM Pipeline Program. Average Cost: $2,700 per student per year.

Alumni Middle School Out-reach Group – Meets monthly and provides speakers to com-munity boards, tenant meetings, DOE outreach events and assists with Parent Outreach efforts in districts where there is an under-representation of students coming to the specialized high schools. 1700 parents and students from Brooklyn middle schools attended two forums at Tech discussing admission to specialized schools. Cost: $5,000.

John Cavanagh Strength and Materials Lab (Now Under De-sign) - Following the first Titans of Tech Dinner, fund raising began for a new strength and materials lab at Tech to be named posthu-mously for John Cavanagh’54, a leader of the construction indus-try in New York City. Planning is now underway. Expected Cost: $700,000.

New Forensics Lab Funded - Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams has allocated $750,000 in discretionary funding to sup-port the installation of a new state-of-the art forensics labora-tory to support Tech’s Law and Society Major. The installation is expected to take several years. Expected cost: $750,000.

Tech Times Magazine – Now produced annually and mailed to 12,000 alumni, Tech Times high-lights major accomplishments of the school and its students andstrengthens and reconnects the alumni community. Cost per issue - $40,000.

The Brooklyn Tech Alumni Founda-tion, Inc. professionally manages its finances. Its annual financial state-ments are audited and certified by an outside accounting firm, which presents the statements to the entire Board of Directors for their review. The accountants also pre-pare the IRS 990 tax return. Quar-terly, the treasurer makes a detailed financial report to the Board. The investment committee chairperson also presents a detailed quarterly investment performance report to the Board.

The Foundation’s assets fall into three fund categories: perma-nently restricted, temporarily restricted and unrestricted. The Foundation has an endowment comprised of permanently re-stricted funds. The endowment cannot be spent - only its divi-dends and interest may be used to fund Board directed activities. Temporarily restricted assets may only be used to further the specific purpose named by the donor. The Foundation may use unrestricted assets for any pur-pose consistent with the Founda-tion’s mission. Our mission is “to support Brooklyn Technical High School, as the premier special-ized high school for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by harnessing the intellectual and financial power of Tech alumni, and by doing so, enhance the unique experience and traditions of our school.”

In the 2016 fiscal year, the Foundation spent $1,266,344 on program services. In the previ-ous two years (FY 15 and FY 14) the Foundation spent $1,639,653 and $1,252,401, respectively, on program services. Administrative expenses, as a percentage of to-tal expenses for the Foundation, for each of these three years was 23 percent, 18 percent, and 21 percent, respectively. Fund raising expenses for each of the three years was 5 percent, 3 percent, and 4 percent, respectively.

As of June 30, 2016, the Founda-tion’s permanently restricted, temporarily restricted and unre-stricted assets were $7,817,212, $1,029,281, and $4,308,751, respectively. Liabilities as of the close of the fiscal year were $132,566, and total net assets were $13,155,244.

In FY 16, the Founda-tion had $1,025,698 in unrestricted contribu-tions and revenue. It also received $243,330 in restricted contributions.

Investment ReportThe Foundation’s 5-member investment committee implements the Foundation’s investment policy. Our policy prohibits spend-ing down the endowment. The Foundation has a long-term in-vestment horizon, and allocates its assets accordingly. The long-term financial objective of the Founda-tion is to provide a relatively stable stream of spendable revenue that increases over time at least as fast as the general rate of inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index. To achieve this objective over the long term, the Foundation has an investment strategy that aims to increase the value of the investment assets at least as fast as the rate of inflation.

In August 2016, the Foundation engaged a professional invest-ment manager. Our assets are now managed on a total return basis. While the Foundation recognizes the importance of preservation of capital, it also adheres to the principle that vary-ing degrees of investment risk are generally rewarded with com-pensating returns. It is the policy of the Investment Committee to invest according to an asset allo-cation strategy that is designed to

control for risk while meeting the goals of the Foundation’s invest-ment objectives. The strategy is based on several factors, includ-ing: the historical performance of capital markets adjusted for the

perception of the future short and long-term capital market perfor-mance; the correlation of returns among the relevant asset classes; the perception of future econom-ic conditions, including inflation and interest rate assumptions; and the relationship between the current and projected assets of the Foundation and projected spending goals.

The professional investment man-ager acts in a fiduciary capacity and has full discretion and au-thority for determining investment strategy, security selection and timing subject to the Foundation’s Investment Policy, and oversight by the Investment Commit-tee. The Investment Committee regularly reviews the professional investment manager’s investment performance on a total return basis against stated objec-tives. Formal meetings with the investment managers are held at Investment Committee meetings regularly to discuss objectives, styles and returns or other mat-ters deemed important.

For FY 16 the Foundation’s assets generated $489,551 in interest and dividends. The investments also had $354,648 in unrealized gains.

2120

$1,000,000.00 +

Individuals Isaac Heller ’43Norman K. Keller ’54Leonard Riggio ’58Leandro P. Rizzuto ’56Charles B. Wang ’62

$500,000 +

Individuals Fred M. Grafton ’44Josh S. Weston ’46

$250,000 +

Individuals John A. Catsimatidis ’66James Fantaci ’64Victor Insetta ’57Erik Klokholm ’40Achilles Perry ’58Floyd Warkol ’65

OrganizationsBTHS Parent AssociationGoldman Sachs Gives An-nual Giving Fund National Grid

$100,000 +

IndividualsHarold Antler ’46Charles A. DeBenedittis ’48Jeffrey M. Haitkin ’62Herbert L. Henkel ’66Howard Fluhr ’59 & The Segal CompanyAlfred Lerner ’51Frederick C. Meyer ’40Michael F. Parlamis ’58Lee James Principe ’56Mary Jane Schnoor & Rich-ard H. Schnoor ’49Louis H. Siracusano Sr. ’60

Friends of TechRichard MackStephen C. Mack

OrganizationsCon Edison

$50,000 +

Individuals Martin V. Alonzo ’48Willard N. Archie ’61Anthony J. Armini ’55Larry Birenbaum ’65Peter J. Cobos ’72Robert F. Davey ’58Jacob Feinstein ’60Peter A. Ferentinos ’55Lawrence Harte ’49Joseph J. Jacobs ’34Joseph J. Kaminski ’56Stuart Kessler ’47Richard M. Kulak ’56Rande H. Lazar ’69

William L. Mack ’57Michael Minikes ’61Carmine A. Morano ’72Robert C. Ochs ’59Sherman Rigby ’46Thomas J. Volpe ’53Michael A. Weiss ’57

OrganizationsC. R. Bard FoundationIngersoll RandBTHS Alumni Long Island Chapter

$25,000 +

IndividualsDavid Abraham ’48Douglas Besharov ’62Joseph M. Colucci ’54James DiBenedetto ’71Andras Frankl ’67Eric Kaltman ’60Robert Marchisotto ’47Arnold J. Melloy ’40Margaret Murphy ’83Murray H. Neidorf ’45Bert Reitman ’63Patrick Romano ’43George E. Safiol ’50William Sheluck Jr. ’58Alan M. Silberstein ’65John C. Siltanen ’31Chester Wong ’94Anonymous ’67

Friends of Tech Martin V. Alonzo Jr. & Marlene Alonzo & Sabrina AlonzoDorcey ChernickSusanne D. EllisJason HaitkinPenny HaitkinAlice C. Hartley“Betty J. Mayer“

OrganizationsAmerican Express Founda-tionCharles B. Wang Interna-tional FoundationThe Durst OrganizationKeyspan“Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett LLP“The Lotos FoundationVerizon Foundation, IncZwanger-Pesiri Radiology Group LLP

$10,000 +

IndividualsFrederick H. Ajootian ’41Joseph Angelone ’63Tony Bartolomeo ’70LeRoy N. Callender ’50Larry L. Cary ’70Wilton Cedeno ’82Nicholas Y. Chu ’77John V. Cioffi ’67

Kenneth D. Daly ’84William A. Davis Jr. ’59Thomas C. DeCanio ’63Al D’Elia Aia ’67John di Domenico ’69Murray Dropkin ’62Leonard Edelstein ’55Keith Forman ’76Bernard R. Gifford ’61Jeffrey L. Goldberg ’69Domingo Gonzalez ’72Eugene J. Gottesman ’47George Graf ’70William H. Henry ’57K. Steven Horlitz ’64Charles Kyrie Kallas ’37Steve H. Kaplan ’63Penelope Kokkinides ’87Edward T. LaGrassa ’65Richard E. LaMotta ’60Franklin F. Lee ’77Michael Levine ’61Glenn Y. Louie ’59Stephen J. Lovell ’57Lawrence C. Lynnworth ’54John M. Lyons ’66Mathew M. Mandery ’61Sidney A. Mayer ’46Susan Mayham ’76George W. Moran ’61John Moy ’58Michael D. Nadler ’52Alan S. Natter ’69Daniel K. Roberts ’43John B. Rofrano ’61Edward R. Rothenberg ’61William J. Rouhana Jr. ’69Edward P. Salzano ’64Anthony P. Schirripa ’67Roy B. Simpson ’41Lawrence Sirovich ’51Barry Sohnen ’70Ronald P. Stanton ’46Ned Steele ’68George Suffal ’53Joseph N. Sweeney ’48Michael Tannenbaum ’58Wesley E Truesdell ’46Armand J. Valenzi ’44George L. Van Amson ’70Patricia Vasbinder & Victor Montana ’60Louis Walkover ’37William H. Wong ’64

Friends of TechEmanuel BeckerElizabeth KorevaarEllen Mazur ThomsonDaniel StahlJonnie StahlStuart SubotnickDaniel TomaiAnre WilliamsRandi Zinn

OrganizationsB T Alex BrownBDO Seidman LLPCare2Charles B. Wang Associ-ates, Inc

Chase Manhattan BankComputer Associates Inter-national, IncCowles Media FoundationFIRSTGameStop CorporationGatorade CompanyGoldman Sachs Matching Gift ProgramHeritage Mechanical Ser-vices, IncIce Air LLCJohn Wiley & Sons, IncMancini DuffyMarathon BankMath For America, IncMBS Textbook ExchangeMerrill Lynch & Co Founda-tionMetromedia CompanyNational Basketball Associa-tionOctagonRaytheon CompanySIACSRS Enterprises, IncT.E.C. Systems, IncTD BankThe New York Community TrustTime WarnerTurner ConstructionWarner Brothers TelevisionWasserman Foundation

$5,000 +

IndividualsRon S. Adler ’68Louis G. Adolfsen ’67Kenneth S. Albano ’68Michael A. Antino ’60Joseph F. Azara Jr. ’64Donald Bady ’48Rudolph Bahr Jr. ’41Lawrence A. Baker ’61Cindy L. Bird-Kue ’86Harry H. Birkenruth ’49Anthony Borra ’58Marty Borruso ’71Dominic N. Castellano ’45Robert J. Ciemian ’59Deirdre D. Cooke ’80Kenneth D’Alessandro ’66James E. Dalton ’49Fred M. Del Gaudio ’71Frederick DeMatteis ’40Robert C. DiChiara ’63Robert J. Domanoski ’47Jonathan D. Dubin ’74Domenick J. Esposito ’65Murray Farash ’52Robert Femenella ’72Richard R. Ferrara ’59Keith Franklin ’78David L. Fung ’81Arnold Goldman ’73Adrienne D. Gonzalez ’94Herbert A. Granath ’48Michael Greenstein ’65Robert Gresl ’46Mario Guerrero ’86

Steven A. Hallem ’72Gordon H. Hensley ’47Joy H. Hsiao ’87Allan C. Johnson ’28Michelle Y. Johnson-Lewis ’79Edward H. Kadushin ’57Peter Kakoyiannis ’65Leslie P. Kalmus ’56Sheldon Katz ’52Arthur H. Kettenbeil ’67Carl H. Kiesewetter ’55Eugene V. Kosso ’42Bert Krauss ’50Eliza Kwong ’93Joel F. Lehrer ’48Salvatore Lentini ’79Marvin J. Levine ’65Nathan Lipke ’92John Liu ’98Raymond M. Loew ’58Joel O. Lubenau ’56Frank R. Luszcz ’61Edward D. Miller ’56Francis C. Moon ’57John R. Murphy ’61Hau Yee Ng-Lo ’80Kaeisha T. O’Neal ’99Floyd R. Orr ’55Robert J. Pavan ’47Eugene Picone ’76Lee H. Pomeroy ’50Valentine P. Povinelli Jr. ’59Bertram Quelch ’45Michael Reiff ’72Edward Roffman ’68Charles J. Rose ’70Edward M. Rosensteel ’74Lawrence G. Rubin ’43Dan M. Ruesterholz ’56Seth Ruzi ’76Roger E. Schechter ’70Alfred Schroeder ’46Ernest R. Schultz ’25Irwin Shapiro ’47Michael Simpson ’90Irwin Smiley ’46Richard E. Sorensen ’60Robert J. Stalzer ’59Salvatore J. Vitale Jr. ’56Ralph B. Wagner ’51David W. Wallace ’42Denice C. Ware ’83Stephen Weinryb ’75Elizabeth M. Wieckowski ’79Grayling G. Williams ’76Steven Wishnia ’66Russell P. Wong ’79William C. Wurst ’67Douglas Yagilowich ’76Lloyd Zeitman ’69

Friends of TechJohn ArfmanRandell BarclaySyd BlattCharles Cahn, Jr.Brian CosgroveJoseph CuzzocreaLucia DeSantiRonald T. DiamondJames Dimon

Mary-Jean EastmanAl FerraraWilliam L. HainesJohn HensleyKiseon KoCarol LoewensonThomas LowryStephen MazurRegina M. PitaroJoan RiegelJonathan RiegelDavid RiosRandi RossignolRobert C. StewartJohn Thonet

OrganizationsAir ProductsBonanza Productions, IncBrooklyn NetsBurson-MarstellerCary Kane LLPCellini Fine JewelryCeramax Co.Chicago Bridge & Iron CompanyCredit Suisse SecuritiesDaikin AppliedDeutsche BankDuggal Color Projects, IncEastern Metalworks, IncEl Paso Energy FoundationGateway Institute for Pre-College EducationGIBC DigitalHaights Cross Operating CompanyITW FoundationJaros Baum & BollesLaura Berdon FoundationLiberty Science CenterLucent TechnologiesM & I Electric Industries, IncMorgan Stanley CybergrantsNational Hockey League FoundationNational Society of Black EngineersPaul, Weiss, Rifkind, Whar-ton & GarrisonPennoni Associates, IncPension ReviewPiper JaffrayPolytechnic UniversityRidgewood Savings BankRobinson Silverman Pearce Aronsohn & Berman LLPSimatelex Manufacturing CoSPX Cooling TechnologiesStarlite PrintersSterling Project Development GroupStructure Tone, IncTextron Charitable TrustThe Jay Chiat Foundation, IncThe Kahn Family Charitable FoundationThe McGraw-Hill Com-paniesZoppas

This list reflects total lifetime giving through June 30, 2017 above $5,000. Many thanks to all the contributors who have not yet reached that level but whose contributions are making a difference at Brooklyn Tech.

Lifetime Giving

FY 16/15 STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES AND CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

Unrestricted Temporarily Permanently Total Restricted Restricted 2016 2015

SUPPORT $439,699 $243,330 $ - $683,029 $ 848,261

REVENUE 1,025,698 9,557 - 1,035,255 488,097

NET ASSETS RELEASES FROMRESTRICTIONS 456,121 (456,121) - - -

Total Support And Revenue 1,921,518 (203,234) - 1,718,284 1,336,358

EXPENSES 1,759,674 - - 1,759,674 2,079,059

CHANGE INNET ASSETS 161,844 (203,234) - (41,390) (742,701)

NET ASSETS,BEGINNING OF YEAR 4,146,907 1,232,515 7,817,212 13,196,634 13,939,335

NET ASSETS,END OF YEAR $4,308,751 $1,029,281 $7,817,212 $13,155,244 $13,196,634

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ort

Parentheses indicates a negative number

investment Asset Allocation % Allocation

Cash Alternatives 6.02%

Fixed Income 42.41

Equities 29.05

Alternative Investments 11.21

Real Assets 11.31

Total Assets 100%

Account Value $13,378,538.54

As of July 31, 2017

2322

Welcome to the 2017-2018 school year. The last school year ended on a high note. Please take the time to read about the many pro-grams, activities and partnerships the Foundation sponsored. All of this has been done to keep Tech in the forefront of STEM education and to keep our alumni connected to Brooklyn Tech. I must confess, however, there are many things going through my mind as we embark upon this new school year. What are the ways in which we can engage more of you? How do we get you involved in the many activities of the Foundation that are in direct contact with current Technites? What do we need to do better? What information would you like to know? We have been unceasingly dedicated to making sure that the school’s needs are met. We do this through faculty grants, facilities upgrades, equipment purchases, educational programs, curricular and extra-curricular supports. The fact that our office is in the building integrates us into many aspects of school and student life. And yet, there are so many of you out there who have not been back and have not connected with your alma mater. We want to change this. We want you to belong; we want you to see the current students and have you recognize that they are the younger version of YOU – smart, driven, competitive. We want them to have the opportunities you had; we want them to be excited by the future the same way you were when you graduated from Tech. So, I extend my hand to you. Join us as we embark upon the 95th Anniversary of Brooklyn Tech. Help us celebrate the generations who have graduated from Tech and the current students who stand on your shoulders as they approach the next phase of their academic lives. We need your monetary support and/ or your involvement. It is all about the students. That’s what’s on my mind.

Elizabeth A. Sciabarra (a.k.a. “Ski”) Executive Director

times. I’m sure other students faced the same dilemma. What I remember most was how re-ally bright and smart my fellow students appeared to me. I felt small and ignorant in the face of the “genius” students in my classes, and I still remember their names. Despite this, I did manage to eke out a reasonably respectable average of a little over 77, which was slightly over 50 percent of the academic standing of my graduating class of 608 students. I’m sure if I dug deeper many more ob-servations and memories would surface out of that rusty memory vault, but my recent revisit has given me an insight into how the concept of a Tech education has matured under the golden glow of the teaching staff ’s

excellence and the crackerjack student body. I was privileged to meet dedicated, in-novative and imaginative teachers, and their leaders who could easily pass muster to earn multiples of their salaries in industry, but who choose to dedicate their lives to educat-ing the best and brightest of our children. I have seen the remarkable intensity of the students learning subjects so advanced that I have no doubt they will be on the cutting edge of our greater tomorrows. We citizens of this great city are getting our money’s worth a hundred times over in schools like Brooklyn Tech. I visited labs in subjects such as DNA, Robotics, and a fully-constructed moot courtroom where students stage mock trials. The math program is remarkably advanced far beyond the tradi-tional high school level, and I am certain that other subjects are equally advanced.

Looking backwards is one of the odd gifts of aging. It provides objective com-parisons with how the passage of time has impacted our lives. It offers insight into how our yesterdays influenced our present, and how our tomorrows might turn out. I hadn’t realized how much my Brooklyn Tech experience enhanced my understand-ing of the future and helped guide me on the miraculous journey of a fulfilled life.

CLASS NoTES

ADLERContinued from page 18

ANSWERSContinued from page 4

Board of Directors

Larry Cary ’70President

Susan Mayham ’76Anthony Schirripa ’67Donovan Wickline ’88

Vice Presidents

Carmine Morano ’72Treasurer

Horace Davis ’84Secretary

Wilton Cedeno ’82Jim DiBenedetto ’71

Norman Keller ’54Penelope Kokkinides ’87

Edward LaGrassa ’65Salvatore Lentini ’79

John Lyons ’66Margaret Murphy ’83

Bola Oyedijo ’92Achilles Perry ’58

Emanuel Polichronakis ’68Ned Steele ’68

Denice Ware ’83Michael Weiss ’57

Laurie Zephyrin ’92Directors

Leonard Riggio ’58Honorary Director

Valmira Popinara ’18 Joyce Zhu ’18

Student Representatives

Foundation Office

Elizabeth A. SciabarraExecutive Director

Mathew M. Mandery ’61Chief Educational Officer

Rikhia ChowdhuryResearch Analyst

Ina CloonenOffice Manager

Suzanne HausmanGraphics Administrator

Liliya Magalnik Nissen ’01Special Events and Projects

Coordinator

Vance Toure ’06Special Assistant

Tech Times Staff

Editor In Chief and Chief Writer:Ned Steele ’68

Graphic Design: Robert Horansky

Creative Consultant; student interviews: Chelsea Erin Vaughan

Editorial Direction: Elizabeth A. Sciabarra

Photography: Ron Glassman, Principal Photographer (pages 3, 7-9, 12, 13)Burlyn Andall-Blake ’19 (page 4)Dan Bosko ’69 (page 3)Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture (page 10)Chinese-American Planning Council (page 14)Jonathan Goldman (page 16)Robert Horansky (page 3)Courtesy of Anna Mazur ’16 (page 15)KSW Mechanical LLC (page 11)Ned Steele ’68 (pages 2, 10, 16, 18- 21)The White House (page 4)Alex Yaroslavsky ’87 (page 16)Be Aware Photography/Simone Yhap ’15 (page 3)Victoria Zmijewski (page 17)

Tech TiMes© 2017 Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation, Inc.

Tech Times is published annually by the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation. Articles may be reprinted with its permission.

To receive the The Buzz e-newsletter by email, contact info@bthsalum.org.

Please send address changes and other com-munications to:

Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation29 Fort Greene Place • Brooklyn NY 11217718-797-2285www.bthsalumni.org • info@bthsalum.org

Send your personal/professional update for publication in Class Notes to:neds@mediaimpact.biz

The Magazine of The Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation

Fall 2017

David Newman, Principal BROOKLYN TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL

READERS: Did your Tech experi-ence lead you directly into your career or a job? If so, please share your story. Send to editor Ned Steele ’68 at neds@mediaim-pact.biz. Selected entries will be published in the next issue.

Could you get IN?

Could you get OUT?

From inside the Executive Director’s head

Tech TiMesFrancis C. Moon ’57 is Ford Professor Emeritus at the Cornell University Silbey School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engi-neering, and the author of numerous books.Jack Feinstein ’60 is 2017 recipient of the City College of New York Alumni Association Townsend Harris Medal for outstanding post graduate achievement.John Lyons ’66 was the 2017 recipient of the National Association of Broadcasters Television Engineering Achievement Award.Al D’Elia ’67 is an owners’ representa-tive at Northstar Owner.Thomas Congedo ’68 is associate director of the nuclear engineering program at the University of Pittsburgh. Ron Hartman ’68 is president of Net-work Rail Consulting, the consulting unit of the British railway. Mark Lesky ’68, after 40 years working in the petrochemical industry, reports he is enjoying life in Scottsdale, ArizonaBarry Marcus ’68 is a retired profession-al geologist living in Sacramento, CA fol-lowing a career with the Sacramento County Environmental Management Department. In retirement Barry has travelled extensively, maintains his lifelong love of cycling and dabbles in environmental consulting.Carlton Tolsdorf ’68 is a senior pro-gram manager with the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence.Marilyn Zayas-Davis ’82 was elected a district appeals court judge in Hamilton County, Ohio.Paulette Clark-Norfleet ’83 is a

freelance film and TV production manager/producer in the New York-Connecticut area. Jarobi White ’89 returned to his origi-nal band A Tribe Called Quest for its 2016 final album, “We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service”, rapping on one of their albums for the first time. The critically ac-claimed record was certified gold in 2017.Erica Cochran ’92 is a professor of architectural engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Brooklyn Tech alums occasionally show up as students in her classes there.Christel Hyden ’92 works for Colum-bia University Medical Center and as a public health consultant for leading medi-cal institutions. She is on the research fac-ulty at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and has been an adjunct professor teaching research methods and social marketing.Nairuby Beckles ’96 was awarded the 2016 White & Case LLP Award for Best Published Student Note or Comment in the Howard Law Journal. She was a mem-ber of the Howard Law Journal from 2014 to 2016 and served as Senior Solicitations Editor. Prior to law school, she worked in the federal government for over ten years. She is currently a federal judicial law clerk and resides in Ohio.Furqan Khan ’05 founded Kixify.com, a sneaker marketplace, and KicksOn-Fire.com, a sneaker review blog. Forbes Magazine named him a “30 Under Thirty” successful entrepreneur in retailing and e-commerce. Brian Bomser ’08 is a systems engineer

for a NASA Contractor at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, working on ground sys-tems for NASA’s next launch vehicle. Elizabeth Mardakhayeva ’14 entered NYU Dental School this fall, after her un-dergraduate studies at Adelphi University, where she also worked at the job where she did her Tech internship, with NY StaffSearch, the company of Margaret Murphy ’83.Justin Mollison ’16, now at Vanderbilt University, interned last summer with the Jackie Robinson Foundation. He is tapping into his Brooklyn Tech college-level research experience by working on a program for local underprivileged high school students to participate in research at Vanderbilt. Qingmei Wu ’16 was one of 23 MIT women awarded a STEM summer research grant for female MIT students. She studied water supply sustainability in Australia and Saudi Arabia.

READERS: Send us your news! Profes-sional, personal, or geographic. Email to Ned Steele ’68, neds@mediaimpact.biz. Please put “BTHS Notes” and your name in the subject line.

Emanuel Polichronakis ’68 was elected in June to the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation Board of Directors. He fills a vacancy created by the resignation of Mark Perelman ’03, who in September began studies in the M.B.A. program at Yale University.

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24

Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation, Inc.29 Fort Greene Place • Brooklyn, NY 11217www.bthsalumni.org

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDBrooklyn, NY

Permit No. 1778

Calendar

2017 Titans Of Tech Dinner November 28

Recent Alumni Day January 5, 2018

Tech Celebration Dinner February 12, 2018

Ruby Engineers Luncheon March 10, 2018

Auction May 10, 2018

Homecoming April 20-21, 2018

BROOkLyn TECH By THE nUMBERSUS News & World Report ranking among all U.S. high schools, up from 96 the prior year Student enrollment, start of Fall 2017 year

U.S. News & World Report na-tional ranking among all U.S. high schools with 50% or more of students receiving free lunch

Total value of scholarships earned by graduating Class of 2017

Classrooms renovated and reopened, Fall 2017, to serve surging student enrollment

*Projected return to “six thousand strong”: Fall 2018