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Dr. Lawrence D. Hopkins, '70 Football
Dr. Lawrence D. Hopkins was a standout football player at Lees-McRae during the 1969 and 1970 seasons, leading the Bobcats to an appearance in the 1968 El Toro Bowl against Arizona Western College. Dr. Hopkins went on to star at Wake Forest University, setting the Demon Deacons' single-season rushing record with 1,228 yards in 1971 while rushing for over 2,200 yards in his two-year career at Wake Forest.
After completing his Bachelor's degree at Wake Forest in 1972, Dr. Hopkins obtained his doctorate at Wake Forest's Bowman Gray School of Medicine in 1977 before completing his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Medical College of Virginia. Dr. Hopkins went on to serve in the United States Air Force from 1981 to 1983, before opening his own practice in Winston-Salem, N.C.
He would later join the faculty of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine after practicing medicine for 10 years at Aegis Family Health Centers in Winston-Salem. Dr. Hopkins was named to the Lees-McRae College Board of Trustees in January of 2011.
Allison McDonald Norris, '93 Women's Soccer
Allison McDonald Norris starred for the women's soccer team as one of the first four-year athletes in the program's history, leading the Bobcats to a 63-17-1 record and a trio of conference championships during the school's transition to a four-year institution.
The Hendersonville, Tenn. native garnered all-region and conference player of the year honors as a senior, while finishing her career ranked second in program history in total assists (36), third in match-winning goals (12), fourth in total points (108), and tied for seventh in total goals (36). Norris recently served as the Dean of Students at Lees-McRae, a post she held from 2007 to 2013.
Brent Bookwalter, '06 Cycling
Brent Bookwalter graduated from LMC in 2006 after a successful career with the cycling team, amassing seven collegiate mountain biking titles as a member of the Bobcats. During his senior year, Bookwalter posted the top time in the national U-23 time trial. Bookwalter currently rides professionally for BMC Cycling and participated in the 2011 Tour de France, finishing in 138th place.
Bookwalter ranks as one of the most decorated cyclists in program history at Lees-McRae, claiming 10 individual national titles, including six in the mountain bike discipline.
Lee Squires, '11 Men's Soccer
Lee Squires rewrote the Lees-McRae record books during his four-year career with the men's soccer program, leading the Bobcats to four consecutive berths in the NCAA Tournament, including an appearance in the national final in 2009. A native of Sheffield, England, Squires garnered All-America honors three times, while also being named the Conference Carolinas Player of the Year twice during his career.
Squires concluded his playing career as the program's all-time leader in points (167) and goals (67), posting a pair of 20-goal seasons while netting 22 match-winners and recording 15 assists. The two-time conference player of the year is entering his third season as the head men's soccer coach at Lees-McRae, leading the Bobcats to a 15-6-1 record in his first year at the helm as LMC finished runner-up in both the conference regular season and league tournament. The Bobcats also punched the program's fifth straight ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
Leonard Wheeler, '89 Football
Leonard Wheeler played six seasons in the National Football League after a four-year college career that included stops at Mississippi, Troy, and Lees-McRae. A native of Toccoa, Ga., Wheeler was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the 1992 NFL Draft, where he spent the first five years of his career. Wheeler went on to play one season with the Minnesota Vikings and one with the Carolina Panthers before retiring in 2001.
Wheeler is now the CEO and founder of Wheeler Enterprises, Inc., a company which specializes in personal and executive coaching to facilitate growth and development meant to improve their clients' quality of life. He is also an active member of the NFL Players Association, serving on the association's financial committee and has also served as a member of the Board of Directors for the NFLPA.
Andy Nesdill, '11 Men's Lacrosse
Andy Nesdill was a three-year starting goalie for the Bobcats from 2009-2011. A native of Phoenix, Ariz., Nesdill logged over 1,300 minutes between the pipes for Lees-McRae during his career, ranking among the program's all-time leaders with 320 saves.
Nesdill recently served as the head men's lacrosse coach for two seasons, taking the reins of the program and leading the Bobcats to a pair of successful campaign. Under Nesdill's leadership, the Bobcats posted a thrilling 13-12 overtime victory over Florida Tech on February 17, 2012, while also providing a difficult test for some of the nation's top teams.


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August 7, 2012
Should Doping Be Allowed in Sports?
David Guttenfelder/Associated Press
This week a judo fighter became the first athlete to be expelled from the Olympics for failing an in-competition doping test, in his case, for marijuana. And on Tuesday, it was announced that the defending 50k Olympic race walk champion, Alex Schwazer, was expelled after testing positive for the blood booster erythropoietin, or EPO. Meanwhile, the "unbelievable" times of one swimmer have raised suspicions of doping.
But has doping become so common that we shouldn't even bother with testing, or are the dangers to athletes and fair competition so great that enforcement must continue?Read the Discussion »

subset: commoncrawl


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A new branch of Duane Reade, the New York City-based drugstore owned by Walgreens, is opening on Wall Street and it is the largest Duane Reade ever built. Thrillingly, its massive size (22,000 square-feet) is matched in elegance and amenities.
Normally Duane Reade stores and their ilk are meant simply for standing slack-jawed in an unendingly long line waiting to buy the boring necessities of everyday life — toothpaste, deodorant, sad single bag of Halloween candy. But not so for the new Duane Reade on Wall Street! This is a place of decadence and luxury. According to the NYTimes:
It includes opulent amenities like a hair salon for shampoos, blow dries and blowouts; a nail bar for manicures and massages; a pharmacy with a doctor on hand for consultation during the week; and a grocery market featuring sushi and smoothie bars. There is also a stock ticker.
Wow! Now I'm no professional food master or anything, but my guess is that sushi from Duane Reade is probably the best sushi, right? And, as an amateur hairologist, a Duane Reade haircut is also probably equal to none in the haircut department.
So basically go live in the Duane Reade on Wall Street and never leave. Only unlike regular Duane Reades, you'll choose to never leave.


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Colorado Springs girl gets new service dog
elaine | May 4, 2011
The 12-year old daughter of an Army soldier is being given the gift of a service dog this weekend.
Cameron Biebuyck was diagnosed with Spinal Bifida at birth and is in a wheelchair. Now she will be given a "Canine Assistants" service dog.
The dogs are trained to assist children and adults with physical disabilities or other [...]


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Villa Media Center
Item #: 139355G_369AP750
125" w x 20.5" d x 86.5" h
Villa Media Center
Item #: 139355G_369AP750
125" w x 20.5" d x 86.5" h
Choose Finish
Stone Street (369): Semi-opaque medium gray stain with charcoal gray glaze, moderately distressed.
- 2 Choose Accent Finish:
Cirrus White (750)Shipping:
Custom made, ships Premier In-home Delivery. You will be contacted within 8 to 10 weeks to schedule a delivery date for this item.Additional Information
Product Details
A super-functional and super-stylish media center that can define a family room. Left and right bookcase cabinets have three adjustable wood-framed glass shelves, a fixed bottom shelf, a lighted interior, and one shelf behind the bottom door. The media bridge contains three adjustable shelves and lighted interior, and base units containing two adjustable shelves. The video panel, with its wire management cut-out, connects to the media base with rigid steel supports and to the media bridge with bolts. Available in an array of custom finishes.
- Crafted from WHAD maple, a soft wood with a tight, uniform grain, and maple veneers
- Upper glass cabinets feature recessed interior lighting with dimmer switch (bulbs included)
- Flat panel TV may be mounted directly to video panel (see additional product information)
- TV space: 52"w x 33"h
- Lower cabinets feature one adjustable shelf behind each door and rear wire access
Additional Information
- Replacement bulbs: 50Par20 halogen bulb or LED equivalent. Always replace bulbs as a set.
- The Villa Media Center consists of the Villa media cabinet (139355), the Villa left bookcase (139351), the Villa right bookcase (139352), the Villa media bridge (139353), and the Villa media panel (139354)
- Made in the U.S. by Ethan Allen artisans
- Mount your flat panel TV directly to the video panel using the stationary wall bracket appropriate for your TV. Do not use our products with pivoting, extending, or articulating wall brackets. You can purchase wall brackets from a home electronics retailer; please ask your home electronics retailer for the wall bracket that is suitable for your TV. Follow the installation instructions that accompany the wall bracket
Download the Ethan Allen Limited Warranty >
- 2 Choose Accent Finish:


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Employment application forms and pre-employment interviews are the appropriate instruments for eliminating, at an early stage, unqualified or unsuitable persons from consideration for employment.
However, applications and interviews can also be used to restrict or deny employment opportunities for women and members of minority groups.
Court rulings and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") guidelines prohibit the use of all pre-employment inquiries that disproportionately screen out members of minority groups or members of one sex and are not valid predictors of successful job performance or which cannot be justified by "business necessity." See Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424 (1971).
The guiding principal behind any questions to a job applicant is: Can the employer demonstrate a job-related necessity for asking the question? Both the intent behind the question and how the information is to be used by the employer are important to determining whether a question is an appropriate pre-employment inquiry. That is to say, an employer should consider whether the answers to the question, if used in making the selection, will adversely effect and screen out minorities or members of one sex.
The following is a representative list of questions with a short analysis of each question to determine whether it is an unacceptable or acceptable question and why. It is not all-inclusive.
- How many children do you have?
- What country are your parents from?
- What is your native language?
When an English language skill is not a requirement of the work to be performed, and an employer uses an English language proficiency test or requires English language proficiency, an adverse effect upon a particular minority group may result, creating a violation of Title VII.
It is also inappropriate to inquire how an applicant acquired the ability to read, write or speak a foreign language. However, if the job requires additional languages, an employer may legitimately inquire into languages the applicant speaks and writes fluently.
- What is your height? What is your weight?
The EEOC and the courts have ruled minimum height and weight requirements to be illegal if they screen out a disproportionate number of minority group individuals or women, and the employer cannot show that these standards are essential to the safe performance of a job in question. See Davis v. County of Los Angeles, 655 F.2d 1334 (9th Cir. 1977), vacated and remanded as moot on other grounds, 440 U.S. 625 (1979); Dothard v. Rawlinson, 433 U.S. 321 (1977).
- Have you ever been arrested?Questions relating to an applicant's arrest record are improper, while questions of an applicant's conviction record may be asked if job-related. The EEOC and many states prohibit the use of arrest records for employment decisions because they are inherently biased against applicants in minority groups in other protected classes.
The EEOC has issued a Revised Policy Statement covering the use of conviction by employers in making employment decisions:
First, the employer must establish a business necessity for use of an applicant's conviction record in its employment decision. In establishing business necessity, the employer must consider three factors to justify use of a conviction record: (1) nature and gravity of the offense for which convicted; (2) amount of time that has elapsed since the applicant's conviction and/or completion of sentence; and (3) the nature of the job in question as it relates to the nature of the offense committed.
Second, the EEOC's Revised Policy Statement eliminated the existing requirement that employers consider the applicant's prior employment history, along with rehabilitation efforts, if any. The Revised Policy Statement requires that the employer consider job-relatedness of the conviction, plus the lapse of time between the conviction and the current job selection process.
- Do you own your own home?An interviewer should not ask if the applicant owns or rents a home or car, or if wages have been previously garnished, or if the applicant has ever declared bankruptcy, unless financial considerations exist for the job in question.
Any employer who relies on consumer credit reports in its employment process must comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 and the Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 1996.
- Did you serve in the military? What type of discharge did you receive?You may not ask what type of discharge the applicant received from a military service.
You may ask whether or not the applicant has served in the military, period of service, rank at time of discharge, and type of training and work experience received while in the service.
- How old are you?The Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA") prohibits discrimination on the basis of age with respect to individuals over the age of 40. Requests that an applicant state his age may tend to deter older applicants, and may otherwise indicate discrimination based on age.
Consequently, employment application forms which request information such as age will be closely scrutinized to assure that the request is for permissible purpose and not for purposes prescribed by the ADEA.
Permissible purposes are limited to when age requirement or limit is a bona fide job application or is based on reasonable factors other than age. Under the EEOC's Age Discrimination Interpretive Rules, requests for date of birth on the employment application are permissible, provided that an appropriate disclaimer is shown.
In addition, any recruiting effort that is age-biased, such as seeking "recent graduates" or any question during the interview process that deters employment because of age is unlawful.
- What church do you go to? What religion are you?There are no job-related considerations that would justify asking about religious beliefs or convictions unless your organization is a religious institution, in which case you may give preference to individuals of your own religion.
In addition, inquiries as to the applicant's religion are also not an appropriate method of determining availability to work. Employers have an obligation to accommodate the religious beliefs of employees and/or applicants unless to do so would cause undue economic hardship.
The EEOC has determined that the use of pre-employment inquiries that determine an applicant's availability have an exclusionary effect on the employment opportunities on persons following certain religious practices.
Thus, questions relating to availability for work on Friday evenings, Saturdays or holidays should not be asked unless an employer can show that the questions have not had an exclusionary effect on its employees or applicants who would need an accommodation for their religious practices, that the questions are otherwise justified, and that there are no alternative procedures which would have a lessor exclusionary effect. EEOC Guidelines on Discrimination Because of Religion, 29 CFR 1605.
- Are you a United States citizen?This question is not appropriate as a pre-employment inquiry.
The EEOC Guidelines on Discrimination Because of National Origin indicate that consideration of an applicant's citizenship may constitute evidence of discrimination on the basis of national origin.
The law protects all individuals, both citizens and non-citizens domiciled or residing in the United States against discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
A person who is a lawfully immigrated alien, legally eligible to work, may not be discriminated against on the basis of his/her citizenship, except in the interest of national security, as determined under a United States statute or a presidential executive order regarding the particular position or premises in question.
- Do you have any disabilities?The Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") prohibits employers from asking disability-related questions to employment applicants. A "disability-related question" is any question that is likely to elicit information about disability. Under the ADA, an employer cannot lawfully ask an applicant whether he has a particular disability nor ask questions that are closely related to a disability.
An employer, for example, generally may not ask an applicant whether the applicant will need reasonable accommodations for the job. An employer may not ask an applicant how many sick days he took with a previous employer; this question directly relates to possible disabilities.
An employer may not ask an applicant about his worker's compensation history. A question of this nature is viewed as relating directly to the severity of the applicant's impairments. An employer may not ask an applicant about his current or prior lawful drug use. For example, an employer cannot ask an applicant, "What medications are you currently taking?"
An employer may ask an applicant whether he can perform the essential functions of the job for which he is applying, with or without reasonable accommodation. Or ask applicants to describe how they would perform any and all job functions, as long as all applicants in the job category are asked to do this.
When an employer reasonably believes that an applicant will not be able to perform a job function because of a known disability, the employer may ask the applicant to describe or demonstrate how he would perform the function.
If the applicant has an obvious disability or voluntarily discloses a hidden disability to the employer, the employer may ask the applicant whether he needs reasonable accommodations and what types of reasonable accommodations he will need.
For example, an applicant for a receptionist's position voluntarily discloses that he has diabetes and will need to take breaks to take his medication. The employer may ask the applicant questions about the reasonable accommodations he will need, such as how often he will need to take breaks and how long the breaks must be.
An employer should inform all applicants of the essential functions of the position and of the employer's attendance requirements. The employer may then ask whether the applicant will be able to perform these functions and meet the attendance requirements. An employer may also ask about an applicant's attendance record with a prior employer.
This question is not considered to be disability-related, because there may be many reasons unrelated to disability why a person may not have met the attendance requirements of a previous job.
- When was the last time you used illegal drugs?An employer may ask applicants about current and prior illegal use of drugs. An individual who is currently using illegal drugs is not protected under the ADA. For example, an employer may ask the following of an applicant: "Do you currently use illegal drugs? Have you ever used illegal drugs? What illegal drugs have you used in the last six months?"
These questions are not likely to tell the employer anything about whether the applicant is addicted to drugs. On the other hand, questions that ask how frequently the applicant has used illegal drugs are likely to elicit information about whether the applicant was a past drug addict. An employer may not ask questions that refer to past drug addiction.
- Do you drink alcoholic beverages?An employer may ask an applicant questions about his drinking habits, unless a particular question is likely to elicit information about alcoholism, which is a disability under the ADA. An employer may ask an applicant whether he drinks alcohol, or whether he has been convicted for driving under the influence of alcohol. These questions do not reveal whether someone has alcoholism.
On the other hand, questions about how much alcohol an applicant drinks or whether he as participated in an alcohol rehabilitation program are not permitted. Questions of this nature are likely to elicit information about whether the applicant has alcoholism.
- Have you ever undergone psychiatric evaluation?This is not an appropriate question.
The EEOC enforcement guidance on psychiatric disabilities limits the questions asked of any applicant about any psychiatric disability.
Under the ADA, the term, "psychiatric disability," includes mental impairments, such as any mental or psychological disorder including emotional or mental illness. It includes major depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety disorders such as panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. A mental impairment also includes schizophrenia and personality disorders.
As with physical disabilities, an employer is not permitted to ask applicants any questions that are likely to elicit information about a psychiatric disability. A limited exception comes into play when the employer reasonably believes that an applicant has a psychiatric disability for which the applicant will require accommodation.
Generally speaking, an employer can only reasonably believe that an applicant will need accommodation if the applicant discloses his psychiatric disability to the employer during the hiring process or if the applicant tells the employer during the hiring process that he will need such accommodation.
- Are you dating anyone right now?While this question may not be evidence of discrimination, interviewers should avoid questions of a personal nature. Personal questions are generally irrelevant to the hiring process, and may give rise to claims for invasion of privacy or sexual harassment.
There should be some direct correlation between the information requested and the applicant's ability to perform the functions of the job for which he is applying. If there is no legitimate business purpose for a question, don't ask it.
- When did you graduate from high school?This type of question can be considered an indirect inquiry as to an applicant's age and may create an inference of age discrimination. While such a question does not inherently violate the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, a more appropriate approach is to simply ask the interviewee if he or she has a high school diploma or equivalent.
Further, an employer must consider whether a high school education is necessitated by the duties and functions of the position for which applicants are being interviewed. The United States Supreme Court has found an employer's requirement of a high school education discriminatory where statistics showed that such a requirement operated to disqualify blacks at a substantially higher rate than whites and there was not evidence that the requirement was significantly related to successful job performance.
The standard applies to all groups protected under Title VII and to all questions related to educational achievement, if no job-related requirement or business necessity exists. While an employer may generally inquire as to the applicant's educational background, there must be some degree of relationship between the level of education required for the position and the job duties of the position.
- Do you have any family members who work here now or who have worked here in the past?Information about friends or relatives working for an employer is generally not relevant to an applicant's competence.
Requesting such information may be unlawful if it creates a preference for relatives of current employees in the selection process and the composition of the present workforce is such that this preference reduces or eliminates employment opportunities for members of protected groups.
As a general rule, however, unless an adverse effect on women or minorities can be shown, nepotism is not illegal.
- What clubs or organizations do you belong to?As phrased above, this question is unacceptable because it could be seen as seeking information that is not job-related and which could relate to gender, national origin, religion or other status protected under Title VII.
It would be more appropriate to ask: "What professional or trade groups do you belong to that you consider relevant to your ability to perform this job?" This question would elicit similar information, but only to the extent that it is relevant to the job in question.
- What is your maiden name?This question could be seen as an inappropriate inquiry under Title VII because it indirectly asks a female applicant to disclose information regarding her marital status.
Questions about marital status are frequently used to discriminate against women and to deny opportunities for female applicants. If you need to contact a former employer, you may, however, ask all applicants if they have ever been known by any other name.
- What is your race?Title VII prohibits discrimination based on race and color. Again, pre-employment inquires concerning protected status are not considered violations of the law in and of themselves. However, this inquiry directly asks an applicant to disclose information regarding a protected characteristic, and, unless otherwise explained, may constitute evidence of discrimination prohibited by Title VII.
An employer may legitimately obtain information needed to create and implement an affirmative action plan, or to meet other government recordkeeping requirements, or even for the employer's own efforts to recruit minorities and/or women.
The information should be kept separate from other employee records to ensure that it is not used to discriminate in making personnel decisions. One means of collecting such data that has been approved by the courts is the use of a "tear-off sheet," which is an anonymous sheet that is separated from the application and used only for purposes unrelated to the selection decision.
- Have you ever been arrested?
First, questions regarding marital status, number of children and childcare arrangements are not appropriate because they may be seen as being based upon the applicant's gender. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, it is unlawful to deny a female applicant employment because she has children or is planning to have a child at some future date. Second, this question is an inappropriate way of asking about an otherwise appropriate subject: availability to work.
Questions asked to availability to work should be job-related. For example: What hours can you work? What shift(s) can you work? Can you work on weekends and/or holidays? Are there specific times that you cannot work? Do you have responsibilities other than work that will interfere with specific job requirements such as traveling?
However, inquiries that either directly or indirectly disclose such information, unless otherwise explained, may constitute evidence of discrimination prohibited by Title VII. Some state employment practice laws expressly prohibit inquiries on employment applications concerning the applicant's national origin. In some states, it may also be considered illegal to seek related data, such as the birth, place of birth or citizenship of parents, which could indirectly reveal national origin.
If It's Not Job-Related — Don't Ask
Data on such matters as marital status, number and age of children, and similar issues, which could be used in a discriminatory manner in making employment decisions, but which are necessary for insurance, reporting requirements or other business purposes can and should be obtained if a person has been employed, not by means of an application form or a pre-employment interview.
It is reasonable to assume that all questions on an application form, or any pre-employment interview are for some purpose, and that selection or hiring decisions are made on the basis of the answers given.
When facing charges of discrimination, the employer bears the burden of proving that answers to all questions on application forms or in oral interviews are not used in making hiring and placement decisions in a discriminatory manner prohibited by the law.
The employer must establish that the questions do not seek information other than that which is essential to evaluation of an applicant's qualifications for employment. It is, therefore, in an employer's own self-interest to carefully review all procedures used in screening applicants for employment, eliminating or altering any not justified by business necessity.
This article is prepared in summary form and is not to be construed as legal advice or opinion on any specific fact or circumstance.


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Safety and Efficiency Technologies
All commercial vehicles can – and should – have WABCO
We believe the more WABCO products that feature in a commercial vehicle, the better that vehicle will operate. And because WABCO's diverse portfolio of superbly engineered products serves all categories of commercial vehicles, none need go without the industry's leading technological innovations.
Trucks, buses, trailers - and even cars
Whatever the vehicle, we can help to make it safer and more efficient for both manufacturers and fleet customers. From advanced driver assistance systems and vehicle controls, to braking and suspension technologies as well as fleet management systems, WABCO offers state-of-the-art products that build on over a century of engineering excellence.
Truck Technologies
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems
If a truck stays in the right lane, at the right speed, with the right tire pressures and is fitted with the smartest collision protection devices, then it travels more efficiently and more safely. That's exactly what ADAS systems help to achieve...
- OnGuardACTIVE™ - An active safety system that helps prevent accidents by warning drivers of potential rear-end collisions, and even intervenes if needed.
- OnLane™ - With so many distractions on the road, this lane departure warning system uses camera technology to help keep drivers on the right track.
- OptiPace™ - WABCO's predictive economic cruise control offers fuel saving potential by adjusting vehicle speed to undulating road topography.
- TailGUARD™ for Truck & Bus - WABCO's new blind spot detection solution for your truck and bus.
- OptiTire™ - With WABCO's next generation tire monitoring system, journeys can be not only safer but more economical.
Brake and Stability Control
Whether it's the latest electronic system or the oldest type of solenoid valve, there's always one thing that WABCO delivers with them. Quality. With quality comes safety and reliability: the two most important words in vehicle braking and stability control.
Foundation Brakes
The most demanding heavy truck, bus and off-highway applications require air brake components with the best stopping credentials. WABCO's MAXX range is a game-changing generation of high performance, single-piston air disc brakes that further improve vehicle safety and efficiency.
- MAXX™ 22 Air Disc Brake - The industry's lightest and highest performing single-piston air disc brake designed for heavy duty commercial vehicles.
- MAXX™ 19 Air Disc Brake - Engineered for medium duty vehicles. Maintenance costs can be reduced thanks to exchangeable wear sensor technology.
- MAXX™ 17 Air Disc Brake - A top performer for 17.5 inch wheels that boosts braking performance and offers a choice of wear sensor technologies.
- MAXXUS™ Air Disc Brake - High-performance brake power from Medium to Severe Duty significantly reduces stopping distance of North American commercial vehicles.
- WABCO EasyFit™ - An automatic slack adjuster that ensures the correct transmission of power from the actuator to the drum brake S-camshaft.
These are the real heroes of the air brake world – transforming compressed power into mechanical action. WABCO's unique offering is a range of low-maintenance actuators that can be tailored to customer requirements. Please tell us yours...
- UNISTOP™ actuator - Outstanding reliability in a product that can be tailored to individual customer needs.
- TRISTOP™ D actuator - Double diaphragm spring brake actuators for Air Disc and Drum Brakes.
- TRISTOP™ Spring Brake actuator - Piston type spring brake actuator for Air Disc, S-Cam and wedge brakes.
Air Compression
With monobloc crankcases and hardened steel crankshafts, this wide range of proven compressors is suitable for almost any application, offering multiple options – such as off-load power reduction or improved cylinder head cooling capacity.
- h-comp™ - WABCO designed its High Output Compressor, h-comp, to increase the free air delivery by using a 100 mm piston diameter.
- c-comp™ - A simple on-off control and an integrated pneumatic clutch means that this compressor uses less engine power.
- d-comp™ - Extra cooling and higher performance are the key benefits of this revolutionary two-stage compressor.
- e-comp™ - For vehicles with hybrid and full electric drivelines, this robust compressor can work off an independent power source.
Air Processing
A broad range that extends air processing units to include air dryers, cartridges, multi-circuit protection, governors and a variety of valves. WABCO air processing products protect against water ingress and other pollutants, while intelligently managing compressor use and controlling regeneration.
- FuelGUARD™ electronic air processing - The hyper- efficient use of engine-free energy delivers significant fuel savings in combination with our c-comp™ compressor.
- Compact Air Processing Unit (C-APU) - 30% narrower than standard, simple to install, easy to maintain, and capable of controlling two pressure levels.
- Air System ProtectorPLUS Cartridge - Ideal for vehicles with high air demands. Dual desiccant technology optimizes air drying performance and service life.
- Air System Protector Cartridge - An economical low maintenance option thanks to higher levels of protection against valve corrosion, freezing and pollutants.
Air Suspension
Thanks to highly innovative, market-leading solutions, WABCO continues to set the global standard for cabin air suspension. The direct effect on driver efficiency, health and morale is proving invaluable to fleet operators worldwide.
- Cabin Levelling Valve - A long-life, low-maintenance, customizable solution that can take greater extremes than valves with dynamic sealing.
- OptiRide™ - A driver's dream: high traction 6x4 or 6x2, automatic lift axle control, axle load monitoring, and easy loading/coupling.
Driveline Control
With more than 40 years' experience in clutch control and over 20 years in transmission automation, WABCO has developed – in close cooperation with customers – a diverse selection of driveline control systems and devices.
- Customized Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) - WABCO develops tailored transmission automation solutions to effectively transform a given gearbox into an automated manual transmission.
- OptiDrive™ Modular Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) - This award-winning modular transmission automation technology can be easily adapted to a wide range of existing manual gearboxes.
- Clutch Control - For light to heavy-duty commercial vehicles, there's a full range of WABCO manual and automated clutch control components.
Vehicle Electronic Systems
Searching for smart, customized answers to solve complex electronic challenges? Our intelligent control units and components deliver advanced solutions – such as Door Control, Heating, Ventilation and Air Condition (HVAC) – via a CAN network.
- Central Vehicle Module - Tailors central ECU controls to the user's functional requirements.
- Central Vehicle Controller (MUX) - Controls and supervises electrical loads throughout the vehicle. An expandable and highly flexible solution.
Emission Control
WABCO is extending its range of technologies that assist original equipment manufacturers in the advancement of vehicle efficiency and improve their environmental friendliness – thereby helping to meet international regulations on emission reduction.
- SCR Water Control Valve - Supports emission control of Selective Catalytic Reduction. Built to last, yet lightweight and filter-free for low maintenance.
Trailer Technologies
Trailer Aerodynamics
With an innovative aeronautical technology applied to road vehicles, these unique aerodynamics devices for trailers offer significant fuel savings on long range distances at highway speeds.
- OptiFlow™ SideWings - Proven aerodynamics deliver up to 1.5L / 100km fuel savings at highway speed, and reduce wet road spray.
- OptiFlow™ Tail - Easy to install and retrofit, this saves up to 1.1L fuel / 100km at highway speed.
Trailer Telematics
When it comes to telematics, there's no need to look anywhere else. WABCO is a one-stop-shop, offering truck, driver and trailer information in one single platform, and the comprehensive services of Europe's leading fleet management specialist.
- Transics Fleet Management Solutions - Part of the WABCO Group, with over 20 years in Fleet Management Solutions for commercial vehicles. Transics are your trusted advisor in telematics.
Intelligent Trailer Program
Want to reduce expenditure while increasing driver safety and comfort? Then the logical choice is the award-winning Intelligent Trailer Program. With over 40 different functions to choose from these five areas, it's the most customizable, cost-effective solution available.
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)
The high quality, market-leading products in this range epitomize – and achieve – everything that WABCO stands for. Safety and efficiency founded on practical innovation.
- TailGUARD™ for Trailers - Rear blind spot detection system that automatically stops the trailer in the event of an imminent collision.
- OptiTire™ - Avoid blowouts and unnecessary wear with this next generation tire pressure monitoring system that's easy to retrofit.
Brake and Stability Control
- Trailer EBS-E - Customizable central platform for the intelligent control of more than 40 functions that enhance trailer efficiency and safety.
Trailer Foundation Brakes
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Andy Beal lets the cat out of the bag with "Five Secret Strategies to Add $1 Million in Revenue to your Interactive Marketing Agency in 2007″. What the hell is he doing giving such advice away for free?? 🙂
Mike McDonald of WebProNews interviews Rebecca Lieb from ClickZ and new Editor in Chief of Search Engine Watch.
Sean X. Cummings from Ask.com calls bull$#@! on 3 marketing strategies over at iMedia Connection. Check out the "Billy Badass" sunglasses on Sean!
Chris Winfield to write for SEO Buzz Box – Aaron scores!!!
Rand shares (most) of his kickass Firefox sidebar. Thank you Rand for all that you do!
The new Search Engine Land web design is officially launched.
Yahoo has issued a new weather report.


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Brian H Meredith
A Londoner by birth and upbringing and a New Zealander by marriage, residence and spirit, Brian began his communications and marketing career as a Junior Reporter on the Neath Guardian in South Wales.
He subsequently took his writing skills and put them to use developing a career with major London and Manchester based advertising agencies.
Immediately prior to coming to New Zealand in 1987, he was a Director of Saatchi & Saatchi in the UK. and Acting Chief Executive of the company's $50 million Manchester Agency.
Since arriving in New Zealand he has been General Manager, Marketing at Television New Zealand, Project Director of the 1992 New Zealand America's Cup Challenge and Joint General Manager at Radio New Zealand in Auckland.
In 1994, Brian established The Marketing Bureau Ltd., a Marketing Consulting firm which has handled assignments on behalf of over 60 of New Zealand's Top 500 Organisations as well as for clients in Sydney, Hong Kong, London & Blackpool.
He is an occasional lecturer in Marketing, writes a monthly Marketing Column for NZ Business Magazine and is in demand as a Keynote Speaker on the Australasian Conference Circuit.
One of Brian's key training modules is presentation skills training.
Our Team
- Dress for Success Auckland - May I Help? 03-May-2016
- Marketers - Stop Obsessing About Technology 27-Apr-2016
- Diversity.............. 16-Oct-2015
- The Great Digital Ad Swindle 29-Sep-2015


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http://www.variety.com/article/VR111800 ... Id=13&cs=1
Jim Carrey starrer "I Love You Phillip Morris" has been acquired for domestic distribution by Consolidated Pictures Group.
It was inevitable.
You are here: Home ‹ Board index ‹ Movie Discussion ‹ All Other/Older Movies ‹ (2010) I Love You Phillip Morris
Phillip Morris has gotten a Distributor
Discuss this movie. Filmed April 29-June 30, 2008
Available on DVD and Blu-ray.
14 posts • Page 1 of 1
Phillip Morris has gotten a Distributor
http://www.variety.com/article/VR111800 ... Id=13&cs=1
Jim Carrey starrer "I Love You Phillip Morris" has been acquired for domestic distribution by Consolidated Pictures Group.
It was inevitable.
Thats coooooooooooooool!!! Jim must be happy!!!
Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color, choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable!
Reading about this studio in the news article, I'm surprised they're responsible for the promotion for two Oscar-winners and a hit musical.
We can totally trust these guys!
"Snakes! Why it had to be snakes?"
-Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Looks like "I Love You Phillip Morris" will be their first movie to distribute domestic.
Jim Carrey Movies/Series/Books in 2019:
Sonic the Hedgehog, Kidding (Season 2) and Untitled novel
Join Jim Carrey Online on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, VK and Snapchat
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/I-Love-Y ... 13114.html
Phillip Morris will be screening again overseas very soon, as part of the Directors Fortnight at Cannes. It's entirely possible that the film has undergone some tweaks since the Sundance premiere, and may be a little more comprehensible and audience-friendly this time around. They'll need it if this movie is ever going to find any level of success-- Carrey and McGregor are both recognizble names, but often enough when they've done something out of the ordinary (The Cable Guy, name half of what McGregor has done), audiences have ignored it entirely. Time will tell how this one turns out.
I picked out a random topic, but ... Am I the only one that hates it when suddenly everything is quiet? C'mon, Phillip. Give us some! (news, I mean)
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Renovated Hollywood House Goes Green
An "eco luxury" home has a casual, Italian-style farmhouse feel
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Like something out of a TV sitcom, mixed signals and name confusions led a real estate agent to show the wrong house to a Los Angeles couple: Monica Rosenthal, who co-starred in the Emmy award-winning TV series Everybody Loves Raymond, and her husband, Philip, creator, writer, and executive producer of the show. Even though the 1920s house was in the midst of a renovation and not for sale, the Rosenthals made an offer to the owner, interior designer Timothy Corrigan. "They liked the house so much that they contacted me to see if I would be willing to sell it on the condition that I complete it for them," Corrigan recalls. The designer agreed, and the Rosenthals bought the property in 2005.
"When we first saw the house, it was completely gutted," Monica says. "But when I walked into the kitchen area, I was struck with how open it was. From both sides of the room you looked to beautiful views outdoors. I knew we could live here. I could envision this as a space where we could all hang out."
The couple and their two children, Ben and Lily, had just returned from a vacation in Italy, and the family was looking to create a casual Italian-style farmhouse. "We entertain a lot and have a lot of events here," Monica says.
Owning a large home raised issues, however. "I was concerned about our carbon footprint," she says. "I'm still conflicted about being a resource hog." Those concerns prompted Monica and Corrigan to incorporate as many green products as possible. And because the house was being renovated, they could add many sustainable and eco-kind materials from the ground up.
Monica requested insulation made with recycled cotton denim rather than fiberglass. She also spearheaded the installation of two types of solar panels. Inconspicuous low-profile "solar shingles" blend with regular roof shingles while collecting energy from the sun. And highly efficient silicon panels are mounted on wood awnings that project over bedroom balconies.
Corrigan recommended using recycled steel for structural support. "It doesn't cost any more and is just as durable," he says.
The designer tapped a California-based company that specializes in locating and selling reclaimed lumber that he used to fabricate into ceiling beams, floors, and wall paneling in the Rosenthals' library.
When a stone terrace was torn out during the renovation, Philip suggested installing the stone on the dining room walls. "I was reticent at first. I thought it might be too much," Monica says. "But it's one of the best rooms in the house. It feels like a wine cellar."
New wood floors and wood furnishings are built with lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as grown and harvested using sustainable practices. Cork floors were laid in a few rooms, including a laundry room. Cork is harvested from the bark of the oak cork tree without harming the tree. It is considered a quickly renewable material because the bark grows back in five to seven years.
Corrigan chose green furnishings, too, including many antiques. "They are the ultimate in green because no new resources are used to create them."
Drapery and furniture fabrics are cotton, linen, and other natural fibers, says Corrigan, who avoided fabrics treated with toxic, high-metal dyes. Pillows and furniture cushions are made with natural latex foam wrapped in down. Man-made, petroleum-based foams can give off toxic fumes.
Corrigan began researching green design several years ago when he became aware of indoor air pollution. He was initially appalled at the lack of attractive green options, so he lobbied furniture, fabric, and other suppliers to offer beautiful and Earth-friendly products. The result is what Corrigan calls eco-luxury—design that doesn't require a homeowner to choose between elegance and being environmentally responsible. It's an approach that resonates with Monica. "Tim's main focus was aesthetics. The house is elegant, but also warm and homey."
Photography: Joe Schmelzer
Interior design: Timothy Corrigan, Timothy Corrigan Inc., 5818 West Third St., Los Angeles, CA 90036; 323/525-1802, timothy-corrigan.com.
Living Room Details
Natural-fiber fabrics made with safe or no dyes are used for furniture and draperies. Cushions are made with natural latex foam and down.
Did you know? The U.S. Department of Health estimates that up to 20% of all chronic illnesses are attributable to the air pollution in our homes.
Dining Room
Salvaged stone was taken from a terrace during landscaping and installed on the dining room walls to add rustic old-world character to the previously dressy room.
Reclaimed wood planks and beams supplied by a California-based company, TerraMai, were added to the ceiling, which previously was painted with clouds.
Solar shingles are low-profile solar panels designed to blend with traditional roof shingles. The panels capture light emitted by the sun and convert that energy into electricity.
Antique doors from Italy open to the foyer, with an antique console, mirror, and lamps made from 19th-century candlesticks.
Did you know? Indoor air pollution can be 10 times greater than what we experience outdoors.
Recycled lumber was used to panel the library and build the fireplace mantel, which displays Emmy Awards the Rosenthals won for the TV show Everybody Loves Raymond.
Energy-efficient windows and French doors from Pella Windows and Doors were installed, providing ample natural daylight without taxing heating and cooling systems.
Did you know? A photovoltaic cell or solar cell is the technology used to convert solar energy into electrical power.
Breakfast Area
Reclaimed walnut planks were laid for the kitchen floor. New wood floors in other areas were all certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
Nesting Instincts
Shortly after hanging a lantern in the front loggia, a mother dove built her nest there and refused to budge until her fledglings were launched. "We figured the house must have good green karma for her to nest right by the front door," says Corrigan.
Eco-Luxury Tips from Designer Tim Corrigan
• Use paints low in VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
• Seek out organic and eco-friendly fabrics colored with safe dyes now proliferating in the market.
• Switch to all-natural home-care products.
• Swap out your incandescent lightbulbs for compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Huge advances have been made in CFLs so they no longer cast that eerie green light.
Pool House
Cork floors in the pool house are practical and sustainable. Cork is harvested by removing outer bark from a cork tree without harming the tree.
Iron lattice forms a gazebo planted with wisteria and jasmine to create a romantic outdoor dining spot protected from the sun and wind. The terrace is made of stone.
Golden pothos and English ivy help remove indoor air pollutants such as formaldehyde and benzene.
Gazebo Details
"This house is both green and elegant. It truly is the embodiment of the phrase eco-luxury," says designer Tim Corrigan.
Want more tips on how to make your home eco-chic? Click here to see another environmentally friendly home designed by Zem Joaquin.


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Hot off the presses, cool on your walls. Now, for the first time we are making available authentic press sheets from the Pantone pressroom, created for poster display. Printed on the world's only 28-color press, each poster measures a standard frame size of 24" by 36" and features PANTONE Graphics colors in tonal scales graded from richly saturated shades to diaphanous tints.
This is a very limited edition – when they're gone, they're gone, so order today!
Please note that the colors shown here are for reference only. Your order will be filled with a poster in the color family you select and may not exactly match the colors displayed.


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With over one hundred owner-inspired improvements, the all-new RANGER XP 1000 EPS Northstar Edition sets a new standard for what a utility side-by-side can do. Its modern rugged design, next-level in-cab comfort, and industry-leading towing and ground clearance make this machine the hardest-working, smoothest-riding SxS ever built.
The Ranger XP 1000 EPS Northstar Edition gives you more rugged capability features to tackle the toughest jobs, trails, and hunts.
• New! Aggressive new style and stance on a one-piece chassis.
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The Ranger XP 1000 EPS Northstar Edition has hundred of next-level comfort and convenience features inspired by Ranger owners, making work easier on you in every way possible.
• New! Completely redesigned interior centered around you, the driver.
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With over 200 accessories for the new XP 1000, you can be sure Polaris has what you need to work longer or ride farther. Start with the ultimate in all-season performance and comfort from the best cab system in the industry. The Ranger Pro shield Cab System keeps 3X more Dust, 2X more Rain and 1.5X more Noise out of the cab than the competition. Then add in lighting, wheels, tires, a winch, the Glacier Plow System and more - so you can go farther and get more done than you ever have before.


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Mark Abel (BSE EE '79) Mark Abel is the Associate General Manager of Software Services and Director of Pathfinding at Intel. In his over 20 years at Intel, Mr. Abel's teams have won or shared Intel's highest honor, the Intel Achievement Award, seven times for the creation of new technologies and new businesses for Intel, including the invention and delivery of technologies that have shipped in over a billion PCs. Before joining Intel in 1991, Mr. Abel held research and leadership positions with Bell Labs, Xerox PARC, US West Advanced Technologies, and Siemens. He is the author/co-author of over 20 journal and conference papers including several frequently cited works in the Computer Supported Cooperative Work literature. As Intel's executive sponsor for U-M since the mid-1990s, Mr. Abel has been an active sponsor and advisor to the University, the College of Engineering, the EECS department and many U-M professors and students. He has served as an early and ongoing member of the EECS Alumni Association board, as an advisor to successful U-M startup Arbor Networks, Inc., as a member of the School of Information Advisory Board and as a member of the College of Engineering Advisory Committee. [EECS News 2012]
Mark Abel ('79)
Mark S. Arams ('78)
* Jim Benya ('73)
Richard L. Bollinger ('76)
Jack Bonn ('76, '77)
Robert W. Bossemeyer ('78)
John Seely Brown ('64, '72)
Randal E. Bryant ('73)
Patrick L. Colestock ('75)
Richard A. Davidson ('70)
David J. DeWitt ('71, '76)
Kathryn M. [Walsh] Dombrowski ('79)
* Fred Gibbons ('72)
F.G. Gray ('71)
* George Haley ('70)
Robert Isackson ('78)
* Bill Joy ('75)
* Gloria Jeff ('74)
Suzanne M. [De Smet] Kelly ('75)
Zachary Lemnios ('76)
Andrew Linnell ('72, '73)
David G. Messerschmitt ('68, '72)
Floyd Miller ('78)
Bruce W. Sanderson ('74, '76)
John Sanguinetti ('70, '77)
* Robert D. Scott ('75)
John P. Shen ('73)
Michael Stonebraker ('66, '71)
* Benjamin J. Stoppe Jr. ('79)
* W. David
Tarver ('75, '76)
Robert J. Trew ('69, '75)
* Neal B. Vance ('71)
Jack L. Walker ('67, '74)
Mark S. Arams (BSE EE '78) is a Product Engineer for National Semiconductor Corp. (NSC) in Silicon Valley. His group specializes in chips that power portable products such as cell phones. He has worked for NSC for 25 years, 15 of them as a Process Engineer. Some of this time was spent working in a group that helped various fabs within the company improve their wafer sort yields. Mark has fond memories of Ann Arbor, and just started to return for regular visits with his Dad who also graduated from U-M (see Frank Arams '47). Mark says, "Ann Arbor has changed since I graduated in 1978, but it is great to walk around town and reminisce. Alice Lloyd Hall still has the same feel. Of course, going to a football game is always required when I visit." [EECS News Fall/Winter 2005]
Jim Benya (BSE CS/EE '73) devoted his career to architectural lighting design, and was recently recognized as a Fellow of the International Association of Lighting Designers. His work is best known for creating appealing lighting environments that provide the minimum amount of light necessary with the lowest energy expenditure. While he took to the artistic side of lighting naturally, the Arab oil embargo and subsequent concerns over escalating energy use have made his technical and engineering approach highly marketable. After moving to San Francisco in 1984, he became an independent designer and consultant to architects, interior designers, and building owners, and expanded his work to incorporate more natural lighting with his own vision for an overall lighting scheme. Benya primarily designs lighting for commercial, institutional and industrial projects, although he also includes in his portfolio a number of residences ranging from Habitat for Humanity to well-known clients like Clint Eastwood and Larry Ellison. Benya sold his San Francisco based firm, Luminae, in 1995 so that he could take a more hands-on approach to lighting design. He has since designed the lighting for new buildings at Dartmouth College, MIT, and the University of Oregon, and has developed lighting standards for Yosemite National Park. [EECS News Fall/Winter 2006]
Read More
Jim Benya: The Illuminator – IEEE Spectrum, February 1, 2006
Richard L. Bollinger (MSE CICE '76) and his wife, Beth, visited Europe last fall to see their daughter, Libbie, who was studying for the term in Grenoble, France. They also visited friends in Paris, Germany, and Switzerland. He helps organize and supervise first aid at UM sporting events with American Red Cross F.A.S.T. teams and Huron Valley Ambulance. He belongs to the W. Edwards Deming Institute, whose ultimate aim is to "advance commerce, prosperity and peace," and plans to start a talk radio show this year on WAAM.
Richard is currently under contract to General Motors in Detroit as a Project Manager over a global IT project. See his website: www.menloparkassociates.com. [EECS News Spring/Summer 2005]
Jack Bonn (BSE CE '76; MSE CICE '77) has been an independent consultant since 1979. He has worked on everything from radars to sonars to bottle-making machines. He has recently become involved in the production of liquid handling equipment in support of drug discovery and genomic/proteomic research. He has been married since 1977 and has two children. [EECS News 2003]
Robert W. Bossemeyer (MSE EE '78) writes, "In 2000, after almost 19 years in applied research at AT&T Bell Laboratories and Ameritech Science and Technology, I started my own consulting business, Speech Technology Applied Research, Inc., in St. Charles, IL." He provides consulting services in text-to-speech and speaker verification technologies. He also is speech biometrics team leader for Quantum Signal, LLC, an Ann Arbor company co-founded by Professor William Williams and Dr. Mitch Rohde, a UM Bioengineering Program graduate. "It's nice to be working with Bill again; he was my thesis advisor (and men-tor) when I was an undergraduate and graduate student during the 1970s." [EECS News 2003]
John Seely Brown (MS Math '64; PhD CCS '72; ScD hon. '05) revolutionized the vision and application of technology's role in society, recognizing early on that computers offered new means of human expression and interaction. His research has spanned organizational learning, complex adaptive systems, ubiquitous computing, and digital culture. During the 1980's, he was an influential director of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, and later chief scientist at Xerox Corp. He was one of the first to hire research anthropologists and sociologists to explore how technology transforms the workplace and social life more broadly. Among numerous other publications, he co-authored the classic work, The Social Life of Information. He is currently co-chairman of the Center for Edge Innovatino at Deloitte. Dr. Brown is a fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, and a member of the National Academy of Education. Brown received the College of Engineering Alumni Society Medal in 2008. [EECS News 2009]
Randal E. Bryant (BS Applied Math '73) is Dean of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He has conducted pioneering research on methods for verifying digital hardware, and more recently, software as well. He authored a groundbreaking paper on symbolic Boolean manipulation, and the popular textbook Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective, used in more than 130 universities worldwide. Dr. Bryant is a fellow of IEEE, the Association for Computing Machinery, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Bryant received the CSE Alumni Merit Award in 2008. [EECS News 2009]
Patrick L. Colestock (MSE PhD EE '73 '75; also MSE Math '73) is a leader in applied plasma physics for accelerator applications and transionospheric sensing in the Los Alamos National Laboratory's Space and Remote Sensing Group. He has made pioneering contributions to the historic cyclotron resonance heating experiments on the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor and the Princeton Large Torus. He also helped optimize the performance of the Main Ring and Tevatron at Fermilab. Mr. Colestock has testified before Congress on the future of fusion reactors and has served on several technical review panels of the National Science Foundation and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
In 2015 he was named a Los Alamos National Laboratory Fellow in 2009 in recognition of his sustained, outstanding scientific contributions and exceptional promise for continued professional achievement.
Richard Davidson (BSE EE '70) tells us, "I seem to be involved with startup companies late in my career. I started at Motorola and moved on to smaller companies that used minicomputers and microprocessors in their electronic products. I consulted in radio frequency and computer engineering before consulting in software engineering for about 20 years. My attempt at entrepreneurialship produced a success that licensed its patents to all of the cable TV and satellite TV digital decoder manufacturers. I am currently with mVerify Corporation in Chicago, another startup that has a government grant to develop model based software testing tools for the wireless industry. I am helping a former partner launch a business to deliver eBooks to the school systems and replace traditional textbooks. I think about retirement, but there are so many interesting technical challenges out there in new businesses that I cannot let myself stop working." [EECS News Spring/Summer 2005]
Davidson received the 2004 American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Herb S. Brier (W9AD) Instructor of the Year Award. Davidson has taught license classes to those wanting to receive their Amateur Radio license since 1994, while being education director and ham class instructor for the North Shore Radio Club. He was active in the U-M ham radio club, W8UM, during his years as a student. He tells us, "I still have a QSL card in my collection that I saved from the times when we operated the station on the top floor of the East Engineering Building." [EECS News Spring/Summer 2006]
David J. DeWitt (MSE PhD CICE '71 '76) is John P. Morgridge Professor of Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Prof. DeWitt conducts research in the area of database system design. He has done seminal work in information mining, and was co-inventor of the "Wisconsin Benchmark," now used as a standard test for relational database systems. His current projects include the Niagara query engine, used for retrieving, querying, and monitoring XML data, and Paradise. Paradise is a database system that enables users to query, browse and manipulate massive geographic information data sets, and in particular is aimed at handling GIS (Geographic Information Systems) types of applications.
He was chair of his department 1999-2004, is a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He received the ACM SIGMOD Innovations Award for his contributions to the database systems field in 1995. DeWitt also received the CSE Alumni Merit Award in 2004. [EECS News Spring/Summer 2005]
Kathryn M. [Walsh] Dombrowski (BSE EE '79) has worked for Ford Motor Company for more than 20 years in a variety of positions, including systems engineering, engineering supervision, project management, and business planning. She received an MBA in 1987, and is a professional engineer. She is married with 4 children. [EECS News Spring/Summer 2004]
Fred Gibbons (BSE Science Eng '72; MSE CICE '72) is founder and CEO of Venture-Concept, a high-tech venture capital firm. In 1981, Gibbons started his first company, Software Publishing Corporation, which produced classic productivity software for first-time users. He got the idea after being approached by Steve Jobs who asked him to do the market-requirement planning for the Apple I computer. Gibbons also invented a new category (presentation graphics) and a hugely successful product, Harvard Graphics. Starting with one employee—himself—and zero revenues, Gibbons achieved $50 million in revenue by 1985, and $150 million in 1990. The company was sold in 1994, after which Gibbons (who also holds a Harvard MBA) began teaching a business management course for engineers at Stanford University where he has helped hundreds of students launch successful businesses. Some of his successful student businesses include Yahoo! Inc. and ActivePhoto, an application which allows insurance agents to send on-scene damage photos directly into an easily retrievable web storage instead of a cumbersome paper-filing system. For significant contributions to academia and business, Gibbons received the EECS Alumni Society Merit Award in 2000.
Fred Gibbons – Michigan Engineer, Fall/Winter 2002
F.G. Gray (PhD CICE '71) will retire on June 1, 2003, after 32 years of service to Virginia Tech. [EECS News 2003]
George Haley (BSE EE '70) is a partner with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, where he focuses on the development and financing for high-profile multimillion-dollar projects.
Read More
George Haley - Proof that Simple is Best – Michigan Engineer, Spring 2012
Robert Isackson (BSE EE '78) graduated from UM Law School in 1982; moved to New York to practice patent law at Fish & Neave; joined the Davis Hoxie patent boutique in 1991 and made partner; helped merge Davis Hoxie into Orrick in 1995; and is now head of the New York IP group. His legal practice is mostly patent litigation for Fortune 100 companies in a wide variety of technologies including medical devices, genetically modified DNA in crop biotechnology, software, pharmaceuticals, and computer-controlled deep fat fryers, to name a few. He has been married since 1984; has one daughter, born 1989, and one son, born 1993; and resides in Tenafly, NJ. [EECS News 2003]
Bill Joy (BSE CE '75, D.Eng. hon. '04) - Part of the magic of this digital age has been the ability to connect a number of computers in a network and share information. The first Internet—a vast web of computers—was clumsy and limited until 1984, when the University of California at Berkeley released a new version of UNIX (4.2BSD) that included a complete implementation of the TCP/IP networking protocols—conventions that became the backbone of the modern Internet. Bill Joy designed that new version of UNIX. He went on to co-found Sun Microsystems where, years later in 1995, he unveiled Java, another programming language of his design. Java harnesses the power of the Internet and plays a major role in bringing the Web to life—the program has been integral to the development of Internet business. Joy has 44 patents issued or in progress, is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Computer Museum Industry Hall of Fame. In recognition of his outstanding contributions, Joy received the Computerworld Smithsonian Award for Innovation in 1999 and the PC Magazine 1999 Lifetime Achievement Award. Fortune magazine has called him the "Edison of the Internet." He received the College's Alumni Society Medal—its highest honor—in 2000.
Gloria Jeff (BSE CE '74, MSE '76, MUP '76) is a principal consultant for a Washington, D.C. transportation company. She has extensive experience in the transportation industry - she was the director of the Michigan Dept. of Transportation for over three years before the move to D.C. Under her leadership, MDOT hammered out a unique road-maintenance agreement, doubled the State's investment in the maintenance and repair of local bridges, and positioned Michigan as a compassionate contributor in the effort to help evacuees from hurricanes Katrina and Rita - to name just several of her many achievements.
Gloria Jeff: Always on the Move – Michigan Engineer, Spring 2006
Suzanne M. [De Smet] Kelly (BS CCS '75) has been working at Sandia National Laboratories since 1980, after receiving her MAS in computer science from Boston University. She is a distinguished member of technical staff and specializes in system software for massively parallel high performance computing systems. She currently leads the software team for the second fastest computer in the world, Red Storm (see http://www.top500.org/lists/2006/11). This computer integrates 13,728 commodity AMD processors, over 41 terabytes of memory, and a custom, high performance 3-D mesh network interconnect. Using messaging passing algorithms (MPI), a single application, running on the 12,920 compute processors, can cooperate to solve or simulate a scientific problem. The ability to distribute and scale a problem across thousands of nodes requires some specialized system software. A hallmark of the system software on Red Storm is its light weight kernel operating system, Catamount. Catamount functionality is limited to the minimum set to support scientific applications. Suzanne let us know that she is grateful for how her U-M CS degree helped her with her career. Kelly is pictured here with the Red Storm Computer. [EECS News Spring/Summer 2007]
Zachary J. Lemnios (BSE EE '76) is Vice President, Research Strategy and Worldwide Operations at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center. He is responsible for the formation and execution of the IBM Research strategy and operations across IBM's twelve global laboratories and network of collaboratories. During the years 2009-2012, Mr. Lemnios was Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering for the U.S. Department of Defense. He was also Director of the Microsystems Technology Office during the years 2003–2005, and Deputy Director of Information Processing Technology Office for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from 2002–2003.
In 2014, was elected Fellow of IEEE "for leadership in advanced technologies for defense and security systems."
Andrew Linnell (BSE MSE CICE '72 '73) works for EMC in Hopkinton, MA as a Technical Consultant. Prior to this he was CTO of an Austin, TX startup, OmegaBand. His empty nest, created when his third child graduated from college in 2006, has been refilled. Andrew remarried in 2006 and now has two exchange students and a mother-in-law living in his happy home in Hudson, MA. [EECS News Spring/Summer 2007]
David G. Messerschmitt (MS '68; PhD CICE '72) is an Emeritus Professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at U-C, Berkeley, where he also served as Department Chair. He is a renowned researcher in the field of telecommunications, and author of several textbooks in the areas of networking, digital communications, and software. He is an IEEE Fellow and member of the National Academy of Engineering. Dr. Messerschmitt received the College of Engineering Alumni Society Merit Award for EECS in 1994, and has served on the EECS National Advisory Committee. Messerschmitt received the EECS Alumni Merit Award in 1994. [EECS News 2009]
Floyd Miller (BSE EE '78) works for Woodward McCoach, Inc., an electronic and software development firm in PA. He specializes in electronic and computer circuit design, and device driver and software API design for communications equipment. He is working with some of the people he started with in 1979, and stated, "when you enjoy your work and the people you work with, why tempt fate." Miller is an alumnus of the student radio station WCBN-FM and Eclipse Jazz, a student run organization that produced and promoted Jazz concerts. These days, Miller spends some spare time tinkering in his own music studio (pictured left). You can hear his original music (and view his wife's artwork) at: www.studiodust.com. [EECS News Fall/Winter 2005]
Bruce W. Sanderson (BSE MSE EE '74 '76) is retiring from Ford Motor Company after 30+ years' work in the Dearborn Engineering and Corporate data centers. [EECS News Spring/Summer 2007]
John Sanguinetti (BS Applied Math '70; PhD CCS '77) is co-founder and CTO of Forte Design Systems. Sanguinetti has been a pioneer in the field of computer science, particularly in the areas of computer architecture, performance analysis, and design verification. Upon receiving his PhD from U-M in 1977, he began working for a succession of computer manufacturers as a performance analyst, computer architect, and design verification engineer. After working for DEC, Amdahl, ELXSI, Ardent, and NeXT, he founded Chronologic Simulation in 1991 and was President until 1995. He was the principal architect of VCS, the Verilog Compiled Simulator, which greatly contributed to a resurgence in the use of Verilog in the design community. VCS is still the leading simulator for electronic design. Dr. Sanguinetti served on the Open Verilog International Board of Directors from 1992 to 1995, and was a major contributor to the working group, which drafted the specification for the IEEE 1364 Verilog standard.
In 1998, Sanguinetti co-founded CynApps, now Forte Design Systems, to produce high-level synthesis technology for electronic design. He is currently the Chief Technology Officer of the company. Dr. Sanguinetti has been active as an angel investor in the Electronic Design Automation community, and serves on the Board of Directors of several Electronic Design Automation companies. In addition, he is on the Board of Directors of the Myeloma Research Fund as well as the Peninsula Symphony, where he has served as principal trombone for 20 years. John plays trombone in the U-M Homecoming Band when he is in town. John reflected on his days at Michigan, and his plunge into the world of Silicon Valley: "A dominant theme of my experience at U-M was the pursuit of excellence. I first encountered this in the Marching Band under Dr. Revelli, and then at the Computing Center. Embracing this attitude changes one's life. I had to stretch myself to keep up in that environment. There were symbols of excellence throughout the university then, as there still are. Bo Schembechler was one of the more visible ones. Dr. Revelli was another. Michigan football represented the pursuit of excellence, and you could measure it on the scoreboard. The Marching Band did, too, and you could hear it on the field. Leaders and Best is not just an empty slogan. When I moved to Silicon Valley in 1982, it was a hotbed of entrepreneurship. Those who started companies and got rich were celebrated and admired for creating products and businesses, and measured by the IPO numbers. In a very real sense, the stock listings were the scoreboard. I had the self-confidence that I could fit in to that world, though it took me a long time to come up with an idea that was good enough for me to take the plunge. In the end, self-confidence, ambition, and the intellectual foundation to make a reasonable judgment about what to do and how to do it will allow you to make an impact on the world. I got all those things at Michigan." Sanguinetti received the CSE Alumni Merit Award in 2005. [EECS News Spring/Summer 2006]
Robert D. Scott (BSE CE '75) began a career with Procter & Gamble that spanned nearly 30 years and the globe. Scott's first job as a systems analyst in P&G's engineering division served as the stepping stone to a dozen other positions of increasing scope, responsibility and opportunity. He worked in virtually every business area within P&G, implementing information systems and integrating new business units. Scott has also overseen the global consolidation of the company's computing and communications infrastructure, spending nearly 60 to 70 percent of his traveling to Latin America, Europe and Asia. Scott chairs the board of Cincinnati CyberVillage, a non-profit corporation he co-founded to narrow the digital divide, and holds leadership positions with several other regional and national organizations. Now that he has experienced success, he reaches out to help others and is actively involved with MEPO, the Minority Engineering Program Office, and the Business School's Information Systems Executive Forum. Scott received the College of Engineering Alumni Society Distinguished Service Award in 2006.
Robert Scott – Michigan Engineer, Fall/Winter 2002
John P. Shen (BSE EE '73) directs the Microarchitecture Research Lab at Intel with researchers located in Hillsboro, OR, Santa Clara, CA, and Austin TX. After receiving his U-M degree, he earned the MS and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California. He spent several years in the aerospace industry, and, until spring of 2000, was on the faculty of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University where he headed the Carnegie Mellon Microarchitecture Research Team (CMuART). John has published over 100 research papers in the areas of VLSI Design and Test; Fault Tolerant Computing; Computer Performance Evaluation; Instruction Level Parallelism; Superscalar Processor Design; Speculative and High-frequency Micro-architectures; and Thread-Level Speculation. He has just published a book called Modern Processor Design: Fundamentals of Superscalar Processors with McGraw-Hill. [EECS News Fall/Winter 2005]
Michael Stonebraker (MSE EE '66; PhD CICE '71) is world renowned in the area of relational database research and technology. "Shortly after graduating from Michigan," reflects Prof. Jagadish, "Mike Stonebraker built two of the earliest relational databases, Ingres and System R. These two systems are the progenitors of a billion dollar industry, and commercial databases today are still quite similar in their basic structure to these first systems."
Stonebraker joined the Computer Science faculty at the University of California at Berkeley upon graduating from U-M. Based on his research on databases, he founded INGRES Corp., which was later sold to Computer Associates. Dr. Stonebraker improved on the database model of INGRES with POSTGRES (post-ingres), and went on to form the company Illustra Information Technologies, based on this new technology. Illustra was purchased by Informix, who used Stonebraker's code as the basis of their product. Stonebraker also founded Cohera Corporation. He was awarded the ACM System Software Award in 1992 for his work on INGRES, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Stonebraker retired from UC Berkeley in 2000, and currently teaches at MIT as an adjunct professor.
Stonebraker said, "Computer science is among the most intellectually stimulating, fast-moving, complicated areas. I think it's ground zero right now. I think we will look back in 20 years to right now as the golden age of computer science because the Web is just completely changing everything. It's a really exciting time to be contributing to the field." Stonebraker received the CSE Alumni Merit Award in 2003. [EECS News Spring/Summer 2004]
Advancing Computation: 4th U-M Alum Wins Turing Award – EECS Website, April 17, 2015
ACM Turing Award Goes to Pioneer in Database Systems Architectur – prweb, March 25, 2015
Benjamin J. Stoppe, Jr. (MSE EE '79) came to study at the department while a member of the Coast Guard. He knew several friends who studied here, and heard good things. He studied hard, going to school year round to get his specially-molded degree, which combined electrical engineering and math courses. A favorite outlet was the football games, back when Bo Schembechler was fighting Woody Hayes at Ohio State. Ben performed many search and rescue missions for the Coast Guard, including one "tour" transporting premature infants to better medical facilities. He retired from the Coast Guard at the age of 44, but went right back to work, this time in the field of Information Technology. He currently works for MITRE, a not-for-profit company that works for the public good. He works in the Center for Advanced Aviation Systems Development (CAASD), which primarily works for the FAA to improve the air traffic system.
Ben has been the treasurer of the M Club of Washington DC for the past seven years, and has returned to attend the leadership classes sponsored by the UM Alumni Society. Photo courtesy of Regina Hansen, MITRE Corporation. [EECS News Spring/Summer 2004]
Benjamin J. Stoppe, Jr. - For the Love of Flying – EECS Website
W. David Tarver (BSE MSE EE '75, '76) was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. He received bachelor's (1975) and master's (1976) degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, then went to work for AT&T Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey. Tarver left Bell Labs in 1983 to start Telecom Analysis Systems (TAS) in his basement with colleagues Steve Moore and Charles Simmons. In 1995, he engineered the sale of TAS to Bowthorpe (now Spirent) plc for $30 million.
From 1996-99, Tarver spearheaded development of a Spirent telecommunications test equipment business that had sales of over $250 million and a market value in excess of $2 billion. He left Spirent as president of the telecom equipment business unit at the end of 1999 to pursue community service and family interests. In 2001, Tarver founded the Red Bank Education and Development Initiative (Red Bank, New Jersey). The community-based not-for-profit catalyzed dramatic improvements in academic performance and opportunities for Red Bank children. He has also served on the National Advisory Committee for the University of Michigan (U-M) College of Engineering, the U-M Alumni Association board of directors, the Red Bank (NJ) Board of Education, the National Commission on NAEP 12 Grade Assessment and Reporting, and several other civic and not-for-profit organization boards. In 2007, he returned to Michigan, where he resides with wife Kishna Sharif Tarver and daughter Nadiyah Louise. Proving Ground is his first book.
W. David Tarver: A Dream Becomes a $30M Reality – EECS News, 2012
David Tarver Entreprenuership Hour Lecture [Video] – Center for Entrepreneurship, October 18, 2012
Robert J. Trew (MSE PhD EE '69 '75) is an Alton and Mildred Lancaster Distinguished Professor and the Department Head of Electrical and Computer Engineering at North Carolina State University. Dr. Trew has led a varied and distinguished life as a professor, administrator, and public servant. As a member of the faculty at NCSU, his research was in the areas of semiconductors and microwave computer-aided design. He holds four patents, and has received numerous awards in his field, including the Harry Diamond Memorial Award "for his technical contributions to the theory and design of microwave power devices using wide bandgap semiconductors, and leadership in managing DoD's (U.S. Department of Defense) basic research program." Dr. Trew served from 1997-2001 as Director of Research for the Department of Defense, overseeing a $1.3 billion annual budget. Before this, he spent five years as a Program Manager in the Electronics Division for the U.S. Army Research Office.
Trew says, "I remember my days in Ann Arbor with great fondness. I worked with a great group of students and we had some very nice times. In those days IMPATT and Gunn devices were the hot devices for research and there were opportunities in both device modeling and fabrication and testing. I did a little of both. The TRAPATT diode turned out to be a very good educational tool and was ideal for learning about various physical electronic and circuit phenomena affecting solid state device operation. The knowledge later proved invaluable. Life in Ann Arbor wasn't all work, and I fondly recall football Saturdays (I was in the stadium the day Woody Hays tore up the yard marker), the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (right outside East Engineering), the Dexter cider mill, and Pizza Bob's. I can't imagine a better educational experience." Trew received the ECE Alumni Merit Award in 2003. [EECS News Spring/Summer 2004]
Neal B. Vance (BSE EE '71) came to Michigan Engineering after serving in the Navy, and working at General Motors as a draftsman and research technician. While there, said Vance, "I came to realize that industry places its future with young engineers, and they recruit these future business leaders from engineering colleges, and if I wanted to realize any leadership contribution in my life, I would need to get my degree. From that moment on, I could not have been more focused or determined. It was spring, and my goal was to be enrolled by fall in the best engineering school that would have me." Accepted by every school to which he applied, he chose Michigan!
Vance decided to major in electrical engineering after he was told he had a keen insight in the realm of the invisible. Upon graduating, he returned to GM and discovered "that his Michigan degree forever changed my life; doors opened, challenges were offered, leadership was given, and a satisfying and enduring career has been the result." Neal says:
"I am a Renaissance man; curiosity and wonderment at nature and exploring the unknown. I've owned three companies, and have a half-dozen inventions living inside automobiles, computer cabinets, and manufacturing machines, I'm an ex-pilot and ex-speed junky. I designed a super-precision manufacturing grinder in 1981 (10 years out of Michigan Engineering) still being built and sold worldwide today. The grinder company who gave me that job did so on faith; neither they nor I had ever designed or built anything like that before. And part of that faith was based on that I was a Michigan Electrical Engineering grad!
My goals today are to pick projects that have a direct human benefit. One thing I know; any project - any enterprise, will hit snags and delays and unexpected interruptions. If the goal is indeed important to another human being, that fact seems to get me through the delays and interruptions; it takes me out of the equation. Somebody is depending on this thing getting done, and that is a very powerful incentive.
I am the father of a future Michigan man, I hope, and married to a wonderful woman. I read 4-6 hours a day, am building an Intel Core2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz workstation to run solid modeling CAD, restoring an old house, and making sure everyone uses the recycle bins. Life is good. Go Blue!" firstname.lastname@example.com; Saginaw, Michigan. Pictured right along with his former Professor Nino Masnari. [EECS News 2009]
Alumni Who've Made a Difference - Neal Vance – EECS Website
Jack L. Walker (MSE PhD EE '67 '74) is an acknowledged expert in synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which enables observations of Earth from space. He devised the mathematical formulation and optical processing for the highest resolution form of SAR, known as spotlight mode; his research has had profound implications for the security and defense of the United States. He accomplished this research during a distinguished career at Veridian and ERIM, where, as chief scientist, he directed many of that organization's R&D projects. He retired in 2000 after 36 years of service. Walker is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and is currently working as an independent consultant.
Walker was a student of Prof. Emmett Leith, who stated, "Jack Walker's contributions to synthetic aperture radar were brilliant and immensely successful. They permitted synthetic aperture radar development to surge ahead to new vistas and to the production of images of stunning quality. Such imagery could hardly have been imagined before Walker made his contributions." According to Walker, "when I was 12 years old I was firmly convinced that I wanted to be an Electrical Engineer and go the University of Michigan. I have very fond memories of my years at Michigan." He still recalls his first conversation with his advisor, Prof. John Lyons, in 1962, who told him that he would be very busy working full time and going to school. Despite this being true, Walker said, "I enjoyed every class that I took at Michigan!" Walker received the ECE Alumni Merit Award in 2004. [EECS News Spring/Summer 2005]


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Jeanne McAdara-Berkowitz received her Ph.D. in macromolecular and cellular structure and chemistry from the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. She did a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and then joined FischerHealth Strategic Communications. After three years at the agency, Jeanne founded Biolexica, a communications consultancy specializing in the health sciences.
From the moment my parents gave me my first microscope, I never imagined I'd grow up to become anything other than a scientist. I designed my entire scholastic trajectory with that goal in mind, and I never questioned my plan until I was well into my Ph.D. candidacy. Despite a growing discontent with bench science, I managed to complete my thesis work and even did a postdoctoral fellowship. But even wonderful mentors, great co-workers and interesting projects couldn't keep my heart in the laboratory. I eventually made the decision— one that was absolutely devastating at the time— to begin looking for a new career.
Today, I am a professional science and medical writer and communications strategist, and I couldn't be happier. I work on a variety of communications projects, from media relations, marketing and Web sites, to deeply technical projects like helping researchers turn clinical studies into journal manuscripts. It's interesting, varied and fast-paced work that is intellectually challenging, both scientifically and from a business standpoint.
Making the decision to leave the lab bench might have been the hardest part of my career transition, but the next hardest part was figuring out what to do and how to get there.
The path that led me from unhappy lab researcher to successful consultant may seem like random coincidences and luck. But, over the years, I've found the common theme among most of the "alternative career" crowd is that everyone's career history is a seemingly random amalgamation of network connections, referrals and opportunities that came together in the end. We all created environments that fostered connections and remained vigilant, so we recognized opportunities when they presented themselves.
For example, in the midst of my postdoc, when the angst of not knowing what to do with my life was at its peak, a friend who was a technician in my graduate school lab got a freelance gig writing for a magazine aimed at lab scientists. He put in a word with the editor, who then gave me a trial assignment. I was terrified. What did I know about writing an article? I probably worked harder on that 500-word product review than I have on anything since. But, that first assignment led to more writing work, and it also gave me a pretty good idea that, whatever I decided to do, I wanted writing to be a part of it.
The lesson here is not "find a friend who works for a magazine, and see if you can get a freelance assignment." The lesson is: Share your hopes and plans for a career change with anyone you trust, even if you're not sure what you want to do. He or she might know someone, or know someone who knows someone, so keep your ears open and jump at any opportunity that comes your way no matter how scared you might be of failing. Ask people to tell you their stories, and volunteer to help them with their work. Give it everything you've got. If you can't summon your "everything," look elsewhere, because that's a clue that this is not what you're suited for. And use any small successes to propel you forward.
My experience with the magazine inspired me to go into communications. I signed up for university extension courses in journalism and public relations and worked up the nerve to introduce myself to the instructors. I sought out mentors, cold calling people in the communications department at the university where I worked and asking them to lunch to learn about what they did. I asked if there was work I could help with on a volunteer basis, and I met with their friends when they offered introductions. I studied everything I could about communications in science and researched potential employers who might need a Ph.D. scientist who liked to write. I tracked down phone numbers and called the executives of companies and took them to lunch. I handed them writing samples from my magazine gig. I kept learning about my prospective new field, and eventually I landed a job at a public relations agency specializing in health care communications.
Again, the takeaway message is that we have to create our own opportunities— I did not get that job from a posted ad or even through a personal referral. My first off-the-bench job was a direct result of my own research efforts and relationships I'd created from scratch. By seeking out connections, asking them questions and building relationships, I was able to figure what I wanted to do. And eventually, I gained the confidence I needed to contact people who might need me and convince them that they did need me.
My first job wasn't perfect— the agency's client roster was heavily weighted toward medical-device companies and hospitals, and, although they'd been hoping to move more into biotechnology and pharmaceutical work, they didn't have the senior-level strategic expertise to attract those kinds of clients. But, during my three years there, I learned about the business of communications— about working on multiple projects under deadlines, tracking and billing for time, managing clients and accounts, and the fundamental strategic principles of marketing communications that apply to any industry. Most importantly, I learned that I loved both the actual mechanics of science writing and the strategy that tells us what to write and why. The key was that I approached my work with passion— and always with my eye on the most successful people. I learned the business by watching them, even while I was learning the basics.
After I'd been at the agency for a few years, my husband and I were ready to start our family, and my long commute and demanding work schedule didn't seem compatible with my vision of parenthood. I negotiated a small but steady freelancing agreement with my employer, and, with that bread-and-butter arrangement in place, I turned to my professional network. Over the years, the colleagues and clients I'd met and friends I'd made had moved on to new jobs themselves, and they have become a self-perpetuating source of referrals.
Working for myself, I've been able to mold my client and project roster toward my favorite kind of work— long-term relationships with a strategic component and lots of deep-level scientific writing. I've also been able to let my workload ebb and flow as my family has grown and changed. But, I've made a point never to become complacent about my career. With each new prospect, I look for personal and professional growth opportunities. I routinely take on projects that require me to stretch intellectually— and I do the requisite studying to make sure I'm providing the best service I can for my clients. I continue to network and meet new people and join and become involved in professional organizations so I can learn from others.
In the end, I found what I wanted to do, and I get to do it every day. But it didn't just happen to me— I made it happen. So, to any aspiring career-changers out there who might be discouraged, wondering how on Earth a crazy set of coincidences will ever happen to them, I say "close your eyes and jump." Go out and create the coincidences that will form your path to a fulfilling career. It takes work, and guts, but you can do it.
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