Spring 2009

Inside this Issue

President’s Message

Letter from the President

Pursuit of Excellence in Tough Times A prominent government official has been quoted as saying, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” While many interpretations of this statement are possible, there is a kernel of wisdom here: tough times offer any organization an opportunity to examine itself—its...

Features

New Grid in Town: Perfect Power System Ramps Up IIT

The high-reliability distribution system of the IIT Perfect Power System; each numbered loop represents a redundant system designed to increase the security and reliability of energy delivery. Illustration by Michael Meiners—Galvin Electricity Initiative The greek philosopher Aristotle is credited with authoring the earliest definition of the word perfection, which he...

Features

Walter Nathan: Preserving the Past

Forget-Me-Not Trustee Memorializes Ancestors for Future Generations Walter Nathan at the ceremony memorial in Gau-Algesheim, Germany History holds many dark secrets, but sooner or later, truth finds a way to shine through. One such lucid moment revealed itself to Walter Nathan (ME ’44) on a transatlantic flight in early 2006...

Features

Art Paul: The Art of Designing Playboy

Art Paul The year 1953 produced its share of world-rocking events: James Watson and Francis Crick unraveled the structure of DNA, color television sets went on sale, and the Soviet Union detonated its first hydrogen weapon. In Chicago, two men set off a bomb of a different sort, blasting newsstands...

Online Exclusives

WISER Formula Hybrid Team on Fast Track to Learning

Each spring, the IIT community gathers outdoors for a supercharged send-off as Scarlet Hawk and other student-built high-performance hybrid vehicles roll out of Armour garage for a road trip to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where they vie against other college racecars in the annual Formula Hybrid™ International Competition. Jonathan Sibley (EE ’08), master’s degree candidate in electrical engineering and IIT Formula Hybrid project manager, helped to steer the efforts of the Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research (WISER) Formula Hybrid team as they readied two vehicles for the competition, which was held May 4–6 in Loudon.

Online Exclusives

Engineering a Useful Sulfur-Eating Bacterium

Petri plate streaked with a pure colony of the 36-SY bacterial strain possessing, to a degree, the heat-tolerant quality required for the Saudi Aramco project. The strain was isolated by an IIT student from a soil sample taken in the Chicago area. It seems fitting that a small plaque displaying...

Online Exclusives

Rewind Revisited: IIT Navy V-12

In an effort to increase the number of college-educated officers called to serve their country during World War II, the federal government initiated a nationwide education effort in 1943 known as the V-12 Navy College Training Program . IIT’s reputation as a leading academic institution headed by a patriotic president—Henry...

Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications

Jeffrey D. Bierig

Editor

Chelsea Kalberloh Jackson

Contributors

E. Cayce Dumont
Marcia Faye
Richard Harth
Julie Morley
Linda Packer

Art Director

Nancy Niequist Schoon

Design

Scott Benbrook
Marty Schalm
Nancy Niequist Schoon
Jessica Serafin

Illinois Tech Magazine is published two times a year by the Office of Marketing and Communications

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New Grid in Town Perfect Power System Ramps Up IIT

Spring 2009

Inside this Issue

President’s Message

Letter from the President

Features

New Grid in Town: Perfect Power System Ramps Up IIT

Features

Walter Nathan: Preserving the Past

Features

Art Paul: The Art of Designing Playboy

Online Exclusives

WISER Formula Hybrid Team on Fast Track to Learning

Online Exclusives

Engineering a Useful Sulfur-Eating Bacterium

Online Exclusives

Rewind Revisited: IIT Navy V-12

Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications

Editor

Contributors

Art Director

Design

Illinois Tech Magazine is published two times a year by the Office of Marketing and Communications

Send Letters to

Download the Spring 2009 Issue