2/19/2010
Engineering at Illinois alumni, family, and friends gathered at The Houstonian Hotel in Houston on February 18 launching Dean Ilesanmi Adesida’s “Critical Conversation Series 2010”. This series of alumni gatherings will be held in four locations, bringing engineering alumni and friends together for dinner and networking opportunities.
Written by
Engineering at Illinois alumni, family, and friends gathered at The Houstonian Hotel in Houston on February 18 launching Dean Ilesanmi Adesida’s “Critical Conversation Series 2010”. This series of alumni gatherings will be held in four locations, bringing engineering alumni and friends together for dinner and networking opportunities.
Included in each event will be an after dinner program highlighting engineering alumni, faculty, and students illustrating the leadership, impact, and collaboration that defines Engineering at Illinois around the globe.
Guest speakers at the Houston event included Illinois alumnus Astronaut Captain Scott Altman (BS 1981, Aerospace Engineering) and Professor John Rogers, the Lee J. Flory Chair of Engineering Innovation.
Altman shared highlights of his fourth Space Shuttle flight, serving as mission commander of the final service to The Hubble Space Shuttle. Following his graduation from Illinois, Altman was commissioned as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy, receiving his Navy wings of gold in February 1983. In August 1987, he was selected for the Naval Postgraduate School-Test Pilot School Coop program and graduated with Test Pilot School Class 97 in June 1990 as a Distinguished Graduate, spending the next two years as a test pilot on various F-14 projects. (Altman was also one of the stunt pilots featured in the 1986 movie Top Gun.)
Rogers, who was recently named a MacArthur Fellow, presented information on the practical applications of his stretchable silicon circuits and associated cutting-edge research. Highlights of Rogers’ work during the last two years include the first electronic-eye cameras, flexible inorganic light-emitting diode displays, stretchable integrated circuits, and bendable monocrystalline silicon solar modules. His current work also focuses on conformal, biointerfaced, and bioresorbable electronics and sensors.
____________________
Contact: Angie Dimit, director of advancement, College of Engineering, 217/244-1610.
If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, Engineering Communications Office, 217/244-7716, writer/editor.