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Big Conversations 2008 will be held on Wednesday, April 9 and will feature Steve Mariotti. Steve is the President and Founder of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). NFTE's mission is to provide entrepreneurship education programs to young people from low-income communities.The Big Conversations website has been updated with the date and speaker details, but a schedule of the day's events is still pending. Please check back for updates. We hope you'll join us to discuss "What's Important" on April 9!
On March 26 at 11:00 am the final Presidential Lecture of the semester will take place in the Olin College auditorium. Mr. Richard Stanley will address the Olin community on the topic of “Values, Entrepreneurship, and Philanthropy.” Mr. Stanley is a professional engineer, businessman, and world citizen. He is Chair Emeritus of The Stanley Group of companies which provide engineering, environmental, and construction services, worldwide. He is also Chair of The Stanley Foundation, a private operating foundation conducting policy and educational programs that foster a secure peace with freedom and justice. Drawing upon his varied experience as a professional engineer, businessman, and world citizen, Mr. Stanley will discuss the nature of the 21st Century and the role of engineers and engineering in it. Mr. Stanley is an advocate and practitioner of values driven collaboration in dealing with the problems of today and the future. He promotes well-managed interdisciplinary teaming to optimize solutions. The presentation will welcome and encourage audience dialog, so please join us!
If you'd like to thank a community member for their efforts and support Olin's Annual Fund campaign at the same time, you can take advantage of our C.O.M.E.T.S. program! Contact the Development office or go online to make your donation.
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As many community members know the last half of 2007 and beginning of 2008 concluded a considerable effort to redesign and produce the next iteration of Olin's traditionally edgy prospectus. With the help of a committee, the Office of Communication led the effort and the new prospectuses have arrived. While we'd like to reserve them for the purpose for which they are intended (attracting prospective students), we'd be happy to share copies with anyone who might be interested. Please email Alyson Goodrow, or stop by MH 231 to obtain one. Many thanks to the committee (Joe Hunter, Alyson Goodrow, Allison Bahme, Caitlin Snow, Krissy Raposa, Steve Holt, Jessica Murray '10 and Andy Pethan '10) as well as everyone who submitted photos, shared input and served as our profile subjects for the piece.
As reported in the last edition of the Link, the College is re-instituting staff and faculty socials. These events will occur on a regular basis throughout the year, interspersed among the existing social opportunities such as the Thanksgiving luncheon and the Recognition Ceremony in May. Now we need help implementing these socials. Volunteers willing to lend a hand with set-up and clean-up should contact Rod Crafts by April 4. Meetings will be kept to a minimum.
There is still time to join us in giving to the Annual Fund. Our goal is 100% participation and while we are edging closer we are not there yet. The parents of the classes of 2010 and 2011 are still the closest to 100% participation. We still need your help, today! Mail a check payable to Olin College, to the Development Office, or make a credit card payment on line at https://www.olin.edu/about_olin/online_donation.asp. These gifts are critical to making our case for the support of external funding sources.
The 2008 SWE Regional Conference will take place at Olin April 12 and 13. Between two and three-hundred people are expected to register for the conference, which includes speakers, a career fair of approximately 40 companies, and sessions on leadership, engineering, technology, outreach, and other topics. The theme is “Moving On Up,” which relates to advancement in careers and life.
Students and families who are planning to apply for Need Based Financial Aid for the 2008-09 academic year should complete their Free Application for Financial Aid (FAFSA) by April 15, 2008 and/or as soon as their Federal Tax Returns are complete. The FAFSA can be completed on-line at www.fafsa.ed.gov. The Olin College Federal School Code for FAFSA completion is 039463. Applications for Need Based Financial Aid are awarded on a rolling basis.
Financial aid awards for current students will be sent out during the summer to the home address on file. Eligibility for Need Based Financial Assistance is contingent upon continued financial need and Satisfactory Academic Progress. Academic year 2007-08 grades must be reviewed by COSAP prior to the awarding of additional assistance. Please feel free to contact the Financial Aid Office with any questions.
Last year Alison Black ran her first Boston marathon; at the time her only goal was to finish and have fun. She successfully completed that goal and has decided to run the Boston Marathon again in April of 2008. This time however, she is raising funds for a very important cause: liver disease. Some of you may also know that Tiana Veldwisch's mom, Marlene, was diagnosed with hepatitis C. In fact, some Olin community members supported Marlene and Tiana by joining their team, the Hepa Titans, at the Liver Foundation walk in September 2007. Alison will be running specifically for Marlene but the money goes to the entire Liver Foundation. Please help continue this support by contributing to her efforts to raise funds for the American Liver Foundation.
There are many ways you can help:
* Visit http://www.active.com/donate/liverteam08/alfABlack to donate
* Write a check to the American Liver Foundation and give it to Alison
* Cheer Alison on at the marathon
** Please note: financial donations are due in May of 2008, but money submitted prior to the marathon on April 21 of 2008 are especially appreciated.
Alison is very close to achieving her fundraising goal, thanks to the many Olin community members who helped her raise $260 via her February bake sale, and other fundraising efforts! Every little bit helps.
Click here to see the "Notification of Costs" for the classes of 2011 and 2012 or click here to see the "Notification of Costs" for the classes of 2009 and 2010. This information has also been posted to the Parents Blackboard.
Thanks to everyone who has submitted matching gift forms to their employers. Don't forget about increasing the power of your gift! Many companies provide matching gift funds. Click on the matched by employer link at the bottom of the following web page to see if your company has a program https://www.olin.edu/about_olin/online_donation.asp.
On March 20, the Parent Advisory Board held its annual spring meeting / conference call. Some of the highlights included:
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Succession planning - The board reviewed the biographies of the eight parents who volunteered to fill the two open positions for the class of 2011. The PAB will submit their recommendations to Krissy Raposa within one week. These new members will be selected and announced no later than May 1. This level of interest is very heartening to all current PAB members.
* Officer elections - Karl von Reden will move up from Chair Elect to become the new Chair, replacing Steve Longfield. Dan Kiser was elected Chair Elect, and Elizabeth Firstenberg was elected Secretary/Treasurer, for the new term beginning in June. Congratulations to Karl, Dan and Elizabeth, and many thanks to Steve for his leadership during his term!
* Committee reports - Overall parent volunteerism is very strong, with 43 parents making calls to welcome the incoming 2011 parents, 10 parents representing Olin College at local college fairs, 7 families hosting send-off parties, and about 20 parents supporting events including Family Weekend, Candidates’ Weekends, and Open Houses. In support of the Post Graduate Planning office, 73 parents are participating (so far) in the Parent Networking survey, and mock interviews were held both on campus and via phone to help students prepare for internship and full time employment opportunities. With about two months left in the fiscal year, as of March 7, 81% of Olin families have made contributions to the Development fund, already surpassing last year’s final result of 75% participation. The class of 2010 leads the pack at 88%, the class of 2011 is at 87%, the class of 2009 is at 78%, and the class of 2008 is at 68%. Follow-up calls will be made to continue to try to reach the goal of 100% participation. Thanks to each of the committee chairs for leading their teams and thanks to all of you who have contributed this year!
The Offices of Post Graduate Planning and the Parent Advisory Board (PAB) would like your help connecting students with your contacts in industry (e.g. your employment) or academia (e.g., your own alma maters). Not all connections have to be based on direct current involvement with the given institution but should imply the ability to provide information about them and more importantly, put the student or alum in contact with people who are involved with these organizations or know more about them. Please note, non-engineering related contacts are welcome, particularly for those students and alumni pursuing opportunities in arts and humanities or entrepreneurship. In order to efficiently collect and report on your networking contacts, please take a few minutes to submit this brief survey. Except for your general information, the fields are not required; therefore, feel free to fill out as much as you feel comfortable sharing. Information provided will be accessible to Olin students and alumni, but will otherwise be kept confidential. We would appreciate a response by Monday, March 31. Please don’t hesitate to contact the PAB’s Parent Networking Committee Chair, Karl von Reden (Parent of Anna '09), with any questions.
All Olin community members are invited to attend the Babson College Mathematics & Science Seminar Series titled “Applying Operations Research in the Real World”
by Leon Hsu, Ph.D,
Principal, Analytics Operations Engineering, Inc.
The seminar will take place on Thursday, April 3 (3:00 – 3:30 pm reception;
3:30 – 5:00 pm presentation) at Babson College, Olin Hall 220. The seminar abstract reads: The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) is a classic problem in the field of Operations Research. In a recent project for a clothing distributor, we applied heuristics for solving TSP to the problem of optimizing picking operations within the client’s warehouses. Through the use of heuristics for solving TSP and other related problems, we were able to reduce the distance traveled by pickers by 40-50%. I will describe our client’s situation and our solution approach, as well as some background on TSP itself.
On Thursday, April 17 the Babson Alumni Technology Council will host a panel discussion on the topic of "Clean Technology, Trends & Opportunities." The panel will be moderated by William Huss, Adjunct Lecturer, Babson College, and will take place in the Needham/Wellesley Room of Olin Hall from 8:30-9:45 am, with a breakfast/networking session preceding the discussion from 7:30-8:30 am. More information to follow. To register for this event, please click here.
• On, Monday, March 24, Tim Beatty will join Olin as Mail Services Assistant.
His office location will be CCMailRm and his phone extension will be 2233.
• On, Monday, March 31, J. Thomas Krimmel will join Olin as Vice President of Development.
His office location will be MH205 and his phone extension will be 2291.
In the last issue we asked "Where do Olin students come from by the section of the country and beyond?" Zhaopeng Ji was the first and only responder to guess correctly:South – 14%;
New England – 15%;
Midwest – 17%;
Middle States – 17%;
West – 27%;
International – 2%;
South West – 8%.
Trivia buffs, do you know...
(we're going slightly off topic here to give more folks a chance to answer)
Q: The construction of what canal is considered to be one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken?
A: First person to respond to Alyson Goodrow with the correct answer receives a prize.
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