Purdue's mechanical engineering receives gifts to support school

Ruth and Milton B. Hollander

Betty Ruth Hollander surprised her husband and Purdue alumnus, Milton B. Hollander, of Stamford. Conn., with a pledge that will help fund an atrium in the mechanical engineering wing. Milton Hollander graduated with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1951. He was named a distinguished engineering alumnus in 1972 and has been a member of the Purdue President's Council for more than 40 years.

Carol L. Shuttleworth Sanders

Carol L. Shuttleworth Sanders of Huntington, Ind., made a deferred gift in honor of her late husband, James J. Shuttleworth, a 1960 mechanical engineering graduate and a Purdue distinguished engineering alumnus award recipient. Shuttleworth Sanders is president and CEO of Shuttleworth Inc., based in Huntington.

"The support of alumni and friends like Carol Shuttleworth Sanders and the Hollanders is crucial to our efforts to expand mechanical engineering," Purdue President Martin C. Jischke said. "As part of this expansion, we will add 15 new mechanical engineering faculty and more classrooms for our students."

Betty Ruth Hollander has been planning to make the gift commitment to Purdue for the past two years.

"I thought about this for quite a while, and this pledge is something that I knew would be special to Milton," she said. "In addition to those personal reasons, the gift will also be used to honor the history and graduates of mechanical engineering. The new facility will be a place of learning for future generations of students at Purdue."

The atrium will house a number of spaces including:

• Academy Hall, an area that will chronicle mechanical engineering as Purdue's first engineering discipline and provide recognition for the school's alumni who have been named outstanding mechanical engineers, distinguished engineering alumni, members of the National Academy of Engineering and recipients of honorary doctorates.

• A historic clock from the first mechanical engineering building on the Purdue campus that will be used as a working model with all its components clearly visible.

• Designated areas to showcase students' projects, present student design competitions and to hold recruiting events such as Women in Engineering Career Day.

"This atrium will be a centerpiece and the first space visitors see as they walk into the Roger B. Gatewood Mechanical Engineering Wing," said Linda Katehi, the John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering. "It is appropriate that this special space will be used to honor alumni and faculty of Purdue since Milton's personal and professional achievements epitomize both the American dream and the Purdue spirit."

The atrium will be named the Dr. Milton B. Hollander Atrium. Milton Hollander is currently the CEO and chairman of the board of Newport Electronics Inc. He was previously corporate vice president of science and technology for Gulf + Western Inc. He holds more than 200 patents worldwide.

Shuttleworth Sanders' unrestricted gift will support academic programs and other needs in the School of Mechanical Engineering.

"Purdue's mechanical engineering leads the field of educational development in four critical areas: communications, teamwork and collaboration, experiential learning, and now global engineering," said E. Daniel Hirleman Jr., a professor and the William E. and Florence E. Perry Head of the School of Mechanical Engineering. "The new atrium is designed to reinforce those concepts by providing an area for team interactions, presentation preparations and study."

After graduating from Purdue in 1960, Shuttleworth Sanders' late husband returned to Huntington and began working for his family's canning and machinery company. In 1962 he purchased the machinery side of the business and for several years served as engineer, salesman and president for the firm, which at that time primarily produced canning and packaging equipment.

Since then, the company, which became Shuttleworth Inc. in 1974, has grown to become an international manufacturer of advanced, automated and custom-engineered conveyor and material handling systems. In addition to the Huntington plant, the firm now has a manufacturing and sales office in Gent, Belgium. The firm's customers include many Fortune 500 companies.

In March 2005, Shuttleworth Inc. partnered with Purdue to develop a student internship program that allows students to learn about the daily business opportunities and challenges that international businesses face. Students in the program can study abroad at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium to learn through the Shuttleworth Inc. company sales office in Gent.

"The cultural differences and complexities of doing business overseas are very challenging and demanding," Shuttleworth Sanders said. "Customer expectations and the way business is conducted can be quite different abroad."

In addition to the new wing, the mechanical engineering campaign is raising funds to renovate existing facilities and expand research. Research in mechanical engineering includes acoustics and noise control; advanced materials and manufacturing; information, communication and perception technologies; intelligent buildings; nano/biotechnology; and renewable energy and power systems.

Writer: Cynthia Sequin, (765) 494-4192, csequin@purdue.edu

Source: E. Daniel Hirleman Jr., (765) 494-5688, hirleman@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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