Recent News

Student Alumni Ambassadors met with alumni both informally and also as part of a panel discussion during the September Reunion at UMaine. They provided insight about student life today and offered general assistance with Reunion. 

The Student Alumni Ambassadors program is a variation of the Student Alumni Association that once existed on campus. Members of the new organization work with the Alumni Association as representatives of the student body on and off campus at alumni gatherings, student-recruitment receptions, and at UMaine advocacy events. They also advise the Alumni Association’s leadership on matters of interest to current students. 

 

UMaine professors Elizabeth DePoy, Stephen Gilson, and Vince Caccese are part of the team that developed Afari, a specially designed wheeled walker that assists people with their mobility. The Afari enables people with mobility impairments, who otherwise would be limited by standard walkers, to move in a variety of outdoor terrain.

A recent Bangor Daily News story profiled a young man for whom the Afari, designed by the UMaine team and built by Brunswick-based Mobility Tech, has been a “game changer.” In the aftermath of a debilitating motorcycle accident, the Afari has enabled him to get outside, enjoy trails, and meet people. Read and see more here.

For more information about Afari™, please visit the Mobility Technologies website.

 

Andrea Hayes Lott ’69 received the Golden M Award during her class’s 50th Reunion in September.

The Golden M is awarded annually to a member of the 50th Reunion class. It recognizes an individual for outstanding class service and/or class leadership since graduation.  

Lott, a retired English teacher from southern Maine, has served on her class executive committee and written the class column for the MAINE Alumni Magazine since 1982. Her husband and two adult children are also UMaine alumni.

Do you know an alumnus or alumna whose professional achievements, community service, or volunteer activity on behalf of UMaine deserves recognition? 

Nominations are being sought for the 2020 Alumni Achievement Awards. There are eight categories of awards, the purposes, criteria, and the nomination process for which can be found here. The deadline for nominations is November 4, 2019. A 13-person committee will review nominations, with award recipients announced in January.  

Awardees will be honored at the 2020 Alumni Achievement Awards dinner and ceremony, to be held in Orono in late April. Images and videos from the April 2019 ceremony may be found here.

UMaine’s Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach, Edniesha “Eddie” Curry, was the focus of a recent Sports Illustrated magazine feature on the lack of women coaching men’s basketball programs at the college and pro levels.

Curry, a former WNBA player and college basketball star, is currently the only full-time female coach of a Division 1 men’s basketball team. Curry was hired by UMaine men’s basketball coach Richard Barron based on her coaching success with UMaine’s women’s team as well as her experience as a member of the NBA’s player and coach development programs. Read more. 

The Penobscot Narrows Bridge, which spans Maine’s Penobscot River and connects Verona Island to Prospect, has a connection to UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center in Orono. That connection, however, is through sensors that monitor the force, temperature, and strain of different components for their performance and longevity. 

The cable-stayed bridge is 2,120 feet long and  features a spectacular observatory at the top of one of its two towers. Positioned 420 feet (42 stories) above the river, the observatory is the only one in the US, and the highest in the world. The idea for the observatory came from UMaine alumni Karen Goodrich Cole ’82 and her husband David Cole ’77, ’78G, who was commissioner of Maine’s Department of Transportation during the bridge’s construction.

The bridge was constructed between May 2003 and December 2006. In 2007, six of the original cable strands were replaced with carbon fiber composite strands, a first in US history. During the installation of the composites strands, UMaine engineers collaborated with state and private engineers to install a system to monitor the force on each composite strand. The monitoring system proved effective in two field tests.  

UMaine researchers are now working to upgrade the monitoring system to collect data remotely and throughout the year. The researchers are part of the UMaine-based Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center, a consortium of research universities focused on improving the durability and lifespan of roads and bridges in New England and beyond. The UMaine researchers are studying the composite strands and their response to the temperature extremes of Maine.

Visitors can thank alumni Patty Minigell Treworgy ‘79, Matt ‘07 and Robin Treworgy Pellerin ‘06, and Jonathan ’07 and Christine Treworgy Kenerson ‘05, ‘07G, for creating a corn maze that pays homage to the beloved children’s book Blueberries for Sal. 

The maze, located at Treworgy Family Orchards just west of Bangor, was recently chosen the second-best corn maze in the country in USA Today’s “Readers Choice” Awards. The maze’s detailed design recreates an image from the Caldecott Award-winning children’s book by noted writer and illustrator Robert McCloskey. According to USA Today, the maze covers 4.5 acres and consists of more than 60,000 corn stalks.

Set on the Maine coast, Blueberries for Sal is the story of a little girl’s encounter with a bear cub as both search a hillside for blueberries. McCloskey, a longtime summer resident of Scott Island in Penobscot Bay, first published the book in 1949. 

Read more.

 

The Black Bears of Boston held an evening of networking and socializing in September. 

Dodge Tucker ’15, ’17G and Theresa Lee ’87 co-hosted the gathering at the Legacy Club, near TD Garden. Over 65 alumni and friends attended the event. Photos from the event can be found here.

The Black Bears of Boston will host their next event on March 19th, 2020. Update your information to make sure you’re on the invitation list! Check here for more alumni events. 

 

UMaine’s weekend of fun, food, entertainment, and reconnecting with UMaine alumni and their family and friends is October 25-27. 

Activities include a Welcome Home social, the Alumni Village Tailgate, UMaine football against William and Mary, the Maine Marketplace, Roseanne Cash at the Collins Center for the Arts, and more. 

For more information and a full schedule of events, click here.

Online registration continues until Friday, October 18th. We hope to see you there!