In Memory Of

It is with a heavy heart that Tau Beta Pi remembers two engineers that passed away this week.

Dr. William E. Gordon, NY D 1939, was 92 and is known as “the engineer who designed, built, and managed the world’s biggest radio telescope, the Arecibo Observatory.

The telescope was built in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and construction was completed in 1963. Dr. Gordon was quoted in 2003, the observatory’s fortieth anniversary, “We were in the position of trying to do something that was impossible, and it took a lot of guts and we were young enough that we didn’t know we couldn’t do it.”

It took only five years to complete and the telescope has been essential to several discoveries, has played a role in several movies, including “Contact,” and is operated by Cornell University.

Read the full obituary by Elizabeth Weise in the USA Today

ΤΒΠ 2010

Also, in a tragic airplane crash this week in Palo Alto, CA, three Tesla Motors employees lost their lives.

Electrical engineer Douglas Bourn, CA G 1973, and the two other Tesla employees are already being mourned and missed by family, friends, and CEO Elon Musk.

They “worked on something they believed in. Doug, Brian, and Andrew were valued members of the Tesla family,” said Musk. “They are already missed.”

Doug, 56, “helped design and test power electronics components in the Tesla Roadster.” Read article