New alumni chapter is a hit

Max Harrold

The oldest alumnus to attend the tumultuous launch of the engineering alumni chapter was Richard Pohoski, 80, seen above talking for the first time in 25 years to Professor Georgios Vatistas. They were classmates in the late 1970s. Dr. Pohoski, a hero of the Second World War, came to Concordia to earn his mechanical engineering degree when he was 50 years old.
Photo by Marc Bourcier

Terry Fancott, Associate Dean, Special Projects, called it “the party of the year. It was absolutely thrilling to see all these former students again.”

He was referring to the Sept. 30 launch of the Engineering & Computer Science Alumni Chapter (ECAC) at Club Newtown, on Crescent St. Over 400 people attended the event, which brought together ENCS alumni from the 1950s to the present for the first time. It was the largest alumni chapter launch ever held by Concordia.

Mary Tzanetakos, Alumni & Fundraising Officer of the Faculty, said, “Excitement and anticipation was so overwhelming that our original forecast of 150 attendees was quickly thrown out the window.”

There are 13,000 alumni of the Faculty all over the world.
The first chapter president, Mario Ciaramicoli, said, “ECAC’s mission is to foster an environment where graduates can stay connected to their alma mater and alumni community, and make the network stronger by fostering relationships.”

Karim Ibrahim, events co-ordinator of ECAC, said the chapter will organize speakers, mentoring, visits to the new ENCS building and business workshops.

“Alumni are an important part of the Faculty of Engineering & Computer Science family, and we hope to stay connected.”
For photographs of the evening, visit www.encs.concordia.ca.