Alumni News and Events

2009 Parks College and Institute of Technology Alumni Merit Award winners

2010 Parks College and Institute of Technology Homecoming events:

• Parks Fly-In Breakfast
  Event details: Sat., Sept. 25 at 8:30 a.m., St. Louis Downtown Airport, Cahokia, Ill.
  Join us for breakfast at the Parks College hangar. Cost is $7 per person. Click here for directions to the Parks hangar.
• Parks College and Institute of Technology Alumni Merit Awards Luncheon
  Event details: Sat., Sept. 25, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. at Il Monastero, 3050 Olive Street 
• Open House
  Event details: Sat., Sept. 25, 1 - 4 p.m. at McDonnell Douglas Hall 

Register for Homecoming events at: alumni.slu.edu/homecoming2010 by Fri., Sept. 17.

For further details, contact Brooke Lund at blund@slu.edu or 314-977-7820.

 

A Monumental Tribute to the Wright Brothers

Joseph J.Lusczek, Jr., a Parks College alum, is the current Technical Director of Aerospace Systems Design and Analysis in the Engineering Design & Analysis Division of the Requirements Directorate at the Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB). He has had a long and impressive career, dating as far back as being involved with the original design of the F-15 in the 1960s. Since then he has been an integral part in the design of many aircraft including the F-16, B-1, C-17, F-22, B-2, and most recently the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. He has also been a part of the development of airborne laser weapon systems and many missile systems.

Aside from his career, Lusczek has been spending his time in the most interesting way. He is helping with the design of a monument to commemorate the birth of aviation at the location where it all began with the Wright Brother’s first flight just outside of Dayton, Ohio.

Walt S. Hoy, a retired WPAFB officer, is the President and founder of the Wright Image Group, an organization comprised of engineers and professionals in the Dayton area. He explains the significance of this project by stating, “The monument will become the Eiffel Tower of Dayton. It would be an icon similar to the St. Louis Arch or the Space Needle in Seattle.”

One might think this must be an exaggeration, to compare this monument to such structures as the Arch or Eiffel Tower, but think again. The proposed design is a replica of the Wright Flyer with a 120 ft wing span. That is three times larger than the original air plane. This oversized replica will be displayed not on the ground, but atop a 200 foot, eye-catching monument at the intersection of interstates 70 and 75 just outside Dayton. The monument will be able to be seen from two miles away and the highway intersection is estimated to have 57 million cars pass by each year. 

The monument will be illuminated at night and the surrounding land will be open to tourists. More information on the monument is available at http://wrightmonument.org.

 

Wright Monument in Dayton, Ohio.