Spring 80 Another Shock and Recovery:
University of Wisconsin (UWP) told me that they are looking for a replacement and that I will not be allowed to continue beyond that academic year. I called and talked with my doctoral advisor at Purdue (Dr. Sinha), he said it is not worth my while to waste my time at UWP, He advised me to return at the end of the semester to continue on the research topic.
But when I met him after my return he said that he had given that topic to another student and will assign me a different project. I was not too happy about that as it may prolong my graduation by at least one more year. He looked at me and I said “Beggars are not choosers”. Of course he did not like it but he let me continue on the project from where I had left it.
My third car:
As it is practically impossible to live here with a family without a car, I had to buy another used car. This time it was an early 70s model Impala. This was another 8 cylinder gas-guzzler, giving 8 miles per gallon.
70s Model Impala
Teaching Assistantship:
I got to work as the teaching assistant for Introduction to Civil Engineering. This 3 unit course was meant to give the undergraduate students an overview of Civil Engineering. A full time faculty member was in charge of this course. He arranges for lectures by various practicing Civil Engineers. My role was to just sit at the back and grade the periodic tests and quizzes set by the full time professor.
Got through the first step toward becoming a licensed Professional Engineer
One of the lecturers talked about professional licensing. In order to be a licensed professional engineer there is a two step process. First step is to take and pass an 8 hour open book examination. The topics covered in this exam are the basic courses - most of which I had studied in my first two years of Engineering Course at Guindy and before, such as Mathematics, Physics, Statics, Strength of Materials. One topic that I did not study in my undergraduate studies was Engineering Economics.
This exam is known as the Fundamentals of Engineering examination, common to all branches of engineering. (The requirements vary from state to state and might be different now). After passing this examination and putting in some years of work experience under a Professional Engineer, one has to take and pass the Professional Engineer examination. The PE examination is branch specific.
I went ahead and registered for the FE examination in Indiana. I bought a McGraw Hill publication to review and refresh my knowledge on the basic subjects which I had studied 20 years ago and had never used in my jobs afterwards! However, as I had taken Transportation Systems Evaluation (which is the application of cost-benefit/cost-effectivenes analyses using compound interest calculations, I did not have any hesitation in facing that 8 hour examination.
I took the exam and passed. This was one very wise move I made as to be revealed 8 years later!
Bought my 4th Car:
As Impala was not economical I was looking for a smaller car. I was able to sell my Impala to a new post-graduate fellow that had come to Purdue and bought a 6 cylinder car. This was an American Motor Corportaion (AMC) make and the model was Gremlin. AMC was the fourth car maker after Chevrolet, Ford and Chrysler.
Early 70s model Gremlin.
Continued Smooth Sailing and Completion of Ph.D.:
Life had become a settled routine. Veda took care of managing the household. Children were used to taking the School Bus and were doing well in their studies. Sowmya wanted to take Flute as part of her curriculum. As Veda cannot be employed legally (because of her visa status) she kept busy by occasionally accepting to take care of little children. Some of the parents of such children became good friends. One of them was from Elkhart, Indiana, a town known for flute making. She helped get a good flute for Sowmya, which she still has and still keeps playing.
How I ended up buying back my own book from the local book store!
During the Christmas break, I went to Follets, the local book store and was browsing. I saw the book “Civil Engineering Handbook” by Urquhart.
That was one of the books I got for free when I joined the McGraw Hill book club as recommended by Anil Bhandari. Just out of curiosity (Divine play is mysterious) I took it and opened. Lo and behold, I saw my address label intact on the first page! My own book was stolen from the graduate student’s office and sold to this book store.
I talked with the store manager and showed him that it was my book. He would not give it back to me. He said “I have already paid for the book. If you want you can buy it back from me!” As I cherished that book (that is one of the handful of technical books I am still having; I disposed of most of my technical books a few years after moving to my present residence).
The book that I got for free when I joined McGraw Hill Book Club had to be bought back by me for about $34.00 (in 1979) from the local bookstore!
Upon coming to the graduate students’ office, I related this to the other students. Then everyone started looking in their book shelves and found big gaps. Another student from Colombia, Humberto by name, was looking for a bag which he was positive he had kept in that office. Slowly it dawned on us that someone who had access to that office found the bag to carry many textbooks from many shelves. That person could have easily made a few hundred dollars by selling those books! I was lucky in the sense that I had lost just one book which I got back. Others had lost many valuable text books!
Job Hunting:
As I was sure of completing my work and getting my Ph.D by the end of July 1981, I started sending applications. I got an interview from the University of Portland (UP), Oregon. I flew to Portland and the interview was basically presenting my research. The Dean of Engineering explained to me their terms. He also said that I will be reimbursed the cost of travel for the interview if I am selected and I accept, or if I am not selected; however, if I am selected but I reject the offer, then I will not be reimbursed.
Soon after my return to W. Lafayette after the interview, I got an offer from UP, and I accepted it.
UP is a Catholic (Private) University. At that time it was offering only undergraduate programs in Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Industrial Engineering.
Completion of the Thesis and Defence:
Toward the end of July 1981 I had my defence scheduled. That is the final stage. My advisors and anybody interested can attend the defence. The candidate is expected to “defend” his research findings, by answering questions and objections to the satisfaction of the committee. Prof. Ravindran found some deficiency and wanted me to take care of it. Prof. Sinha suggested that I go and start at UP and come back next summer to complete the thesis. I insisted that I stay and get it done as I know it is very unpredictable to return and complete. I managed to do the extra work within the next few weeks.
Visa Problem:
The practice in those days was for internationals to start using the practical training period while the immigration was being processed. After finishing studies, international students are eligible to get 6 months work permit to be treated as practical training without change in visa status. I had to go to Gary, Indiana to get my 6 months practical training approved. The immigration officer was an Afro-American lady. She flatly refused to approve saying that I already had practical training considering the work I did at NU after completing my M.S. course work.
UP Gave a Helping Hand:
I called the dean of Engineering at UP (Dr. Thomas Nelson) and explained my predicament and requested him to process H1 visa. H1 visa was the visa given for specially qualified persons in fields where they cannot find an American (any naturalized person of any origin). He agreed to do so and I got H1 visa in about a week.
Off to Portland, Oregon!:
I found two people - not known to each other - who were going to Portland and agreed to drive my car for me. They just wanted gasoline charges and expenses. We booked our travel to Portland by Amtrak (railways) from Chicago. We had minimal stuff. We could send most of it in boxes by the US Postal service to be delivered to the Dean of UP. The car was also to be dropped at UP. The rest of our stuff could be packed in suitcases.
We got a ride from Lafyette to Chicago. Ikuo Harazaki, a Japanese and Essam Saraf from Egypt (both students at Purdue) wanted to go to Chicago. Essam’s wife, Ikuo’s wife and one little daughter went with us in a van, driven by Essam Saraf.
The train travel by Amtrak from Chicago was quite enjoyable. We had booked a family room with 4 beds and it was completely private. There was a conductor traveling along. We had taken prepared food packets and hence there was no problem. The journey was very smooth and comfortable.
Chicago to Seattle by Amtrak
Goes through the states of Wisconsin,Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana
Seattle is at the western end of Washington
Time of travel: about 46 hours/1743 miles
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