Charting the earth’s health
From the Charles River to the Amazon, Ron Eastman has been able to connect environmental researchers with unique data. The 57-year-old Waltham resident is the author of IDRISI, one of the world’s most widely distributed software packages for studying and tracking the earth’s natural resources. Whether it’s predicting where a wildfire is likely to occur […]
Refugee, scientist, inventor cooks up new career
At the age of 5, Laddavanh Bouphavichith fled communist Laos with her father; by 27 she patented a catheter for Natick-based Boston Scientific, and by 30 she found inner peace: behind a sushi bar in Northborough. Bouphavichith is owner of the Yama Zakura Sushi Bar & Fusion Cu i sine on West Main Street. Her […]
Couple bring life to language study
A man with a noose around his neck hangs in the foyer of Rebecca and Jean-Paul Valette‘s Newton home. It’s an iron sculpture called “The Last Laugh.” Rebecca gave it to Jean-Paul for their 15th wedding anniversary in 1974. “We were in the throes of writing textbooks and the first one hadn’t even come out […]
Using the world as his classroom
It was half a century ago, but David Sheehan still vividly remembers the signs on the entry doors. One was for black people, the other whites. Sheehan, who was 8 years old and on a trip to Washington, D.C., asked his stepmother why there were separate entrances. “At a loss for words, she said, ‘That’s […]
Student ideas a hit with Disney
If Mickey Mouse and Snow White seem to know you by name someday when you visit Disneyland, it might just be thanks to two students at Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham. Lara Clark and Yrinee Michaelidis took second place (and $1,500 each) combining their creativity and engineering skills in this year’s ImagiNation’s […]
Crafting new career at school
Miguel Gómez-Ibáñez sits in his Waltham woodworking studio assembling a pint-size bed. It’s a one-12th-scale model of a Chinese-inspired bed commissioned by a couple from Stow. Building the full-size version will take Gómez-Ibáñez a month. The clients are lucky. In his new position as executive director of the prestigious North Bennet Street School in Boston, […]
Local film majors catch a touch of Bollywood
When film majors David Kahn and Dwight Schultz began planning the execution of their college thesis, they logged on to craigslist.org, clicked “India” and started making connections. Four months later, their cameras were rolling in Bombay. The 22-year-olds, both 2002 graduates of Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, are promoting their 56-minute Bollywood movie, “The Bombay Project.” […]
A long, bumpy road for a high school dropout
Three decades ago, Kathleen Walsh was on welfare, living above a convenience store with her two small children. Bars secured the apartment door as they lay in bed listening to the noises of neighbors carousing deep into the night. ”I couldn’t believe this was happening to me,” recalls the owner of the Needham‘s P.K. Walsh, […]
Fighting domestic violence with compassion
It’s not unusual for Ted Piers to get a call for help in the middle of the night. With his stocky build and shaved head, the 5-foot 10-inch detective may seem more Telly Savalas than Alan Alda, but Piers is known for his sensitivity, compassion, and understanding. His expertise: domestic violence. A member of the […]