Adam Pennington (CS '01), a software engineer at Hewlett-Packard in Florham Park, N.J., volunteered as a member of a disaster management team to help in New York City after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.

Pennington's expertise in ham radio communications helped the Red Cross to set up a fast, effective alternative communication system. According to Foster's Online, a New England news Web site, he arrived in New York 36 hours after the attacks and began working 12- to 18-hour shifts.

While he was helping to rebuild New York's infrastructure, Pennington intermittently returned to his job at Hewlett-Packard. This month the company closed its Florham Park office due to the worsening economy.

Pennington has returned to the Pittsburgh area to find work or to attend graduate school, his mother, Ellen Pennington, said.

"Carnegie Mellon is creating responsible compassionate adults," said Pennington's parents, Ellen and Rohe, in an email to President Jared L. Cohon. "We are very proud of our son and very glad he went to Carnegie Mellon. We thought you would like to see something positive that came from the tragedy."

Jai Glasgow
(11/07/01)