For Amir Isfahani’s money, you couldn’t best Talbot Lab, the place he spent a good buy of his eight years of grad school here.
“What a building,” says the Santa Fe, N.M.-based president and CEO of Flow Science, Inc., who earned his master’s in 2005 and his Ph.D. in 2011.
“Once in awhile, the entire building would shake with a big bang. This was the ‘Crusher’ in the basement. The machine can put loads of up to 3 million pounds on things and once a year, during the Engineering Open House, they would crush an 18-inch concrete pillar with 2.9 million pounds to impress the kids who were visiting the engineering campus.
“I really loved Talbot Lab. Some of my fondest memories at the U of I are from that building. The smell of the building, whenever I go back to it, reminds me of the jump I made in my life by coming to the U.S. I used to walk the halls late at night and be inspired by all the name plates on the walls.
“I am proud to have my own now, though in MEB. I can’t wait to see it rust with prestige over the next few decades.”
