It wasn’t just his teaching style that made Wolfgang (Ted) Johann Poppelbaum the UI faculty member Sandeep Pandya still thinks of first and most fondly, 30 years later.
“He had a distinguished career dating all the way back to World War II, working on Radar to fight off the German invasion,” Pandya says, “but while at the University, he was considered one of the fathers of large-scale supercomputing with his work on the Illiac class of computers.
“I was part of his research team towards the end of his career, but enjoyed the experience, appreciating the professor’s vision, wisdom and humor.”
Now the southern Calfornia-based CEO of Everguard, Inc., Pandya holds two UI degrees — a bachelor’s and master’s, both in computer science — and memories of those days still dear to his heart.
“My time staying in Allen Hall was fun,” he says. “I was in 4 North, and met friends there that I am still close to today, nearly 35 years later. Memories of late night pizzas — including Papa Del’s when we could afford it, cramming for exams and wasting a lot of timing talking about the future.”
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