August Alumni E-news

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Alumni Weekend September 11 & 12

Dordt College's Alumni Weekend will be held on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 11 and 12. The weekend will include an Alumni Business Connections Breakfast, Distinguished Alumni Banquet featuring Ron Blankespoor ('68), Kevin De Vries ('86), and Chris Teeuwsen ('80) on Friday, with a number of athletic events, including baseball, soccer, football, and lacrosse and a kids carnival on Saturday.

The highlight of the weekend will be a performance by Ken Davis on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the B.J. Haan Auditorium. Davis performs internationally on stage and television, and his radio show "Lighten Up" is heard on over 800 stations (including KDCR 88.5 FM). Blending side-splitting humor and inspiration, he entertains and enriches audiences of all ages.

For more information and to order tickets for Ken Davis or the Alumni Banquet click here or contact Alumni Director Wes Fopma via e-mail or by calling 712-722-6028.

Also in this issue . . .

Engineers ace exam

Dordt is 'Best in the Midwest'

Solar water heater on campus

Parents' Weekend is coming!

Dordt engineering grads achieve perfect pass rate on national exam

Dordt College has received notification from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) that this year's class of engineering grads has earned a perfect pass rate on the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam.
Dordt's engineering department now has a 98 percent average pass rate over the past nine years, with eight out of nine classes earning perfect pass rates. That puts Dordt's engineering program far above the national average pass rate (77 percent) for seniors from all engineering institutions taking the test for the first time.

Dordt College is one of only a handful of engineering programs in the CCCU (Council for Christian Colleges and Universities) that has been fully ABET-accredited for over 15 years. The engineering program has experienced a 30 percent growth rate in the last five years.

Dordt's overall placement rate for engineering graduates in industry and/or graduate school is 95 percent. Among engineering students, 80 percent participate in an internship or engineering-related research or industrial experience while attending Dordt.

For more on this story click here.

Dordt College named 'Best in the Midwest' by Princeton Review

Dordt College is one of the best colleges and universities in the Midwest according to The Princeton Review. The education services company selected the school as one of 158 institutions profiled in the "Best in the Midwest" section of its website. Only about 25 percent of the nation's four-year colleges and universities are named on the best list rankings each year.
The 158 colleges The Princeton Review chose for this year's “Best in the Midwest” designation are located in 12 states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

For more on this story, click here.

Solar water heating project underway

The engineering department at Dordt College is getting itself into hot water — literally.

After receiving an Iowa Energy Center grant of $7500 this spring, engineering professor Kevin Timmer and two Dordt students have nearly completed the process of installing a solar assisted hot water system for both educational and practical use in Dordt's Center for Science and Technology.

Fulltime summer assistants working Timmer on the project are Danielle Kelderman, a senior engineering major from Harrisburg, SD; and Andrew Tacoma, a senior engineering major from Falmouth, MI. Grant funding covers the stipend the students receive for their work, while Dordt College is covering the cost for the equipment being installed.

The primary objective of the project is to publically demonstrate to Northwest Iowa homeowners and plumbing contractors the environmental and economic benefits of a solar water heating system. The project will also encourage the stewardly use of energy resources.

In the process, Dordt's engineering students are getting hands-on experience in thermodynamics, heat transfer, and solar energy engineering. The project will be demonstrated each semester for the foreseeable future to students enrolled in Dr. Timmer's “Energy, Materials and the Environment” class.

For more on this story click here.

Parents' Weekend October 16 & 17

Parents' Weekend will be held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16 and 17. The Ribbens Academic Complex will be dedicated on Friday morning at 11 a.m. and guests will be able to tour the revamped facility. The Fall Music Festival and women's volleyball kick off Friday evening's events, followed by a reception in the rec center.

Saturday is packed full of activities including the President's Brunch, jazz band and organ concerts, a home football game, theatre production, and praise and worship. Online registration opens August 15.

Alumni and friends events

Alumni events

August 16, 2009 in Manhattan, MT - Sendoff for Dordt students heading to school. Potluck dinner, games, and a chance to visit with President Zylstra.

Visalia, CA, September 25, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. - Tailgate party for Dordt College alumni and friends prior to the Central Valley Christian vs. Porterville HS football game. Food, fun, and giveaways for the whole family. RSVP via e-mail to Wes Fopma or by calling 712-722-6028 or contact Mark Rip via e-mail or by phone at 559-732-2201.

For more information on these and other alumni events, click here or contact Wes Fopma.

Job openings

To check out current employment opportunities at Dordt College, click here.

Also, please contact us if you or someone you know would be a good match for one of our available positions. We appreciate your tips and recommendations of great candidates who could serve with us at Dordt.

Alumni notes

Please remember to include information about yourself when sending in birth announcements for the Voice. Your classmates like to hear what you've been doing. Send us an e-mail at alumni@dordt.edu.

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Connect with other alumni

This is the place to connect and network with other Dordt College alumni. The directory is available only to Dordt College alumni, who must register to gain access to contact information for other Dordt alumni. Those who register can update their own profiles and hide any information they do not want listed. The directory has a simple search function and an advanced search function, allowing you to search for other alumni, based on various criteria. For more information contact the alumni office at 712-722-6022 or email: alumni@dordt.edu.