I wanted to share an article with you published in the Albany Times Union:

Spa man earns master's in nanoengineering in 3 years of intense study

Michael Ostrelich, right, with SUNY Poly President Alain Kaloyeros at graduation this last Saturday.

Michael Ostrelich waves to the crowd Saturday at his graduation from SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

Albany

Michael Ostrelich has proven that high-tech is not just a young man's game.

On Saturday , the 76-year-old Saratoga Springs resident was among the 48 students who were awarded degrees from SUNY Polytechnic Institute's Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Albany.

Ostrelich, an engineer who used to work for General Electric Co., earned his master's in nanoengineering after three years of intense study at SUNY Poly.

Ostrelich already had an engineering degree from NYU and an MBA from the University of Connecticut. He still works today as a consultant.

But when he was taking courses several years ago at Schenectady County Community College as part of his state engineering certification, he figured he might as well get another degree in the process. He ended up enrolling at SUNY Poly.

"You're never too old to learn," Ostrelich said. "But it was very, very difficult."

It wasn't like Ostrelich never had exposure to semiconductor technologies that are at the core of the research done at SUNY Poly's Albany campus, home to companies like IBM, GlobalFoundries, Samsung and Intel.

In fact, Ostrelich once worked for Perkin Elmer, one of the first companies to develop advanced lithography machines used to print computer chip designs onto silicon. The technology was later acquired by ASML, now the world's largest lithography company for the chip industry. He also worked with electron beam recorders used to preserve films while working at CBS Labs in the 1970s.

So when Ostrelich enrolled at SUNY Poly, he focused on lithography. His research adviser was John Hartley, a lithography expert who had previously worked for IBM.

"It was wonderful," Ostrelich said of the experience of studying the latest technologies that he had once worked on in their infancy. "It was like learning from the Wright Brothers."

Ostrelich not only hit it off with the faculty and the students — who he said were all very smart — but also Alain Kaloyeros, the president of SUNY Poly, who started the genesis of the school two decades ago when it was just a small research lab within the University at Albany.

When Ostrelich went up to the podium to get his degree, Kaloyeros told him he had a present for him.

"Is it for Medicare?" Ostrelich quipped, and both men laughed. Kaloyeros actually had a CNSE hat and T-shirt to hand him.

"I had a great time with the students," Ostrelich said about his three years at SUNY Poly. "We had a lot of fun. It brings you back to your youth."

Times Union: 76 Year Old proves you are never too old to learn(pdf)

By Larry Rulison | Published 8:39 pm , Tuesday, May 19, 2015

lrulison@timesunion.com  •  518-454-5504  •  @larryrulison