NEWARK , January 15, 2000 - At first glance, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) freshmen Kenneth Simpson and Grace-Ann Brett don't seem to have much in common with William Guttenberg, NJIT class of '44, former president of Bogue Electric Manufacturing Company, Paterson, and now president of Wilco Electric, a Hackensack manufacturer of electro-mechanical parts for motors.

The two 18-year-olds, named winners of the NJIT Guttenberg scholarship established by the electrical engineer and his wife, Adele, in 1986, are growing up in the world of computers, MTV, the X-generation, and space satellites; Guttenberg grew up in the era of The Great Depression, big bands, car rumble seats and World War II.

But they have more in common than meets the eye; all three are graduates of East Side High School, Paterson, where they excelled in Mathematics and Science. Kenneth and Grace-Ann also have followed Guttenberg's example as hard-working, determined and successful engineering students at NJIT - Simpson in Civil and Bret in Industrial Engineering.

Their hard work was recently recognized when both won a grant from the Black Engineers' Technology Alumni Association (BETAA), associated with NJIT's Office of Equal Opportunity.

There are other similarities. Like Guttenberg, the two teenagers already have strong ties to NJIT. Simpson and Brett both targeted NJIT as the college of their choice at an early age. When Simpson was in the sixth grade, he heard a friend talk about NJIT and liked what he heard. By the eighth grade, as Simpson says, "I became really stuck on NJIT."

That feeling was reinforced when Kenneth's high school freshman class took a field trip to NJIT's Microelectronics Research Center to visit the building's "Clean Room" where researchers study microelectronic chip design; "It blew me away," he says.

Grace-Ann also was attracted to NJIT at an early age, thanks in part to her father, Arthur Brett, Senior, '79, and an Uncle, Wilfred McKoy,'81, who are NJIT engineering graduates. At first, she considered a nursing career but realized she didn't have "…that much patience, and enjoyed math and science more."

In addition, Grace-Ann says she knows a lot of other people who, "…went to NJIT, were well-prepared for engineering careers and did very well for themselves."

The ties between Guttenberg and the two teenagers became more formal earlier this semester when Kenneth and Grace-Ann each were awarded the NJIT Guttenberg scholarship. William and Adele Guttenberg created the scholarship with an initial grant of $100,000 --- they have since enlarged it -- to aid handicapped NJIT students with potential in science and technology. But in years when NJIT has no physically handicapped student candidates, the Guttenbergs designated the award to go to two NJIT students from East Side High School.

Two better candidates than Simpson and Brett would be hard to find. Both excelled in the high school classroom and the playing field. Placed in the Urban Planning and Applied Technology (UPAT) program at Paterson East Side, a "school within a school" for students who want to pursue a career in technology, Kenneth studied the various engineering disciplines and computer-aided design. He also was introduced to city planning, among other science and engineering-related subjects.

When not in class, Simpson played football, basketball and track and field, earning three varsity letters in the last. For his four years of outdoor and indoor track competition, he received the "Four-Year Award" in both sports. In addition, Kenneth was "Newcomer of the Year," and "Most Improved." He also won the "Cross Country Award" and several individual medals in track meets.

Kenneth's academic high school career was topped with an internship in the office of Paterson's city engineer, Nicholas Giella, another NJIT alumnus, '75 '80. "I learned about city street planning, and even helped develop a coordinated color map of Paterson's older paved streets. It was a great experience," Simpson notes.

As an NJIT student, Kenneth serves as Historian of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and is a member of the Black Association of Student Engineers (BASE).

Another multitalented teenager, Grace-Ann ran both indoor and outdoor track and field for three years at East Side High and became co-captain and then captain of the team while earning a varsity letter. As a senior, she won the school's Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, and was honored as one of the Star Ledger newspaper's Scholar Athlete of the Week.

A talented musician as well, Grace-Ann is currently using her musical skills as Director of the Genesis Choir, which includes people from many Paterson churches who come together to sing in the churches during the holidays. Throughout the year, Grace-Ann also sings in her church choir and while in high school, was in the school choir and played trumpet in the East Side High School Marching Band.

Guttenberg knows something about musicianship himself, having worked his way through NJIT playing the saxophone at weekend "gigs" to earn tuition money during the lean years of World War II. "It didn't leave much time for a social life, but I did make enough to go to school," Guttenberg says.

After graduation, he joined the Bogue Electric Manufacturing Company, but the U.S. Army had other ideas. Drafted in June, 1944, Guttenberg saw action with the Ninth Division in Germany. After being wounded in the arm, he came back to rejoin Bogue and rose through the ranks to eventually become president of the firm. In 1978, Guttenberg left Bogue to found his own company, Wilco Electric.

The Guttenberg scholarships are only a part of Guttenberg's contributions to NJIT and to his special philanthropic interest in the handicapped. The Guttenbergs established the scholarship to honor their two children, Chuck and Frances, who were born with cerebral palsy. Although the children reached adulthood, Francis died in 1983 and Chuck died in 1997.

Guttenberg has long crusaded for the rights of the handicapped. He was involved in a campaign to make NJIT campus buildings more accessible to the handicapped. For his work, a key campus structure was renamed the Guttenberg Information Technologies Center a few years ago.

Bill and Adele, together with others with similar concerns, helped establish Spectrum for Living Development, which operates a facility for adults with multiple handicaps, four group homes and other support services. The Guttenbergs were also instrumental in establishing the Chuck Guttenberg Center for the Physically Handicapped in Tenafly.

Guttenberg created the scholarship program at NJIT because he credits the school with giving him the tools to succeed: "I received a tremendous education." he notes. Both Kenneth and Grace-Ann hope they can continue to follow in Guttenberg's successful footsteps.

NJIT is a public research university enrolling nearly 8,200 bachelor's, master's and doctoral students in 83 degree programs through its five colleges: Newark College of Engineering, New Jersey School of Architecture, College of Science and Liberal Arts, the School of Management and the Albert Dorman Honors College. Research initiatives include manufacturing, microelectronics, multimedia, transportation, computer science, solar astrophysics, environmental engineering and science, and architecture and building science.

Yahoo! Internet Life magazine has ranked NJIT as America's "most wired" public university for two consecutive years, U.S. News and World Report's 1999 Annual Guide to America's Best Colleges ranked NJIT among the nation's top universities, and Money magazine's most recent issue of Best College Buys rated NJIT as the sixth best value among U.S. science and technology schools and among the top 100 overall. In September 1999, Mademoiselle ranked NJIT as the second most Internet-connected university in the nation.