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Vintage Memories
Reflections from Joseph M. Hillen (A.A.S. '58).
Nearly 50 years ago, Joseph M. Hillen (A.A.S. '58) experienced NYIT's humble beginnings first-hand.
In the summer of 1956, Hillen was fresh out of high school and in search of a career. His father found a newspaper ad about a new college named NYIT. "My dad was sure electronics was the field of the future," recalls Hillen. "We met with NYIT founder Alex Schure. He was full of enthusiasm about the college's future. His attitude was a major influence on my enrolling at NYIT."
At the time, the college was located in Brooklyn, in a building occupied by the World Telegram newspaper. Classes were held on the third and fourth floors and the first floor held the printing presses. "The presses shook the entire building when they were running," says Hillen. "Fortunately for all of us, the presses weren't running during our classes."
NYIT has long since relocated its New York City presence to a campus near Columbus Circle. In 2001 the college leased an additional 60,000 square feet of space for new classrooms and labs. More than 1,700 students now attend classes at the Manhattan campus.
Although today's class sizes remain small-typically 20 students or fewer-things were even cozier back in 1956. Hillen had three classmates in his first courses. "Need I say that the classes were very personal," he quips.
Back then, electronics theory involved vacuum tubes and one class on transistors. NYIT's School of Engineering and Technology now educates hundreds of students in such fields as computer science and electrical engineering.
Even in the 1950s, NYIT prepared students for technology-driven careers. After graduating in 1958, Hillen enlisted in the army and was assigned as a radar technician. He maintained a device that converted information from analog data to digital data-a radical concept at the time. He soon married, had a son and joined the N.Y. Telephone Co. when his enlistment ended. Hillen next transferred to El Paso, Texas to be closer to his wife's family.
In El Paso, Hillen got a look at the future of global communications. He worked in Central Office maintenance, where they actually produced the dial tone. "Back then, they really did 'make the dial tone' using a motor-driven device. Motors spun, relays clattered moving switch contacts, lights flashed and every bell and buzzer in the room made talking impossible.
To escape the noise and further his career, Hillen transferred into the marketing department. He ultimately helped to define methods, procedures and the physical connection of customer-owned telephone system to the switching network. "What seems so simple today, appeared at the time impossible to many," he recounts.
Hillen retired in 1991and lives 20 miles south of San Antonio. On a typical day, you can spot him fishing near Corpus Christi. If you see him, be sure to thank Hillen for the dial tone.
Send feedback and story ideas to alumni@nyit.edu.
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