Thanks to Swampscott couple, Wentworth a million

SWAMPSCOTT – Resident Cynthia Calabrese had been looking for a way to give back to the Wentworth Institute of Technology after her sons, Andrew and Timothy, as well as her brother, Michael, all received degrees from the school.The opportunity presented itself when the Strength of Materials Lab needed to be renovated.In response, Calabrese and her domestic partner Mark Gelfand, neither of whom attended Wentworth, contributed $1 million to the cause from the Gelfand Family Charitable Trust. Gelfand opened the account in 2006 for STEM education.The new facility, renamed the Gelfand Strength of Materials Lab, was unveiled on Friday during the school’s Family and Alumni Weekend.”When I found out that Wentworth was looking to upgrade its materials testing lab, I jumped at the opportunity,” said Gelfand. “It is an honor to be able to provide Wentworth students with equipment that will prepare them to thrive in their careers.”He added that the former equipment had been there since the 1940s. “It’s a lot more computerized,” Gelfand said of the new lab. “It’s ready to be used in the classroom.”Located in a part of the school known as “the brickyard,” the lab will be incorporated into Wentworth’s new High-Tech Highway project.”We’ve chosen the Wentworth Institute as the place to invest this money,” said Gelfand, adding that the return on investment will be significant for years to come.He pointed out that the new lab will give Wentworth a greater presence in the country’s leading city for higher education. “Wentworth has a relatively small footprint; it’s literally in the shadow of Northeastern,” he said. “It’s overlooked time and time again, and it shouldn’t be.”Gelfand added that the focus of the lab is to analyze the different stress points of various materials.”You can read out of a book all you want,” he said. “This simulates real-life situations.”Wentworth President Zorica Pantic expressed her gratitude for the generous gift.”We’re very excited to celebrate the opening of these new spaces and the generous gifts from our friends, Mark Gelfand and Cynthia Calabrese,” she said. “With these new facilities, Wentworth is providing our undergraduate students with graduate-level laboratories, which aligns with our plan to add more graduate programs, including several in engineering disciplines.”Michael Jackson, chairman of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, said he is proud to have such a state-of-the-art facility.”Bringing in the modern equipment and the modern technology is incredible for our students,” he said. “It motivates them to know that we are trying to make them better at what they’re going to be doing out in the real world.”No stranger to philanthropy, Gelfand made a $1 million donation in 2011 to fund STEM education in Swampscott Public Schools. That was preceded by a gift of $50,000 to the school district three years earlier. Gelfand donated a $2 million endowment in 2012 to open the Gelfand STEM Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.