Cracchiola, who led the team credited with building the world’s fastest racing wheelchair at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, crushing four world records and winning seven medals, including four gold, recalls reading the expressions in the room that first day: the stunned, the expectant, the fearful and the hopeful.
“We were doing introductions and students stood up and started excusing themselves for their majors,” he said, “saying things like, ‘I’m sorry, I’m not an engineer.’”
Cracchiola cut the pity party short: “As of this moment, you’re all engineers.
“If you’re designing and building something new, you’re a designer, you’re an inventor. Period. No excuses. Don’t let a label limit what you can do in this class.”
Written by By Stephen Wyer/Special to the Town Crier
Los Altos Public Arts Commission members hope to have a bronze sculpture of Walter Singer relocated from the Los Altos History Museum to the Chamber of Commerce property by the end of the year.
Town Crier File Photo
A bronze sculpture of Walter Singer graces Veterans Community Plaza in 2014, above. The bust was removed and put in storage in 2015. The Public Arts Commission plans to display it once again.
The bust of the late downtown Los Altos businessman, known by local residents as “Mr. Los Altos,” has remained in storage at the museum since 2015. The sculpture had previously been on display in Veterans Community Plaza since 1993, but it was removed when city leaders wanted to create more open space in the plaza.