Woodie Flowers SM ’68, MEng ’71, PhD ’73, the Pappalardo Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering, passed away on October 11, 2019 at the age of 75. Flowers’ passion for design and his infectious kindness have impacted countless engineering students across the world.

Flowers was instrumental in shaping MIT’s hands-on approach to engineering design education, developing a design competition for class 2.70, now called 2.007 (Design and Manufacturing I). This annual event has been a formative experience for MIT MechE students for nearly five decades and has been emulated at universities around the world. Flowers expanded this concept to high school and elementary school students, working to help establish the world-wide FIRST Robotics Competition, which has introduced millions of children to science and engineering.

Flowers is survived by his beloved wife Margaret Flowers, his sister Kay Wells, his niece Catherine Calabria, his nephew David Morrison, as well as generations of grateful and adoring students.

His Impact on Educators

Remembrances