Engineering a Unique Wedding
Newlyweds, Brian Trease and Amanda "Mimi" Layman
On September 9, doctoral candidate Brian Trease married Amanda "Mimi" Layman. On a boat that doesn't move. Under a big bridge. And, of course, there's the party at the railroad station and the honeymoon at an ASME convention. The unconventional approach clearly suits the couple, who got engaged while on a trip to Costa Rica.
"We decided not to call anyone immediately," said Trease. "We just shared the special moment for ourselves for a few days, before all the hectic wedding mania would begin. My parents picked us up at the airport, where Mimi flashed the ring and put my mother immediately to tears. We then stopped by her mother's house, followed by a summoning of all the sisters. Everyone was ecstatic, some with a somewhat perceptible sigh of "finally!"
So, why the boat that doesn't move and what's with the big suspension bridge? It's all part of making the wedding a truly family affair.
Trease's father, retired from 30 years as an ironworker, and his son share an appreciation for the structural layout of I-beams. They'll literally be able to count the beams in the Anthony Wayne suspension bridge over the Maumee River while the couple exchanges vows on the deck of the SS Willis B. Boyer. It's a retired lake-freighter, once the largest in the world, now turned museum and docked in downtown Toledo. After the wedding, the reception will follow at the old Amtrak train station.
"It's been a real joy and a lot of fun planning all of this," said Trease. "We designed our invitations to look like old-time boarding passes. There are several items inserted in the pocket, one of which is the 'Meal Ticket,' which is also the RSVP postcard. Mimi really enjoys the uniqueness of it all, the historic aspect, and the nostalgic feeling. I feel the same and also appreciate the tie-ins to engineering. What more could an engineer ask for!"
Trease is the most recent member of his family to attend the University of Michigan. His grandfather, Ralph Trease, also holds three engineering degrees, one of which is from U-M. In an interesting coincidence, Trease received his Masters in ME from UM in 2002, exactly 50 years after his grandfather received his Masters in ChemE from UM in 1952.
Trease happily admitted that he has "always been a science and project geek, participating in Science Olympiad and attending summer engineering camps in high school. It was only natural for me to go on to engineering. The aspects of ME that drew me in are the heavy ties to basic physics, and then the advanced computational environments in which we work."
Why the University of Michigan? "To satisfy my father's dreams of having a student attend U-M and acquire football season tickets," he said. To make dad happy, Trease earned his MS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan in 2002 (and got the tickets).
The couple met during the summer before his senior year at the University of Toledo, and both of them hold bachelor degrees from U-T. Layman works in Human Resources at an Ann Arbor bank, but has an engineer's sense of curiosity. "We're always trying new things," said Trease, "which Ann Arbor is the perfect town for. In fact, I've even gotten her to regularly attend the Saturday Morning Physics series with me!"
"It's been a real joy and a lot of fun planning all of this. We designed our invitations to look like old-time boarding passes," said Trease.
As for after the wedding, the couple's taste for the unconventional is readily apparent, again.
"Here's the real kicker," said Trease. "For our honeymoon, we're heading to the 2006 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences in Philadelphia. I know, how romantic! This conference is usually at the end of September, but sure enough, just two weeks after we booked the reception, the early conference date was announced. So, we'll fly to Philadelphia on Sunday night and spend time on Monday and Tuesday exploring the history of the city. There are some Segway tours of the city that look pretty cool, too!"
Still, the couple's unconventional approach has left some room for tradition. Right after the conference, they're off to a quiet, mountain-top country inn in the nearby Poconos.
"And when we return," said Trease, "it's back to the quiet confines of the lab where my dissertation awaits, the 'other' proposal I still need to follow through on.
