Join us as we come together to share memories and honor the life of Michael “Mike” Seal at a celebration of life event on Sunday, April 10 from 2:00 – 5:00 pm at the Performing Arts Center at Western Washington University. Though our hearts still ache following his sudden passing in October, this will be a joyous event – so bring your smiles and stories and help us brighten the day by wearing a splash of yellow or red, Mike’s favorite colors.
Mike always loved a good car show, so we plan to have a few interesting vehicles on display outside the event hall and a line-up of speakers to share stories. For those who are unable to attend in person, we will offer a livestream feed. We invite you to read the tribute posted on his memorial website and share your memories in the comments.
Please let us know if you will be attending in person, need overnight accommodations, or if you’d like to be kept informed about the progress of the V-12 engine project by completing this short form. If you have pictures or memories to share, please email to Mike’s daughter Cathie Nickel at cathie.nickel@gmail.com so we can include them in the media presentation.
When: Sunday, April 10, from 2:00 – 5:00 pm
Where: Performing Arts Center, Western Washington University, 516 High St., Bellingham WA 98225
Parking: Nearby parking will be available for those with mobility issues. – We will provide additional parking information as we get closer to the date. By filling out the short form with your preferred contact information we can make sure you are kept in the loop as the details of this event are firmed up.
Note: To protect those who are vulnerable, will be taking covid precautions and ask that you mask up while inside the facility. We will not be serving refreshments.
I was fortunate to of taken all of Dr. Seal’s auto mechanics and metals classes during my 4 years at Western starting the Fall of 69′ through the Spring of 73′. He was also my Advisor as I worked through my BA and BS Degrees. During his auto mechanics and metals classes I built a 23 Model T Roadster under his direction. Shortly after the car was licensed I showed up one afternoon to the Auto shop and asked him, ” Would you like to go for a ride? ” Of course if you know Dr. Seal you know his answer, “Yes, let’s” go. He hopped in and away we went for nearly an hours’ drive through the Campus and Fair Haven. He told me one day about his lot he had purchased for his home and that he climbed one of the trees on it before he purchased it to see what kind of view it had. I did nearly the same with my lot on Lake Sammamish that I purchased a few years later. During one of his Metals classes I built a drill press as my class project. It was finished and in the shop on a work table plugged in, I was over on a lathe working and Dr. Seal was explaining to me something when we looked over and saw other student was using my class project to drill holes with, { Dr. Seal said to me, ” I guess you will be earning an A in your metals class Dave”
During the Spring of my Junior year in a plastics class for my class project I build a fiberglass ski boat in the woodshop under the direction of Professor Hill. Many, many afternoons Dr. Seal would stop in to check my progress and give encouragement, ” I knew you were working down here, I can smell the polyester resin down the hall in my lab”
I’m very grateful for what I learned from Dr. Seal , Professor Hill and Dr. Vogel during my studies at Western. I not only ended up with a teaching degree but I have a 23 T from Dr; Seal’s teachings, a fiberglass ski boat from Professor Hill’s teachings and a home overlooking Lake Sammamish from Dr; Vogel’s teachings.
Sincerely, Dave Neil class of 73
I was fortunate to have had contact with Dr. Mike Seal (along with many
other cadre at WWU) when I was first crafting my education. This was
a long and circuitous road which lead to a multidiscipline education
related to product design and development, and a life long course.
I was fortunate to be able to describe and apply some of my ideas
onto the Viking automobile series. Later I saw variants of what I
designed and built incorporated in Ford automobiles (some of
which (cars) I later purchased myself).
As a practical matter, my own vehicle research came to reached
across the energy consumption and conversion sector generally,
although products were created for various subsectors that include
automobiles, buses, trucks, and various classes of marine craft generally.
These focuses were crafted along the lines of what promising applications
had the highest likelihood of paying what was needed along the lines of
the developmental pathway. As you know, markets can change quickly.
Sadly (please correct me if I am wrong) I heard that Dr. Seal’s
VRI program has been terminated. I feel this is a mistake.
If I recall correctly (again, please correct me if I am wrong), the VRI
program started out as Dr. Seal helping out with, and giving credit for,
some students interested in crafting various kinds of automobile
systems for cars. This grew to incorporate many more who had
similar interests, and then it became a focused departmental
(Dept. of Engineering and Technology) subset mission. What this
mission is, and what’s on the horizon in terms of industry needs,
depends on how you look at what’s coming up from and
over the horizon; e.g., market “intelligence” and “vision”.
I would hope that Dr. Seal’s interest in, and encouragement of,
students educational passions and their room for growth, is not locked
into a pot filled with classroom concrete. I would hope that you
might broaden your view to include multi-disciplinary approaches
to advanced degrees such as may be found in Stanford Universities
Design program (and elsewhere) for turning ideas into useful commerce.
One can find many examples of success around them, if they know
where to look. I’m grateful that many at WWU (and other places)
began the process of opening my eye’s to see the stellar brightness
in our worlds future.
There is a lot to do, and many challenges in how to do it.
I hope, therefore, that in Mike Seal’s passing, this is a step
in continuing his and others legacy in educational forward
thinking, rather than putting an end to a formal program that
collapsed from lack of large corporation funding.
Ones mission is gratified by the work and accomplishments
created rather than some monetary measure in what they do.
I would hope that at least some aspect of one’s educational success
may be measured by what they may create, innovate, and produce
from, by, through, and cause advancement to it in the interest of humankind.
Thank you MIke Seal, Marv Southcott, and many others that
made WWU an educational joy (at least while I was there).
You may wish to look at Stanford Universities PhD Programs for
examples. Just like WWU, and Dr. Mike Seal’s world recognized
VRI program(s), they have encouraged (and also graduated many)
who have done much for this world.
Most Respectfully; Hendrick W. Haynes (WWU Class of ’74; DRAFT ONLY)
Most respectfully,
A few years back…had a serendipitous meeting with him and another former student…..he took us around and showed us all the wonderful projects going on excitedly and full of knowledge and energy for about 2 hours….he didn’t even know me but his enthusiasm was infectious!
I was fortunate to have Dr. Seal for numerous classes. I received my Bachelor’s in 1984 and took several of his classes in the basement of Environmental Studies. His Lotus was broken into in BC and he fiddled with the wiring to get it running and minimum electrical. When he found out that I had electrical experience he had me work on getting the car wired back to normal. In typical Dr. Seal fashion he wanted us to look through the wiring schematics for the correct color code and then rummage through a misc box to find a match for the colors. We also had to run a lot of ground wires since it was a fiberglass body. The things you do for a good grade.
I went back to school to become a Technology Education teacher in 1987 and then did my MEd in 1993 which resulted in more classes with him. Our Masters cohort group built remote controlled solar powered boats. He had us calculating the wetted surface to determine the drag of the boat while we just wanted it to not sink. The final test was at Lake Padden and he was sitting in a rubber raft and you had to go around him and come back. Testing our boats in Fisher Foundation was easy compared to our lake adventure.
He was one of the smartest people I ever met and was an automotive genius. I am a better person because of him and he will be missed.
Our sincere condolence to the family.
John and I will attend. Mike was John’s Best man in 1960 with his marriage to Margret
Mike and John where at VVI together. Where Mike’s dad taught the shop teachers course.