We’ve used the term “hidden gem” a few times in the past around here. Never about a product, rather a person. Conrad Milster, Pratt Institute’s Chief Engineer is one of those people. He’s been working in the Brooklyn Power Plant since June of 1958. Milster is now 79 years young, getting up and working everyday to maintain nineteenth century steam engines that provide heat and water to the Pratt campus. Conrad is also very fond of cats, housing over a dozen that have been nicknamed the “Pratt Cats” over the years.
As an important figure in Pratt’s history, the university has named the Phyllis and Conrad Milster Endowed Scholarship that provides scholarships in perpetuity to students in Pratt’s Industrial Design program. The scholarship is named for Conrad and his late wife Phyllis, who passed in 2011.
Film by Dustin Cohen.