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NEWS RELEASE

01-22-03

Contacts:
John McCarroll, University Relations, (515) 294-6137
Annette Hacker, News Service, (515) 294-3720

AMERICAN MURDERED IN KUWAIT HAD TIES TO IOWA STATE

AMES, Iowa - The head of a San Diego software company tragically killed in Kuwait yesterday morning is an Iowa State University alumnus.

Michael Rene Pouliot, 46, died of injuries resulting from a terrorist ambush in Kuwait City. The co-founder of Tapestry Solutions, Pouliot's software company was under contract to the military. His vehicle was sprayed with gunfire at an intersection less than five miles from Camp Doha, a U.S. military base.

The driver of the car, David Caraway, was wounded in the attack. News reports indicate he is in stable condition following surgery at a Kuwaiti hospital. Caraway has been identified as a senior software engineer with Pouliot's company.

Pouliot earned a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from Iowa State in 1978. He received his master's degree in aerospace engineering from Iowa State in 1980. Pouliot's wife, Carol Jean Todd Pouliot, also earned bachelor's and master's degrees (in textiles and clothing) from Iowa State in 1978 and 1980, respectively.

Bion Pierson, professor of aerospace engineering at Iowa State, served as Michael Pouliot's major professor and "knew him well." Pouliot wrote his thesis under Pierson's direction.

"Mike would have made a great Ph.D. candidate, but we couldn't convince him to stay," Pierson says. " He wanted to get out in industry, where the action was."

Pouliot, a New Hampshire native, is survived by his wife and two daughters in San Diego, and one brother, Dennis Pouliot, of Hooksett, N.H. Dennis Pouliot told The Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News that his brother had been in Kuwait for eight days and had been expected to leave this weekend.

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