Grant to Library Opens Access to Edwin Link Collection

– Gifts to Florida Tech’s Evans Library will continue the project to digitize and make available on-line the contents of the library’s Edwin A. Link
Special Collection. Funding comes from Florida Tech trustees Marilyn C. Link and Dr. Andrew Clark, with matching funds from the Link Foundation. Nicole
Hoier, Florida Tech instructional technologist and lab operations manager, has given a 48″ x 66″ high-precision drum scanner.

The collection contains many personal papers, maps, charts, correspondence and blueprints of Edwin A. Link (1904-1981), an inventor, aviator and
industrialist. He invented the first successful flight simulator, the Link Trainer, and designed the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution’s
Johnson-Sea-Link class submersibles.

“This gift will further Ed Link’s legacy worldwide and for all time,” said Florida Tech Dean of Libraries, Dr. Celine Lang. In Phase One, the Library
created a web-based bibliography of the Link Special Collection, accessible at: http://edwin.lib.fit.edu/edwinlinkproject/user_search.php. In Phase Two,
the Library created a web-based full-text searchable collection of the non-copyrighted documents in the collection, accessible at:
http://edwin.lib.fit.edu/edwinlinkproject/modules/dms/. In Phase Three, the Library will add content to the electronic archive; seek permissions to add
copyrighted materials; and seek collaborative opportunities with other institutions holding Edwin Link’s papers.

Marilyn, Link’s sister, is a special advisor to the Link Foundation and Director Emeritus of Wachovia Bank in Vero Beach, where she resides. “Ed always
believed in helping young people with their education and the development of their careers,” she said.

Clark, founder and president of Harris Maritime Communications Services, is an international leader in marine technology research and development. He is on
the Link Foundation Board of Trustees and is an adjunct professor at Florida Tech.

The Link Foundation was established in 1953 by Edwin and his wife, Marion Clayton Link. The foundation makes grants to qualified nonprofit organizations
interested in the mastery of the air and sea, and the development of energy resources and their conservation. Fellowships are awarded annually in Energy,
Ocean Engineering, and Simulation and Training.