Years before he became executive director at Boston-based Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE), Penn Loh was fulfilling his parents' dream: He was attending MIT to become an electrical engineer.  

In part 1 of our interview, Penn tells the story of:

 - How his experience as a child of immigrants shaped his early aspirations.
 - The unexpected influence one MIT class had in transforming his world view.
 - How coming face to face with the defense industries’ influence on MIT spurred him to develop his organizing chops.