Until age 18 I was a farmer. At that time, circa 1960, many young men left the farm to become engineers, especially electrical engineers. And they brought with them much of th e farm jargon. How many of th epresent genteration know that the term "motherboard" comes from the sow how lying on her side to expose her belly to ten (or more) suckling pigl ets?
I attended high school and junior college (now called community college) in Independence, Kansas. I graduated Kansas State University with BSEE in 1964. At that time I did not realize that different colleges emphasized different curricula. I was interested in radio and electromagnetics but I did not get that at K-State. However, it really did not m atter all that much because I could not afford out-of-state tuition anyway.
As I was completing my time at junior college I was vacillating between electrical and chemical engineering. Then I read a book: "Elements of Radio, by Marcus and Marcus" and I was sold.
After K-State I worked for Collins Radio, Cedar Rapids, IA and Wilcox Radio, Kansas City, MO. From 1967 to 2001 I was with Texas Instruments/Raytheon. My ambitition for antenn as and EM was not being fulfilled so I decided to pursue an MS in electrical engineering to get the education I needed. so, I attended University of Texas at Arlington and too k as many math, antenna and EM courses as they would permit in the degree plan. I got my Master in Electrical Engineering degree in 1986 and went to work in the Antenna Depart ment at Texas Instruments. Since then it has been "Katie bar the door". I love it.
I "retired" from Raytheon in 2001. In 2005 I went to work for a major defense contractor. As of this writing, I am still there.
Best wishes to everyone.
Eldon Gordon, May 2015