I was born in my grandmother's house in Mt.
Pleasant, PA, (a suburb of Pittsburgh) and moved to the Detroit area when I was
eight years old. I have lived in the Detroit
area ever since, although I have worked on some extended out-of-town projects.
I developed an interest in electronics at an early age. One of the things I did to connect with
others with a similar interest was to get a ham license. This interest became the reason I chose
electronics as a profession. I also
worked as a bench TV repair person starting at age 14.
I attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit, which specialized in
preparing students to enter the technical professions. Later, I went to Detroit Institute of
Technology, which was a highly respected engineering school when astronaut
Wally Schirra was on the board of
directors and the school was proud of the fact.
Henry Ford also taught at DIT, but that was a long time ago. D.I.T. has since become part of Lawrence
Technological University during the college merger period in the late 1980s.
While attending school, I worked at several radio and TV stations as a
broadcast engineer since I had a first-class FCC license.
When I graduated, I discovered that the world was nothing like
college. The college curriculum was a
combination of power engineering and analog electronics. The world still ran mostly on vacuum tubes,
but in Detroit, most of the engineering jobs involved machine control with
electromechanical relays. A relay
controls one bit of data. This means
that it can only turn a device on or off.
Unbelievably, at that time, a draftsman created engineering drawings
with a pencil.
The first computers that appeared in factories were the PLC. a Programmable Logic Controller, is a specialized
computer designed for machine control.
To avoid having to train people to use the new technology, PLC’s were
programmed in ladder logic, the same symbology
used to depict relay logic. Another new
technology that came along was the industrial robot that could reach an almost
infinite number of positions. Also, CAD,
or Computer Aided Design, which has improved a lot since then, replaced the
draftsman.
During the crunch of 2002 jobs were
scarce and, I chose to use the time to pursue an M.B.A. at the University of
Phoenix. Unfortunately, that was a bad
choice. Six Sigma training is much more
valuable in the controls Engineering profession. Part of the reason for this is that this
university “pushes” curriculum options they provide rather than what the job market requires.
Recently, the job market changed a lot again. Instead of the emphasis on making
manufacturing more efficient, right now most of the job opportunities seem to
involve automotive technology including infotainment systems, collision
avoidance systems, and the future push for autonomous (self-driving) vehicles.
While we in amateur radio should be proud of our technical interests, we
should also remember to remind newcomers to the technical and STEM professions
that as the technology advances, you should always be aware that the skills you
will need will change with time. Failing
this will put you at a disadvantage later in your career.
My hobbies include dancing, karaoke, volleyball, swimming, computers,
astronomy, and working out. I am trying
to battle aging (and a tendency to gain weight just by looking at food) by
exercising and trying to keep fit.
I also have two wonderful daughters, Natalie, and Melissa whom I care
about very much.
Sincerely,
Larry Tessari
Would you like to see my
Thank you for your interest.