Kurt Kasules:
CLASS OF 1962
Elgin High SchoolClass of 1962
Elgin, IL
Kurt's Story
Life
From an Amateur Radio Operators license at 14, to working at a local commercial radio station while in High School, to an education in electronics, to laying out closed circuit interconnections, and directing the installation of the cabling for the four mile main ring accelerator of the worlds highest energy particle physics accelerator at that time, life has taken some strange turns. ( CERN in Europe is now the most powerful )
Working with several of those involved in the development of the first atom bomb, sharing an office with one of them for a year, performing the electrical layouts and directing their installation for the first Russian experiment at Fermilab, to directing remodeling and construction of facilities for the first Chinese experiment at the lab, life has offered some fantastic opportunities. Working on the prototype Proton Cancer Treatment facility and the first treatment accelerator sent to Loma Linda Medical Center in California for their treatment faciliity was a real education. Having dinner with the Director of Sanford Laboratory while out there to investigate a personal injury incident was a great opportunity to meet a great man and some of his team.
Directing the construction of a low conductivity water plant that was a better sprinkler system than you could imagine is still a fond memory. Moving three story brick buildings, houses, barns, and metal buildings around the site in...Expand for more
tact was a scary and fun period of my work assignments.
Working with Nobel Prize Winners, Presidential Award Winners, and people from all over the world was a fascinating and challenging life experience. Receiving a Federal Award and a Department of Energy Award for some of my activities at ceremonies in Washington, DC was an exciting honor.
Serving on a variety of operational and policy sub committees for the lab, and taking part in internal and external audits and investigations exposed me to the workings of a complicated federal research laboratory.
All this and more has provided me with interesting life experiences I never expected to find while in high school. The opportunity to know and work with a wide variety of people from all over the world, while living, marrying, and raising a family just miles from where I grew up,has been an exciting experience. There are so many other special people and happenings, every time I lean back I think of something else.
Now that I am retired, it is hard to look on from the sidelines, and listen to the newcomers spout like those of us that did the work in the past couldn't possibly know anything. They forget, like our kids sometimes forget, that they have what they have to start their lives because those of us from a previous generation have created it for them. Life can be good if you make an effort, and even better if you trust and try a little harder.
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