Leo Simper:  

Reflections of days past: On rare occasions, my travels take me into the Los Angeles area and past our old campus site in which many happy memories of fellow students and facility members come to mind. We were all so fortunate to have such a place as a starting point in our adult lives. Upon my graduation from high school, I went onto college and completed my BS degree in aeronautical engineering. My career in the aerospace industry was a vagabond type lifestyle in that I was require to travel to major wind tunnel facilities across the country, from the Aims Research Center in Northern California to the Langely NASA Center in Virginia, and be domiciled in these locations for many months at a time. In the mid 70's, I desided it was time to become more domestic and start think about starting a family. Thus, I planted my roots in North San Diego County and started my own business specializing in the design and manufacture of electronic test equipment. I was fortunate in that the company went on to develope and secure sevral proprietary patents. Also playing part in the company's success was the support I had on the home front from my wife and family. Career wise, it turned out to be a very rewarding and challenging time in my life in that I found myself in many different job functions, from sales and engineering to insuring the financial stability of the company. I later sold the company in 1990 and remained on staff in a consulting capacity. With my consulting contract now compleeted, I finally retire in 1994. Life does have a tendency of pulling the rug out from you based upon death of my wife, Mary Louise, in mid 2008 after a prolonged period of illness. Thankfully my retired status afforded me the time to be with her until the end. Needless to say, her passing left a gaping ...Expand for more