Mark Shilakes:  

Went to Michigan Tech for a couple of years on a football scholarship - didn't work out, just wasn't ready for college. Enlisted in the Army to try and find some direction on Uncle Sam's dollar and spent two years in Korea crewing and flying helicopters around. I liked aviation so much I got my FAA Airframe and PowerPlant technician licenses and worked in the field for a few years. I met my wife to be while working aviation at Detroit City Airport and we married in '77. For our 'honeymoon', I got a job working in Iran for the Shah as an aircraft electrician instructor for his military in '78. It got pretty 'interesting' when the Shah left the country and the Ayatollah Khomeini took over during the rebellion - JUST made it out. A little more aviation at Willow Run before joining GM at the research labs for thirty-three years - loved the work. Coolest thing I ever worked on there was the elctro-hydraulic system on ...Expand for more