This week TLC has been celebrating Engineers Week and all of our engineers. This year’s theme — Creating The Future — recognizes how engineers create new possibilities from green buildings to fuel-efficient cars to life-saving vaccines. By working together, engineers develop new technologies, products and opportunities that change how we live.
In preparation for our internal activities, we learned that several of our TLCers have family histories in STEM and we have shared their anecdotes below!
My grandfather, Don Fillman, was an engineer for IBM since his graduation from the University of Florida in 1966; he retired in 2002. During the Apollo moon missions, he worked at the Kennedy Space Center as part of the team that provided the guidance platform, digital and analog computers, and instrument unit controls that mechanized gimbals that stabilize the rocket in the 1st and 2nd stages, and navigation in the 3rd stage. His office was only steps from the Saturn V rocket, on the 25th floor of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). You can see him showing off his collection of industry memorabilia in these photos.
Ally Gordon, Associate | HR Specialist
My great, great, great, great uncle was the famous Leonard Euler, the prolific mathematician who died in 1783; how, among many titles, was commonly known as “The Father of Algebra.” When my dad went to the bank while in Switzerland to get more money, the teller took one look at him and said, “Oh, we know what you are here for,” and came back with new 10 Swiss Francs. Dad looked like Leonard, so when they saw his last name, they thought he wanted these bills to give to his family. Attached is the framed banknote bill that Dad gave me.
Brenda Euler, Associate | HR Manager
A little far removed (in many ways), but I had a Great Uncle in Australia, Sir Edward Hallstrom, who invented the kerosene-powered refrigerator that was useful in the Australian Outback. I never met him, but we used to get Christmas cards every year with a photo of him holding a Koala or a kangaroo or wallaby joey. He was also a supporter of the Sydney Zoo and instrumental in bringing koalas to the San Diego Zoo.
Steve Shelt, Principal
Two of my sons followed my path of electrical engineering and interned with TLC in Orlando and Tampa. I honestly believe TLC had a big influence on their decision, and I wanted them to pick their own career path. They had lots of interaction when they were growing up with ‘bring your kid to work day’, company events and parties, and myself talking about TLC at home on a regular basis.
Vince Rea, Principal | New Orleans Operations Manager
My grandfather, William “Boom Boom” Sanders, was working at Lockheed Martin in 1974, managing their office expansion projects, among other responsibilities that included site work and hiring staff in each location. My favorite story is when he was in Ontario, Canada, during the demolition phase of a project he was managing. Armed with C4, a winter weekend, and a few other project team members, he blew an outhouse 20 feet into the air and earned the nickname “Boom Boom”. He is 81 years old but still manages to stir up trouble around the neighborhood.
Karen Sanders, Marketing Coordinator
My great grandpa was a fairly accomplished inventor; his greatest work was optimizing motor-vehicle engines back in the 1920s. I have a patent of his and an article published in Popular Science (1927).
Jay Martin, Managing Principal
My family heritage was a long history in the AEC industry. A great great grandfather who was an architect from Scotland, a grandfather that was a mechanical engineer for a machine shop, another grandfather who was a mechanical engineer that designed the fuel oil system for one of the Saturn rockets and a father who’s in residential construction.
Aaron Johnson, Principal | Director of Healthcare Operations