Paul & Sue Liles
A Small Corner On The Internet Dedicated To Our Family & Friends
Our Careers
Sue and Paul were blessed with parents from the "old school" that
taught us the American Work Ethic.
Work ethic is a set of values based
on the moral virtues of hard work and diligence. It is also a belief in
moral benefit of work and its ability to enhance character.
Workers exhibiting a good work ethic in theory (and ideally in practice)
should be selected for better positions, more responsibility and
ultimately promotion. Workers who fail to exhibit a good work ethic may
be regarded as failing to provide fair value for the wage the employer
is paying them and should not be promoted or placed in positions of
greater responsibility.
One central concept that forms part of the basis of the conservative
economic theory of western capitalism is that workers who work hard and
play by the rules will be rewarded (eventually) and will move ahead, and
that those who do not should be allowed to enjoy the fruits of their own
poor performance.
It worked for us! We are retired and have the next thirty years to
enjoy the fruits of our efforts!
The Early Years
Sue used her culinary skills and on a part time basis while going
to school, worked for the
Gas Company showing people how to cook on the new gas bar-b-que.
She worked in the campus book store at CSULB to help pay her way
through college. After
school was completed she taught high school for two years and began
to work as a summer hire at Rockwell where her real skills in programming
and management enticed her to stay for 35 years! we retied in 2006.
Primary among the constituents of Rockwell International were the
Rockwell Spring and Axle Company (itself a merger of a number of
automotive suppliers), which formed into Rockwell-Standard, then
merged with North American Aviation to form North American Rockwell
in 1967. They then purchased or merged with Miehle-Goss-Dexter, the
largest supplier of printing presses, and Collins Radio, a major
avionics supplier. Finally they merged with Rockwell Manufacturing,
run by Willard Rockwell Jr., and formed Rockwell International in
1973.
Paul worked in a ham radio store while in high school and college as
he was licensed as WA6CJC in 1957. During the junior and senior year, he worked
at North American Aviation as an electronics test technician assisting with checkout
of Apollo Display and Control Panels. Upon receiving the degree and
using the ham radio skills, he began working as a test engineer on the
Apollo program!! North American Aviation was a major US
aircraft manufacturer. The company was responsible for a number of
historic aircraft, including the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang
fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F-86 Sabre jet fighter, and
the X-15 rocket plane, as well as Apollo Command and Service Module,
the second stage of the Saturn V rocket, the Space Shuttle orbiter
and the B-1 Lancer. Through a series of mergers and sales, North
American Aviation is now part of Boeing
76 Years With NAA, Rockwell, and Boeing
We both worked for Boeing doing
aerospace related work and between us we had over 76 years with the
company!
We have since
retired as of 3/21/2007! It was a good run but times
have changed and us old timers had to move on.
Like most everything else, the company is not now what it once was...
and not for the good!
Maybe we will consult??? Right now,
no! We are having too much fun!
We worked on Apollo, Apollo-Soyuz, Space Shuttle, B1-B, Space Station,
GPS and more recently on the "infrastructure" side of the business .
. . Information Management!
Sue's Specialty Was Software Engineering And Management
Sue joined Rockwell for a summer job as a software engineer and she
was so good at the task, she stayed for 35 years. Sue worked on
Shuttle test software writing an operating system for the Space Shuttle
test facilities. After the Space Shuttle, Sue became a supervisor
on the B-1 Program responsible for the Ground Testing Facilities.
Then she was promoted to Manager on the B-1 responsible for the entire
test facility software and control systems. Sue moved back to Downey,
California where she was Director on the Space Station Program proposal
for Rockwell . If we had of won the proposal to the NASA, she
would have been senior Director of Avionics Software Systems but alas,
we lost.
Moving to GPS, Sue ran the ground station software program with about
800 people reporting to her.
At the end of our time with Boeing, Sue was deputy program leader
on the Ground Segment of a big system Boeing is building.
Paul's Specialty Was Project Engineering And Business Systems Software
Paul was Director of Program Support for the Satellites Programs Business
Segment of Boeing and does "odd jobs" ranging from facilities and capital
planning, running the Configuration and Data Management Departments
as well as the Information Systems activities.... and of course the
Webmaster! Paul retired as he could not stand the
mismanagement and neglect the company represented. Boeing was
too big!
Paul started in 1965 as a test engineer on the Apollo Spacecraft and
then moved into the Engineering Project Office and led a team of engineers
in developing the Apollo J-Series scientific experiments carried aboard
Apollo 15, 16, and 17. He was the Project Engineer for Lunar Sounder,
a synthetic aperture radar operating in the VHF and HF ranges to enable
us to see beneath the surface of the Moon.
He then moved to the Space Shuttle Program Office as Project Engineer
for all electronics and software systems. After that, we ran the Avionics
Development Laboratory and Flight Control Hydraulics Laboratories for
several years. As the Shuttle matured, Paul moved back to the scientific
side of the program, assisting experimenters, satellite launch organizations
and others to "get aboard" the Shuttle. After working on the Space Station
Proposal, he worked three years implementing Manufacturing Resource
Planning system (MRPII). He then decided to change emphasis and work
on the new PC technologies including implementing a division e-mail
system, installing LAN/WAN systems, and now the "Intranet".
He then became Chief Of Staff for the Boeing Satellite Systems Division
for several years before moving to a new large program at Seal Beach.
Boeing, A Great Company
Boeing is a great company. The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA, TYO: 7661 ) is a major aerospace and defense corporation, originally founded by William Boeing.
Its international headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Boeing is the largest global aircraft manufacturer by revenue, the second largest by deliveries and the second-largest aerospace and defense contractor in the world.
Boeing has long been one of the world’s largest civil aircraft companies. In 2006, it took 55% of global commercial aircraft orders for the first time since 2000.
The largest exporter in the United States, Boeing’s stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
