Richard R. Starkweather, Sr
In the early 1970's I began training at ITT Technical Institute for electronic technology. This training led me to an interest in early computers. While working at Eureka College in 1974, I began programming in BASIC on “Archimedes”, a refrigerator sized mainframe. The teletype keyboard and paper tape storage was truly amazing.
After ITT, my career led me into commercial heating and air conditioning where I was a control troubleshooter for a major HVAC company in Peoria. I began teaching as an adjunct instructor in basic electricity for a high school joint agreement program, as well as heating and air conditioning courses in heat load calculations, equipment design, and, oddly enough, photography a growing hobby of mine.
Disco was growing in the late '70s and I soon found myself designing a unique portable disco lighting system that my family and friends managed to promote to the various high schools and other functions around the area. It was so successful a local businessman contracted with me to remodel his nightclub. It was the largest Disco-tech remodel in the country. It was located Creve Coeur, Illinois; know as "The Coliseum". It was a magnificent show with over 2000 lights and 5 miles of wire.
With the advent of the Commodore 64 in the early '80s, I soon wrote and sold several software programs entitled "New Math" and "Change Maker", both educational programs. They did will locally but, stored on cassette tape, they just didn’t have the national appeal as the floppy disks. I just didn’t have the $300.00 it took to by a floppy drive back then.
I decided to complete my associates in 1984 and went back to ICC. In 1985 there was a state wide computer contest held at ICC where we electronics guys (pre-geeks) entered. The contest was sponsored by the Illinois Association of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, (IAEEE). At the local level I took fourth place which was enough to get me into the state wide contest. After some intense crash studying I was able to take “First Place" in the State of Illinois. It was here when a fellow contestant stated that; “I guess your ’Captain Micro’ now!” From then on this nick name became my company Captain Micro Computer Services (www.cptmicro.com).
In the early 1990’s, I took a teaching job with Richland Community College. They had a specific need to develop an HVAC program and get the curriculum accredited through the State of Illinois. After a year of development I was able to design the curriculum and put together the lab equipment for the new 50 hour program. Not only was I fortunate to teach the program for five years but I was able to teach other courses such as; HORT (horticulture environmental controls), CIS (computer information systems), and MECH SYS (mechanical systems), pneumatics, computer based learning, management styles and ethics.
The offer I couldn’t refuse came in 1998. At almost twice the salary of my teaching job, I was offered a position as Education Consultant with Lennox Industries in Richardson, Texas. As the project manager I was given the daunting task of rewriting and updating twenty year old corporate HVAC training materials used by the company to train their field service technicians world wide.
This project required a large amount of team building, project leadership, small business management, needs analysis, technical writing, adult education learning environments and training styles, internet-based distance learning, CBTs (computer based training), advanced testing methods for the adult learner, courseware development and implementation, electronics engineering research, design, and development skills. New technologies in training, multimedia and computers aided in reducing the massive undertaking into completed courses in two years. Training videos, intranet and internet websites were developed, and instructors were trained to present the new materials that are still used to this day.
Technical writing has been my main focus since then and I really enjoyed the challenge. Now, working at Caterpillar and for Progress Rail Services (a subsidiary of Caterpillar), I have learned a great deal regarding many other technologies: Electrical Power Generation (EPG), locomotive systems, and System Standards for programming, and many others.
Over the years, I have had the pleasure of learning the skills needed for designing, installing, troubleshooting, and maintaining such complex systems such as; electronics, embedded controls, pneumatics, electronic design, computer systems, and programming. And, as time changes, so do the ways and means and the how’s and whys of technology. Keeping up with the Jones’s of technology is an ever growing educational process, never lacking in challenges.
I look forward to an exciting and prosperous future.
