Simon Ramo: A pioneer in systems engineering leaves us
Simon Ramo died on June 27, 2016 at the age of 103. Simon Ramo is undoubtedly one of the pioneers in systems engineering, and an inspiration to us all.
Working as a Systems Engineer
At the age of 23, Simon earned a double doctorate in physics and electrical engineering from the prestigious CalTech. Working at General Electric and Hughes Aircraft, he laid the foundation for work in the industry that pioneered systems engineering: Aerospace. This was followed by the founding of Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation (TRW Inc.), which had made a name for itself in the aerospace industry in particular. Among other things, TRW was involved in several Pioneer-probes, as well as in the Viking program (Mars). TRW was founded in 2002 by Northrop Grumman acquired.
Patents
Simon Ramo holds the record as the oldest person ever to receive a patent. He received his last one at the proud age of 100 years. But he stood out right from the start of his career, receiving 25 patents before the age of 30.
Most patents do not bring in money to the patentee, and so there's no particular reason for doing it. I did some of those [patents] because I wanted to bring other, younger people along as co-patentees and teach them how to choose the right time to do a patent, when it really pays off. (Simon Ramo) [tweetthis]Most #patents do not bring in money to the patentee. (Simon #Ramo)[/tweetthis]
Interestingly, he did not consider patents to be particularly important (later in life anyway), and "only" received around 40 patents in total. He freely admits: 'There's hardly any money to be made from most patents. Some patents he only filed, to help younger colleagues.
Private life
In his personal life, too, Simon Ramon everything right to have made: He was a talented violinist, and was married to his wife Virginia for 72 years. His two sons gave him several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He did not smoke, rarely drank alcohol, never took drugs, was never overweight, tried to exercise every day, married the right women and was never promiscuous, worked harder than everyone else, and was brilliant and productive to the end. His life should serve as a model for us all. (Gabe Mirkin)
However, talent recognized early on is not enough for a successful professional and private life. He certainly owes a lot to his values as a hard-working, curious person who never let success go to his head.
Food for thought and reading
Simon has written over 60 books in his lifetime: Much of it about his work, of course, including a number of textbooks that have sold over a million copies. But he also wrote about Tennis, Drones and Meetings.
With Simon Ramo, we are losing a pioneer in systems engineering. I will certainly be reading one or two of his books in the near future - there is a lot to learn from this man.
Image source: CalTech
