Ted was born in Florida, but he lived most of his childhood in the town of Gatun in the Panama Canal Zone where his father was a pilot and a tug boat captain. He graduated from Cristobal High School in 1968. Ted traveled extensively in his youth. Before becoming an Engineer, he held a variety of odd jobs such as a fisherman, cook, waiter, orchid grower, ambulance driver, merchant seaman, hobo and university research assistant. Ted originally majored in Oceanography at Humboldt State College, but he switched to Engineering while attending California State University in Sacramento where he earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Ted is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Michigan. He has more than 30 years of experience as an Engineer . Most of this experience is in the fields of heat transfer, rolling element bearings, tribology and mathematical modeling in the Aerospace industry. Ted is currently semi-retired and works as an Engineering consultant, manages the flight-toys web page, teaches flight science seminars and substitutes as a science and math teacher in local schools.