Robert Cecil

Attended Va Tech as a co-op student. Graduated in 1965 with a major in Math and a minor in Electrical Engineering. Also received an ROTC commission and served in the Army for 27 months. Hired as a computer programmer by IBM in Maryland and later worked for Computer Sciences Corporation for 32 years. Received a Masters Degree from George Washington University in 1978.
Married my wife Susan in 1974 and we have three children and four grandchildren. Have lived in Rockville MD since 1978. Since 1987 have been a part owner of Elk Run Vineyards and Winery in Maryland. Teach wine workshops periodically and enjoy gardening and visiting grand kids in Cary, North Carolina. Stephanie and her two children live with us.

While I attended regular high school I also was enrolled in the East High Trade School and wound up graduating from both. My major was electricity and my instructor had some challenging (sadistic?) projects for we students. One was a test for us to experience the power of electrical current. We stood in a circle hand to hand and he would crank up a hand-turned generator. Even this small current was so strong, we couldn't let go until he stopped cranking. It was an eye-opener for us all.
He also had a project that involved manually bending electrical conduit pipe (thankfully the thin wall version). The assignment was to make multiple right-angle bends so that the 10-foot pipe could be placed on a vertical wall and drop to the floor where it would make a 90 degree turn to a corner, another 90 degree turn to follow the floor at the wall, then a final 90 degree turn to go back up the wall vertically. This "w" shaped pipe project took me all summer to complete.