Sonny’s first career involved several technical and managerial positions as an Air Force Military and Civilian employee in the Air Force Materials Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. He worked on materials for aircraft, engines, spacecraft, and ballistic missiles. He co-developed the heat treatment used on most titanium engine disk alloys. For two years, because of industry quality problems, he personally controlled the usage of titanium alloys for critical engine and airframe parts. For this achievement he was honored by the Vice President of the United States as one of the ten outstanding young men in Federal Government. He moved from the Laboratory environment to the world of Weapons Systems and ended his Air Force career as Director of Manufacturing for the entire F-16 Program.

Sonny then began a 24 year career at GE Aircraft Engines. He was at the forefront of advancing manufacturing technology, and incorporating it into the manufacture of our engines. Under Sonny’s leadership, the use of such manufacturing processes as laser drilling, inertia welding, and high speed ceramic insert machining were spread via systematic introduction across all GEAE engine products. For these achievements, he received GE’s Steinmetz award from the CEO for his outstanding technical contributions to the Company and to Society. In starting up Madisonville, KY as a new plant for Turbine Airfoil production, he introduced many of the advanced manufacturing concepts he had become familiar with during his Air Force career, and as the plant grew it became known internationally for its quality and productivity.

As the General Manager of the Turbine Airfoils Center of Excellence he had responsibility to design, develop, procure, produce, and support turbine airfoil components for all GE engines. This was one of the initial Centers of Excellence Leaders; and Sonny played a major role in making this organizational concept a reality.

He has been Chairman of two National Academy of Sciences and Engineering Committees—Research Needs in U.S. Manufacturing and U.S. –Japanese Technology Exchange in Manufacturing. Sonny was on the National Science Foundation’s Advisory Committee for International Programs, is a past Chairman of the Aerospace Industry Association’s (AIA) Manufacturing Committee, and has served in numerous capacities as a consultant to the Department of Defense.

Education: BS (Metallurgy) ‘60 and MS (Metallurgy) ‘61 form MIT and PhD (Metallurgy) OSU ’66.