Ellis Simon has been on Summit Public Radio’s Technical Committee for several years and was involved with the development of SPR’s five-year plan. We could not have been more fortunate to catch the interest of such a capable person.

 In 1953, as a high school senior, Ellis was a ham radio operator. He wondered if he could connect the output of his 500-watt radio transmitter to food and cook it. Well, it worked, and Ellis made headlines in his local newspaper. Unwittingly, he was just ahead of his time and had produced an electronic oven.

 Ellis attended Montana State University and received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. During his summers, he began working for the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). He was told that the project would be done in 3 years, but would offer good experience. Ellis retired from the project in 1996, 41 years later. During this time, he was an engineering manager for PPPL, which is operated by Princeton University for the U.S. Department of Energy. The purpose of the lab is to develop a fusion reactor. It’s still a ways off, but when it happens, tiny amounts of seawater will provide all of earth’s power needs for thousands of years. Right now, it’s costing gazillions of dollars to do the research, so it’s a bit off in the future. Ellis designed and built giant power systems for the early experiments in what he describes as “surroundings reminiscent of Frankenstein’s lab.” He then found interest in the control systems to control the giant power. By the early 70’s, Ellis realized it would be far more efficient to do the controlling with a computer. This was then a new field. No computer monitors then. So, they simply invented them! From there, he went into project management and then into upper management.

 Ellis met his wife, Marilyn, in 1954 just after her return from Panama where her father worked. She befriended Ellis’s cousin who introduced them. They married in 1961 right after she received her college degree. They have 2 children. Their son, Don, is single and lives in New Jersey. Their daughter, Leigh Ann, lives with her husband and 2 sons in Vero Beach, Florida. Ellis and Marilyn spend spring and fall on their 40-foot Mainship Trawler in Ft. Pierce, which allows them to spend time with their grandsons as well as cruise the east coast, the Dry Tortugas and the Bahamas. During the winter in Summit County, they co-ordinate the Thursday après-ski parties for the Over the Hill Gang and are volunteer Mountain Hosts with Guest Services at Keystone Resort. Ellis also is a pilot with instrument, multiengine ratings and mountain flying certification. Boat captain, pilot, adventurer! What an incredible guy!