I was so saddened to hear of the passing of Paul Studebaker [former editor-in-chief of Control]. The last time I saw Paul was at Automation Fair 2019 in Chicago. I had invited Paul to talk to me about the 25th anniversary of Fluke entering the process tools market.
While he was visiting our booth, I remember we had a new product on display that can acoustically see air leaks. I showed air leaks on a control valve on the device (ii900 Sonic Imager) to Paul, and he got so excited about the problems it would solve detecting leaks in process applications. He even dropped an F-bomb, which blew my mind. He was so passionate about solving process problems and giving technicians good tools to do their work.
I already missed Paul when he retired. I miss him more now. My thanks to Keith Larson for the nicely written article about his life. I feel for his family and coworkers, and was hoping to visit him some time when passing near his home in Valparaiso, Ind.
Jim Shields
Product Program Manager
Fluke Process Calibration Tools
Nothing like learning of the loss of a mentor to make one reevaluate their impact on life's course forward—and become more grateful for all their support!
Today, I learned of the passing of Paul Studebaker, former editor of Control as well as Plant Services. For more than 20 years, I had a wonderful engineering media mentor, who helped me formulate my path forward to addressing what would become my life’s mission to build the next generation of skilled technicians. Paul challenged me for over a decade to fill a monthly segment called the "Crisis Corner" by sharing details and strategies to address skills and maintenance crises. Paul’s editorial prowess helped convert my poor grammar and spelling-challenged thoughts into coherent, value-added strategies to help guide readers to build the pipelines of skilled technicians.
The loss of Paul is further proof that we are losing not only practitioners, but also industry advocates to nudge us forward to rebuild the pipelines of techs that we desperately need to advance society.
However, one of the most poignant memories of my time with Paul was when I debriefed him on my trip to the U.S. Congressional Forum, where I played the "Maintenance Crisis Song" and met with all kinds of government, business and media leaders. That debriefing became the column "Mr. Leonard Goes to Washington," which later won a gold award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors.
Paul at first wasn't aware of the Maintenance Crisis, but later became a key ally in helping leaders better appreciate the magnitude and need for workforce development. I never would have thought then that now that I'd be leading after-school programs with a $100,000 truck and mobile makerspaces in rural and underserved communities. I'm actually helping to plant seeds to grow the pipelines of talent to fuel future growth and prosperity.
Thank you, Paul, for your guidance and mentorship in helping me hone my thoughts toward a valued mission to impact our future! That is just a small part of your legacy, Paul Studebaker! I only hope that more will be inspired to continue that mission, too. Thank you!
Joel Leonard
Maker’s Maker
MakesboroUSA.com
