{"62706":{"#nid":"62706","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tibbitts to Retire after 31 years of Service to GTRI","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn Nov. 30, Electronic Systems Lab (ELSYS) Director Terry Tibbitts retires after 31\nyears of working at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ETibbitts started at GTRI as a \u201cdouble-E\u201d\u2014electrical\nengineering\u2014student in 1975. \u201cI was a co-op student here my last quarter,\u201d he\nsaid. \u201cThe quarter before, I [worked a co-op] for the government. But I needed\nto take a lab my last quarter, which required me to be on campus, so I worked\nhere.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd here he stayed, since his starting as a Research\nEngineer I in 1979 to being named director of the Electronic Systems Laboratory\nin 2007. \u201cInitially I stayed because of the offer of a graduate degree,\u201d said\nTibbitts, who in 1982 earned his master\u2019s in electrical engineering from Tech.\n\u201cAnd then I stayed because it was just a cool place to work.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ELooking back, he echoes former lab director Bill Rogers by\nsaying that managing ELSYS was \u201cthe easiest job\u201d he ever had. \u201cIt\u2019s just that\ngood of an organization, and has been built from the ground up that way, over a\nseries of leaders going back to Bob Zimmer in the 1970s.\u201d In recounting ELSYS\naccomplishments that he\u2019s particularly proud of, Tibbitts is quick to frame\nthem with \u201cwe\u201d and not \u201cI.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe have grown a well-run laboratory at GTRI,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\nhave almost doubled in size the last five years, and this organization has\naccomplished everything it set out to do. We have fielded many system upgrades\nand modifications to equipment that has had operational significance to the\ndefense of the nation consistently over time since the early \u201980s. What we do\nmakes a difference in the world.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ETibbitts\u2019 exit will be temporary, though. As with many who\nretire from either Tech or GTRI, he plans to return after a short break to work\npart-time. In addition to taking some time off, he looks forward to getting\nback to hands-on research for the first time in several years. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI became division chief in 1996, and the division that I\nran at the time was the largest division in GTRI, with more than 100 people in\nit,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was bigger than most of the laboratories at that time and even\ntoday. So essentially I have been a full-time manager since 1996.\u201d Tibbitts was\nnamed a Principal Research Engineer in 1998.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EWith all the changes 30 years has brought\u2014labs growing,\nnames changing, realignments and strategic planning\u2014Tibbitts is quick to point\nout what he considers a constant at GTRI: the people. \u201cThe quality of the\npeople here has never changed, as far as integrity, knowledge, skills and\npersonalities,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are good people to work with.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen prompted for advice to those just starting out at GTRI,\nTibbitts says that \u201c30 years passes more quickly than you think.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAs ELSYS director, he manages a staff of nearly 400\nengineers, students and support staff. The lab conducts more than $50 million\nresearch annually.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 1988, Tibbitts was promoted to Senior Research Engineer,\nafter which he spent four years leading the lab\u2019s Avionics Development Branch\n(1991-1995). He was named chief of the lab\u2019s System Engineering Division until\n2007, when he became director of ELSYS. \u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAlong with extensive experience in the field of\ndigital electronics and microprocessors, as well as communications theory,\nTibbitts\u2019 personal research has included his serving as GTRI\u2019s lead engineer\nand program manager in the ALR-69 Radar Warning Receiver. He was responsible\nfor the development of the ALR-69 Class IV upgrade, installed in more than\n2,000 aircraft for the U.S. and allied air forces.\u0026nbsp; His fields of interest include software\nprocess development, digital system design, signal processing, radar theory,\ncommunications theory, self-test instrumentation design, electronic warfare and\nradar warning receivers.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn Nov. 30, ELSYS Director Terry Tibbitts retires after 31\nyears of working at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"After 31 years with GTRI, ELSYS Director Terry Tibbitts plans to retire."}],"uid":"27191","created_gmt":"2010-11-12 10:43:38","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:46","author":"Robert Nesmith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-11-12T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2010-11-12T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"62705":{"id":"62705","type":"image","title":"Terry Tibbitts 2","body":null,"created":"1449176382","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:59:42","changed":"1475894547","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:27","alt":"Terry Tibbitts 2","file":{"fid":"191666","name":"Meeting_(37).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Meeting_%2837%29_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Meeting_%2837%29_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3691319,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Meeting_%2837%29_0.jpg?itok=-4cLOks_"}}},"media_ids":["62705"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/elsys","title":"Electronic Systems Laboratory"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"11241","name":"Electronic Systems Laboratory"},{"id":"416","name":"GTRI"},{"id":"11240","name":"Terry Tibbitts"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKirk J. Englehardt\u003C\/strong\u003E, Director of Communications \u003Cbr \/\u003E Georgia Tech Research Institute \u003Cbr \/\u003E404-407-7280\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}