Here's what really happened:

In 1984 I was assigned to work 1-year on a project for George Mittendorf as a technician to build whatever he specified. My skillsets of analog and digital electronic circuit design and PC board layout, assembly and test were siloed to devise and construct an accessory for Woodward’s 505 PLC (to be renamed 505H for hydropower.)

This new accessory to the 505 provided a way to capture field data for efficiency testing hydroelectric turbines in an unattended manner - focusing on Kaplan turbines. When I asked George, “What’s a Kaplan turbine?” He handed me Lee’s 1982 tutorial and said, “Just make us something that does this - the others will be easy after you get the Kaplan right.” When I arrived in Hydro a month later, I learned that George was gone; departing week earlier for Slough, England ~ but nobody bothered to tell me.

There was a turf-war in the hydro division in the 1970’s. The Board of Directors recognized the market trend towards computer control and ordered Mark Leum, Hydro General Manger to modernize his product line with computers by hiring in a new engineering manager for the hydro division. The existing hydro department managers and many of the hoi polloi resisted all of his efforts, especially when he broke with a 114 year tradition of promoting engineers and managers from inside the company George Mittendorf was hired-in as the new Engineering Manager to introduce computer-based technologies and modernize the product line. This hiring of an outsider into a management position broke a 105-year tradition of exclusively promoting-from-within, effectively erected a glass-ceiling above anyone unfamiliar with computer technologies – which was all of them.

To keep the status quo, a covert resistance formed for the purpose of undermining George’s projects and defaming him in order to get rid of him and eradicate his new gadgets and gizmos to get back to a purely mechanical governor design.

Two weeks before I arrived in hydro- the dam broke. The Board relented and relaxed the pressure on Mark after recognizing the toll that stress had taken on him. As ordered, Mark had done yeoman’s work to get George recruited away from Newport News turbine company where he was their Sr. Lab Analyst. in place, initiated several new R&D projects including the ITB to augment and refocus product lines to meet the new marketplace. His long-time co-workers - that he had been promoted-over to become their General Manager were in revolt. Mark started drinking. It didn’t become a problem until he wrecked a few company cars and the insurance carrier took him off the company’s policy. Mark resigned his office, quit the company and sulked at home.

Cal Covert, the CEO (albeit a scoundrel on his own merit.) went to Mark’s home to tell him The Board had acquiesced and things would return to the way it was. The promote-from-within crowd had prevailed, George had been sent to Slough, England, however, they were not satisfied with this victory. They wanted to be rid of George and all of his new computer-based gadgets, including the ITB. Luddites all...

Of course, I didn’t learn all of this until years later…