iMAPS NEW ENGLAND AWARDS
Willard Flagg - 2005 George Hanow Award
Bill is a native of Cleveland,
Ohio. After graduating from John
Adams High
School in Cleveland
in 1942 he served for three years in the U. S. Army during World War II. After basic training in the Coast Artillery
and an assignment to the Army Specialized Training Program at Carnegie
Institute of Technology for eight months he was deployed with the Combat
Engineers and served as a heavy equipment operator in France. After the war’s end he attended Cleveland State
University in Ohio and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree
in Electrical Engineering in 1949.
Bill is married and resides with his wife, Betty, in Topsfield, MA. Two sons, two daughters, their spouses and 11
grandchildren enjoy family togetherness.
He is an active volunteer in his community, having worked with the Boy
Scouts, Sunday School teacher at the Congregational Church of Topsfield, youth
sports coach and continues to be a Masconomet science fair judge annually. He and his wife also enjoy square dancing and
served as President of the Fair Town Squares and as Security Chairman and
Publicity Chairman for the two New
England Square and Round Dance Conventions. They are also members of the New England Old
English Sheepdog Rescue group and have “foster parented” several sheepdogs over
the years. He remains active in several
Masonic organizations, having served twice as Master of New Meadows Lodge, A.F.
& A.M. in Topsfield, has been the organist for four lodges, and is a member
of the Scottish Rite bodies of Salem, MA and the Consistory in Boston, MA. He is known around town as “the Piano Man” as
he frequently volunteers his skills at community events. He enjoys gardening (and has been made an
honorary member of two garden clubs for his volunteer activities), tennis,
annual trips to Sanibel Island,
FL with his wife, and can usually
be found in his yard by the pool during the summer months.
Bill’s career as an engineer included three separate
industries. The first ten years were in
the electrical motor industry as a research and development engineer. The next ten years were in the military and
aerospace industry serving as both a production engineer and research and
development engineer. His work focused
on guidance and control systems during the early years of the U.S. space
program. He was Chief Electrical
Engineer for Arc-Les Switch during the 70’s.
The remainder of his career was in the micro-electronic circuit industry
with several companies, including Teledyne Philbrick, GTE Government Systems
and Raytheon. His work at Raytheon
included participating in the early development of heart pacers and
defibrillators, insulin pumps and various control and communication systems as
well as various defense applications.
He was granted two patents and presented several technical
papers to both the I.E.E.E. and ISHM.
During his career he was active in the New England Chapter of IMAPS
(formerly ISHM), serving in several capacities, including Inside ISHM
Correspondent for several years, Secretary, Vice President and President. He is a Charter Member of IMAPS, is a Senior
Life Member of I.E.E.E. and is a Registered Professional Electrical Engineer in
Massachusetts. During retirement he has continued to enjoy
his activities with both I.E.E.E. and IMAPS.
