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Veronica Shema

Even though I was your classmate for four years, it goes without saying that no one actually �knew John Shema�. I was probably best known as the weird introvert who never fit in with the rest of the class. That being said . . . after graduating from BSHS, I attended MSU, received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1972 and a Masters Degree in EE in Feb 1974. During that time, I was President of the MSU Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers student chapter and Commander of the Air Force ROTC Arnold Air Society.

Since leaving Bozeman in 1974, I must admit that I have had led a most interesting, albeit bizarre life - having been blessed with the rare opportunity to experience life from the perspective of both genders. Believe me, it is an understatement to say that �Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus�.


After being discharged from the Air Force, I was employed by Bendix Corporation as an inspector at the Kansas City Department of Energy Plant which made all of the non-nuclear components for various missile and other military weapon systems. My area of expertise was in cruise missile components.

Worked for King Radio in Olathe, Kansas as a member of a 20-engineer team that designed the company�s first Flight Management Computer System. My primary assignment was to create an electronic database containing all of the worldwide navaid frequency and location information (VORs/DMEs for those in the know) as well as all airport information such as location, runway identifiers, taxiways, communication frequencies to name just a few. This had never been done before and the challenge was to find a way to store all of that information into the teenie, tiny memory devices available at that time. Not an easy task, however, thanks to Mr. King�s deep pockets, we were able to have custom memory devices fabricated to meet our specifications. During the development cycle time, the avionics industry was hit very hard by declining sales (recession of 1985-1990). As such, many of the project engineers had left for greener pastures and I was left as the sole engineer on the project. Although the FMC had originally been designed for the small, twin jet engine aircraft market, (which totally disappeared) I was able to modify the design so that it could be used to automatically land commercial jet aircraft into difficult landing approaches by having the FMC direct the autopilot to follow an imaginary three dimensional flight path through the air to the runway. This worked so well that every SAS and Scandinavian Airlines Aircraft was retrofitted with this navigation device. As another footnote, Mr. King was a personal friend of Dick Rutan, another aircraft design pioneer known primarily for his awkward looking aircraft designs. As a personal favor, Mr. King provided all of the avionics for the Voyager II, the first non-military aircraft to fly non-stop around the world in 1987. My engineering prototype Flight Management Computer and electronic data base was the primary navigation device installed in the Voyager II and was the primary reason the flight was even possible to make. Hooray for me. It�s still in the aircraft at the Smithsonian Air Museum should you ever be in Washington, DC.

After leaving King Radio, I went to work for another small avionics company, this time in Overland Park, Kansas, first as the designer of their Flight Inspection Systems and later as project engineer for the company�s Category III Instrument Landing System. Both were related in that the ILS system uses two sets of antenna arrays at opposite ends of a runway to produce the signals that aircraft follow to safely land during any weather condition. A Cat II system will automatically fly any aircraft down to within a foot of the end of a runway. After that, the pilot must take over and actually set the aircraft down on the runway. This gives the pilot something to do other than chase the stewardesses around the cockpit. In order to calibrate the system, a small aircraft is outfitted with a computer that analyzes the ILS signals as the aircraft makes it�s approach to the runway and does a touch-and-go landing. Ground observers track the plane and any signal deviation is reported to the calibration technicians who make fine adjustments to the ILS transmitters. The process to align takes several hours. To make a long story short, it gets very boring to shoot 6 to 8 hours of approaches and touch and go landings. After several installations, the pilot taught me how to fly the aircraft so we took turns either flying the twin engine aircraft or operating the flight inspection system. I accumulated over 500 hours flying a small private aircraft not to mention flying several round-trip flights between Kansas City and St. Louis. If you have ever flown into a major international airport, your plane made a near perfect landing in any weather using my CAT III ILS system.

For fifteen years I owned and operated a small medical device design and contract manufacturing facility. One interesting project was the design and fabricate a muscle stimulation system that was incorporated into the astronauts� suits for the Space Shuttle program. This system exercised the astronaut�s muscles while they were sleeping to help prevent atrophy of their muscles during extended periods of weightlessness.

After retiring I had fun working as an Estee Lauder makeup artist at Dillard�s in Kansas City, a salesperson at Kohl�s Department Store, a US Postal worker running the letter and package sorting machines, a data entry clerk for the 2010 Census and finally the Office Operations Supervisor and IT clerk for the 2020 Census.

Variety is the spice of life and I�ve been fortunate to work for a variety of companies, meet and make friends from every class and race of American citizens. What a truly blessed life.

Update - 2025-05-24. Having 'retired' several years ago, I am currently working as a member of the Cafeteria Staff at St. Pius X Elementary School in Cedar Rapids, IA. I also serve as Sacristan, Lead Eucharist Minister and member of both the Ressurection and Celebration choirs at St. Pius X Catholic Church. My Social Life has NEVER been busier. Enjoting life more than ever!

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