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ASHRAE Chapter History Leadership Recall Interview Jacksonville, Florida Chapter (034) Date: February 9, 2005 |
This is an official historical recall interview of Gary Wingfield one of the past presidents of the Jacksonville Chapter of ASHRAE.
Gary is a Florida native and was born on August 28, 1941 in Coral Gables, Florida. At 16 years old, Gary's family relocated to Jacksonville where he graduated from Englewood High School in 1959 Upon graduation, he entered the University of Florida with the intent of majoring in Electrical Engineering. But as fate would have it, Gary's summer job after his freshman year, had him doing design work for Atlantic Boulevard Ice & Fuel. After completing his second year at Florida and wondering if electrical engineering was for him, Gary was hired for the summer by Air Conditioning of Jacksonville, Inc. as an installer. The owner of the company, Sandy Sandburg, became a mentor to Gary. Later in his professional growth, Gary mentioned Warren Chase and Jim Grinnan as mentors that impacted his professional growth. With Sandburg's encouragement Gary returned to the University of Florida in mechanical engineering, after taking a year off while working as a HVAC technician.
In August 1965, he graduated with high honors in Mechanical Engineering. He also distinguished himself while at Florida by being selected as "The 1965 Industrial Press Outstanding A/C Student". This was just the beginning of the awards and recognition Gary was to receive for his engineering and leadership skills.
With the desire to be part of the NASA Space Program, he accepted a position with the Boeing Company at the Kennedy Space Center. Gary was assigned to an Environmental Control Systems group. During his time with Boeing, he was part of the team that participated in our first manned spacecraft to the moon, and Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon.
Gary's next career move brought him from industry to private practice as a professional engineer, where he has remained active to the present day. In 1969, he became a Mechanical Design Engineer with Rogers, Lovelock and Fritz in Winter Park, Florida. He and his family returned to Jacksonville in 1970 with Reynolds, Smith and Hills (RS&H) where Jim Grinnan was Chief Mechanical Engineer. He became active with ASHRAE and APEC (Automatic Procedures for Engineering Consultants) on a Society level while at RS&H. Gary's initial introduction to ASHRAE was through Sandy Sandburg in 1961. Gary joined ASHRAE in 1965 while a student at the University of Florida and was elected as a "Member" of the Society in 1972. -1972 was also the year of OPEC, oil shortages, long lines to fill-up your auto, a realization that our country needed an energy conservation policy and a defining moment for ASHRAE. He was one of the leaders in ASHRAE and APEC in advancing the application of the computer as an aid to mechanical design and in energy conservation. He was a member of the panel that wrote energy standards for the performance of a building envelope, Standard 90-75 "Energy Conversation in New Building Design". This standard established ASHRAE as the foremost technical society not only in the USA but also globally.
Gary served as the APEC President in 1980 and received the APEC Outstanding Service Award in 1982. In 1978 & in 1980, Gary was nominated by the Jacksonville Chapter of ASHRAE as a candidate for "Engineer of the Year". In 1980, he was overall winner of "Engineer of the Year" for Jacksonville.
During the 36 years as a design professional, Gary has seen our industry move from the "not very specific-more of an art, to a science". He feels that no other engineering society has done so much for our industry and in his own personal development and growth as ASHRAE. He encourages his young design professionals to serve on a technical committee as the very best way to proficient in the HVAC &R field.
In reflecting on his 32 years as a Jacksonville chapter member, he recalls the fellowship that was present within the chapter, the great fun of planning the socials, and a "do it ourselves mentality" of our volunteer members like Frank Houser, Dan Langford, Lane Jackins, Jim Baker, Bob Myers, Jim Grinnan, and Bill Redmond. Gary finds time to be involved with Society, TC 4.1 "Load Calculation" when he and his wife, Mary, are not visiting his 2 grandchildren in Tampa or he is working on his golf game.
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