| "When
I first started in the industry, I thought I would have
a problem with heights. However, I did get used to heights
and now when I do the design, and have approved the manufacturer
who will build the system, I have complete confidence
in their safety," Lee said.
This
equipment is not to be confused with sponges and squeegees,
but equipment that is designed into the architecture
of the building and is installed during the building's
construction; the equipment might have a boom length
of 90 feet and weigh 60,000 pounds. The design is technically
very sophisticated and includes a programmable, geared
turret-like system with telescopic booms that control
supporting cables, of the appropriate tensile strength
and length, to address the contours of the building.
A
Windsor native, Lee graduated from Broome and worked
for Link Aviation in Hillcrest. He then moved to California
and began at an aerospace firm in Southern California,
with a second job designing electrical circuits for
a window washing equipment manufacturer. Lee eventually
became a partner in the window washing company, and
while looking for a new name that would project the
company's products in a strong, convincing way, he recalled
the name of the Broome Tech yearbook: Citadel Systems,
Inc. was born.
Lee
and his partners manufactured the equipment for several
years under that name until the company was sold. He
continued for five years as general manager of the new
company, leaving to become president of a new division
of Lerch, Bates and Assoc. (LBA). LBA is primarily known
as elevator consulting engineers with offices around
the world. Lee's new division, headquartered in Temecula,
CA, would of course be named Citadel Consulting, Inc.,
and it is now the largest and oldest window washing
equipment consulting firm in the world.
Lee
has designed the window washing equipment on hundreds
of projects including buildings in Beijing, Seoul, Singapore,
Paris, London and Istanbul. He travels to these exotic
destinations to do the final testing on his designs.
He admits that "the amount of travel takes me away
from my family and friends for a long period of time,"
but he enjoys meeting professional people from different
cultures around the world.
Lee has been the chairman of the ANSI "Safety Requirements
for Powered Platform Maintenance, an American Society
of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standard, for a period
of more than 10 years and was recently named to the
ASME National Board of Safety, Codes and Standards (this
is a significant honor initiated by his peers).
Lee
also found time to donate something back to the community,
volunteering as a Los Angeles County Reserve Sheriff
Deputy. Lee recently retired from these duties, after
17 years, during which he attained the rank of Captain.
Lee also found time to work on a recent segment of "Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition" a hit ABC TV show on Sunday
nights. When home, he keeps up his small horse ranch
in Southern California.
But
he is still on the road testing his new designs. The
two tallest structures in the world have his signature
window washing equipment: the completed Petronis Towers
in Kuala Lumpar and the Taipei Financial Center in Taiwan,
which is in construction. Even in the United States,
the window washing equipment for many buildings are
his design, including the Disney Concert Center in Los
Angeles and the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.
Ironically,
with all of his projects many stories above ground,
he is not comfortable with all heights. "I do need
to confess that I'm scared to death of roller coasters,"
Lee said.
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