An obituary for my electronics professor

[ciccio]

I don't know if this is allowed in the Forum, but I've read obituaries for great personalities like Jim Williams and Bob Pease, so I'll take the liberty to announce the premature death of Professor Dr. Eng. Pietro Silingardi, aged 77,  who was hit by a car on the pedestrian crosswalk on January 26 in Modena, Italy.
Only from the news I understood that he was only 11 years older than me..
He was my Electronics teacher from 1967 to 1969 at the "Fermo Corni" technical high school.

A fellow student wrote me:
In the dark atmosphere of those years (it was 1968, if somebody remembers), he was a ray of light. He taught electronics (well) and also taught us how to face, with a bit of irony, the difficulties of life.  I felt he was "great" and I find now that we were only 12 years apart ... that the earth will be light on you, Prof. You deserve it.

These words (from my friend Renato Azzoni) can be mine or by the hundreds of students who learned how to design a circuit, and how to be coherent with themselves  and honest with the world.

Attached you'll find a photo of Dr. Silingardi, and a copy of one page of one of my notebooks, dated 1967, saved from an attempt to clean up by my wife.

Best regards
Maurizio Laffi

[calexanian]

I am very sorry to hear that. At least he was living in Modena. From what I understand it is one of the worlds best melting pots of art and industrial design. Look at all of the fabulous things from suits of armor to the cars produced there over the last thousand years. 

[HAL-42b]

Sorry to hear that Ciccio. It reminds me of my old professor, who was a real role model for me since the day I met him. In his will he wanted to be buried in the village he did Archaeological excavations for 20 years. I pay him a visit once in a while when I am nearby.

[VK3DRB]

There are many famous people in electronics and science who have passed away and we all hear about them, but the unsung heroes are those teachers who inspired us so much with their enthusiasm and knowledge. Their passion was pervasive. They paved the way for many careers and a life long interest in science and electronics. Such teachers' contribution to us as individuals and to society in general cannot be underestimated.

[ciccio]

I want to thank every member who took the time to write a note.
I discovered, from e-mails I received,  that other pupils of the Professor read the forum.
Thank you again

[tooki]

There are many famous people in electronics and science who have passed away and we all hear about them, but the unsung heroes are those teachers who inspired us so much with their enthusiasm and knowledge. Their passion was pervasive. They paved the way for many careers and a life long interest in science and electronics. Such teachers' contribution to us as individuals and to society in general cannot be underestimated.

So true, but honestly in any field of study. I find that often the best teachers go unnoticed, because they're more concerned with teaching than with workplace politics. Hats off to them!!!

Ciccio, thanks for writing. Hopefully his family will see this and other notes about him, surely it would mean a lot to them to know he had such a positive impact on so many people!!

These words (from my friend Renato Azzoni) can be mine or by the hundreds of students who learned how to design a circuit, and how to be coherent with themselves  and honest with the world.

Attached you'll find a photo of Dr. Silingardi, and a copy of one page of one of my notebooks, dated 1967, saved from an attempt to clean up by my wife.

And that's the thing you've remembered — not just the electronics, but wisdom and life skills.

(Also, as an aside, you have lovely handwriting.)

[cdev]

People's awareness of the issue and action (writing letters to editors, telling others of the problem) is urgently needed to preserve public education, not just in Italy and Europe, everywhere, including the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

See http://www.eua.be/activities-services/news/newsitem/15-02-05/EUA_Council_statement_on_TTIP_and_TISA.aspx

[Muxr]

Great teachers and the knowledge they impart on us stay with us for the rest of our lives. Thanks for sharing with us. Rest in peace Dr. Silingardi.

[zapta]

So true, but honestly in any field of study. I find that often the best teachers go unnoticed, because they're more concerned with teaching than with workplace politics. Hats off to them!!!

I had an electronic teacher like that in high school. He was an electronic engineer that worked in the industry. They had a tragedy in the family so he took time off to support his parents and took a teacher job for a few years.

In the first class he said that he came to teach and not to deal with discipline issues so everybody is guaranteed a B and whoever doesn't want to be in class can leave any time. Of course nobody left.

He taught us all the standard stuff (transistors, digital logic, op amps circuits, etc) but since his expertise and passion was in switching power supplies we also go a large chunk of that.

Last year I tried to contact him and found his email address at a consulting company that carried his name.  I sent a short email and returned a response from his son that told me that his father passed away a few years ago so I sent him an email describing how special his father was and a few anecdote from that time  (e.g one day he came smiling to class with a power transistor and told us that this is an expensive high voltage transistor and he just blew it up that morning).

[saturation]

Sorry to hear, condolences.  Your notebook is beautifully written and clear.

[ciccio]

(Also, as an aside, you have lovely handwriting.)

Your notebook is beautifully written and clear.

Thanks for the appreciation. That was one of the clearest pages (the notebook is more than 300 pages, starting from RC filters and passing through  tubes to  transistors to linear ICs). In these years handwriting was the only way to save memories...
I have somewhere, but cannot find now, a short user's manual (in Italian) for the fabulous Tektronix tube scopes we had in the school lab, typewritten by some student's girlfriend and hand illustrated by Prof. Silingardi and some of my fellow students.
Best regards