Friends,
I was thinking about how I voice opinions and you might wonder why you should listen to me. I think that I should share some of my background with you. You should have some foundation to assess my statements. That is what I hope to accomplish with this communication. I will be sharing examples from my life regarding (1) my skills in drilling past obstructions to discover truth. (2) I will share examples of my speaking truth to power. And I will be giving examples of (3) my competence and my ability to assess competence in other people.
Truth to Power
Here are a few examples from when I was a student in college. To self-test my competence when I took a class in Digital Control Theory, I derived the formulas in a table of Z-Transforms. I discovered an error in our textbook. One of the transforms in the textbook was wrong. I went to the library and found another textbook that supported my version of the Z-Transform. For truth to power, I went to my professor and pointed out the error. He agreed with me and instructed my classmates to correct their textbook.
When I was a college student I designed and built an analog computer that I used to prove to my professor that the requirements he gave us for a design project were impossible to achieve. This truth to power was fine because he agreed with me. I asked him why he gave us impossible requirements. He said that the real lesson was that we might get impossible assignments at work. Notice that I went to extraordinary lengths to discover the truth, designing and building an analog computer.
At work, when I was working on compact supercomputers I challenged every rule of thumb that was used without justification. I drilled past a lot of "old wives tales." In my research I discovered an equation that was missing in a famous book: "A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism" by James Clerk Maxwell, published in 1873. The author published one equation and I knew that those types of equations came in pairs. So, as a mathematician and engineer, I derived the missing equation. Then I wondered why Maxwell printed just one of the two equations. I decided that he printed the easy one and skipped the hard one, leaving it as an exercise to the reader. Next I realized why he printed the equation at all: because it made some measurements possible that some contemporary scientists thought were impossible to measure. I published these equations and explained how they could be used for measurements, see reference 1.
In this case telling the truth blew up on me. Instead of getting a pat on the back for good work, I was punished because I embarrassed an important man. This man had said that the measurements were impossible to make, but my equation made those measurements possible. My paper contradicted a well known professor. Yes, you can get hurt by telling the truth.
Here's another example. I decided that I needed an accurate and simple equation to do some of my work. There were expensive computer programs that my project could not afford, so I developed an equation that I could use for analysis and design, and I published the equation. When I saw that another researcher had published an equation that did what my equation did, but his equation was inferior from a couple of perspectives, I wrote a letter to the editor in order to bring this oversight to the reader's attention. The other paper was also flawed by not mentioning my prior work. Researchers should know the current state of the art. This drew the attention of a couple of professors in Italy. They studied both of our closed form equations by using a precise computer program and they agreed with my assessment. In this case telling "truth to power" worked out. Experts in Italy supported me, see reference 2.
Here are a few examples from when I was a student in college. To self-test my competence when I took a class in Digital Control Theory, I derived the formulas in a table of Z-Transforms. I discovered an error in our textbook. One of the transforms in the textbook was wrong. I went to the library and found another textbook that supported my version of the Z-Transform. For truth to power, I went to my professor and pointed out the error. He agreed with me and instructed my classmates to correct their textbook.
When I was a college student I designed and built an analog computer that I used to prove to my professor that the requirements he gave us for a design project were impossible to achieve. This truth to power was fine because he agreed with me. I asked him why he gave us impossible requirements. He said that the real lesson was that we might get impossible assignments at work. Notice that I went to extraordinary lengths to discover the truth, designing and building an analog computer.
At work, when I was working on compact supercomputers I challenged every rule of thumb that was used without justification. I drilled past a lot of "old wives tales." In my research I discovered an equation that was missing in a famous book: "A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism" by James Clerk Maxwell, published in 1873. The author published one equation and I knew that those types of equations came in pairs. So, as a mathematician and engineer, I derived the missing equation. Then I wondered why Maxwell printed just one of the two equations. I decided that he printed the easy one and skipped the hard one, leaving it as an exercise to the reader. Next I realized why he printed the equation at all: because it made some measurements possible that some contemporary scientists thought were impossible to measure. I published these equations and explained how they could be used for measurements, see reference 1.
In this case telling the truth blew up on me. Instead of getting a pat on the back for good work, I was punished because I embarrassed an important man. This man had said that the measurements were impossible to make, but my equation made those measurements possible. My paper contradicted a well known professor. Yes, you can get hurt by telling the truth.
Here's another example. I decided that I needed an accurate and simple equation to do some of my work. There were expensive computer programs that my project could not afford, so I developed an equation that I could use for analysis and design, and I published the equation. When I saw that another researcher had published an equation that did what my equation did, but his equation was inferior from a couple of perspectives, I wrote a letter to the editor in order to bring this oversight to the reader's attention. The other paper was also flawed by not mentioning my prior work. Researchers should know the current state of the art. This drew the attention of a couple of professors in Italy. They studied both of our closed form equations by using a precise computer program and they agreed with my assessment. In this case telling "truth to power" worked out. Experts in Italy supported me, see reference 2.
I have given you four examples of my digging down, past faulty logic and past oversights, and revealing underlying truths, telling truth to power. I learned that "telling truth to power" can have blowback.
Competence
As examples of my competence, besides my work in research and development (R&D), I was involved in the design of some very complex systems. One system that I worked on was the weapons systems in the Apache helicopter. The Apache AH-64 is still in operation after 40 years (Ref. 3). The targeting and navigation systems are more complex than most people can imagine.
Another weapon system I worked on that is still operational is the Javelin Anti-tank missile. It is still operational after 30 years and has been very successful in the Ukraine, destroying Russian tanks (Ref. 4). Again, the design is more complicated than most people can imagine.
A third military system I worked on that is very complicated is the RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft. Some of my systems in that aircraft are life-and-death systems, some are mission critical. I was able to work until I chose to retire because I was competent. You might have seen this aircraft in the news recently. President Trump deployed this aircraft at our southern border to spy on the drug cartels (Ref.5).
Incompetence
At one place of employment I refused to accept two men onto my projects whom I thought would jeopardize the success of my projects. Both of these men were eventually let go because they could not perform to our standards. At another place of employment, as part of an interview team, I spoke against hiring a Ph.D. from Cal Tech. I told our management that I had worked with enough Ph.D.s to recognize that the applicant's achievements did not measure up to the typical achievements of Ph.D.s in engineering. My managers were so excited to hire someone from the California Institute of Technology, a premier school, that they ignored my advice, hired the man, and ended up dismissing this man for poor performance some months later.
Summary
Because I have had many decades of experience in drilling past obstructions to discover the truth, I have some confidence in my "baloney detector." I realize that the truth is not always welcome and that there can be repercussions from revealing an unpleasant truth. Because of my decades in engineering, designing and delivering challenging and important products, I can tell whether an organization is on track for success or failure. I can also spot incompetent or sub-par performance.
If I reveal unpleasant truths to you, or I make judgments regarding competence, you have some sense of my experience in these matters. I hope this can be a help to you in assessing some of my statements.
Thank you for your time.
Robert Canright
References
Ref. 1: Capacitance: Relationships and Measurements, Robert E. Canright, Jr., Proceedings of the 40th Electronic Components and Technology Conference, Vol. 1, 1990, pp. 163 – 168.
Ref 2: Comments on “An Analytic Algorithm for Unbalanced Stripline Impedance”, E. Costamagna and A. Fanni, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Technique, Vol. 41, No. 1, January 1993, pp. 173 – 174
Ref. 3: The AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter Still Reigns Supreme By Brent M. Eastwood, February 1, 2025
https://www.19fortyfive.com/
Ref. 4: FGM-148 Javelin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Ref. 5: US Steps Up Intelligence Flights for Border Mission with RC-135 and P-8 Spy Planes
Feb. 4, 2025 | By Chris Gordon, Air & Space Forces Magazine
https://www.airandspaceforces.
Credentials
B.S. in Mechanical Engineering
B.S. in Mathematics
M.S. in Electrical Engineering
Licensed Professional Engineer in Electrical Engineering
Other Perspectives
My email describes me from the perspective of an engineer. I read my first book in political science when I was in Middle School. I started self-studying history and philosophy while in High School. I still read a lot of books. I ran for Plano ISD Board of Trustees in 2006. I have been involved in local politics for the last 20 years. I have many of experiences that I draw upon when making judgments, just like you do.
