An accomplished physicist and business executive, Mark Thek has served as president of Esterline Power Systems for more than two decades. As president of the Los Angeles-based firm, Mark Thek leads a specialized manufacturing organization that provides a range of products for aerospace and defense companies around the globe. In a recently released statement, Esterline Power Systems announced the launch of a new manufacturing site in Kortrijk, Belgium. Focused on advanced display and visual systems technologies, the cutting-edge engineering and manufacturing operation opened after Esterline invested more than 15 million Euros toward upgrading and consolidating existing facilities in the country. During a grand opening event, Esterline leaders and officials from Belgian trade organizations and government agencies toured the facility, which will help the company better serve the needs of global corporations such as Boeing, Honeywell, and Lockheed Martin. The event also featured the unveiling of a plaque honoring American pilot Murray Kenneth Spidle, who went missing in Belgium’s West Flemish region during WWI. The facility will be named the Spidle site in recognition of the lieutenant’s sacrifice. For more information about the new facility or Esterline’s work in the area, visit esterline.com. Since 1995, Mark Thek has served as president of Esterline Power Systems in Los Angeles. Outside of his work in the aerospace engineering industry, Mark Thek enjoys surfing, snowboarding, and spending time with his family. He also maintains an interest in the work of his late uncle, Paul Thek, a renowned artist. An innovative painter, sculptor, an installation artist, Paul Thek first attained critical success in the mid-1960s when he created his Technological Reliquaries series, which featured realistic wax sculptures of flesh and limbs displayed in Formica and Plexiglas containers. Later in his career, Thek left New York City for Europe and shifted the focus of his work from small sculptures to ephemeral environments made of throwaway materials such as newspaper, flowers, and candles. In the mid-1970s, Thek returned to New York to find that, despite success in Europe’s art community, few people at home remembered his work. Although Thek continued to create innovative pieces until his death in 1988, he never was able to reenter the art world and was forced to support himself by working menial jobs. Since his untimely death at the age of 54, Thek's reputation and popularity have grown considerably. His work can be seen in collections at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC. Thek has also been featured in several books and cited as an influence on a number of subsequent artists. After receiving a master’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles with a focus in physics, Mark Thek went on to become a physicist and engineering director for the Hughes Aircraft Company and then president of Esterline Power Systems. Mark Thek also published a book titled Quantification of Human Emotion. Modern psychologists have taken a vested interest in monitoring human emotions and brain activity to help explain certain afflictions like schizophrenia. Using magnetic imaging technology, scientists found that people with schizophrenia had lower activity in the brain’s prefrontal cortex. Torque magazine published an article that highlights emerging technologies used to quantify emotions, such as internet tools using speech analysis and video that studies facial reactions. There also is a web-based device that gauges emotion based on positive and negative sentiments of text. However, analysis still tends to be subjective as it is what is unspoken or when someone is sarcastic that can sometimes be tough to read. Graduating with a master’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, Mark Thek concentrated his studies on physics and mathematics. While attending UCLA, Mark Thek developed molecular branding techniques using Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy is related to laser beams and a rigid scattering of monochromatic light. “Inelastic scattering” as defined within Raman spectroscopy happens when the photons’ frequency in monochromatic light changes when it interacts with something. These molecular vibrations are used for sample quantitation and identification. When a laser is pointed at an object and bounces off, that light is shifted in what can be referred to as a Raman scatter. Vibrations of the molecules caused by this reflects the way that people perceive the wavelengths of light. Used primarily in chemistry, molecules are identified via rotational, vibrational, and other low-frequency styles. Raman technology has been used for more than 80 years and can help improve the quality of food consumed and products used by better understanding how light interacts with matter. Having achieved a BS in physics and mathematics from Cornell University and an MA in physics from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Mark Thek is an accomplished physicist currently working on a book titled the Quantification of Human Emotion. Mark Thek is the president of Esterline Power Systems, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. In 2012, Leach International, which is a part of Esterline, won Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation’s Supplier of the Year Award. The annual award goes to companies that score 100 percent on a quality ratings card. The Gulfstream award acknowledges excellence in both the quality and value of the products as well as the customer support experience. Esterline was founded in 1967, and specializes in products for aerospace and defense markets all over the world. Gulfstream Aerospace, which began in 1958, focuses on aviation through research programs exploring technology and innovation as well as community stewardship programs that encourage environmental sustainability, educational outreach, and recognizing excellence with awards like Supplier of the Year. Mark Thek is president of Esterline Power Systems in Los Angeles, California. Mark Thek is also the nephew of the well-known artist Paul Thek. Paul Thek, who lived from 1933 to 1988, was a sculptor and painter. He was educated at the Art Students League of New York, Pratt Institute, and Cooper Union School of the Arts. His sculpture works, known as “meat pieces,” were constructed to resemble human flesh. These sculptures, part of a series called Technological Reliquaries, were made from wax. Paul Thek constructed them between 1964 and 1967. He also worked in charcoal and graphite, and he created monochrome oil paintings and abstract watercolors. During his lifetime, he earned prestige on the American arts scene. He participated in Andy Warhol’s Screen Test in 1964. His works are still a part of present-day Screen Test art displays. Additionally, from 2010 to 2011, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York presented a collection of his work titled Paul Thek: Diver, a Retrospective. Mark Thek is a physicist who is currently the President of Leach International, an Esterline Corporation company. Mark Thek, who is at work on a book called The Quantification of Human emotion, is the nephew of accomplished American artist Paul Thek. Born in 1933, Paul Thek hails from Brooklyn, New York, where he received his earliest art education from the Art Students League and the Pratt Institute. Thek studied at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and would eventually return to teach classes there as well. Paul Thek started out as a painter but later gained wider recognition as a sculptor and installation artist. He first came to the public eye in 1964 for his series "Technological Reliquaries," wax sculptures that resembled human flesh. By the end of the 60s, Paul Thek traveled to Europe and concentrated on pioneering the creation of environments that infused art, theater, religion, and literature. He was noted for using perishable materials, which added to the ephemeral nature of his work. Today, Paul Thek's work is included in several collections, including New York’s famous Whitney Museum of American Art. Previously a physicist and engineering director with Hughes Aircraft Company, Mark Thek led the development of microwave products for fighter aircraft radar, among other applications. Joining Esterline Power Systems more than 15 years ago, Mark Thek currently oversees the Leach International division and has guided its worldwide expansion to increase sales and manufacturing facilities and to support a variety of aerospace programs.
Acquired by Esterline Power Systems in 1995, Leach International has continued the design and manufacturing work it began in 1919. Serving the rail and aerospace industries, Leach offers a line of products that includes relay panels, man-machine interfaces, and power distribution units. Leach International also remains active at industry trade shows such as the Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium, where it presents its innovative new technology and its broad product line. An industry leader, Leach was named a 2011 Supplier of the Year by Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation for its excellence in supply chain service through its manufacturing facilities in Tijuana, Mexico, and Buena Park, California. |
AuthorPresident of Esterline Power Systems - Mark Thek Archives
February 2021
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