OBITUARY Robert “Bob” Saffell August 24, 1948 – September 6, 2018 Robert “Bob” Saffell died just two weeks after his 70th birthday on Thursday September 6, 2018 at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, Florida. Growing up on his grandparents’ farm in Central Texas, Bob developed a life-long love of fishing, hunting and outdoorsmanship, which he carried with him over the years and around the world. The last 34 years of his life were spent in Central Florida, where he was able to enjoy boating, shooting, riding his Harley Davidson, and coastal life year-round.
After graduating from Spring Branch High School in Houston, Texas in 1966, Bob began studying Petroleum Engineering at Colorado School of Mines on a scholarship, but enlisted in the US Navy in June 1968. He went on to serve aboard the USS Coral Sea and USS Oriskany aircraft carriers as what would today be called an Aviation Electronics Technician (AT) with Fighter Squadrons One-Eleven and One-Fifty-One during multiple combat deployments. He was Honorably discharged in January 1977 as an AQ1 1st Class Petty Officer.
After his service during the Vietnam War, Bob resumed higher education leading to an illustrious career in aerospace and avionics at San Diego State University in San Diego, California. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1978 and was recognized for scholarly excellence as a member of Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi engineering honor societies. He later completed an Executive Master of Business Administration degree in 1990 at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida.
Bob worked for 33 years for Rockwell Collins, first in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and then in Melbourne, Florida, and has been described by his employer as “the father of the transponder, and a legend in that”. He designed and was heavily involved with ongoing engineering management of the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) Enhanced Surveillance System, which was patented under his name in 2006 and has become the industry standard requirement for all aircraft operating in commercial airspace across the world. Honors he received during his career include the Volare Award for Significant Individual Outstanding Achievement in Airline Avionics Manufacturing and myriad awards from the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for technical leadership and development of operating standards for MODE S Transponders and Universal Access Transceivers (UAT).
These standards determine the rules and requirements for airborne and ground systems used to track aircraft, globally, and his intellectual property includes multiple publications, disclosures and trade secret algorithms which keep aircraft from colliding in the skies. Bob retired from Rockwell Collins in 2014, but after “flunking retirement” he returned to work as a contractor and continued serving on the RTCA Combined Surveillance Committee, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Aviation Surveillance Panel Technical Subgroup, and multiple EUROCAE and ARINC committees which implement standards and systems architecture for aviation transponders, until his death. Bob is survived by his children Steffanie Kolbus, Stacy (Jeff) Smith, and Jason (Ashley) Saffell; his grandchildren Blake, Nadia, Adrianna, Naomi, Sophia, Charlotte, and Carolyn; many cousins and relatives in the Kollmann family of Columbus, Texas and the Mikulencak family of Moulton, Texas; and his very dear friends Ed Needham and Marcia Chapman.
He was preceded in death by his parents Edith (Mikulencak) and Albert “AG” Kollman, and Hilmur Saffell; his grandparents Annie (Trojacek) and Frank Mikulencak; and his beloved pug, Simone. A brief military honors ceremony will begin at 3:00pm sharp on Monday September 17th, 2018 at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery in Mims, Florida. All who knew Bob are encouraged to attend both this ceremonial honor which was important to him, and a family-hosted social memorial to follow.
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