Dr. Kusko was a very special man. 

I first met him in 1991 at a Chicago Uptime Data Center conference. I later on joined the Board of Directors at 7x24Exchange and I was very fortunate to invite and have Dr. Kusko speak at three of our conferences over the years. 

A lot of the attendees at the conferences learned a lot about power distribution systems thanks to him.

I also have one of his books dedicated to me and signed by him. I treasure it.

Thank You for Teaching us - John Oyhagaray

My life has been enriched and blessed having known Alex.  We first met circa 1979 when I worked a summer job in Alex's office while I was a professor at  Northeastern University. 

I remember having worked diligently on a draft report on one of Alex's cases. I also remember  my initial dismay when it was returned to me  with numerous edits and red lines.  However, upon review, it was clear that each of Alex's edits made the report more concise, more readable, and just plain better.  Alex, over the years you have improved and honed my writing skills.

Alex was a mentor to me and many other engineers and colleagues. In addition to writing skills,  he taught us business skills, how to interact with clients, technical skills, 
business ethics, patience and perseverance. 

Having lost my Dad in 1967, over the years Alex became my second Dad.

In 1990, after 15 years at Northeastern University, Alex convinced me to join Failure Analysis Associates (now Exponent). At first, he introduced me to his clients and fed me work.  But it wasn't too long before I was able to succeed on my own. When Alex moved his office to Kendall Square, I stayed on at Framingham and Natick working with the electrical and other engineers. I spent 14 productive years at Exponent, continuing under Alex's guidance and wisdom.

On January 10, 2013 Marc Thompson and I had lunch with Alex at his Foxwoods residence in Westwood MA,  my last face-to-face interaction with him. Shortly thereafter, I received a copy of Alex's memoirs, and read through it in one sitting.  The book will remain at my bedside table as a cherished memory of Alex and the times I shared with him.

Alex may you rest in peace, and may your light continue to shine on the lives you have touched.

Duncan

Dear Alex and Friends of Alex,
We first met in 1995 when I visited Exponent in Menlo Park and then again a fair number of times after I joined Exponent in 2000.  Both Christ'l, my wife, and I remember having dinner with you in Boston at a delightful place.  Also, I remember discussions about technical matters that were always enlightning.  Thanks to you, Exponent now has a thriving electrical consulting practice, which means that there are a lot of young engineers in the company who got an opportunity to follow in your footsteps.  That is a great legacy.  You will be missed.

Alex: I started working at your company (Alexander Kusko Inc., – AKI) in 1982. When AKI was acquired by Failure Analysis (now Exponent) in 1988, we all moved to Failure Analysis - Natick office.  Over the years, you and I jointly worked on over 600 electrical projects, including transformers, motors, motor drives, lamp dimmers, and generated technical papers, presentations and patents.  In October 2012, we again jointly authored an IEEE technical paper on Battery Management for Hybrid Electric Vehicles using Supercapacitors.
 
It was refreshing to read your latest book summarizing the vast number of projects you worked on, and reminiscing with you (on the phone) on the numerous projects we worked on  together – brushless dc motors, converters, transformer fires, electrocutions, arcing faults and recalling the memories in each case.   And this was just a few weeks ago.

May the God of Heaven hold your family in the palm of His Hand.  

May you rest peacefully until the call of the LifeGiver.  Amen.

I am glad I had the chance to know and work with Alex.  Our ties and converstaions regarding the Berkshires will not be forgotten. 
You and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Alex:

It was a pleasure working with you in the past.  I'm sure you'll be working on electrical engineering wherever you may be.  Rest peacefully.
                                                                                          Don Allison

OBITUARY

Alexander Kusko

April 4, 1921 – February 12, 2013

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