Becky's father passed away today.

After living almost 5 years with pancreatic cancer, Becky's father Bob Brower died today around 6 pm.

We are heading to NJ tomorrow. We had already purchased the tickets earlier today hoping we would get there before the Lord took him home, but that didn't happen. Becky will be staying in NJ for 3 weeks. I will be there for 1 week, then back in FL for 1 week, and then traveling to Haiti for 1 week.

We appreciate your prayers!

Rob (and Becky)

R6s Certification!

Yesterday I certified as a Raytheon Six Sigma Expert! This certification is the culmination of my work for the last year. In order to be certified, I had to give a presentation on the project I've been spending my time on, what I have learned, who I have influenced, how I have shown leadership, how I partnered across organizational boundaries, my own understanding and usage of 6 Sigma principles and tools, and what I plan to do with it in the future. It was only 10 slides, but took close to 45 minutes to present, while answering a host of questions. There were 7 people on my "certification board", who saw my presentation and then determined I was worthy of certification. Although there is a monetary award, the real reward is successfully completing the requirements and being recognized as a Certified Raytheon Six Sigma Expert. I will now spend the next year + working additional 6sigma projects across the company. While it doesn't necessarily mean a promotion, certification certainly identifies people as "high potential" leaders.

I know that there were a lot of prayers lifted on my behalf yesterday, including my own, and I recognize that my success had nothing to do with my own efforts, and everything to do with what God has done for me... whether it be the opportunities He provided, the people He put in my path to help me, the skills and talents He gave me, and the strength and peace He provided to me yesterday. Praise God for His goodness to us! I thank each of you for your prayers and encouragement throughout this process.

For those of you who do not know, Raytheon Six Sigma is "the philosophy of Raytheon management, embedded within the fabric of our business organizations as the vehicle for increasing productivity, growing the business, and building a new culture. Raytheon Six Sigma is the continuous process improvement effort designed to reduce costs." If you'd like to learn more about it, you can check out the following link:
http://www.raytheon.com/about/r6s/index.html

For a well-done marketing video, go here: http://www.raytheon.com/about/
It briefly mentions Raytheon Six Sigma and how it works in our business. More than that, though, despite sounding very much like marketing exaggeration, it does highlight some of the reasons I've really enjoyed working for such a great company!

He is IN PA

He is IN. Lock, stock and many barrels! His parents are exhausted, so is his fiance, cousins, sister, brother-in-law and niece and nephew. Wow! Now we know why they charge so much for moving vans. The only thing that seems more daunting is the unpacking of the many tubs. "That is his job. Here are few pics, if you want the snapfish album, write: let314@comcast.net.

It's Official: I'm moving!

It's Official: I'm moving! In the past few weeks I have made a lot of decisions and made quite a few changes. First of all, I have officially accepted a job offer with SKF Inc. They make many thing for all different kinds of machines. Bearings (like the one on the left) have long been their main business, but they also make motors, pump, seals, etc. I will be an applications engineer, which is a mix of mechanical engineering, project management, and sales. This is a really exciting move for me, although leaving Raytheon will not be fun. I've had a great year there and learned quite a bit.

The second bit of information is that I now have an apartment lined up. I will move into my new place this Sunday (10/8). My plan is to get the Budget Rent-A-Truck and car-towing dolly Friday night after work. I'll put all of my pre-packed stuff in that night. Saturday, I'll drive down to NJ and add all of the stuff that I still have at home. Needless to say, Mom and Dad are excited to get their basement back. We'll drive the full truck to PA to my new apt. on Sunday and move in! My new apartment is about 1/2 hour West of Phila in King of Prussia (it's about 2 miles from the mall). Here's a link on the map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=649+S+Henderson+Rd,+King+of+Prussia,+PA+19406&ie=UTF8&z=12&ll=40.078334,-75.354881&spn=0.18205,0.472412&om=1&iwloc=A.

Here are two pics of my new apt. complex:

I am renting a 2 bedroom apartment on the fourth floor, but you only have to go up 1 1/2 flights when you enter. I've got a dishwasher and every floor has a washer/dryer room. It's a corner apartment. I will be about 35 minutes from work and 20 minutes from Becca. We are planning to move into this apartment when we get married. It should be big enough and her commute will only be ~20 minutes.

I know this got long, but there's a lot going on.

By the way, here's my new (and old but current) contact info:

(610) 491-8172 home

(609) 457-0522 cell

649 South Henderson Rd

King of Prussia, PA 19406