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6 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | AUGUST 2020 RESIDENT SPOTLIGHT By Andi Henderson Whether working as program manager on a $100 million dollar project for the government or arranging vegetables for the area homeless, Martin Bauer (Marty) is changing the world for the better. "I feel that I am contributing to society in a big way, at least to a part of it, and it has made my life more meaningful," he said. Marty, a California boy, was born and raised in a middle-class neighborhood in Burbank. He said he always loved airplanes, so it was understandable that he attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and studied aeronautical engineering. "I was always good at math and science and was delighted to receive a slide rule as a present one year," he said. Cal Poly was a different type of college. It enabled Marty to work in his chosen field while still in school so that he would understand what it took to build the things he would later develop. He worked at Universal Studios one summer in a machine shop and even got a position at 3M doing chemical analysis. This led first to a BS in aeronautical engineering, and then to a Masters from UCLA. "Companies like Lockheed loved Cal Poly because its students got a practical, not just a theoretical, education," Marty said. Cal Poly was also important since a fraternity brother introduced him to his future wife, Jean. They married and had four children who they raised in Orange County. After he completed his formal education, he worked at Douglas Aircraft on the development of the air-launched Skybolt and Nike Zeus missile systems. Then, "We traveled to Kwajalein Island in the Pacific where we tested the Zeus. An ICBM would be fired from Vandenberg and we would attempt to shoot it down," Marty said. His skills led to working on other projects that required travel and he was sent to China twice. He also spent time in 20 different countries and continued traveling to at least 40 states. After Douglas, Marty worked at Aero-Jet General and TRW where he proudly helped develop three different rocket propulsion engines for the Apollo moon missions. He met and worked with several astronauts, among them, Pete Conrad (Apollo 12) and Ken Mattingly (Apollo 16). Mattingly will be remembered as the astronaut who was pulled from the ill-fated Apollo 13 flight due to illness. In addition to rocket engine development, Marty worked on the creation of coal combustion engines that used coal dust which was the most highly efficient energy system in the world. "My work at TRW often involved high risk areas," he said. Part of testing involves failures in an attempt to find just the correct product. He worked and tested so many designs that he earned the nickname "Boom Boom Bauer." He was heavily involved in the development of other rocket engines associated with Booster Technology, Missile Technology (i.e. Cruise Missiles), Attitude Control Engines, and the propulsion for one of the From Rocket Science to Carol's Kitchen "We traveled to Kwajalein Island in the Pacific where we tested the Zeus. An ICBM would be fired from Vandenberg, and we would attempt to shoot it down."

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