Oral Histories

Charlie Totten was born in Marengo, Indiana, in 1949. While in the U.S. Army, Totten trained in electronics at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, and worked on Surface to Air Hawk Missiles. Totten went into Bethlehem Steel as an electrical helper and moved up to Electrical Foreman. After 14 different jobs in the company, Totten became Senior Supervisor. Totten is a Distinguished Member and Fellow of AIST, recipient of the Gold Reliability Achievement Award, and was co-chair of 21 Crane Symposiums in a row. Totten may not be an engineer but has worked for 37 years as a problem solver. Totten states the best part of his career has been solving problems and learning something new every day.