older ones. His ambition and rare
combination of skills (poet, musician,
qualified shearer of sheep and born
geek) made Fritz too valuable to be
chained to the bench, though; and
before long he was doing technical
projects for the engineers, overseeing
the company computer networking,
even writing user manuals.
Gifted with the circadian clock of a
young unencumbered musician, Fritz
began to work the odd hours, laying
out AP circuit boards when the real
CAD operator had gone home,
soldering engineering projects
together in the wee hours with the
music turned up loud.
In his spare time he was mastering
online chess, the electric guitar, the
synthesizer and the fine art of
For the last few years, each new Audio Precision employee has had the experience of wondering who the heck Fritz is. There is a cubicle on the second floor labeledFritz Capell which gives every evidence of inhabitance, with books and papers and equipment scattered about and a vast pile of expended Diet Dr. Pepper cans. There is an e-mail address in his name, the office manager shows him on the payroll. But where’s Fritz?The answer was revealed just a
month ago, written on sheepskin. But
first a little history…
With the exception of a family
sojourn of a few years in New
Zealand, Fritz grew up near
Beaverton in Newberg, Oregon. “A
born geek,” he says of himself, always
tweaking and dismantling and building
things electronic.
Fritz began his second real job
(after flipping burgers at McDonald’s)
in 1989 as a manufacturing technician
right here at Audio Precision, setting
up new System Ones and re-aligning
Fritz Capell
Audio Precision
P.O. Box 2209
Beaverton, Oregon 97075-2209
Tel: (503) 627-0832 Fax: (503) 641-8906
US Toll Free: 1-800-231-7350
Email: techsupport@audioprecision.com
Web Site: www.audioprecision.com
The Cubicle, earlier today.
recording on a hard drive.
Fritz founded bands with
names likeCrawling With
Emily, Handstand Skeleton
and Your Ad Here, helped to
write and perform the music,
illustrated the CD covers.
But this still wasn’t enough
to satisfy his thirst for
knowledge and beauty, so
Fritz threw himself part-time
then full-time into the formal study of
electronics, with the goal of acquiring
a university degree. All the while he
continued to work for Audio Precision.
It only took years.
…which finally brings us back to
that sheepskin, inscribed:
Bachelor of ScienceCongratulations, Fritz, to the
newest engineer at Audio Precision.
He claims we can find him at his
Web site at www.fritzcapell.org. Good
luck.a
When I started I couldn’t
spell ENGINERE; now I
are one!
Audio alfresco.