1. Biography for Kent Misegades
Vice President, Reitz Fan & Blower Inc., Pinehurst, NC
(names pronounced Misegades = MYZ-GAYDZ, Reitz = RIGHTS)
Born in Los Angeles in 1957, Kent Misegades grew up in
Kentucky and Alabama, where he earned his Bachelor’s
Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Auburn University,
graduating first in his class in 1979. One of Alabama's two
Rhodes Scholarship candidates in 1979, Kent received an Air
Force scholarship to study at the prestigious Von Karman
Institute for Fluid Dynamics in Brussels Belgium, where he
earned his Master's degree in applied aerodynamics in 1980.
During and since his studies he has held a number of positions in the US and Germany at
Bechtel Power, Bendix, Dornier GmbH, Cray Research, Fluid Dynamics International and
Computational Engineering International in Apex, NC, where he retired as its CEO in 2007
to help establishment the Thales Academies, North Carolina's largest independent K-12
school system. More recently he has helped create German-styled career training
programs such as the NC Triangle Apprenticeship Program, NCTAP, and he serves on the
NCWorks Commission to improve the industrial workforce in our state. In June 2016 he
accepted an offer from the German equipment maker Reitz to establish a North American
office. Reitz Fan & Blower Inc. was incorporated in July, 2016 in Pinehurst. Production will
begin there in early 2017.
During his engineering career he has worked in a wide variety of fields including aircraft,
rocket and propulsion system design, energy production, defense systems, chemical,
material and food processing, automotive and consumer product design. Among the
highlights of his career have been participation on several America's Cup sailboat designs,
work with Formula One and NASCAR teams, and creation of an exhibit on
supercomputing in aerospace for the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington
D.C. He has served on a research committee for the National Academies, is a former
member of the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Global Transpark (Kinston, NC)
and is a regular contributor to aviation publications on the subjects of light aircraft design
and aviation fuels. A private pilot since his teenage years, Kent served from 2008-2012 as
president of EAA chapter 1114 based at Cox Field in Apex, one of the nation's largest
chapters of the Experimental Aircraft Association.
Kent and his wife Ulli, a professional portrait artist originally from Germany, have three
grown children and one grandchild. They live in Cary, NC.
Kent Misegades
Vice President
Reitz Fan & Blower Inc.
100 Magnolia Rd., Suite 2213, Pinehurst, NC 28374 USA
Mobile: +1 919 946 7096
Email: kmp@reitz-northamerica.com
Web: www.reitz-ventilatoren.de