Remembering KC Ryan

As I lay on my bed in Block 2-Room 11, in the campat khor al zubair, a distant memory came rushing in ..seemingly out of nowhere. But while the analysis of why it came could wait, I thought it best to pen the memory itself.


Kenneth Charles Ryan (KC Ryan)..


Ex quarterback for univ notre dame now salesman extraordinaire for spx contech ( pronounced contetch by kartik) . He used to be the main man for our business with Daimler Chrysler. We would visit the chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills , Michigan- that really elegant north detroit suburb. The office was out of this planet for a car maker. Sleek as hell- futuristic with the then in vogue gangster car strewn randomly across the corridoor. I forget the name ( PT Cruiser? ). I had wanted one but could never get beyond the predictable and pragmatic toyota corolla. My first as well as second car- need to tell the story about the demise of my first car. ( btw, now I drive a beautiful and german Audi Q7 SUV). 


I looked forward to these trips with KC to meet with 2 Chrysler gents- a metallurgist called Rick Turonek and a project/program manager called bernhard Winkler- youngish balding german chap from the then mothership headquarters in Stuttgart. There was a third Chinese Canadian guy called Lin Zhang who would veer in and out of our meetings. of course we were discussing the possibility of supplying the CS links- structural compression links that were part of the suspension assembly. These we would be offering in Aluminium alloy ADC 12 heat treated at T6 - Solutionised and Tempered. Such a link woulde be significantly lighter than the Steel or Ductile Iron equivalent- although a wee bit more expensive

- around usd 3.4 per kg as compared to usd 2 per kg.


But the real reason I looked forward to these trips was that KC was an utter salesman. Friendly, articulate full of droll stories and always willing to buy me lunch for my effort - to charge to his “client entertainment” allowance.  i still remember we would eat at this place inside of some sort of a stadium- and I used to have an Asian Salad with a raspberry ice tea. Delicioso.


Also at the time our Plant Director Brad Long had a particularly high opinion of me. He was generous to communicate this with others including KC ( Kenneth Charles) and as a result KC had come up with a celebratory war cry dedicated to me.

“ Sumantra Sumantra he is our man..

 if he cant do it- NOBODY can!”

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