References

10/16/2015
Daniel S. Esq.
Partner, Nixon Peabody LLP
Manchester, New Hampshire

Professional Recommendation for Robert Howe

Robert (Bob) Howe has asked me to provide a professional reference for him based on our work together on several cases where he was a client of my firm, Nixon Peabody.  We worked together on 3 different litigation actions, which gave me an opportunity to get to know and work with him over a period of nearly a decade, and from a unique business perspective.

The three cases provided me with an opportunity to work closely with a client who was able to very effectively transition from the issues of a business CEO  to the totally different mindset necessary for the successful prosecution of what three totally different and unrelated legal matters.  As an attorney with well over a thousand cases, let me just say that how a client organizes his thoughts and facts, and how a client performs on the witness stand are both very important to the prosecution strategy of a case.

In one case, Bob was one of a group of unsecured creditors in a Chapter 11 proceeding.  He alone took the initiative to locate a qualified buyer, and he also secured an environmental action that made a huge positive financial difference in the outcome, for both his particular interests and for the other members of the unsecured creditors’ committee.  My success in the case was greatly enhanced by his actions.

In another case,  a commercial landlord/tenant dispute, his initiative again provided me with several pieces of information which were critical to achieving a satisfactory settlement, said information unknown to either of us prior to the action.

Finally, in an insurance policy denial of coverage case (outside of my area of practice), Bob’s tenacity, investigative skills, and determination brought to light an obscure statutory provision that resulted in an immediate settlement in his favor.

The harsh spotlight of the witness stand is often the undoing of many a client, no matter how determined or well prepared.  Here, too, Bob carried himself with professionalism, thoughtfulness, and such a deliberate, unflappable style that on one occasion I couldn’t help but compliment him afterward on what a pleasure it was to have a well-spoken client.

Note that the favorable outcome of the three cases I reference here was not a foregone conclusion by any means; if anything, I thought originally that we had fairly weak hands at the outset in each one.   Bob’s attitude in each case was  “I’m going to dig into this until I’m satisfied that I’ve looked at every technical angle.”  In each case, he was able to focus, not on some hoped-for possibility, but with help understanding the law, he then found valid new avenues of approach for which the opposing side was unprepared.  And in each case, those ideas were pivotal in my ability to conduct successful litigation on his behalf.

I am thus pleased for the opportunity to provide this recommendation for Bob; he is a careful, conscientious, deliberate, and determined businessman, unflappable under pressure, and one whom I would definitely prefer to have as a client than as an opponent in any proceeding.

Sincerely,

Daniel S. Esq.
Manchester, NH

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March 9, 2015
John S
Engineering Manager, Andover, MA
RE: References for Robert Howe, Mesa, AZ

I am writing to recommend Bob Howe. I make this recommendation based on over a decade of professional interactions with Bob, which involved 7 major high-technology programs.  In fact, I have specifically sought out Bob for his ability to bring solid, producible, and often, innovative solutions to programs for which I have been responsible.

My initial contact with him was on a Honeywell ElectroOptical Division (now BAE) program that was suffering severe schedule slippage and cost overruns due to one supplier’s quality and yield problems.  The supplier had developed the design, but even so, was experiencing difficulties as we moved from prototype to production of the DoD system.  Bob reviewed the design, and our application, and fairly quickly pointed out several glaring deficiencies, both from the standpoint of vendor fabrication and for our end use.  His recommendations were a radical departure from the existing design, which was subject to configuration control from our DoD customer.  Never the less, we funded a pilot run in parallel with the current supplier.  At our first source inspection, rather than rejecting 30% of the parts submitted as had been the norm, we accepted 100% of his parts.  We introduced these new parts to our production on a trial lot basis, and after 1 week, our entire fab line insisted they only wanted to work with the new parts he had developed.  We subjected the pilot run parts to extensive testing and failure analysis, and results were not only conclusively in favor of his redesign, they were so favorable that our customer actually expedited the configuration control approvals in order to get their program back on track.  Needless to say, I became a hero, and Bob became a favored supplier.

Over the ensuing years, whenever we had a program that touched on his domain, whether it was in trouble or not, he became our “go-to” guy.  I had 3 more high-profile programs whose success was due, at least in part, to his technical contributions.

I always found Bob to be a consummate professional, technically adept and quick to grasp fundamental design and performance issues underlying a variety of fields.  But he also related well to our production operators and was often able to gain new, relevant insights that had a direct bearing on the success of our systems.  He had occasion to make presentations on high-profile programs, to both our corporate management and to the top brass from our customer, and did so skillfully, balancing the sometimes sensitive contract issues in a clear-cut, no BS way that invariably built confidence and trust, while minimizing scapegoating.

I cannot think of a role in which he would not be an asset to any corporation, nor of any business acquaintance to whom I would give a higher recommendation.
Sincerely,
John S, BSME, MBA

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Personal Reference: Robert Howe
October 6, 2015
Dale G., President, DG Inc
Mesa, AZ

Bob has asked me to provide a personal reference for him and based on several years acquaintance, where for extended periods, our contact has been frequent, that is 3 or 4 times a week, I am happy to do so.

Most of my experience with him has been in several competitive recreational sports that we both share.  I have found in my professional career of 30+ years, that competitive sports are often very telling about a person’s personality, drive, motivation, integrity, and of course, ability to interact with peers and subordinates.  In this context, I have found him consistently to be equally gracious in victory or defeat, fair, objective, upbeat, and never blaming nor accusatory of his partners, nor inclined to sulk or become angry or verbally abusive no matter the provocation.

Here’s one example: Bob is a player in a seasonal, doubles tennis league which disbands during the off-season.  So during the off-season, he has pulled together a group of nearly 40 other off-season players, most of whom now daily (yes, 7 days a week) travel a half hour or so just to participate in the group he has assembled.  Part of the reason for the success of this group over the past 4 years is directly attributable to the level of competition, but even more so to the harmonious yet competitive relationship between the players.  There are many other, more convenient places for many of the players, yet the nature of this group, which Bob has nurtured, has grown so that we are now limited by the courts available, not the number of available players.  Further, Bob and I share yet another competitive (individual) sport, where once again I see his ability to bring just the right productive attitude to the behavior of otherwise contentious participants.

I have also had some business dealings with Bob, and they have been consistent with what I have described here, but not as extensive or frequent.  In short, I believe Bob to be a man of integrity and honesty; he is respected and well-regarded by all, knows how to get things done and maintain discipline, but does not over-promise, find fault, or inappropriately criticize.

Relevant? I think so, because all business is about people, and for top management candidates like Bob, excellent people skills are at least as important as any other skill or talent.
Dale G.

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September 30, 2015

From Frank A., BSc, MIT; MSc, NYU

RE: Professional Referral for Robert (Bob) Howe, Mesa, AZ

I have been an independent consultant in the highly specialized field of corrosion for many years.  I was referred to Bob’s company as one that could produce a new special-purpose sensor that I had conceived and partner with me for a potential research contract.  Although Bob had no prior experience in corrosion, he quickly understood what I was trying to accomplish and made a few good contributions of his own. I was pleasantly surprised and considered our meeting a success.  The collaboration worked very well and we successfully won two DOD SBIR Phase 1 grants, one from the Air Force and one from the Navy.  The Air Force one was extended to an SBIR phase 2 grant to further develop this concept.  In addition, we applied for and were awarded a patent for this device.

While working on this, I became aware of a test procedure that had been developed by INCRA which while being technically accurate was difficult and cumbersome to use.  I discussed my interest in how this test could be simplified using components made by his company and also the problems which needed to be solved.  Bob almost immediately suggested creative solutions to these problems and we successfully applied for a research grant to develop our ideas.  The product we developed worked as intended and was cited in a book on corrosion of copper alloys.

It would be an understatement to say that Bob has a fertile imagination that is coupled with being very quick on technical uptake.  I am happy to provide this recommendation and to answer any questions regarding the sensors, or the nature of our professional collaborations.

Sincerely,

Frank A.
Technical Director
Rhode Island 02802

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2-5-14

David W.

Regional Sales Manager,

JDSU/OCLI

Bob brings to the table a unique combination of perceptive strategic insight, vast business knowledge and strong technical expertise. This allows him to understand a potential issue, define the process to address it and implement a solution. He gets the job done. He is an extremely valuable asset to any organization and a pleasure to work with.

David W.

Yarmouth, MA

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6/2/15

Steve M, Senior Member, Technical Staff
Raytheon MSD

Tucson, AZ

RE: Professional References for Robert Howe

Bob has asked me to provide references for the nearly decade we worked together.  Bob initially hired me as a young associate engineer during the early stages of the startup of his company, at a point where we were about to move some of the designs he had initiated into early production.  These were generally advanced development aerospace components, often for leading-edge electro-optical systems that were, themselves, moving into larger scale deployment.  In most cases, these were also production releases for systems under considerable pressure to perform because the prior suppliers that we replaced had suffered reliability, delivery, or quality problems.  Under his mentoring I learned more about questioning from every direction the designs (mostly subject to configuration control) that we were given, and insisting upon being sure that not only were they suitable for the end use, but also that manufacturing and assembly processes were consistent with a six sigma or zero defects level of process control within our operations.  While Bob had years of experience and training beyond my own, his determination to provide me with the opportunity to learn from him and to grow professionally enabled me to become Engineering Manager of the company, and since then, to now operate at a high staff levels of a Fortune 100 corporation, trouble-shooting programs across multiple facilities across a major division.  The respect and encouragement he offered me were far from unique, however.  He always seemed on a mission to bring out the best in the employees, whether an hourly line operator or part of the senior staff, yet another skill I learned by following his example.  I am pleased to recommend Bob in any endeavor he may undertake.

Sincerely,

Steve M

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