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It’s in their blood: one family’s passion for aviation

September 29, 2015

“You must have been influenced by the smell of jet fuel in the house growing up.”


Phil_Rock_USArmy_Air_CorpThe Rock family has a passion for the aviation industry. With three generations of mechanical engineers and two generations of pilots in the family, the Rocks’ prove that passion is a hereditary trait.

Philip Rock, the patriarch of the family, was a B-17 co-pilot during World War II. He completed eight missions in Germany, in the last of which he was shot down and captured, surviving in a German POW camp through the end of World War II. Phil became a mechanical engineer after returning home in 1945; he earned a business degree from Harvard University and eventually became the Engineering Leader for a 2,000+ employee organization in Massachusetts.

Phil passed on his passion and work ethic to his son, Peter Rock Sr., and his grandson, Peter Rock Jr.

Listen in as Pete Sr., a UMass Lowell and MIT graduate and Engineering Leader at GE Aviation in Lynn, Massachusetts, and his son, Pete Jr., a Boston University graduate, Aviation Advanced Course student at MIT and member of GE’s Edison Engineering  Development Program, talk about their passion for the aviation industry, family history, and diverse experiences at GE.

 

 

 

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GE Aerospace is a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, as well as integrated systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft.