Richard Powell; Pioneering O.C. Engineer, 82

Richard Powell, a Newport Beach electrical engineer who helped pioneer infrared guidance systems for locating objects and people at night, has died of natural causes. He was 82.

Described by family members as brilliant, energetic and intense, Powell began his career at Lockheed Martin in 1940 after earning a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. His 40-year career was marked by numerous publications, patents and awards.

At Lockheed, Powell worked on airplane design, aiding in the streamlining of U.S. airplane production during World War II by helping invent a process to weld aluminum parts together.

He went on to earn a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Caltech. And in 1950 he began working for Aerojet General in Azusa. There, he helped develop the first infrared guidance systems and designed nuclear power systems for satellites and space probes.

From 1967 to 1984, Powell worked for McDonnell Douglas in Huntington Beach, where he headed the sensor technology group.

Powell’s love of science and engineering was fostered during years spent in his father’s radio fix-it shop in Idaho, where he attended high school, said his daughter Elizabeth Powell-Walker.

His passion for science carried over to his private life. In his spare time and during much of his retirement Powell often could be found in the garage, fixing or inventing things.

During the 1960s he invented a machine that used fluorescent bulbs to translate music into colors. He never marketed his inventions but merely enjoyed the process of inventing, said his son Arthur Powell, an aeronautical engineer for Boeing in Huntington Beach.

Powell’s health deteriorated after the death in August of his wife, Mildred, whom he had met in high school. He died Oct. 24 in the Newport Beach home where he had lived for 30 years.

Powell is survived by a brother, James Powell of Park City, Utah; children Elizabeth Powell-Walker of Boulder City, Nev., Richard Powell of Midway City, Arthur Powell of Westminster, Thomas Powell of Windsor, Calif., and Kathlyn Strunz of Woodland Hills; and eight grandchildren.

Visitation will be Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. at Pacific View Memorial Park in Newport Beach, where a funeral service will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday.