Dan Gauger: "Working More Effectively Through (a) Martial Art: Aikido."

Luncheon seminar by Dan Gauger, BOSE. While no lunch is provided, attendees are welcome to bring their lunch to this event.

Dan Gauger

BIOGRAPHY

Dan Gauger is a senior research engineer at Bose Corporation and one of the founders of its work on noise cancellation headphones. He joined the staff of Bose in 1980 and began work on electronics related to noise cancellation in his first weeks here. Over the years he's filled many roles as the technology progressed and business evolved. Today he is a member of Bose's Research and Concept Development staff where he is the technical leader of work in this field that has fascinated him throughout his career. Dan is a graduated of MIT (SB/SM EE, 1981) where his focus was on control system and analog circuit design. He has also contributed to the work of the US standards committee (ANSI/ASA S12/WG11) responsible for testing of hearing protectors.

ABSTRACT

Early in my engineering career I took up the study of a martial art - Aikido - which I believe has had a transformational effect on my work as an engineer and, today, thought leader at Bose Corporation. As with any such practice, time spent on the mat offers physical and relaxation benefits. But, I also believe that internalizing the principles of Aikido, and seeing human interaction through the lens it teaches, can make us and the teams we're a part of more effective, more innovative and happier in both our work and everyday lives. It is not easy to learn; internalizing these principles for most people means learning new reflexes in situations of conflict. I'd like to share a glimpse of what I've learned. I will include some hands-on, and quite safe, demonstrations with the help of volunteers who'd like to try them.