I have been very fortunate for the past forty years to travel over much of the world and work on many interesting and challenging projects. But more importantly, I have had the good fortune to meet some wonderful people and their families. Our "Friends" page gives us an opportunity to share some of our trips and experiences with those of you who are visiting our web site. We will post new adventures from time to time, so check in often and you might see your photo here.

Thanks for your friendship and hospitality.

Harry P. Dunn

President

Since 1996, ProCom has been involved in a very interesting communications project for the Nuclear Power Plant near Smolensk, Russia. The plant is actually in the town of Desnogorsk which is about five hours by road from Moscow in good weather, and about ten hours in bad winter weather.

Each of the Russian nuclear power plants has one or more fire brigades that stand ready to perform some pretty dangerous work in the event of a serious accident. If you don’t think these are brave men, read a really interesting book called Ablaze: The Story of the Heroes and Victims of Chernobyl by Piers Paul Read (available from Amazon.Com). It is an account of the development of nuclear power in Russia, and the incredibly heroic actions of the fire brigade and workers at the Chernobyl power plant.

ProCom won the project in competition against all the big telecom guys, based on our innovative designs and our efforts to provide what the fire brigade really needed. Trips were made to the power plant in 1997 for the initial survey and detail design of a communications system for the Smolensk Power Plant Fire Brigade, and after several delays at the US and Russian governmental levels, we traveled to Smolensk in February 2000 to install and test the equipment.

There was snow on the ground while we were in Desnogorsk, but it was not too cold (it was right around freezing). Sometimes the temperature gets as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius this time of year.

It was a very interesting trip, and we would like to share some photos of our friends that worked so hard to make the project successful.

This is Mikhail Kalandinski, the telecommunications engineer for the Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant (Mikhail is in the middle, the power plant is in the background on the left, and that’s Joseph Matias of ProCom on the right). Mikhail is a very talented and dedicated engineer, and did a fantastic job of getting the communications system up and running in a matter of hours.

Here you can see some of the apartment buildings of Desnogorsk town, and the Desno river in the distance. Desnogorsk, a town of about 30,000 inhabitants, was built specifically to support the Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant.

This is Yuri Domokhovski, the Communications Expert for the Fire Brigade, at the radio operator’s console in the fire station. Yuri is an unbelievably skilled radio and computer technician. He can make anything work, no matter what language the manual is written in. Yuri is one of the best technicians we have ever worked with in any country.

Here is a photo of Galina Muratova with Joseph. She always provides wonderful support for us while we are working at the power plant. She translates, coordinates the meetings, makes travel arrangements, and helps us stay on schedule. Galina is a real sweetheart, and we always hate to leave her delightful smile and caring attention.

 This is a picture of Mikhail’s 16 year old daughter Katarina, taken at the Smolensk Assumption Cathedral. She goes to high school in Desnogorsk where she studies math and physics. Katarina speaks English very well, and she would like an opportunity to study in the USA as an exchange student. She is tall, incredibly attractive with a smile to die for, and a perfect candidate for a fashion model.

This is Vladimir Zaharenkov on the left with Mike Archdeacon of Bechtel. Vladimir is the Deputy Chief Engineer at Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant. He is a very professional engineer and manager, and has a great sense of humor. They are pictured here during the signing of a protocol for acceptance of the communications system. Bechtel is providing management services for projects at several of the Russian nuclear power plants.

This is Sergei Zelenski, who provided first class Russian-English translation services for us. His company, ProLan Services, is based in Moscow (this photo is taken near the Kremlin), but he will travel anywhere you may need his services. Sergei can translate for meetings and conversations, and he can also translate text including brochures, technical documents, and manuals. He is professional and articulate, and we highly recommend him for any Russian translation needs you may have. You can contact him via his e-mail address: prolan@cityline.ru.

This was an amazing discovery we made while traveling in Russia. Contrary to previous misleading information from the Russian government, one of their past national leaders is still alive and well. He asked us not to use his real name because he has changed his name to Nickolai so he can live a quiet life as a driver in Moscow. Oh, and he did apologize for that shoe incident at the UN.

And here are a few more photos from our recent trip. It was overcast and wet most of the time, so some of the pictures are not great. From left to right . . . .

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