Edward Mitchell

Fort Myers - Ewart Edward "Ed" Leslie Mitchell, age 90, of Fort Myers, Florida passed away peacefully on Dec 30, 2023.

Ed -- husband, father, loyal and dedicated friend, avid reader, bridge Ruby Life Master, boat captain, entrepreneur, high tech pioneer, and really, really tall guy -- was born the younger of two children to Herbert and Margaret (Stones) Mitchell in Birkenhead, England on December 8, 1933. Ed did his undergrad in physics at Trinity College, Cambridge University and a research PhD in electrical engineering at Liverpool University. He completed his thesis in 1960.

Ed is survived by his wife of 65 years Barbara and their three children, Alison (a physician), Julia (a marketing consultant), and Andrew (an engineer).

Ed and Barbara emigrated to the U.S. in 1961 as part of the infamous 'brain drain.' Once settled, Ed worked at various companies including RTX Corporation, formerly Raytheon Technologies. While working in Raytheon's Missile Systems Division, Ed, together with Joe Gauthier, developed a scientific computer language for simulating objects in motion. This, most notably, was used as the guidance system for Raytheon's Patriot Missile.

Ed and Joe left Raytheon to form their own company, MGA Software in 1975 on Baker Avenue in Concord, to further develop, market, and support the language, which was renamed the Advanced Computer Simulation Language (ACSL). ACSL was used by many companies and at academic institutions for R&D, manufacturing, and optimizing systems design. Applications included aircraft and missile control systems, earth-moving equipment, mechanical multi-body systems, medical imaging, satellites, and chemical processes and their control systems. Customers spanned branches of the US and other countries' armed forces, plus companies such as GE, Honeywell, United Technologies, BMW, the CDC, and Motorola as well as technical colleges and universities such as Princeton, Georgetown, and Ed's alma mater Cambridge. Ed was presented with the Distinguished Professional Achievement Award from the Society for Computer Simulation in 1992.

In 1998, Ed retired and spent his extra time keeping up with friends, on his beloved boat, tinkering with his software program RaceSail, a Windows-based program for scoring sailboat races and regattas, and traveling the world. A big kid at heart, he was always game for lacing up his size 13 shoes to try new things well into his 80s, from the atypical: segways, jet skiing, long distance cycling, hot air ballooning, African safaris, and Caribbean cruises with the family to the more commonplace fishing, pickleball, hiking, and tennis.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Girls Who Code https://girlswhocode.com that focus on developing the next generation of engineers. Ed always felt very strongly about the importance of education. He loved life, his family and friends always maintaining his optimism, humor, and grace. He will be missed by all who knew and loved him.