Kevin T. Fisher
President
Kyle T. Fisher
Senior Engineer
Kevin Fisher joined the consulting firm of Smith and Powstenko on November 9, 1981, as an associate engineer. In 1995, he became a partner and the firm’s name officially changed to Smith and Fisher. In 2009, the company incorporated and Kevin became its president.
In the past 28 years, Kevin has helped countless numbers of broadcast clients, both large and small, achieve their goals and has filed for and received authorizations for hundreds of radio and television licenses. Using forensic engineering techniques, he has solved interference issues, increased station coverage and discovered new spectrum for his clients.
Each challenge is met with enthusiasm, integrity and an ability to find solutions from unique perspectives. In 1996, the firm added power density measurements to its array of options for clients and Kevin has conducted dozens of such studies in order to help stations and building owners comply with FCC and OSHA RFR human exposure standards.
Kevin is a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers and an associate member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He actively participated in various Advisory Committees for the FCC and his qualifications as an expert in his field are a matter of record before the Federal Communications Commission.
Kyle Fisher joined the consulting firm of Smith and Fisher in March of 2008, as an associate engineer. He graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in December of 2005. His previous work experience includes holding a mechanical engineering position with the Army Test and Evaluation command in Alexandria, Virginia. Additionally, he worked as a mechanical design engineer for Commonwealth Technology, INC. also in Alexandria, VA.
He has produced numerous applications for a variety of Smith and Fisher’s clients around the United States. He has performed a number of power density measurements at various transmitter sites and rooftops. Kyle has managed projects for such clients as Empire State Building, T-Mobile, and One Media.
Kyle is a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers and an associate member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and sits on the International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety.
Neil Smith
(1934-2015)
Jeanne Fisher Smith
(1936-2014)
Neil graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1957. Early in his career, he worked at Edgewood Recording Studio in Washington, D.C with Charles Osgood and Ed Green. Later, he was an given a job with the National Association of Broadcasters as an engineer. Shortly thereafter, in 1963, he became an engineering consultant at the renowned broadcast firm of Kear and Kennedy.
In 1966, as a special project, Neil was tasked with overseeing the installation of a new multi-station FM antenna, the Alford Antenna, outside of the 102nd Floor of the Empire State Building.
In 1970, Neil Smith left Kear and Kennedy to start his own practice with his wife, Jeanne Fisher Smith. The firm’s first client was a Savannah, GA, TV station looking for a new transmitter site.
Another early client was the National Association of Broadcasters, followed closely by RKO General and its group of major radio and television stations. Shortly thereafter, following the retirement of Frank Kear and the death of Bob Kennedy, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), a long-time client of the Kear and Kennedy firm, retained us, both for its network affiliates and for its owned and operated radio and television stations.
Neil chaired the Federal Communications Commission’s AM Radio Propagation Committee, preparing for the International Radio Accords (1979-81), where ground conductivity values were formally established for US areas outside the continental United States. Jeanne served on the FCC’s FM Committee, preparing the Region II (North America) position at the World Administrative Radio Conference in 1989.
Neil designed and executed the engineering studies that led to the FCC’s permitting wireless stage and broadcast microphones to operate on locally available television channels. He also engineered and ran the field studies leading to the FCC’s adoption of the rules permitting television stations to operate with circularly polarized signals, the way FM stations had been doing for years. He developed the technique for measuring TV signal patterns by helicopter, and conducted many such studies with Jeanne and Kevin, Neil’s stepson.
Neil had a tremendous singing voice and was a member of the world-renowned Purdue Glee Club. In 1956, when the Glee Club sang on the Ed Sullivan Show, Neil was featured as a soloist, singing Dixie in the second of a three song segment.
Here is a video of that show (Neil sings at the 3:01 mark of the video) :