James “Jim” Robert Fei, Co-founder, Chairman and former Chief Executive Officer of Life Cycle Engineering (LCE), has passed away.
Fei guided LCE since he co-founded the company in 1976, one of two young civil servants who decided to venture out on their own and start an engineering consulting firm. He “dreamed of working for a company that cared about its employees and treated everyone with respect, courtesy and appreciation.” Based on the principle, “do the right thing the right way,” LCE has become a thriving engineering and employee-centric company with ethics at its core. Today, with more than 600 employees working out of 10 offices throughout the United States, LCE provides engineering solutions for private industry, public entities, government organizations and the military, in North America and around the world. LCE is the largest engineering firm headquartered in South Carolina and has ranked in the top 10 Best Places to Work in South Carolina for 10 consecutive years.
Prior to co-founding his firm, Fei started his career working at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C. He received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Southern California in 1969 and a Master of Science in Ocean Engineering from the University of Hawaii in 1973. He was a registered professional engineer in seven states.
Fei led a number of high-profile projects including LCE’s initial performance monitoring project on the U.S. Navy’s OHIO Class ballistic missile nuclear submarine. This pioneering effort utilized predictive maintenance to extend the time between overhauls for the OHIO class submarine and subsequent naval ships. He was a member of several engineering organizations including American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), and American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE). In 2015 he was awarded the Service to the Profession Award by the South Carolina chapter of ACEC.
Fei’s son, Bob Fei, assumed the role of President of the firm in 2009 and Chief Executive Officer in 2013 and he continues to lead the company’s day-to-day business activities. He acknowledges how much Jim Fei will be missed by not only his personal family but also by the Life Cycle Engineering family who loved and respected him so much.
Fei is survived by his wife of 48 years, Patty, their daughter, Christina Fei, their son Bob Fei, his wife Merrill and their granddaughters, Camille and Bridgit. Jim also leaves behind his siblings Sherry, Patty, Janet and Mark. He was 69 years old.
