S.K. Technical Services: Darien's Founding Father Lights the Way to the Future

Sam Kelley has never been someone to sit on the sidelines — even in retirement.

“I have to be doing something new. I’m not interested in what happened in the past, to a great degree,” he explained.

Kelley graduated from the American Television Institute, now called the American Engineering Institute, with a degree in electrical engineering. The year was 1951, and the television was a recent invention.

He began working for American Television, putting the base on cathode ray tubes. He eventually moved into the lab, working on projects with cathode rays for radar and other applications.

Kelley later went to work for Helicrafters, makers of shortwave or “ham” radios. There he worked on a lot of government engineering projects, developing test equipment.

Kelley was then hired by Westinghouse, where he stayed for 20 years. He was a test engineer and supervisor, testing the rolls of steel in mills.

“It was quite a contrast from one type of thing to another,” he observed. 

When Kelley retired from Westinghouse in 1983, he tried several different jobs, but nothing quite suited him. He began doing a little engineering and finally decided to start his own business - S.K. Technical Services, Inc.

Around 1994, Kelley got interested in lighting. He heard about a new company called H & H Industries in Elmwood where he did some contract work. He was eventually certified by the EPA to do lighting surveys and make recommendations on what companies could do to save energy.

Kelley is interested not just in energy savings but also the quality of lighting. He favors full-spectrum lighting for the natural colors and the clear definition of objects in that type of lighting.

“I’m heavy on full-spectrum,” he said. “It’s beautiful light and, to me, it fits all the bills.”

Full-spectrum lighting is available with some incandescent bulbs, but Kelley works mainly with fluorescents. He is particularly intrigued with induction lighting. “That’s what fascinates me,” he said. “That’s what started me out.”

Kelley’s life and Darien’s history are closely intertwined. In fact, he’s the person who gave Darien its name, and he also served as one of the first mayors. And he still volunteers his time to several local organizations. So it was only natural for him to look for ways to use his engineering talents here.

Around 2000, Kelley began working with , changing out light fixtures in two schools. Two-lamp fluorescent fixtures were replaced with one-lamp fixtures, saving a lot of energy and improving the color clarity and definition at the same time. “With this type of light, more features show up,” he explained. Several more phases of that project are planned.

He added, “I like to revamp stores with the full-spectrum lights.” Several local companies have benefited from Kelley’s expertise, including Cars Plus and .

“You have to figure out the best combination to save the most energy,” he said. “I have a bar program that does that.”

If Sam Kelley’s workshop is any indication, he’ll continue spending his own energy working on that for a long time to come.

S.K. Technical Services is located at 7113 High Road in Darien. Kelley can be reached at sjk651@comcast.net or by phone at 630-323-7826.