Christopher Allen Nisbet Rankine III
By: Alumni Publications | Categories: In Memoriam
Rankine was born in Boston and grew up in New Orleans. He loved computers, music and band, and excelled in all of his school subjects. He graduated from Georgia Tech with two degrees and earned a master of business administration from Georgia State University.
While at Georgia Tech, he was involved in almost every aspect of the Yellow Jacket Marching Band. He was at every function, welcoming new members and encouraging people to get involved in the organization he loved. Rankine was also a member of Student Government Association.
Rankine was employed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute as a research engineer and scientist. He was a tinkerer, an innovator and an inventor who was passionate about his research. He was cyber-savvy, network-savvy and mechanically savvy. This technical combination was continually recognized by his sponsors, including Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) and most recently the U.S. Navy. He thrived at field tests with sponsors. These field tests included demonstrations of macro cellular systems and subscriber boxes that he configured at the network and application layers, fieldable jamming systems and fieldable-networked software defined radio systems, all of which he designed and built. He was quick on his feet and got things done in the field like on one else could.
Rankine loved Atlanta and Georgia Tech. He designed and built a soap box car in the shape of a “T” for Tech, which he drove in the Homecoming Parade and the Red Bull Soap Box Derby Race in Atlanta. He continued his love of music as a member of Atlanta’s Seed and Feed Marching Abominable band.
