"I look at it and I'm in wonder, I'm in awe, " says engineer Michael Horodniceanu, president of capital construction for the state Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

NPR: New York Expanding Nation's Biggest Transit Hub

When Malaco bought Muscle Shoals Sound, it hired Jackson to write songs, said Wolf Stephenson, Malaco's vice president and chief engineer.

NPR: Rock And Soul Songwriter George Jackson Dies At 68

After a few years of teaching engineering, he joined Duke Power in 1976 as a design engineer, rising steadily to president by 1994.

FORBES: Trading places