He began his career with Combustion Engineering, Inc. (CE) as a design engineer, and served in various engineering, project and sales management positions, later becoming New York District Manager. While District Manager, Mr. McCormack was responsible for the marketing of light water nuclear reactor system and fossil steam generators, and oversaw the construction and start-up phases of major power plant projects, including the 1,000 MW Ravenswood 30 Unit of Consolidate Edison Company.
After his stint as District Manager he was named Vice President – Nuclear and Fossil Power System Sales for CE where he directed contract negotiations in excess of 8 billion dollars. In 1973 he was named Vice President of the Company's Fossil Power Division, which designed, manufactured and installed power generation equipment burning coal, oil, natural gas, and waste fuels. In addition he oversaw the Research & Development and commercialization of the company's environmental-control product line. He was responsible for profit and loss of an organization consisting of approximately 8,000 people engaged in work whose revenues totaled more than a billion dollars annually. He instituted the first comprehensive Project Management System (PMS) for control of costs, schedule, environmental compliance, safety and quality in the company's history and was one of four senior officers responsible for directing the company's ongoing business and future planning efforts.
In 1974 he became President of General Atomic Power Systems Company (GA) in San Diego where he led the High Temperature Gas Reactor, Gas Cooled Fast Breeder Reactor, Fusion Reactor Design/Testing and Renewable Energy Systems programs including Hydrogen Systems, Energy Conservation, and Solar Energy Systems. He had P&L responsibility for the group which included nuclear fuel systems and Government programs.
When the owners of GA, (The Royal Dutch Shell Corporation and The Gulf Oil Corporation), withdrew from the nuclear generation business, Mr. McCormack founded RAMCO, Inc. as a power industry engineering and management-consulting firm located in San Diego, California. Its initial contracts were with the U. S. Energy Research and Development Agency and The Department of Energy to evaluate the feasibility of fully commercializing the Nuclear High Temperature Gas Reactor.
Since its inception RAMCO has retained its identity as a small, skilled consulting organization made up of contract engineering and management professionals in the utility and industrial power generation field. In the United States the company has been engaged in performing work for utilities, independent power producers, Architect-Engineer-Constructors, municipal power organizations, state agencies, various Government Department and Agencies, research organizations, legal firms and nuclear operating companies.
In 1980 Mr. McCormack founded, and is currently president of the public company Thermal Energy Storage, Inc. (TESI) which is engaged in the business of storing energy using its patented clathrate technology. The company also was developing freeze desalination systems under a contract with the Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation. After completion of the BUREC contract the Department of Environmental Protection banned the manufacturing of the substance being used by the Company. Currently the company is seeking a suitable replacement for the banned substance and has agreed with the SEC revocation order not to sell its stock until it is again in full compliance with SEC regulations.
Consulting with U. S. Generating Company and Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation's National Energy Group, RAMCO successfully developed and financed two Peaking Power Plants totaling 84 MW in Chula Vista and Escondido, California which were in successful commercial operation until the company was purchased by Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation in 2002. A follow-on organization, RAMCO Consulting Company, was incorporated in the State of Delaware and in 2006 RAMCO Consulting Company built and later sold to San Diego Gas & Electric Company, a 46 MW peaking unit in the Miramar section of San Diego.
Mr. McCormack received his Mechanical Engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology and completed all MBA credits at the Baruch School of Business, City College of New York. Mr. McCormack received a Commendation for Inspiring Leadership from Commander George Gowen, the United States Navy's Commanding Officer of the USS John S. McCain, DL 3, in which he served for three years in the Engineering Department as Main Propulsion Assistant to the Engineering Officer. Mr. McCormack also was the recipient of an Outstanding Leadership Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
Mr. McCormack and his wife, Grace, raised five children and live in San Diego, California.