Graduated with Mechanical Engineering from RIT in 1967.
Worked at Sittaung Paper Mill.
Moved to USA. Became a successful Entrepreneur and Philanthropist
Co-founded “M & Ko”. Hired several Burmese (including RIT graduates) in the SF Bay Area. Sponsored “Ya-han-khan” (ordination) ceremonies for his employees.
Did not forget his roots. Golden Sponsor of SPZP-2000. Donated $3000 to SPZP-2012. Donated to NorCal RITAA and sponsored table for the Annual Dinner.
Donated to the general and building funds of various monasteries in the Bay Area. One was in memory of his spouse Daw Sein Yone.
Played Table uTennis
Built audio equipment to play Vinyl Records with high fidelity
Became a Vegetarian
Retired after Serial Entrepreneurship. Joined the Bay Area Retirees’ monthly lunch gathering.
Passed away on February 22, 2021.
Mavis Ko donated $2000 to NorCal RITAA in David’s memory.
Article fromBAPS Newsletter
Edison Paw wrote the success story of two RIT alumni : David Ko (M68) & Benny Tan (M70)
Thanks to BAPS, Maurice Chee (Past President), Henry Lim (Former Chief Editor) & Edison Paw for permission to reprint the article
David Ko
Mr. David Ko (U Tin Myint, M67) has a successful mechanical components manufacturing firm in Union City. He co-founded the business back in 1978 with a partner from Croatia. The two partners have since expanded their business. With approximately 100 employees, they currently occupy 72,000 sq. feet of space for their warehousing and manufacturing operations. The company is continuously growing at a rate of 5-25% per year. Ninety percent of their employees started out as trainees in their shop. BAPS [and RIT Alumni International] would like to congratulate Mr. Ko for his hard work, his dedication to his employees and his contribution to the community.
Besides his successful business, David and his late wife, Daw Sein Yone, have three wonderful and promising children, two daughters and one son in all. The eldest daughter is working on her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of California at Santa Barbara and is expected to start her internship this year. Their second child is in his second year at the Stanford University Medical School studying for his MD and Ph.D. program. Their third daughter is studying hair design at the Vidal Sassoon Academy.
Mr. Ko emigrated to the U.S with his family in 1973 and they have been living in Fremont since 1976. He worked at the Raychem Company for five years before opening his own business. His interest in machining and tools started early in his life when he read Popular Mechanics and Mechanics Illustrated. He graduated in mechanical engineering [in 1967] from the Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT) in Burma. He is one of a few Asian Americans who are not only trained machinists but also professionals in their own right. Inspired by their keen interests in mechanical devices and accessories, they learned, for the most part, on their own and developed their skills. However he had to overcome many obstacles that other minorities and immigrants encounter. In the late seventies, there were few Asian American machinists. David was constantly asked by his customers whether he was a machinist, if he knew how to operate a machine, and where he acquired the skills.
David and his partner continue to thrive in this very cyclical business mainly because they take good care of their employees, re-invest their earnings into their business, re-invent themselves, and expand their business cautiously. Competition in the mechanical components business continues to be fierce because of new improvements in technology. In many ways, David compares technological advances in the machine industry to those of the software industry. Every year new models come on the market. These new products work faster and give you a whole lot of functions and features. Just as David manages his family and nurtures them carefully, he manages to nurture his business relationship with his partner and his employees quite successfully.
David, Congratulations to you and your family!!! You are a role model to everyone! It shows that the United States is truly a land of opportunities. Hard work and perseverance can and do lead to success. David and his company are always looking for trainees.
The Class celebrated the Golden Jubilee of the admission in 1967.
Hovercraft Project
Six final year M73 students (including U Hla Win and U Khin Maung Cho) did their project on Hovercraft under the supervision of Saya U Tu Myint.
M73 Project
John Rao organized a mini-gathering during my visit to Singapore to meet Saya U Tu Myint and selected M73 members headed by U Hla Win (formerly known as “Roll No. 1”). Saya had retired as Director from Singapore Polytechnic.
I met U Khin Maung Cho at my nephew’s house warming party in Yangon. He was a junior colleague of my elder brother at HIC.
Saya U Moe Aung arranged for a media interview (partly online and partly face-to-face) with the Hovercraft team members.
UCC Alumni
U San Lin (Robert) & Daw Hla Myint (Marina) in Dallas, Texas
U San Lin (Robert, EC73), U Htun Aung Kyaw (HAK, EC73) and U Khin Maung Aye (M73, GBNF) attended M.Sc. (Computer Science) course at UCC.
Robert worked for Texas Instruments in Singapore and was transferred to Texas. He worked for Tech Companies until retirement. He and his spouse Marina (Daw Hla Myint, EC73) hosted the first leg of our trip to Texas. They have a son (medical doctor) and two grandchildren.
HAK worked for Schlumberger before moving to Australia. I met him and his spouse (medical doctor) during our visit to Sydney in 2006.
U Khin Maung Aye (GBNF) worked for Railways Computing Section.
Ph.D’s
Dr. Myint Thein (M73) received his doctorate from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA. He wrote articles for RIT Alumni Newsletter with the pen name Ba Thein (Atlanta). His spouse is Daw Nyo Nyo Win (T73).
Dr. Myint Thein
Dr. L. Sein Myint (M73) received his doctorate from UK. He co-hosted the first RIT Alumni Reunion in East Coast.
East Coast Reunion
Dhamma Lecturers
U Jotika
Sayadaw U Jotika (EE73) is a distinguished lecturer and author. He spent a vasa at Taung Pulu Kaba Aye monastery in Northern California. He made Dhamma Duta missions to Singapore and USA.
U Ohn Kyaw (EP73) has visited and shared dhamma in the USA. He also had a mini-reunion in Los Angeles with his former classmates.
ChE73
U Kyi Aung (Roland Chen, ChE73) submitted the Class Photo for the first ex-rit website.
ChE73
Ko Roland offered to give us a ride to attend gatherings hosted by Saya U Aung Myaing (ChE72) and Daw Gyn Yu (ChE72). He shared some anecdotes. One was “why he was offered to test ride the M73 hovercraft”. Another one was about his Final Year Computer Programming Class taught by Dr. Maung Maung Win (GBNF). He did all the assignments at UCC. At the final exam, he saw a single question “If you have done the assignments, leave them in the exam hall”. His two friends (who had not diligently done their assignments) were caught by surprise.
HlaMin 