Zapotec culture, 20
About the Author
James A. O’Kon, PE, a graduate of Georgia Tech with graduate degrees from NYU, is a professional engineer with decades of experience designing award-winning engineering projects. In parallel, he has spent 40 years investigating Maya engineering feats and lost Maya technology. His interest in archaeological history began while playing in Civil War battlefields near his boyhood home in Atlanta, Georgia.
O’Kon’s professional career has been devoted to bringing high-tech science to engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in more than 20 states, and has developed new techniques for engineering design and new methodologies for investigating distressed structures. This experience gave him the ability to “reverse engineer” complex distressed buildings and identify the cause of the distress, and to discover, dissect, analyze, and reconstruct lost Maya technology. He has led his multidisciplinary firm of engineers and architects for 30 years, carrying out state-of-the-art engineering designs and resolving problems of distressed structures. His leadership of an award-winning engineering firm with extraordinary talents enabled him to think outside the box and solve issues for complex projects.
O’Kon has pursued a lifelong passion for Maya archaeology and has combined his unique professional engineering experience with the search for lost Maya technology. He has applied his diverse engineering talents to explore and investigate nearly inaccessible Maya sites located deep in the dense rainforest. Traveling by dugout canoe, hacking his way through the tangled jungle, and sleeping in the open while fighting off millions of insects, his search went on. With the collected field data he was able to utilize digital tools, along with his creative engineering skills, to verify feats of Maya engineering and virtually reconstruct the mystery of lost Maya technology. He is also a gifted artist who has the ability to sketch examples of Maya technology in the field and begin unraveling the mysteries of Maya technology while investigating the site.
O’Kon’s interest in Maya archaeology began more than 40 years ago when he took a year-long hiatus from his work as a professional engineer, packed up his Volkswagen camper, and headed south of the border to the Yucatán Peninsula. He explored numerous Maya sites, some of them recently discovered. Even then he felt a kinship with the ancient Maya engineers who had built these magnificent cities in the midst of tropical jungles. His initial encounter with Maya technology has been followed by four decades of deep jungle exploration of more than 50 Maya sites, gathering data combined with research, the use of forensic engineering skills, remote sensing, and other digital tools to develop virtual reconstructions of marvels of Maya engineering. This work has broken the code of lost Maya technology. He has collected scientific evidence that unveiled the innovative technology developed by the Maya engineers and utilized to build their great cities, tall buildings, roads, and bridges.
James O’Kon’s discoveries in Maya technology have been recognized by National Geographic Magazine and a production on the History Channel. He has delivered scientific papers dealing with his discoveries in Maya technologies at international scientific and archaeological symposia. His discoveries in Maya technology led to his induction into the Explorers Club.
He has carried out the design of numerous award winning projects that have become landmarks. Following are representative examples of his projects:
The Roosevelt Island Tramway: New York City, Sole example of tramway for mass transit in world.
The Carter Presidential Library and Museum: Atlanta, Presidential human rights policy center.
Walt Disney World: Various projects including Empress Lilly Steamboat and Walt Disney Village.
United States Pavilion at World Expo: Tennessee, Special structure for pavilion at World Expo.
Hangars for B-52 Aircraft: Barksdale AFB, Design of longest span hangar in U.S. Air Force inventory.
After 30 years of leading an award-winning, multidisciplinary engineering firm, O’Kon sold the ownership of his successful consulting firm in 2000. His current occupation is as a special consultant to large corporations for investigation of construction issues, problem solving, and investigation of distressed structures and development of remediation solutions.
He has written a book relating to forensic engineering, articles in magazines, and numerous papers for international symposia for engineering and archaeology. These papers were published in the proceedings of the symposia or in books relating to engineering history. The following is a summary of the works:
Guidelines for Failure Investigation: A Narrative of Methods and Techniques for the Investigation of Failures (American Society for Consulting Engineers Press, 1989).
Milestones in Engineering History: Maya, America’s First Water Resource Engineers (American Society for Consulting Engineers Press).
“The Riddle of the Rocks” in National Geographic Magazine (October 1995).
“A Bridge Too Far” in Civil Engineering Magazine (April 1995).
“A Turn Around for Hangar Design” in Civil Engineering Magazine (May 1997).
When he is not in the rainforest, O’Kon lives in Atlanta with his wife, Carol Ann.
The Lost Secrets of Maya Technology Page 32
