A Constant Immigrant

The road movie of a PCB expert

A memoir by Paul Waldner

In this remarkable autobiography, Paul Waldner takes us on a journey through the stages of his eventful life. As a “constant immigrant,” the future owner of a company serving the electronics industry moved from Seoul to Long Island, to the working-class neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia (on a brief but important interlude) and onto college in Syracuse, New York. During his college years, Paul learned about the uses and design of printed circuit boards (PCBs). From that point on, PCBs would accompany him throughout his professional life. After beginning a career and starting a family on Long Island, the next migration was to Germany. In Europe, the rise and fall of his business was accompanied by a constant eastward migration of the PCB and electronics industries.

“A Constant Immigrant” tells the story of the electronics industry from its formative years in the 1970s to the beginning of the 21st century along Paul’s life’s path. The captivating portrayal of the working reality and working environments in the companies Paul got to know through his professional and private life is a precise and personal look at the world of engineering, product design and electronics manufacturing.

Paul Waldner, Bio

On the fifth of May 1959, a good citizen of Seoul, South Korea, came across a small child who had a bleeding injury to his right leg which stretched from his buttock to his heel.  The “good Samaritan” delivered the little boy to a hospital and left him there.  I was that child.  I was sewn up, given medical attention for whooping cough, ring worm and chicken pox; given a name (Choi Bi Bum), given a birth certificate (May 5^th, 1954--because they thought I must have been about five years old) and sent to the Holt Children’s Service in Seoul where I would await adoption.  I was adopted several months later and sent to the US on August 11, 1959.

I grew up on Long Island in my parents’ home in East Meadow, staying there until April of 1971 when I abruptly ran away to Richmond, Virginia.  I returned to Long Island where I stayed with my older sister until I graduated from high school.  I attended the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse University between 1972 and 1977.

I married the mother of my children, Anita, in 1982, had three children: Laura, Julie and Frank in the years 1984 and 1986 (Julie and Frank are twins).   The family moved to Bad Homburg, Germany in 1987 where I started Multiline International Europa (mie).  I have been running mie ever since. 

Today, I still live in Bad Homburg, but now with my girlfriend/partner, Serpil.   I am happy and proud of every expansion of my family with the additions of two sons-in-law (Eric and Joe) and four grandchildren: Hannah, Timothy, Amy and Lily.  I am also happy and proud to have Serpil’s daughter, Senem, son-in-law, Marcus and grandson Ferdinand as extended family members.