Nanette South -- Newest Member of the Monolithic Family

by Freda Parker
August 27, 2007

Note: This is the first mini-biography in our new series: The Monolithic Family.

Back to a dome

Nanette South, fourth daughter of Judy and David B. South, says she loves being in Texas, and she loves living in a dome again.

"I definitely love it," she said. "After all, we all grew up in a dome, but I have also lived in conventional structures, in the north and in Oklahoma -- tornado country. Now I feel safe again."

After accepting the position of Engineering Analyst with Monolithic, Nan moved to Italy, Texas, along with her two youngest daughters.

It was not an easy decision. It meant leaving ATK Launch Systems, a company that describes itself as "the world's leading manufacturer of rocket motor systems for human-rated and unmanned space launch vehicles, strategic missiles, prompt global strike missiles, and missile defense interceptors" (www.atk.com).

"I was one of six people on the stage structure design team that's part of the new space shuttle coming out in 2012," Nan said. She described the work as "glamorous, exciting, challenging -- fun to be around all those pioneers."

But she had to keep her ultimate goal and top priority in mind: her children. "What's best for the children was a lot of my motivation for this last move to Texas," Nan said. "I could not continue working those 12-hour days with ATK and leaving my child in daycare."

Now with Monolithic when Nan has to put in overtime, she can do so in her own Monolithic Dome home, and her daughters can stay at her side or visit just-across-the-road relatives and friends.

Nanette's job

As Engineering Analyst, Nan uses the knowledge and skills she gained, at Idaho State University, pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Math and a Master of Science in Engineering Structures and Mechanics.

Her thesis, "A Finite Element Analysis of the Monolithic Dome," consists of 10 chapters and 110 pages brimming with Monolithic Dome engineering information (available as a free PDF on our website).

Asked to describe her thesis for people who know little or nothing about engineering, Nan said, "It's a computerized method of evaluating stresses, strains, buckling, and many other potential problems in a dome, or any kind of structure. It's really useful for solving problems that you can't just write an answer to. In the past, problems that were far too complicated sometimes forced you to estimate. This program eliminates the estimating. Using it, you can build a virtual model that can accurately find a structure's stresses, etc. Our aerospace industry uses just such a program."

Nan defined stresses as potential weak areas that any large building has. To avoid problems, those weak areas must be reinforced.

Currently, Nan is reconfirming data and predictions compiled by Dr. Arnold Wilson, Monolithic's consulting engineer, and David South, relating to Crenospheres and large Monolithic Domes.

Click Picture For Larger View

Back to the beginning

In his biography Think Round, David calls Nan, "Our Cooperative Nanette" (p. 107). He said, "Nanette was a most cooperative baby. She even chose a Saturday (April 23, 1966) for her birthday and made it easy for her daddy to be there without missing a class at Idaho State University."

Four years later, Nan again displayed her cooperativeness. She and David, driving a truck loaded with calves down a lonely Idaho road, were stopped by two men with rifles. David told Nan to get down on the floor and stay there without making any noise until he told her it was "Okay."

She did -- even while David was ordered out of the truck and told to hand over his watch and wallet. And even after the unexpected, but fortunate, arrival of a police car and the shootout that followed.

About that incident, David said, "I often wonder how many four-year-olds would have stayed so quietly on the floor of that pickup during all that commotion, including gun shots. I thank God Nanette did (Think Round p. 136).

Here she comes -- Miss Idaho

Click Picture For Larger View

In 1985, nineteen-year-old Nanette won the crown of Miss Idaho and became a competitor for Miss America. That same year, David sold the first Monolithic Dome school. He sold it to Emmett, Idaho, a town of less than 5000 people. Those two events remain connected in both Nan and David's memories.

David recalls that he took Nan with him to meetings with the Emmett School Board. He asked her to bring her saxophone -- the instrument she played in the Artistic Expression Segment of the Miss Idaho competition.

"By then," David said, "the Miss Idaho Pageant had received its share of media coverage, so Nanette was immediately recognized. An excited school board asked her to play her sax. She did -- I mean she really did. That girl could play the blues on that sax! Nanette didn't play like a little, just-out-of-high-school girl. She put her heart and soul into it -- loud and full.

"We will never know just to what extent Nanette favorably impressed Emmett's school board and residents," David added. "But they became very willing to continue talking with me -- and looking at and listening to Nanette" (Think Round p. 222).

About playing her sax, Nan said that, on the advice of a professional, for the Miss Idaho competition, she had planned on dancing while playing an ancient ditty called The Sailor's Hornpipe on a flute.

"I actually almost did that!" she said. "My dad stopped me. He told me that I play the saxophone; I need to do that and the crowd would love it. He was right."

David also played an important role in Nan's selection of a gown for the Miss Idaho pageant. She said, "Among the countless dresses I began trying on was a sleek, green, sequined sheath that bared one shoulder and had a slit running down one leg. I knew it was a bit more revealing than my mom was comfortable with and more expensive than I was comfortable with. But Dad said, 'Well, if you want to bat with the big boys, you better play ball.' He bought the dress."

Accepting responsibility

Nan said that during her stint as Miss Idaho, she spoke at many schools and presented a program she and Judy, her mom, composed. Called "You Could Be A Star," the program gave youngsters five ways in which they could develop self-esteem and confidence and reach their potential.

The program came about because Judy told Nanette that, as Miss Idaho, she had a responsibility to do some good on this planet. Judy took over the role as Nanette's business manager and enabled Nanette to speak to thousands of students. In that year Nanette spoke at over 300 school assemblies.

"Learning about and accepting responsibility was a good thing," Nan said. "And it still is."

Nanette South -- Newest Member of the Monolithic Family

Related Links: