Nowadays, it doesn’t seem like a big deal to pay at the gas pump. But it was a breakthrough concept back in 1983 when we launched an automated fuel system. Users first selected a fuel pump and then made payments through a debit/credit card terminal, or by inserting cash into a cash acceptor, then pumped gas. These terminals could also be used at "un-manned" fueling locations, which were referred to as "ghost stations" in the 1980s.

The game plan was for us to sell the terminals through banks to allow them to process debit/credit transactions at the fuel pump island.

There were three generations of this product before we stopped making it in 1995. The early prototype utilized the top chassis of the Total Automatic Banking System (TABS) 910 ATM. Then we produced a more attractive design, called the TABS 904. Finally, we created the Diebold 1251, a smaller, more compact version with a dip-style card reader and a membrane keyboard, a first at the time for Diebold.

Bob Sherlock, then manager, service installation, and I installed the very first TABS 904 Automated Fuel Terminals at a Sunoco Gas Station on U.S. Route 1 in West Chester, Penn., in 1983. These terminals were mounted on each pump island and were interfaced to a Datatrol cash register at the station, which in turn controlled the Dresser-Wayne fuel dispensers.

The system was popular, at first. Unfortunately, a lack of sales and fuel customers’ unfamiliarity with the Diebold name and reputation caused the project to end. Ultimately, I think it was a case of us being innovative ahead of our time – just as we were with video vending, a machine that dispensed rented movies in VCR format.

I don’t want people to think the automated fuel system was some kind of a wild step out from the core expertise of the company back then; it was not. While it may seem novel today, back then it was considered a natural offshoot of what we did – it was self service at the gas station, just like the ATM is self service for bank customers. In fact, most of the internal make-up of the automated fuel system was taken directly from the ATM. Just the pump interface controls were new.

I look back on it all today as one of the best experiences in my engineering career. I worked with new customers, met many new people and faced some unique and rewarding challenges.

I started my career at Diebold one month before my graduation from The University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, in June 1973. I agreed to move Newark, Ohio, when the Hebron (Newark) ATM production plant opened in 1974. I worked first as a bench technician, then was selected to work on the exciting TABS 500 ATM project.

Working on the initial TABS 500 ATM product line was very rewarding as only about eight engineers were assigned to it for development. Many of them were new to Diebold, too. I was assigned to the TABS 500 backplane design which initially was a seven-layer circuit board. It was a first for Diebold to have a multi-layer circuit card in a product. The motorized card reader, envelope depository and receipt, motorized vandal shield and keypad were all Diebold designs; the cash dispenser came from De La Rue in England.

I started at the Hebron plant on April 1 when a big production run of 12 TABS 500 terminals was in process for PNC Bank. I worked at the plant helping with circuit card revisions and cable changes. I made sure the needed changes were incorporated into our engineering drawings by originating the engineering change request and working with our small drafting department to make the changes to the drawings. Our Newark engineering group mainly provided product support for the then new TABS 500/600 terminals.

In late 1975, I returned to the engineering department in North Canton, Ohio, where I have worked ever since. I worked first on the TABS 5510 concentrator and the TABS 910, the next-generation terminal after the TABS 500. I designed the keypad circuitry, the integrated keyboard beeper, and the cabling and cable routing on the new TABS 910.

Today, I’m engineering manager, custom solutions. I create interesting, unique solutions to customer problems. Once, an entertainment studio wanted me to come up with a way to dispense gift cards, discount coupons and tickets from an ATM. Recently a bank asked me to explore ways to weatherize ATMs. I also recently proposed a design of an integrated weatherized enclosure for the Opteva® 522 cash dispenser to accommodate both heat and air conditioning.

It’s been an interesting and rewarding time for me at Diebold all these past years. Who could ask for much more?