When the founding partners of HF Scientific decided to escape the cold of Canada and relocate to Florida, a young engineer named Mike Goodman hopped on his Honda CX500 and rode south. Now, after 42 years working with the company, Goodman has announced his retirement.

“Our founding partners vacationed in Fort Myers, so we eventually packed up our small garage-sized office and moved to Florida,” says Goodman.

That international motorcycle ride isn’t Goodman’s best-known feat, however. Today, he is widely recognized for his creative thinking and innovative product contributions to HF scientific during his 42 years of service. Thanks to his efforts, HF scientific blossomed into a global producer of instrumentation, test kits and chemical reagents used for monitoring water quality in a variety of applications.

Goodman is credited with developing the company’s two major product lines used in the production of clean drinking water — turbidimeters and CLX chlorine analyzers.

“He’s made a phenomenal impact on this company and industry,” says Dorian Cauceglia, research and development manager at HF scientific.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Goodman’s childhood dream was becoming an electronic engineer.

“I refer to myself as an old hacker,” says Goodman. “Initially, I started with repair and calibration, and eventually we developed an engineering department. From there, we experienced phenomenal growth as a company.”

In 2005, HF scientific’s founding partners retired and sold the company to Watts Water Technologies, a global leader of water solutions for residential, industrial, municipal and commercial applications. HF scientific continued to retain its name, and by 2007 began supporting the Ballast Water Management System market. Goodman was essential to ensuring compliance with internationally recognized standards that help sustain the marine ecosystem.

By 2020, the company had outgrown its original building and moved to a new state-of-the-art facility on Airport Park Drive in Fort Myers. Throughout HF scientific’s evolution, Goodman has been a steadfast contributor in mentoring a team of engineers that will shape the future of the company. According to Tom Whiteside, a long-time colleague who has worked with Goodman for more than 33 years, “he’s a treasure trove of knowledge and will truly be missed.”

“Having recently celebrated 42 years with the company, it’s time for me to enjoy this next phase of life,” says Goodman. “HF scientific has given me the opportunity to do what I love most, to travel across the world, to help municipalities with water treatment solutions and to work with an amazing group of people.”