Charles E. Thomas enlisted in the Army's Reserve Training program in 1944, and through that took engineering courses at Cornell, NYU and Columbia. After his discharge, he received a B.S. in engineering from Clarkson University in 1948 and began working for the General Electric test program. He went on to receive his M.S. in engineering in 1964. Thomas' work at GE involved underwater sound techniques, applications of switching theory and ultrasound transducers for medical imaging. He was part of the permanent staff at the General Engineering Lab.