Electrical Engineering News and Products

Electronics Engineering Resources, Articles, Forums, Tear Down Videos and Technical Electronics How-To's

I Became An Engineer: Because I Couldn’t Be An Astronaut

By

***Editor’s Note: The “I Became An Engineer” blog runs every Friday. To share your story email jennifer.delaosa@advantagemedia.com***

This week’s story comes to us from ECN reader Vardan Antonyan.

I grew up in the Soviet Union and dreamed about becoming an astronaut. My dreams were shattered when I realized that wouldn’t be possible because I was an immigrant. I was about 12-years old, but refused to give up.

I started a rocket club with the intention of building my own rocket and taking flight. The club was tiny- me and two of my friends. Looking back, I think it worked fine for us. We starting by reading everything we could find on rocket engines and life support systems. We found out very quickly we needed to pay attention to some specific subjects in school. We decided we needed to know biology (for life support systems that recycle the CO2, of course), chemistry (for rocket fuel formulas and calculations), math, and physics.

It was a turning point in our lives—it was unheard of for three rascals/troublemakers suddenly acing all those subjects. Two years later, we were bit closer to our dream with all of our knowledge; but then I realized: if we succeed, how would anybody know or belive us if we didn’t have some kind of radio communication system to announce our achievement and (maybe) ask for help with landing?

The next logical step was to join the Amateur Radio Club in our local “Palace of Pioneers” (this is kind of the Soviet Union equivalent of a boy scout club). At that time, our private rocket club fell apart, but we became best friends. By chance, I was fortunate to buy a Russian translation of Art of Electronics by Horwitz and Hill. I read the book several times and designed my first projects from scratch.

My friend’s Dad owned a radio/TV repair shop and was my first customer, giving me projects to build. This was without pay but I loved it. They would buy the parts, build the PCB, and prototype. All I had to do was give them schematics. By the time I finished high school, I already built every type of radio receiver technology available back then, knew amateur radio communications, and had several designs.

Fast forward to my adult years when I started working as an electrician, and then an electronics technician. I joined the army, finished college, and became an engineer responsible for CNC machinery installation and repair. This was one of top jobs in the Soviet Union since there weren’t enough specialists in the field. I was in my twenties and happily employed in a great job when my family decided to move to the U.S. I hated the idea but didn’t want to stay alone in the Soviet Union.

Oddly enough, I started working as an electrician after a few years of odd jobs at the beginning of my immigration to the U.S. Next, I finished some courses to become a computer technician (primarily because they were giving a computer to learn the course). After finishing the two-year course, I finally put together my resume and applied to a computer technician job. The employer was impressed by my electronics experience and asked if I was willing to take an exam to work as an electronics technician. The test was easy and it jump started my career as a technician. Two years later, my boss started a company and hired me as a junior engineer.

Five years after immigrating to the U.S. I was at same level when I was in the Soviet Union. Another 20 years later in the field, and I’m an aerospace engineer. One of my projects is flying on the ISS, circling the Earth every 90 minutes. I have several articles published and I’m as happy as ever for deciding to become an astronaut in my early years, which led me to become an engineer.

Read other stories, here: