Q: What inspired you to become an engineer? Were you always interested in technology? If so, why? If not, when did you become interested and why?

A: I used to spend a lot of time with my grandfather when I was growing up. He wasn’t a professional engineer, but he would explain electrical and mechanical concepts to me; he would show me how fun it could be to take things apart and put them back together again.

As I grew older, I spent my time reading my father’s books, which focused on higher education-level mechanics and engineering. I would read them after he went to bed — he maintained a robust home library of over several thousand books, so I was never short on material.

These two men fostered my interest in STEM and are the reason why I’m an engineer today.