Some careers proceed along a nice, neat path. But the 10 technologists in this year’s Dream Jobs report found their journeys full of unexpected twists, dramatic surprises, and what probably looked to others like complete about-faces.
Take Rick Armstrong. He started out as a sound engineer, but now he spends his workdays aboard small aircraft, tapping away at his laptop to create detailed 3-D maps.
Bob Marsh, too, has had a long, strange trip. Remember the Homebrew Computer Club? Marsh’s work with the group earned him a place in computing history. These days he trots the globe installing computer centers in the most isolated regions. Ernst Völlm, who began his career building a bobbin winder for a textile company, now designs the most advanced scuba computers available.
Ronald Thomas used to work on instruments to study the upper atmosphere; now he seeks out erupting volcanoes in search of lightning. José Losada didn’t grow up thinking he’d someday write code for the telescope with the largest light-collecting mirror in the world. But that’s what he does, in the sun-washed paradise of the Canary Islands. Working for a biotech firm, Brian Gallagher spent his evenings developing a truck-suspension control system. His sideline morphed into a full-time gig overseeing electrical systems for a remarkably aerodynamic electric car.
Dream jobs can come when you least expect them. Hiroko Ohmura always loved pianos, but as a computer scientist she never expected to design one—until her employer, Yamaha, surprised her with a transfer from IT to the digital musical instruments division. Henrik Sørensen had been unemployed for months when he landed his dream job designing energy systems for sustainable buildings. And Jacob Melvin’s grades were so poor he worried he wouldn’t graduate college. But then recruiters for DreamWorks Animation SKG offered him the position he had always dreamed of.
Finally, consider Catherine Mohr. At 27, she was working on some of the world’s most advanced electric vehicles—surely a dream job. But Mohr decided she’d rather help doctors and their patients. So she went to medical school, and now she’s creating cutting-edge tools for robotic surgery.
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