<Begin Segment 11>

TI: So you're at Stanford, and now, if you asked your classmates and your professors what kind of student you were, what would they say now?

SA: Well, at that time, when I was a junior and senior, I was probably close to a B-plus, A-minus average.

TI: Still not the best student.

SA: I wasn't at the very top, no. But getting off to... and I guess the head of the mechanical engineering department, his name was Professor London, really got a liking for me, and he said, "I'm going to make sure you go get your master's." And he got me a research grant, so I was able to get my master's on a naval research lab contract.

TI: So what did Professor London see in you? You were a good student, but not a top student. Why did he go out of his way to say you're, you should go get your master's?

SA: I'm not sure; I'm not sure.

TI: What do you think? What do you think it would be?

SA: Well, see, London taught thermodynamics; his major was thermodynamics, and I did well in thermodynamics.

TI: Yeah, that's a tough topic, thermodynamics.

SA: And he not only taught thermodynamics, but he also taught one more thing. He said, "When you go out in the industry, problems are not written for you to solve. You got to define your own problem." So he used to force us to define our own problem. Said, "You got to make assumptions, because in the practical world, you got to make assumptions." So he'd give problems in which you have to make assumptions. And the most important thing after that was the methodology. The answer is almost secondary.

TI: So it's how you frame the problems and then figure out the methods --

SA: How you set the assumptions, the methodology. Yeah, you got to have the answer, but he says the more important thing is the conclusions. What conclusions are you going to draw from this? So I really got excited about that, and I really liked that. In fact, I still practice that today.

TI: Yeah, I think that's very kind of engineering minded. I think, as you say, the assumptions, or how you frame the problem is probably the most critical thing to do.

SA: That's right. Because if you make the wrong assumptions...

TI: Because the rest of it is mechanical in many ways.

SA: Yeah, you're going to draw the wrong conclusions. You're going to give the wrong answer and wrong conclusions.

TI: And that is a gift. I mean, sometimes the guys who get good grades can't do that. They're not as good at making those.

SA: Yes. So I have sort of mastered that, and I think maybe he saw that process work with me.

TI: Because that, in some ways, is a more creative process. It's not necessarily just the horsepower of the calculations, it's actually...

SA: That's right.

TI: So that may be your gift. [Laughs] I'm still going through and figuring this out. Okay, good.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.