Michael Shur
Patricia W. and C. Sheldon Roberts'48 Professor of Solid State Electronics 

"I was a Soviet high school student in Leningrad, Russia but I still
remember very vividly when the first Sputnik was launched on October 4,
1957.   My parents (both engineers) and I lived in a small room in a
communal apartment with no hot water and no shower.  We shared a lavatory and kitchen with four other families.  But Sputnik was launched, and I was convinced that the Soviet Union will soon develop the best technology and the highest living standards in the world.  To me, the proof was flying high in the sky.  For my high school project, I made a globe and an orbit. Thirty small bulbs were lighted in turn to simulate Sputnik.  The entire thing beeped just like Sputnik.  Before Sputnik, I wanted to become a chemist. After Sputnik, I decided to become an engineer."