Faces on Campus – Andrei Guschin
Dr. Andrei Guschin is a lecturer in management at the University of Washington, and has taught at the leading universities in Eastern Europe and Canada. He served as chair of the Venture Lab, a division of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Enterprise Forum of the Northwest, from 2010 to 2012. Guschin also co-founded two technology companies, including Bionavitas, Inc. He was a postdoctoral associate at MIT, and holds a PhD from the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as a master’s degree from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. He has also studied at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am originally from Russia, grew up around Moscow. My father was a rocket scientist, he worked for the Soviet Space Program. He met Yuri Gagarin (the first person sent to outer space) and many other cosmonauts. In 1975 he was part of the Apollo-Soyuz project, the first joint U.S.–Soviet space flight. My mother was a doctor, so when I grew up my career choices were limited! My father wanted me to be a scientist and my mom wanted me to be a surgeon; scientist prevailed. Physics, math, pretty cool stuff, you know! I did study at a specialized math school and entered the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, which is also known as the “Russian MIT,” because it was modeled after MIT. It was created by (Soviet Premier Josef) Stalin’s decree after the Second World War to address key areas of science and defense, so there was a focus on rocket science, computers and chemical weapons, among other things. I graduated with a MS in Applied Math and a PhD in Physical Chemistry. It was around the time when the Soviet empire was on the verge of collapsing, so I decided to leave the country. I left about 20 years ago and went to work at Ford. It was a very interesting experience, being at a car company! After that, I was invited to be a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT, working with Nobel Laureate Mario Molina, so I have a lot of great memories from Boston. While there, I realized that I didn’t really want to be a professor of Physical Chemistry. It didn’t excite me, so I left academia, moved to Seattle and joined an IT consulting firm. I also worked in product development, product management and participated in the development of clean technologies.
What influenced your decision to join the Northeastern University–Seattle faculty on a full-time basis?
Firstly, I had already worked quite closely with NU-Seattle community while teaching part time. The staff and faculty at the Seattle campus are wonderful, so that definitely influenced my decision. Also, I really like the students. They have the right balance of maturity, interests, and technical skills. The fact that they possess these traits means that they are a rewarding group to be around. Secondly, as an entrepreneur, I like helping start-ups. The Seattle campus is really quite similar to these start-ups. We are growing at a rapid rate, and it’s turning into something that has the potential to be a major player in Seattle. Last but not least, the MSIS leadership was very practical while creating this program. We are working closely with the industry to make sure we teach practical skills that will be valued by those companies. Technology evolves every day and the program needs to evolve all the time to remain relevant. The MSIS leadership understands and embraces this, and it is important to me. When our students graduate, they will have practical skills that are in demand.
What are your long-term objectives at Northeastern University–Seattle?
One objective would be to help grow a successful MSIS program, both in terms of number of students and number of employers that hire our students. Another objective is to make sure that students have a great experience here in Seattle.
You are currently involved in organizing a new Speaker Spotlight series on campus. What impact do you hope this series of seminars will have?
Well, it really goes back to what our main goals are, which are to give the students the skills they need and introduce them to employers. We also want to make the employers aware of the programs we offer here at NU-Seattle. That’s why I developed this series of seminars, as it keeps in line with our goals. The secondary objective is to emphasize for students that they should not only focus on companies that specialize in IT when they are seeking employment. Although the students are focused on software companies to get co-ops and full-time employment, they should also be aware that there is a number of good non-IT companies, with sizable IT departments with a lot of software development engineers. The very first seminar we hosted emphasized that there are 70,000 people working today in the Seattle area in internal IT. There are a lot of pros and cons to be weighed when considering of being employed by an IT company versus a traditional company, and it is something our students absolutely should be aware of.
Finally, how does somebody know if Engineering is the right major/profession for them?
This is probably the most difficult question to answer. Some people just know what they want to do in life. Others, myself included, were not so sure. For a lot of kids, after they graduate from high school, they enter university and decide upon the engineering field because they have some preconceived notion of what a degree in engineering entails, maybe because of family and friends, etc. They may realize later that this is not something they want to do for the rest of their life. However, I can say for sure, that even if engineering is not your true passion, the training you received will prove invaluable in your career. There is a saying: “it is much easier to take an engineer and make him/her understand business than to take a businessperson and make him/her understand engineering”. I confirm it is true, based on my experience. The engineering discipline is difficult, so if you succeed in completing an engineering degree, it is likely you will succeed in pretty much any field. Engineering graduates are analytical and have good problem-solving abilities. This is very important in any field. Engineers can take any problem, even a very big one, and break it down into a number of small ones, and solve them one by one. This approach to problems is fundamentally beneficial, it doesn’t matter what industry you are working in or what problem you are facing. By completing a degree in engineering, an individual will have the skills that will be the foundation for success in any field.