1991 Black Engineer of the Year Awards: Award Finalists

While his interests have expanded over the years to include such issues as small business and minority business development and international trade, he credits his education at West Point with starting him off well prepared for the coming challenges and responsibilities. His degree in math and engineering "makes me...capable of communicating and dealing with [personnel] in a technical way without being uncomfortable about the hard science kinds of issues." And since West Pont's real "training was in leadership," he enjoys "dealing with people in that kind of hands-on, factory-floor environment." Many fighter pilots, when asked how long have they've wanted to fly, respond with expressions such as "It's all I've ever wanted to do" and "I've wanted to fly jets since I was a kid." While his job lets him fly as fast as any human ever, Bluford admits that his early interest developed from technical rather than the excitement of flight. "I developed a curiosity about airplanes as a kid," he says. "I did an awful lot of model-building. I read a lot of books about airplanes. I became fascinated with them. But my interest was primarly in how they operated, why they flew, how jet engines operated, the principles associated with lift, and aircraft stability and control and all of that...I really decided, I'd guess, in junior high school that I really was interested in airplanes and wanted to be an engineer that helped design and worked with other people who helped build airplanes. And I pursued that interest." "I really haven't established any firm goals," Bluford says of his future plans. "Right now my serious concern is to get ready and fly on STS-39, and I'll sort of look at it after I do that. But I enjoy flying in space. It's a great job. And I enjoy being an astronaut. I'm sort of a jack-of-all-trades because not only am I an astronaut, but I'm a pilot and an engineer. I fill a lot of different roles in this job, all of which I really enjoy."