Monse Lozano is a native Houstonian and graduate of the University of Houston College of Engineering. He is currently an electrical engineer at NASA Johnson Space Center where he works designing electronics for the Robonaut project, which is an advanced humanoid robot developed at JSC.
His path towards his engineering career was not straight forward. It was not until he was in his mid 20s that he discovered what electrical engineering was and that he had a deep interest in it. When he was younger he did not do very well in academics, which ultimately led to dropping out of high school. He then pursued a GED and attempted college, but did not know in what to major in and stopped attending after a couple of years. Feeling defeated Monse never expected to return to school.
However, while employed as an operator at the local phone company he took a mandatory basic electronics training class and found himself fascinated with the material. This experience motivated him to attempt college again. He enrolled in Houston Community College for a Technical Associate Degree and then the Engineering College at University of Houston for a degree in electrical engineering.
“I feel very fortunate and privileged to be doing the work I do. I acknowledge that if I had never been exposed to electronics I may have never pursued this career path. My personal experience has motivated me to establish my non-profit organization Vampire Squid Labs, which exposes children to electronics at a young age and make them aware of science and technology as a possible career choice. It emphasizes creative and critical thinking, how electronics can be a form of artistic expression as well as utilitarian. This approach takes away the mathematics and linear thinking that may turn off some students to science and technology class and focuses on creativity and showcasing students’ projects in performances and art shows.”