NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Family traditions typically center around recipes, vacations, and holiday gatherings, but one Albuquerque family does things a little differently; the Aurand family’s traditions involve electrical engineering, science, and machine learning. Underneath their collective brilliance lies a bond greater than anything science could explain.
It is not just his work at Verus Research that has John Aurand beaming from ear to ear. “This is an unbelievable blessing. I couldn’t be prouder of my boys or my daughter, Nicole, and how they’ve grown up and who they’ve become,” said Aurand. He has the unique opportunity to keep tabs on how his sons, Matthew and Joshua, are doing each day; the men work just down the hall from John, making research and engineering a family affair. “The fact that I was here at Verus when each of them happened to be looking for jobs themselves was simply coincidental,” said Aurand.
In 1987, John relocated his growing family from Iowa to New Mexico, accepting a position at Sandia National Laboratories. “I think, 100 years ago, I would have just been a university professor. Right? Always learning, teaching students – that’s been a joy of mine in my career,” said Aurand.
Working as an electrical engineer requires great attention to detail and devoted time; John’s love of his work may be why his sons gravitated toward the field as well, but he is quick to point out that he never pushed them in any certain direction. “I wanted them to grow up as themselves,” said Aurand. However, both sons ended up sharing John’s foundational interest in mathematics and engineering. Matthew discovered his interest in engineering as a kid, even decking out his car with a custom audio setup in high school. Joshua felt the gravitational pull a bit later in life, switching majors from business to applied mathematics in college and going on to obtain advanced and postdoc training.
Verus Research is a team of scientists who bring their collective talents together to tackle 21st-century problems. Their work in high-powered microwaves, electromagnetic simulation and analysis, and nuclear systems analysis requires the best minds in the field. A requirement that the Aurand family fulfills with their combined decades of training and development.
“Matt is really the do-er,” said Joshua. “He makes things work. He creates stuff. I like to just sit behind a whiteboard, do a little bit of math.” Joshua explained that his dad’s work in more formal mathematics fascinated him when he was younger. “He would start doing things, deriving things, coming up with insights. And I was really fascinated – how this actually connects to the real world. Matthew and Joshua’s divergent interests now work in harmony at Verus.
Matthew designs electrical systems ranging from large-scale jobs to small circuit boards. Joshua’s focus is on software development, AI, and space autonomy. Despite their differing projects, focus, and expertise, the main tie that binds these scientists is family. “For me, as a proud father, to see Matthew grow up to be a mature man; my daughter, Nicole, grow up to be a wonderful mom, person; and Joshua as well. I never in my whole life thought any of my kids would work where I work, at least, right? That’s the coincidental thing about Verus for the three of us,” said John.
It’s a stroke of incredible timing, as well as decades of hard work and training, but the emotional reward is something that science and engineering may never be able to explain.
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