Imagination of Ryan Simmons

Birthday: April 1963. Let me know if you find a Ryan Simmons older than me.
Occupation: I’m a mechanical engineer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Specifically, I’m a structural analyst. I make sure the satellites we launch into space don’t fall apart on the ride up.
Smarts: I have two Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Michigan, Aerospace Engineering 1985 and Mechanical Engineering 1989. I earned my Masters degree from the University of Maryland in Mechanical Engineering in 2003. i’ve also studied German in Giessen, Germany back in 1988.
Website: RyanSimmons.net Being the oldest Ryan Simmons I own both RyanSimmons.com and RyanSimmons.net. I originally had RyanSimmons.org as well, but gave that up.
3 Words to describe myself: Liberal Rocket Scientist

What was your coolest live music experience?
I don’t listen to much commercial music. I’m very much into independent singer/songwriters. It’s always better when you can actually get to know personally the musicians whose music you love. I actually have hosted house concerts in the past and will be doing so again this summer. If you’re not familiar with house concerts, yes, they are literally concerts in someone’s house. Of all the concerts I’ve ever hosted, I think my favorite was a father/son blues duo called Beaucoup Blue. The talent and energy these guys brought to my house was unbelievable. Add to that they were the nicest guys you could ever meet and it was a magical evening all around.

Does creativity play an important role in your life?
As an engineer, there are many aspects of job that are just numerical right/wrong calculations. However, we engineers do have to be very creative trying to solve our problems. There is never a single way to solve something. So the best engineers are the ones who search for the “elegant solution.” We have to look at every aspect of a task and understand it from all perspectives so we can really come up with the best answer. So yes, creativity is a huge part of my work. Probably in the rest of my life too, but that’s not as interesting.

Is there a story behind your name?
Nothing particular other than it fit a pattern in my family. My father’s initials were RAS. When my oldest brother was born my parents also named him with the initials RAS. Then my middle brother was born and he too was RAS. So when I came along, my parents needed another “R” for the family. They liked Ryan. So I’m RAS too. I kinda like the name Ryan because there are no inherent nicknames. I like being just Ryan.

Anything else you’d like to tell us?
I live in Ellicott City, Maryland and have for over 21 years. I’m widowed, lost my beautiful wife to breast cancer 2 years ago. I live with two cats (Melyanna and Loreley) and a a beagle (Beau). Love to run and bicycle. I’m a huge University of Michigan football fan. Go Blue! I also have season tickets to DC United, the professional soccer team in the nation’s capitol.