The Engineer as a Creator of Technology

Boris Lvov, Head of the School of Electronic Engineering at the HSE Tikhonov Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (HSE MIEM), has turned 80. In his interview with the HSE News Service, he discusses artificial intelligence, his generation’s passion for science, and the meaning he attributes to the word ‘engineer.’

A Generation of Social Optimism

I was born in 1945 and belong to the generation known as the baby boomers. We grew up during a period of economic growth, social optimism, and belief in the future. My generation was the first to receive higher education on a mass scale. At that time, science was held in high regard. That is why I had no hesitation in choosing the Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (MIEM), which was founded to train specialists in high-tech equipment and electronic manufacturing.

My Life Experience

There is a saying that a person should be lucky three times in life: in their birth, in their teachers, and in their spouse. I was fortunate: I have met many remarkable people who shaped my worldview, character, and behaviour.

The first was my mother. She loved me dearly, which perhaps explains my self-confidence and zest for life.

The second was my beloved wife. As Winston Churchill once said, ‘My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.’

Two other people greatly influenced my scientific career. One was Vladimir Lilie, my academic supervisor, an outstanding designer and two-time winner of the USSR State Prize. The other was Alexander Tikhonov, after whom MIEM is now named. He was an intelligent, well-educated, and charismatic man—a bright, strong personality. Over the years, he served as the head of MIEM’s Student Design Bureau, the rector of MIEM, and the Minister of General and Professional Education of Russia. Yet he always remained a man of great soul and a natural leader.

MIEM Is My Whole Life

After graduating in 1969 from the Faculty of Electrovacuum and Semiconductor Engineering, I was invited to work at MIEM’s Student Design Bureau.

I climbed every step of the career ladder—engineer, senior engineer, senior researcher, senior lecturer, associate professor, professor, department head, and dean. In 2012, when MIEM became part of HSE University, I was appointed dean of the Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunication, which was later transformed into the School of Electronic Engineering.

Throughout these years, alongside administrative work, I have always been devoted to my two great passions—science and teaching.

No Software Works Without Hardware

Vacuum technology was my initial field of scientific interest—the foundation of my development as a researcher and designer, where I achieved my first significant results and professional recognition, which is crucial not only in science but in any field.

I defended my candidate thesis in 1980 and my doctoral dissertation in 2001 in Technology and Equipment for Manufacture of Semiconductors, Materials and Devices of Electronic Technics. During my research, I transitioned from studying and designing specific vacuum equipment to generalising my experience and developing the foundations of formal-heuristic design. (Heuristics refers to theoretically unproven rules that generalise intuitive and empirical experience in solving design and engineering problems.) The conceptual models and methods I developed for formalising the design process—including descriptions of objects, processes, and the designer’s actions—were aimed at creating a knowledge base for use in computer-aided design (CAD) systems.

Today, interest in such developments is growing with advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technology. AI applications—computer vision, speech recognition and synthesis, expert systems, and decision-making tools—are nearly limitless, from medical diagnostics to autonomous vehicles. AI is now a broad term encompassing any area of computer science that deals with solving intellectual (non-standard) problems for which humans have no ready-made algorithms. However, some AI systems rely solely on algorithms without any learning capability.

At its core, AI is a programme that receives data and makes decisions based on it. The input data comes from sensors or directly from humans, while the output is transformed into control signals for actuators or presented to people or machines via monitors, printers, or other devices. AI cannot exist in isolation—it requires physical electronic and mechanical systems. Just as radio engineering uses imaginary numbers to describe electromagnetic fields, yet electricity itself is very real, no software works without hardware.

Electronics is an integral part of any software-hardware system, including AI-driven ones. In turn, AI is an effective tool for improving quality and reducing the time required for the development of electronic products, from design to manufacturing. Therefore, it is particularly important today to train specialists with systemic, critical, and creative thinking, who can work as part of a team of developers, engineers, and programmers. Their role is to create complex technological systems for electronic engineering within a unified information environment, using computer-aided design (CAD) systems and AI.

Engineering Is an Eternal Profession

The word ‘engineer’ comes from the Latin ingenium, meaning ‘ingenuity.’ The profession is believed to have originated in ancient Greece and Rome for military purposes. We have all read about catapults, mirror systems, and other devices Archimedes designed in the 3rd century BCE to defend Syracuse from the Romans. But, of course, engineers of the past also created inventions for civilian life. Engineering, in essence, emerged with humanity itself.

A modern engineer, by definition, is a specialist with a higher technical education. But what does that truly mean? It means that to be an engineer, one must study long and hard and then work just as diligently. Engineering is a complex and responsible profession. A professional engineer must have broad knowledge of engineering sciences and deep expertise in their specific field.

The complexity of technical systems and technologies is constantly increasing, leading to higher intellectual and financial costs for research, development, and engineer training. The success of any project—and ultimately, a country’s competitiveness and independence—depends directly on the qualifications of its scientists and engineers.

In the essential triad of scientist–engineer–worker, which sustains and advances civilisation, the engineer is the central figure. Without engineers, the world would stagnate and collapse. That is why engineering is among the three eternal professions—doctor, teacher, and engineer.

My Advice to Young People

1. Do what you love, and love what you do.

2. Don’t force yourself into a profession you don’t like.

3. Value your time.

February 16