‘Lego Spaceman’ Takes the Next Step in Education

When high school buddies Asad Muhammad and Mathew Ho bought a science balloon online and used it to send a plastic Lego man to the edge of space, they never thought their feat would capture worldwide attention. But it did.

“People thought it was a stupid idea, so we kept it quiet while we worked on it,” says Muhammad, who helped his longtime friend find the materials to launch a Styrofoam box filled with four used digital cameras into near-space. Their stunning photos were published in the Toronto Star last year, and became a sensation on the Internet.

“We weren’t the first to do this. That’s why we reached into Mathew’s box of Lego blocks and pulled out the little man and put him in the camera shot. We wanted to be different.” They even printed a Canadian flag and made sure it remained visible.

The four cameras, two taking still photos every 30 seconds and two shooting video, took some spectacular pictures on the way up. Muhammad estimates the balloon burst in the thin atmosphere at about 90,000 feet (24 km), and the box fell back to earth tethered to a homemade parachute.

After their 15 minutes of fame, the two grade 12 students were inundated with offers to pursue science at various universities– but the pair had already made plans. Ho was set on studying business commerce at university, while Muhammad was deciding between engineering at university and the Aviation Technician program at Centennial College.

“I was already leaning towards Centennial, but after we were invited to tour the hangar at Ashtonbee Campus, I was certain I wanted to take the program there,” says Muhammad. He convinced his mother that he was making the right choice, and that he would be happier working on aircraft and challenging his mind with mechanical wonders.

“I remembered how much I enjoyed working with my hands in auto class, taking things apart and learning how they worked,” he says.“I knew I would not be happy sitting at a computer and studying engineering theory.”

Muhammad enrolled at Centennial last fall. He values both the hands-on work he performs on real aircraft in the hangar and the theory he is learning in class. Muhammad recognizes the skills he is learning can be applied in many workplaces.

The first year is a common one with all students getting a good grounding in the technology before choosing between two disciplines in the second year: Aircraft Maintenance and Avionics Maintenance. The former examines an aircraft’s mechanical systems, while avionics involves specializing in the maintenance and repair of an aircraft’s many electronics systems related to everything from communications to radar.

Muhammad’s goal is to land a job with a small aircraft company that will allow him to accumulate the shop hours he needs to write his Canadian Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) licence. After that, he will be set to work anywhere he wants as an aircraft technician.

“The best thing about having a Canadian licence is that it is recognized by almost every country in the world, so the sky is truly the limit,” he smiles.

Given his recent adventure launching a Lego man into the stratosphere, Muhammad may have already tested that limit.

For more information about Centennial’s School of Transportation, visit: www.centennialcollege.ca/transportation.