I am a vocation engineer and scientist I never wanted to be anything else. Im still designing and writing.
When I was 17 I wrote to a gov sonar research lab and proposed some ideas; following 6 months clearance I have never ceased employment. 25 years in acoustooptics some years in inertia lnavigation after leaving corporate employment ; my own home development has led to a range of sensors to assist the elderly and their carers. A very small element of an idea went to the moon, another lies connected to most underea fibres.
I lament the wasted intellect and knowledge; lrft unused following retirement.
Doug