5 Students Who are Opportunity Makers
Name: Anthony Cofer
Major: Aeronautics and Astronautics
Year: Pursuing Ph.D., 2013
Hometown: Paoli, Indiana
Opportunity knocked and Anthony Cofer answered. After 19 years making furniture in an Indiana factory, retirement and relaxation wasn’t far off. But instead of kicking back, he launched a new life — and he's making the most of every opportunity.
“In 2003 the furniture factory was bought out, and people were getting laid off. I had to make a change. It was a choice to start over again in another factory or go back to school. After I got my master’s, I thought, ‘Should I go back and get a Ph.D.?’ I figured I’d rather get one than regret later that I didn’t.”
“We moved to Orlando, Fla., when I was 4 years old, and I used to watch the Gemini and Apollo missions. I was on the playground at school when Skylab went up, and I remember watching the moon landing on a black-and-white TV when I was 7.”
“When I was a kid I would make rockets and set them off, and rocket fuel would go off and fill the house. I thought those rockets were really neat. Even when I worked in the factory, I messed around with electronics and made a homemade laser.”
“I’m getting my Ph.D. in microthruster technology. Microthrusters are used to turn satellites. I study the position and orientation of satellites through the use of microthrusters and the aerodynamics of the propellant inside them. Hopefully I can get into propulsion research and development somewhere.”
“I’ve failed so many times that I wasn’t afraid of it anymore. I accepted it, picked up and tried again.”
By Amy Raley
Published April 2012
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