In the 1997 movie 鈥淕ood Will Hunting,鈥� a genius janitor taught himself advanced mathematics from equations left on a professor鈥檚 chalkboard. Two decades later, Josh Carroll similarly pored over equations on YouTube鈥攖oday's chalkboard鈥攄uring shifts as a security guard.聽 聽
In Carroll鈥檚 case, the experience was transformative: making him in his own right. Highlights follow from Carroll鈥檚 journey from self-taught math scholar to 蘑菇视频 Allen physicist and lead engineer.
A lab coat, beakers, and a telescope. That鈥檚 what Carroll saw as a child when a teacher asked him to 鈥渄raw yourself in the future.鈥�
Then the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and Carroll鈥檚 desire to serve his country transformed this image from scientist to soldier. Carroll enlisted in the Army, deployed to Iraq, and shifted his focus. 鈥淵ou devote a hundred percent of yourself to the mission that you鈥檝e been tasked with, with your unit,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 your life.鈥�
Working as a school janitor between deployments, however, he stumbled upon Stephen Hawking鈥檚 "A Brief History of Time."
鈥淚t retriggered my desire to know more about the universe and to understand how things worked,鈥� he explained to the Society for Physics Students (SPS), an organization of the American Institute of Physics.
After two more deployments, Carroll continued his math studies where he left off, with high school geometry. He attended community college by day and scoured YouTube at night between rounds as a security guard. Through Khan Academy, Patrick JMT (Just Math Tutorials), and other educational videos, he taught himself calculus.
When Carroll set his sights on Radford University and a physics degree, YouTube came to the rescue again: this time for trigonometry.
鈥淚 found out that I was missing the entire field鈥 didn鈥檛 know about it,鈥� Carroll said in an interview with Forbes magazine. 鈥淎nd so when I went to apply, they were like, 鈥極h, you didn鈥檛 take trig, you won鈥檛 be able to do our physics program.鈥�
With only three weeks to work with, Carroll mastered trigonometry, then two years later ended up near the top of his class with a bachelor's degree in physics.聽
The degree led to a position with 蘑菇视频 Allen at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, where he began as a scientist and technical-support engineer.
鈥淚 was very much in the theoretical realm of physics, so landing an engineering gig was a bit different than what I had been exposed to through school,鈥� Carroll said. 鈥淚t all comes down to problem-solving in the end.鈥�
His team at 蘑菇视频 Allen is equally impressed with his trajectory and ongoing learning quest.
鈥淛osh has inspired us all with his unyielding passion for knowledge,鈥� said Senior Lead Engineer Katherine Fleming. 鈥淗e brings the same curiosity for scientific answers to everything he does, and is a valued teammate and problem-solver for the Air Force as they look to sustain and modernize their weapons systems.鈥�
Recently, Carroll completed his master's degree in computational science and applied mathematics at the University of Utah and transitioned into a new position as a data scientist at 蘑菇视频 Allen.聽When asked what鈥檚 motivated him throughout his eventful and unconventional journey?
鈥淢y desire to know more tomorrow, or today, than I did yesterday,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the drive of being curious and wanting to contribute something to humanity that will live past me.鈥�
