The Memory of Metal: Othmane Benafan’s Journey
As a child in Morocco, Othmane Benafan watched his father repair broken household items, always inviting him and his brother to help. “Anything that broke, he would take time and fix it. There was no throwing away anything,” Othmane recalls. His father would also buy them broken radios as toys, and they’d spend hours tinkering, exploring what was inside.
Little did he know that these childhood moments would shape his future.
Today, Othmane Benafan is a materials research engineer at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. He creates revolutionary metals that change shape depending on temperature – technology that makes aircraft more efficient and spacecraft possible.
“My day-to-day job is creating metals that change shape so they can perform not just one function, but multiple functions,” he explains. These “shape memory alloys” can transform a wing’s configuration during flight or deploy solar panels in space.
Othmane’s path wasn’t always easy. “I’m an immigrant. I came to the U.S. and no language, no English, no money,” he shares. He and his brother started by washing dishes, then working construction, all while attending night school. “Imagine you’re already putting in 12 hours of work and after that you go to school to learn.”
But his journey took a decisive turn during an undergraduate class at the University of Central Florida. A professor demonstrated a simple spring that, when pulled and heated, returned to its original shape. Fascinated, Othmane approached the professor with questions.
“That very simple question opened so many doors for me,” he reflects. The professor invited him to join his research group, beginning a mentorship that blossomed into a six-year academic journey and eventually led to his position at NASA.
To young people considering STEM careers, Othmane offers clear advice: “If you think you’re interested in something, you’ve got to try it. You don’t have to wait to get to college to pick that path. You can start cementing that path today.”
He emphasizes the importance of asking questions. “Have the courage to stand up and ask that question or a clarification that could make a difference,” he says. “It could be a simple question, a 10-second question, but could make all the difference in life.”
Above all, Othmane urges young people to persevere through challenges: “No excuses. That shouldn’t be an excuse, ‘oh, it’s too hard,’ ‘I don’t have money for it,’ ‘I don’t have time for it.’ Passion is built.”
His final words of wisdom capture his philosophy perfectly: “There are going to be a million different obstacles, but there will be only one door that’s going to open. So you make your decision and don’t make excuses not to go through the door.”