Habibie, a 61-year-old German-trained aeronautical engineer, is one of Suharto's closest confidantes.

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"There's definitely a My-thesis-is-cooler-than-yours' aspect, " says Blair, a 43-year-old triathlete and aeronautical engineer.

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"There's definitely a 'My-thesis-is-cooler-than-yours' aspect, " says Blair, 43, a triathlete and aeronautical engineer.

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But I would rather fly in an airplane with wings designed by one competent aeronautical engineer than one with wings designed by a committee of the first 20, 000 names of non-engineers in the Boston phonebook.

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