ALUMNI CAREER SPOTLIGHT

ARTICLE BY HALLEL ABRAMS GERBER, ‘24

The name alone—Bronx Science—brings many to STEM careers after graduation. Few, however, reach the depth, range, and experience of Dr. Gabriel Ganot ’01, a Principal Engineer who specializes in failure analysis and failure prevention of engineered components and systems.

For Ganot, Engineering was a foregone conclusion. “Even as a little kid, it fascinated me,” he explained. “I always knew I wanted to be an engineer first and foremost, but I knew that there was more to it. Bronx Science really fed that love, where top notch education and all the sciences propelled me to make sure I wanted to keep going on the engineering route.”

Ganot noted that it was especially valuable to have an AP Physics C teacher, Dr. Goldstein, who had worked in the industry.

“One thing that made him a great teacher was taking the textbook — theoretical, fundamental — and talking about how that influenced a product, something that we would use, touch, and hold in daily life. It stuck with me that the stuff we’re learning about has real-world implications, not just in physics but in anything.”

Beyond the classroom, Ganot participated in band, served as the captain of the ultimate frisbee team, and played baseball outside of school. He noted that what “really resonated… was the diversity and populace of the school. It’s unrivaled… that experience of being able to understand and bridge different cultures, socioeconomic strata, walks of life, and locations in the city.”

Ganot received his undergraduate degrees at Lehigh University in Material Science and Engineering and Integrated Business and Engineering and then his Master’s Degree and Ph.D. in Material Science and Engineering at Columbia. Today, he is a consultant with Exponent, an acclaimed international consulting and research company, specializing in failure analysis, materials science, metallurgy, fractography, and semiconductor processing. As he explained, “In any field, [there are] things that need to be fixed, figured out, or prevented from breaking. What I love is that you can apply the fundamentals of engineering, material science, and science to any problem. The metal in a broken pipe is fundamentally the same as the metal in a hip implant. There are some differences, but you use the scientific method, you use fundamental engineering, and you can solve all these different problems.”

Ganot’s work spans many fields, centered around identifying the root causes of failure using unique and multi-disciplinary approaches rooted in his extensive background. He has run failure analyses on medical devices ranging from catheters to orthopedic implants; investigated gas, oil, and piping systems of transmission and processing, including service ruptures and a Bank of America Building water leak; and evaluated industrial systems’ metallurgical and materials-related failures, from fire sprinklers to elevator shafts and turbine engines.

As a former baseball player and enthusiastic sports fan, Ganot has also analyzed exercise equipment failures and bicycles. Most famously, perhaps, he was a lead author of Exponent’s research and formal report on the “Deflategate” scandal—the footballs used in the 2015 AFC Championship Game—in a 98-page report confirmed by NASA and NHTSA. Alongside his many commitments, Ganot has attended Bronx Science events and also returned to mentor students on one of the school’s two robotics teams. “I was thrilled at the chance to re-engage. I am blown away by the students,” Ganot concluded. “I’ve definitely got a soft place in my heart for Bronx Science... It’s a wonderful, wonderful place, very special. I still look at myself like I ride the 4 train to school every day.”