By Alla Valko
Alla Valko, member of the Russian Union of Writers, is known for her reporting, travel writing, ironic novels, short stories, and memoirs. Alla is a graduate of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University and Candidate of Technical Sciences.
She is the holder of prestigious awards of the Moscow and International Unions
of Writers.
SYNOPSIS
AUTHOR: Alla Valko
TITLE: 39 Years at Top Secret Research Institutes
CATEGORY: Memoirs
LOCATION: USSR, Russia
TIME: 20th century
MAIN CHARACTERS: the author, her co-workers,
and prominent scholars
There are not too many books about what took place at Soviet-era top secret research institutions, which were then called “postal boxes”. The author has worked for 39 years at such closed scientific and technical institutes as an engineer and later senior research associate. On assignment from the country’s leadership, she takes part in providing calculations and testing of a range of different gyroscopic devices and accelerometers for the defense and aviation industries and the space sector.
The top secret facilities were widely known for their atmosphere of security awareness and strict discipline, but even there some amusing events occasionally occurred, like for instance when S. F. Konovalov, son-in-law of the
Communist Party leader Konstantin Chernenko, defended his thesis or when a device blew up during testing barely missing the author and her co-workers. Alla talks about the trials and tribulations of her personal life and the obstacles she had to overcome before she could defend her thesis. She works in close contact with Evgeny Popov, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and author of the theory of thin rods and process control automation, and Ivan Grudev, member of the
Russian Academy of Architecture and noted expert in the field of plate and shell calculations.
She loses loved ones, celebrates her anniversary, witnesses the economic collapse of the country when many enterprises went out of business and is forced to radically change her life, leave her job, and pursue a new calling.
The translation is done by Alex Triumfov.