While Habibie was abroad, Suharto, who had become a general, succeeded General Sukarno as Indonesia's ruler in 1966.
After graduating with a doctoral degree from the Aachen Institute in 1965, Habibie joined the aircraft manufacturing firm Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Bluhm, rising to the rank of vice-president. As a research scientist and aeronautical engineer, he helped design several planes, including the DO-31, an innovative vertical takeoff and landing craft. He specialized in solutions for aircraft cracking, gaining the nickname "Mr. Crack" as one of the first scientists to calculate the dynamics of random crack propagation. He also became involved in international aircraft marketing activities and NATO's defense and economic development.
Indonesia's Technology Czar
In 1974, Suharto asked Habibie to return to Indonesia to help establish an industrial base. Habibie jump-started an aircraft construction industry and a state airline company. Soon he became Suharto's chief advisor for high-technology development. Habibie exploited the relationships he had developed in Germany and NATO to engineer a myriad of controversial deals involving aircraft, ships, heavy industry, and economic development.
As minister of research and technology, Habibie promoted the importation of high-tech goods and services. He liked to "leapfrog" over low-skill industries and move straight into high-tech ventures, spurning the basic development which might have brought needed employment to Indonesia's low-skilled masses.
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