In a world where technology is getting smarter and more complex by the day, a serious concern is growing: the engineers who know how to keep our critical infrastructure up and running are becoming fewer & fewer. As the machines that power our daily lives get more sophisticated the people able to keep them running smoothly are disappearing fast. This isn’t just some industrial problem – it’s a ticking time-bomb that could leave hospitals, schools, restaurants, and everyone’s home or office in jeopardy.
For AllTech Magazine, we caught up with Andrei Simanenka from SIM HVAC & Appliance Repair, a veteran engineer who’s one of the best of the best. With over 20 years of hands-on experience, Andrei doesn’t just tinker with machines – he digs into complex systems that other people think are beyond repair. He’s the last line of defense for organizations that can’t afford to have their systems go down.
We talked to him about the vanishing art of really getting to the bottom of technical problems, why modern tech needs engineers who can think more intuitively than ever before, and what we all stand to lose if this sort of expertise just disappears. Happy reading!
1. You’ve worked with complex systems for more than two decades. Why do you think skilled specialists are disappearing today?
Honestly, I think we’re witnessing the result of a cultural shift.
When I was growing up, fixing things with your hands—understanding how electricity flows, how systems behave—was considered a valuable skill. It wasn’t just a hobby; it was a mindset. You learned patience, logic, responsibility, even creativity.
Today, young people grow up surrounded by devices that are sealed, disposable, and designed to be replaced instead of repaired. Most never get to open something, break it, understand it, fix it—they don’t get that “spark” that turns into a lifelong craft.
At the same time, technology has become dramatically more complicated. Machines are no longer mechanical; they are hybrids of electronics, software logic, sensors, automation, and thermodynamics. It’s like going from chess to three-dimensional chess—the pieces look similar, but the game is completely different.
So we ended up in a strange place: systems are smarter than ever, but people who can truly understand them are becoming rare. And that gap grows every year.
There’s a deep difference between a culture that fixes and a culture that replaces. Fixing requires humility—you admit you don’t fully understand the problem yet, but you commit to finding out. That process builds wisdom. Replacement is just a transaction.
2. Andrei how did you personally develop these skills when so many people struggle to?
As a kid, I spent hours in an electronics club after school. We didn’t have fancy equipment—just soldering irons, old radios, and a lot of curiosity.
But that environment taught me something fundamental: everything can be understood if you’re willing to go deep enough. Those moments shaped much more than my technical skills—they shaped how I think.
Later I went to technical college, then university, then into automation engineering. Over time I worked with industrial controls, refrigeration, HVAC, electronics, and commercial equipment. I never planned to cover so many fields—it just happened naturally because real-world systems don’t exist in one category. Once you solve your first “unsolvable” problem, you start to crave the next challenge.
I became comfortable jumping between disciplines, and eventually that became my strongest professional advantage. It feels like speaking several technical languages fluently.
3. What makes modern equipment so challenging for the new generation of technicians?
Machines today behave like living organisms.
They adapt, they communicate; they monitor themselves; they react to the environment—but only if every part of the system works exactly right. You almost must “read” the personality of the machine.
A malfunction isn’t just a broken part anymore.
It could be a sensor reading off by two degrees, a control board misinterpreting a signal, a pressure imbalance, a software glitch, or something as small as a loose connection creating electrical noise. Sometimes the machine behaves differently under load, temperature, or humidity—and manuals don’t teach you how to sense those tiny clues.
If you don’t understand the entire system—logic, physics, electronics—you won’t be able to solve the problem. You’ll just keep replacing parts and hoping something works.
That’s not troubleshooting. That’s guessing.
And modern equipment doesn’t forgive guesswork. It requires intuition backed by knowledge.
This complexity creates high-stakes scenarios where failure is not an option…
4. You often work in environments where failure is not an option. How does that responsibility feel on a personal level?
It’s a mix of pressure and purpose.
When I walk into a hospital where a medical refrigerator is failing, or a school where the kitchen can’t operate, or a building where air quality is compromised—I know there’s no “later.” People depend on that equipment working now. Sometimes you can literally feel the tension in the room before you even start.
I’ve had moments where I was literally the fifth technician called on a job. Everyone before me tried and couldn’t solve it. In that moment, you feel the weight of the situation—and at the same time, the quiet confidence that you’ve solved problems like this before. You take a breath, you focus, and you do what you’ve been training your whole life to do.
When I bring the system back to life, there is a certain satisfaction that’s hard to describe. It’s not just “I fixed the machine.” It’s “this place can continue working because of what I just did.” Sometimes the relief on people’s faces says more than words.
That feeling stays with you. It’s why I keep doing this.
Sometimes, in this job, you aren’t just diagnosing a machine—you’re diagnosing the trail of frustration left by everyone who failed before you. You have to solve the technical problem and clear the emotional debris. That’s a skill you won’t find in any manual.
5. What do you think America misunderstands about engineering and skilled technical work?
People often assume that technical jobs are simple—like pushing buttons or tightening bolts. They don’t see the complexity behind the scenes. Modern infrastructure relies on people who can analyze cause and effect, interpret system behavior, and understand how electronics, mechanics, and software interact.
Most people only see the final result: a building that is cool in summer and warm in winter, a kitchen that serves hundreds of meals, a refrigerator that keeps medication safe. They don’t think about the person who keeps those systems alive.
The U.S. celebrates innovation, but innovation collapses without the people who maintain and troubleshoot it. Every new “smart” machine eventually needs someone who can understand it better than the manual does.
And right now, there just aren’t enough people like that.
The real crisis isn’t just a lack of technicians—it’s a broken chain of knowledge. When an experienced specialist retires now, their lifetime of intuition and undocumented fixes often retires with them. We’re not just losing workers; we’re losing living libraries.
6. Has the shortage of skilled specialists personally affected the kind of work you do?
Absolutely.
I’m often called not because someone “needs a technician,” but because every other technician has already tried. Sometimes the facility is facing shutdown, sometimes they’ve already lost thousands of dollars, sometimes it’s a safety issue or a health-code risk.
What used to be a normal repair job turns into crisis management. You arrive and everyone is already stressed—the staff, the manager, the owner. They’re hoping you’re the one who can finally get them out of the situation.
And honestly, it shouldn’t be that way. There should be more people who can handle these situations. But right now, there aren’t. And that pushes the few specialists who do have this skillset into extremely high demand.
Given these daily pressures, the broader implications of the specialist shortage become clear.
7. Do you think automation or AI will replace this kind of work?
Not even close.
AI can analyze data. It can suggest probabilities. It can recognize patterns. But it can’t smell burning insulation, feel vibration through a housing, hear when a motor “doesn’t sound right,” or understand why a system behaves differently under load than it does on paper.
AI doesn’t crawl behind old machines in a restaurant basement.
AI doesn’t take apart a control board and trace the failure point with a microscope.
AI doesn’t know when a reading “feels wrong.”
Technology may change the tools, but it won’t replace people who genuinely understand how systems work. In fact, the smarter machines become, the more they need skilled humans who can bring them back when they stop behaving as expected.
Technology will keep advancing. But it’s people who will keep that technology alive
8. From your personal experience, what does the U.S. risk if this shortage continues?
The risk isn’t theoretical—I see it every week.
More equipment failures. Longer downtime. Slower service. Higher operational costs. Safety issues. Businesses closing for days because no one can diagnose a simple system correctly. Public buildings struggling to maintain safe conditions. Hospitals relying on outdated equipment because no one can service it.
These aren’t just equipment problems—they directly impact daily life, public safety, and the economy. One broken system can disrupt hundreds of people. Multiply that across the country, and you can imagine the scale.
If this continues, the U.S. will have cutting-edge technology—but not enough people who know how to keep it running. That’s a dangerous imbalance.
9. What motivates you personally to keep doing this work despite how demanding it is?
Two things: curiosity and responsibility.
Curiosity keeps me interested in every new system I encounter. I enjoy solving problems others couldn’t solve. It’s like a puzzle that constantly changes—every job is different, every failure is a new mystery to decode.
Responsibility comes from knowing that the work matters.
When I fix something in a restaurant, school, or hospital, I know exactly how many people depend on that system functioning. I take that seriously. Sometimes it feels like you’re quietly supporting the entire operation without anyone noticing—but that’s the beauty of it.
It’s not glamorous work, but it’s meaningful.
And that meaning is what keeps me going, even on the hardest days.
10. What would you say to young people who might consider entering this field?
I would tell them this:
If you like solving problems, if you enjoy understanding how things work, if you want a career where you’re truly needed—this field will reward you. You’ll never be bored. You’ll always be valued. And you’ll build a career that actually matters to people’s lives.
The country desperately needs people who can think like engineers and work like problem-solvers. And those skills will only become more important as technology grows.
Technology will keep advancing.
But it’s people who will keep that technology alive.
And if you become one of those people, you’ll never have to worry about your future.
