Harry Coumnas always had interest in designing devices and machines that could help humankind to have a deeper look at the Universe. To pursue his interest, he took an observational astronomy course in a leading Institute in his home town – Berne in Switzerland, soon after completing his high school. Right from the basics of positional astronomy & systems of time, to charts & catalogs covering both historically important publications & modern electronic databases; he learned everything during the course.
Harry Coumnas was always more interested in the practical work than the theory lectures. He loved attending his lab classes, as they included his favorite activities like star gazing with small telescopes and binoculars; telescopic observations & CCD imaging of star clusters; and radio observations of the Milky Way Galaxy. During his observational astronomy course, he also learned construction & use of simple instruments like optical spectroscopes, sun dials, etc. Because of his hard work and dedication, he always managed to be among the top five students of his class. Even today, he works with the same level of dedication and commitment to design leading-edge space observational instruments. Other than his engineering work, what keeps him busy is his charitable endeavors. He is active member of many NGO's (Non Governmental Organizations).