One of a team of four awarded an Academy Award in 1999 for developing equipment and software that revolutionized filmmaking, Assaf Rawner is not a name you’re likely to recognize. But from Avatar to the latest Harry Potter films, chances are the riveting special effects that enthralled you were made possible by the equipment produced by the company he now manages.

A brilliant engineering student at the top of his university class and at 20 the youngest to graduate that year, Rawner credits Scientology with giving him the ability to stay ahead of the curve in a highly technological industry. “I know that whatever I need to learn for my job I can, just using what I learned from Scientology. I’m not shy or afraid of learning new things.”

Rawner, 37, was introduced to Scientology by his parents. Born in Israel, he moved to the Netherlands with his family when he was five and then to the United Kingdom at age nine. Speaking little English, Rawner had trouble in school at first—until he enrolled on a course in L. Ron Hubbard Study Technology. A year behind the other students when he began, by the end of the year not only had he learned the language, he caught up to and then sped past his classmates, ending two years ahead of his age group.

Rawner loves his work and considers himself extremely fortunate to be part of two diverse and exciting fields: engineering and the film industry. In everything from problem solving, organizing and quality control to training and personnel, Rawner uses what he has learned in Scientology. ”And that makes it much easier,” he says.