"So was the MIT physicist experienced in care and maintenance of anything beyond his house ?"

Let's see what Ernest Moniz's Wikepedia bio says...

"Moniz joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1973, serving as head of the Department of Physics from 1991 to 1995 and as director of the Bates Linear Accelerator Center. He co-chairs the MIT research council. He served in the Clinton administration as Associate Director for Science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President from 1995 to 1997. Moniz worked in the United States Department of Energy, serving as Under Secretary of Energy from 1997 to 2001."

And you, g.d.?