Howard Joel Wolowitz, M.Eng., is a Jewish aerospace engineer and ex-astronaut. He is the son of an overbearing mother, Debbie Wolowitz, who couldn't care less about his scientific accomplishments and still talks to him as if he were a child and Sam Wolowitz who left him and his mother. As the best friend of Rajesh Koothrappali, Howard often hangs out at Leonard and Sheldon's apartment with him. Though he's the only member of the group lacking a doctoral degree, he defends himself by pointing out that he not only has a master's degree in Engineering from MIT, but also designs important devices like the "space toilet" and telescope used at the International Space Station and components for satellites and space probes. Fancying himself a smooth ladies' man, Howard is rather confident in trying to woo girls (unlike the other three), mostly through creepy overtures and sometimes with his knowledge of foreign languages, of which he knows seven (if you count Klingon). During the show, he dates and eventually marries Bernadette, with whom he bonded over their dislike towards their overbearing mothers and has been influenced to tone down his creepy behavior. Much later, the couple have a daughter named Halley Wolowitz and a son named Neil Michael Wolowitz.