Im an undergraduate engineering student in Miami with wife and 2 year-old son. Have a recently developed interest in politics mostly coming from a sort of what the hell is wrong with my country moment after we were attacked on 9/11 and in my opinion got a lot of how to deal with this issue and others like our aged energy policy, unbalanced economy and foreign affairs wrong. I felt I was severely under-informed 8 years ago. Its like nothing grabs your attention like a disaster, and that’s, what I feel, has been our government’s response to 9/11 and the needs of our country since, a disaster. So I’ve been paying a little more attention. I suppose if we had a competent president and government over the last 8 years I would’ve remained a half-ignorant, uninformed citizen so I owe a debt of gratitude to Bush, thanks. My interest in the world and our country also comes from having the responsibility of raising my boy. He’s growing up fast and I want to give him the best chance at the world that I can and of course can’t do that without informing myself.
I must admit a certain appreciation and even some love for my country because in spite of the chaotic and threatening world we live in we have many opportunities and rights you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else on this planet. And as a testament to such a solid form of government – in spite of being run by people who are poor at governing, IMHO – we continue to enjoy sufficient freedoms, opportunities and rights which many can and do describe as a blessing.
So here I am:
In this blog I may occasionally update, ill mark down my opinion on current affairs and maybe something about my personal life with respect to my adventure in educating myself with an intention to leave a job that lets me get by for a career that interest me. My plan was to earn a degree in Engineering with a focus on electromagnetic fields, antenna and power electronics design – then entering industry or considering graduate studies in areas of electrical engineering related to plasma physics and advanced space propulsion or energy. But recently my interest in Aerospace and Astronautical Engineering was revived after reading the popular mechanics article on the Jupiter Direct proposal. This started me off on – granted – a glossary – investigation of the problems and the current status of our ability to explore space.
I’ve found a logical counter argument for preparing myself for a career in advanced space propulsion or interplanetary transportation , thru some Electrical Engineering & Physics course of study when – for the most part – we’re still stuck in LEO and the cost of getting there is prohibitively high. So that not a single regular Joe can enjoy what a select few have – the perspective that allows you to look down on our small planet and appreciate what we have in one of the most profound ways. The most pressing goal of anybody concerned with the current state of space exploration and developement should be to reduce cost and increase access to it, becuase it is still very much out of reach for just about everybody. Then my immediate goal should be getting trained in the practical matter of how to make this work, how to enable lower cost, reliable systems that will enable more and better access to space. This implies an academic preparation in aerospace or mechanical engineering. So I signed up with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics for a student membership and hope to continue investigating single-stage-to-orbit reusable-launch-vehicles and other next generation concepts as well as keeping an eye on aerospace companies with future goals to open up space exploration and developement commercially while pursuing my academic goals. This is the closest I’ve come to declaring a major – it’s pretty much set now. I can complete a Mechanical Engineering degree with an Aerospace Engineering track at FIU without disrupting my family with a move or any big changes, then things get interesting.
I remain interested in aerospace and material science, clean & renewable energy, sustainable developement, advanced space propulsion, space exploration, human spaceflight, especially Mars Exploration and settlement & making sure my son has the opportunity to reach further for his goals than I. I live, work and study here in Miami, Florida, USofA on a little blue planet called Earth.
