I’ve always been a scientist and inventor with a sense of adventure. When I was young, I dreamed of inventions that would solve the world’s problems: hydrogen cars, carbon capture, biodegradable plastics, and deep drilling technology for scalable geothermal energy. School left me feeling like a cog being stamped out in a factory. It had no sense of who I was, and curiosity was sacrificed for “getting through the content.” I learned to play the game, but longed for something different. I began to see the ultimate invention as improved education.

After graduation, I embarked on a grand adventure to combine science and technology with adventure. I joined the Navy, studied physics and aero/astro engineering, and became a pilot, hoping to make it through test pilot school and onward to NASA. A medical issue precluded me from continuing down that path, but before I left the Navy, I had a chance to become a lead flight instructor, manage flight operations on an aircraft carrier, lead teams of scientists in building space systems for national security, and modernize data analytics for Naval Aviation. I never lost sight of what I considered to be the ultimate invention, and when I left the service, I set a new course to find a team doing just that. Now, I’m thrilled to be part of BPL, which continues to be a vanguard for important and innovative change in education.