Paul Moller on the Skycar

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/paul_moller_on_the_skycar.html

I want to be an engineer; more specifically, I want to make, modify, construct, and deconstruct things until I've come up with a way to make something useful out of it. This TED talk, given by Paul Moller, is one about tinkering with the two things required for invention: necessity and creativity. Since I was little, I loved legos, puzzles, and all kinds of building materials. As of recently, I've become interested in physics and how things work. Combining the two has led me toward the path of invention.

Paul's talk involves many parts of the invention process: the idea, his first approach, problems, misconceptions, then a repeat. I watched this talk to get a closer look at this process and how he went through it; I got an added bonus since he was talking about one of my long-standing interests (since grade school), flying from the comfort of your own home. He admits that many people have doubted this possibility countless times ever since Henry Ford predicted it back in 1940. But having the power to overcome people's (and sometimes your own) doubts is one of the main reasons I enjoyed watching Paul's talk. Many people will attest to his statement―that without a strong drive, the invention process fails.

Paul Moller is the president, CEO and chair of Moller International, which directs its efforts toward developing Moller's Skycar. His company also works on the M200, a low-flying disc, or volantor, that may go into production later in 2009. A partner company, Freedom Motors, builds the Rotapower engine. Moller developed the Aeronautical Engineering program at UC Davis while a professor there from 1963 to 1975. In 1972 he founded SuperTrapp Industries, and also led the group that developed the Davis Research Park Complex between 1975 and 1983. He's been working on "Vertical Takeoff and Landing" personal vehicles since the late 1960s.

I'm going to study Computer Science and Engineering at Santa Clara. Like Paul, I want to be able to take an idea and mess around with it until I can produce something useful or fun, like a computer program. Computers are becoming more and more a part of society; more and more they are becoming necessary to every day life: mainly in cell phones and home computers. I hope to make something that will be of use to many people, or something innovative that will change the way people live life―for the better. I can start by getting some experience by getting an internship or a job. Santa Clara is a great school for Computer Science and Engineering; with its 4-1 program, I can earn a bachelor's degree in four years and quickly upgrade to a master's degree in just one more year. Santa Clara is also great not only for its outstanding program, but because of its location in the heart of the Silicon Valley. I think I should be able to get plenty of experience and be on my way to using ideas to create new, useful products that people will enjoy.

A Full Life-Daniel Brenzel

Ric (Ricardo) Elias is a successful entrepreneur, perhaps a model for what I would like to do in my own business career. Elias is the CEO and founder of a high tech market service company, Red Ventures. He founded this company while working at RedF.com, a discount and loyalty company he created with a partner, Dan Feldstein in 1999. RedF.com almost failed during the Internet bust in early 2001, but Elias and Feldstein reorganized the company and its business model so that it was ultimately successfully sold to its management in 2005. Elias now devotes himself full-time to running Red Ventures.

Elias was born in Puerto Rico and went as an undergraduate to Boston College. He came to the United States knowing very little English, so college was real challenge for him in a way that it will not be for me. After college Elias applied to the well-known General Electric financial management program and was accepted. He had two years of rigorous training with GE, working in the U.S., Japan, and other countries in Asia. After working for GE, Elias got his Masters of Business Administration degree at Harvard. While I may not be so fortunate as to get accepted into a formal management training program like GE’s, Elias’ experience speaks to the importance for a prospective business career of getting a job first at a well-run company that can provide a solid training ground for an entry-level employee, before going on to business school for an MBA. After Harvard, Elias worked for CUC (now Cendant), another large company that gave him direct hands-on experience in doing what he enjoys doing: running different businesses in different places. That is the aspect of working in business that really appeals to me.

Interesting, Elias’ TED talk is not about business at all, even though his biography focuses heavily on this aspect of his life. Elias’ talk is about his life-changing experience during the near-crash of a plane on which he was traveling in January 2009. This was Flight 1549, the one that had to make an emergency landing on the Hudson River and avoided total destruction only by the miraculous skills of its pilot. Elias has three revelations from this near-death experience: (1) “It all changes in an instant”, so “don’t postpone anything”; (2) “Don’t waste time on things that don’t matter”, “eliminate negative energy from life” and “don’t be right, be happy”; and (3) “the only thing that matters is being a good dad”. These are profound insights, but I think that I do not yet have the perspective to appreciate them fully. The joy of having children is something I cannot relate to at this point in my life. However, I can understand the importance of living life fully every day and being happy with my own life, not comparing myself (negatively) to others. We have seen examples of how disaster can strike in an instant, for example, the sudden traumatic car accident of our classmate, Caroline Hansen. The love of family is the most important, truly lasting thing in our lives.

My plan is to graduate from Butler University, where I am headed this fall, with a degree in business, probably with an emphasis on economics. One of the great appeals of Butler for me are the internship opportunities that are built into the school’s business curriculum. After college I would like to get a job at a company that will enable me to further see the inner workings of real businesses. I would like to be a part of the business itself, not just an administrator or technician. I imagine myself returning to California to get an MBA. Elias’ story tells me that it is important to be flexible and open to new opportunities and possibilities. You need to make the best of a bad situation, as he did with the near-failure of his Internet company, RedF.com. Elias’ talk warns me that in addition to my business aspirations, I need to be sure that I never lose sight of the fundamental importance of happiness, love, and family.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ric_elias.html