The engineer whom I find inspiring is Elon Musk. Elon Musk helped to found SpaceX and Tesla Motors, and has conceptualized the Hyperloop. I admire his desire to further the world in alternative energy via Tesla Motors and further aerospace endeavors via SpaceX. I also admire his conceptualization of the alternative energy powered, public Hyperloop.
Elon Musk was born in South Africa in 1971. His mother was a model and his father an engineer. He taught himself computer programming at age 10, and by age 12 had programmed his own video game. He received a B.S. in physics and economics at the University of Pennsylvania, and left his PhD in Stanford to become an entrepreneur. He founded what would be later known as PayPal in 1999, but currently
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Tesla Motors is one of the leading companies for electric vehicles, prompting other companies to further develop their own hybrid vehicles or create fully electric concept automobiles. Tesla Motors even made their patents free use, in order to accelerate the development of sustainable automobiles.
Elon Musk seemed to get to where he is today through ambition, creativity, intellect, and an immensely powerful work ethic, which seems to interfere with other aspects of his life. There is no way that I could mimic Elon Musk, but I do have some similar interests that I would perhaps like to pursue.
When I first started research through the mentorship program at NCSSM, I wanted to work with alternative energy or reusable energy. This was in part due to learning about Tesla Motors, which seemed to popularize and expand the field of alternative energy. Before hearing about Tesla Motors, the only exposure to alternative energy was with large power sources, such as wind turbines, solar panels, and nuclear reactors. I am not that interested in those large power sources, as they are not a large and visible part of my life. Learning about Tesla Motors, and how Elon Musk wanted to make low-cost alternative energy sources via electric cars triggered my interest in that field. That is why I initially wanted to work with Dr. Muth. He pitched a summer project to create a wristband that used a thermoelectric power source to power sensors that would detect certain particles in the air, such as allergens or toxic