Avum, being my first opportunity to perform professionally as an intern, I would like to offer a big thank you to Mr. Randall Mora, president of Avum for providing me this exciting opportunity. I was unsure of what to expect, but must say that I found it a most rewarding and very exhilarating experience. I now understand that formal education provides tools, but how they are applied is completely dependent upon customer needs. I hadn’t thought in terms of “customers,” but now understand that this is a two-way street. While supply side economics may indeed drive industry to move to new technology, it is more common that customer needs drive technological breakthroughs. At least that is my current perception, right or wrong.
At Avum I am working with consummate professionals that are solving real world problems the solutions to which don’t fit any predefined expectations. That is, real world problem solving that requires continuing innovation. From my so far somewhat limited perspective, I can see that innovation is the conduit for applying my education to problem solving. I recognize that I have a long way to go in my career, but this seems like an excellent place to begin.
And speaking of innovation, the draft of a paper I was recently asked to review, is an example of the forward thinking demonstrated by Avum. Senior Science Advisor, Mr. Jerry Hill, in this paper draws on his extensive experience spanning several decades, from the first satellite launch by the former Soviet Union to the present, and the hundreds of satellites launched from that first satellite launch until now. We have learned much since the first artificial Earth satellite, but may have inadvertently become victims of the unintended consequences of residual debris from those launches.
The name of the referenced paper is, “Space Debris – History and implications, a Joint Functional Component Command for Space (JFCC SPACE) Solution.” This paper draws on Mr. Hill’s personal experience in the Aerospace/Space industry over a 55 year period, but from the unusual perspective of the residual debris left orbiting the Earth over the span of his career from the beginning of the space age until now. The solution to this problem may be left to those like me, just entering the industry. If so, this paper gives us a good starting point.