The campsite rule for humanity
Hello! My name is Jade and I am a science fiction writer whose background research got way out of hand.
My days are spent in class and my evenings are spent at the Advanced Propulsion Laboratory at the University of Washington, designing and implementing groundbreaking electric propulsion systems. On the weekends, I write fiction, hike, and take care of my two cats and the rescue I am currently fostering at any given time for the Pacific Northwest Herpetological Society.
Before returning to college as an adult, I had examined my local job market and chosen to give up my passion for space research and exploration for a more secure local career in electrical engineering. However, I had no intention of giving up for good and sought opportunities to enter the space industry as an electrical engineer. Following my time with NANOGrav at Cornell University, in which I was able to meet with several professionals in the public and private industry, I found many paths I could take to that end. I intend to start my career as soon as I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, but with the help of UW’s Professional Master’s Program, I will also stay in school and begin my master’s degree. I will get my Professional Engineer license and hopefully manage my own engineering team someday.
My impossible goal is to be a mission specialist or flight engineer on an off-world ship. But until the technology comes out to repair my blind eye, I’ll be on the ground and helping others get to space!
I ardently want our species to expand out into the other planets and moons of our Solar System, but I know the technology is not there yet. I intend to dedicate my life to improving that technology. In January of 1998, the Mars Polar Lander was launched, containing a CD-ROM of my name and the names of a million other children, and crashed into the surface of Mars a year later. If I give this career path everything I’ve got, my kids can salvage that CD-ROM and give a new reason to leave our family name on the surface of the Red Planet.
