I’ve always been interested in systems. I became an aerospace engineer to learn how to create the most complex manmade systems today. Aerospace is a rich intersection of disciplines — mechanical, electrical, material, software, biological, and more. My area of expertise is the design of highly autonomous systems that leverage distributed intelligence and controls to mimic the complexity and modularity found naturally in biological life. Artificial life is especially relevant to extraterrestrial missions, present and future, where complexity must be seeded and evolved, rather than centrally manufactured and transported. My time at academic research institutions and NASA gave me rigorous approaches to systems-design, starting from mission definition and spanning to spiral prototyping phases, integration, testing, and launch. Now, I’m applying my practice towards human-based systems dynamics on Earth.

Today, I work at the intersection of technology, art, and policy to build tools, seed cultures, and develop strategies that are effective in emergent systems, whether that’s designing low-cost prototyping machines, developing economic indicators and policy frameworks, or exploring founding values for a graduate school. I believe fundamentally in collective striving, and I am committed to democratizing the tools, knowledge, and infrastructure needed to unlock the latent creative and contributory potential of every individual. My main work today is redesigning systems of scholarship, governance, and science through co-evolution.