User:AdmiralHackett
About Me
I am a Mechanical Engineering student at Duke University, as well as one of the highest ranking officials of the Systems Alliance Navy. My hobbies include hiking, biking, fishing, playing video games, basketball, and protecting human interests as we colonize the stars. My schedule usually includes sleeping, eating, socializing, doing homework, and serving as the commanding officer of the Alliance Navy's Fifth Fleet.
While on duty, I go by the name of Steven Hackett. While at Duke, however, I go by the name Andrew Katsohirakis (pronounced "Kat-Soh-Hir-Rak-Kis").
Grand Challenges for Engineering
Out of all of the Grand Challenges for Engineering, I am most interested in the goal to "Provide energy from fusion." Fusion, as a theoretical physical process, is a highly efficient and clean way to produce massive amounts of energy. The trick is to harness it in a practical way. Current fusion reactors are more for show than for actual energy production; let's try and change that! I'm also a huge space exploration buff, so I wholeheartedly support nuclear fusion as both a means (propulsion for space ships, power for colonies) and an end (a fusion economy would make profitable the mining of helium-3 in the lunar regolith, deuterium in the Martian regolith, and hydrogen isotopes of all kinds in the atmospheres of gas giants) for colonizing space.
The following link talks about British scientists and their efforts to make fusion economical:
'Scrapyard challenge' to make nuclear fusion more economic, Stephen Harris, Engineering News and Engineering Jobs|The Engineer, updated 6 August 2012, accessed 28 August 2012 (Grand Challenge, Nuclear Fusion)
What's My Fave MATLAB Demo?
My favorite MATLAB demonstration is definitely the Game of Life. It is just so interesting to see how complex systems emerge from simple ones, and how left to its own devices, chaos will impose order upon itself. I haven't the faintest clue how someone programmed this game, but it's incredibly interesting to watch and to contemplate.
