I was watching an old episode of Star Trek today, and Captain Picard and his landing party Teleported to some dangerous place. For non-trekkies, Teleporting is a way that people get from one place to another by having their bodies vaporize in one location, and get reconstituted in a different location. They were accompanied by one crew member that I did not recognize, so as any Star Trek Fan knows, that crew member is the sacrificial goat who gets killed in this dangerous place. As I watched the Teleportation of the landing party, it reminded me of a conversation I had many years ago with someone who, at the time, was a high school senior starting a Summer Internship with me.
I asked Alex what he dreamed of doing in what would surely be a long and successful career as an engineer. Alex told me that he was going to design and build the first real Teleportation device, and that would change the way modern man thinks about traveling. I thought Alex was joking, and I laughed at him. After he explained that he was not kidding, I had a serious conversation with him explaining why Teleportation was something that was only found in Science Fiction movies, and that it was contrary to all Laws of Physics, and that it could never actually happen.
I regret that I handled the conversation that way that day. Who was I to tell Alex what he could not do? What may have happened if someone had told Alexander Graham Bell that man would never have telephones, or if someone had told Neil Armstrong that man would never walk on the moon?
The rate at which technology has advanced in the last 50 years is mind-boggling, and technology will certainly advance at the same pace, or faster, in the next 50 years. Fifty years ago, one could not have imagined the technology we would have today. So, why should man today even attempt to imagine the technology that will be common-place 50 years from now. And, although I do not personally expect to be around in 50 years, my Intern Alex should still be around.
Ambition is the source of innovation, and innovation is the source of radical technology.
We cannot imagine what Alex and his peers will have in store for us in the future.
If you want to advance your skills in areas that will allow you to innovate into the future, consider taking one of the many courses offered by ATI. You can find our full catalog of courses on our home page.
Most of our courses are being offered Live-Virtual at the moment, but as we leave COVID behind us, we will be offering more courses Live again. With Live Courses, students will need to travel to get to the facility where the course is being offered, but with luck, you may be able to Teleport to the classroom someday soon.
As a closing and encouraging footnote, I reached out to Alex today, and reminded him of the conversation we had so many years ago. I was happy to hear that Alex is still working hard and enthusiastic about his goal to someday invent a Teleporter. When he does that, his name will be associated with other pioneers like Graham Bell and Armstrong.
So, what are the “The Four Shuns”, you ask. AmbitION, nurtured by EducatION, allows innovatION, and maybe TeleportatION