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From his about page: "I studied music production in college, and after seeing the ambition of SpaceX, and the excitement in the new space industry, I was hooked

From his about page: "I studied music production in college, and after seeing the ambition of SpaceX, and the excitement in the new space industry, I was hooked. I wanted to work in aerospace... " At first, I wondered what SpaceX role would suit him best and why SpaceX hadn't hired him. Then it occurred to me that humanity might be better off with passionate polymaths such as him working outside as opposed to inside the establishment. After all, Elon Musk started his aerospace career outside the establishment. And SpaceX is now establishment? Polymaths have been quite productive in crypto and other low-startup-cost environments. But, apparently, not so much in autonomous vehicles, etc. This could be a function of the learnings required for physical world projects, to wit: quaternions, telematics, aerodynamics, etc. So, would we/he be better off inside or outside the Borg? Thoughts?

anotheryou 6y ago
In some vid he says he had the chance to go to spacex, but than wanted to continue what he's doing.
albntomat0 6y ago
What he's done is super impressive and cool, but has he acquired the necessary base knowledge to work on an avionics, propulsion, etc team at SpaceX? I'm not in any of those fields, but I'd have to imagine there's a large amount of background knowledge that someone with an aero or mechanical engineering degree has, that he hasn't picked up with model rockets.
- NikolaeVarius 6y ago
  Majority of engineers with a degree are useless right after graduation. Its a ton of random math that (most) of which you don't use again since you use modeling software. Source: Did Aero Someone doing this as a Amateur can damn well pick up whatever they need to.
  - bsaul 6y ago
    Even at space X level of innovation ? I was under that impression that maths could still be useful when working at the very bleeding edge of an engineering field.
    - joshvm 6y ago
      Bear in mind that companies at the scale of Space X doing safety critical work tend to parcel up tasks fairly minutely. Everything is compartmentalised, tested separately and there are whole teams devoted to the large scale architecture and integration. There's a joke that back in the space race days, an engineer might be responsible for a single screw on the Saturn V (and you'd be damn sure if the thing blew up, it wasn't your screw that did it). Same thing happens with ESA and NASA contractors. There are lots of engineers who are basically building things to a spec and aren't what you might call innovating. I think someone who builds rockets to this level would be absolutely fine in an entry position. They just might need to get some of the theory first. Saying that, he clearly understands mechanical design and control theory. Didn't one of the chief engineers at SpaceX start out with model rockets?
      - mr_toad 6y ago
        This doesn’t seem to be SpaceX philosophy. See from about 3:25 where Elon discusses the problems caused by departmental structure, not questioning constraints, and ‘optimising something that shouldn’t exist’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDUOaqyup5s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDUOaqyup5s
  - esmi 6y ago
    > Its a ton of random math that (most) of which you don't use again since you use modeling software. You absolutely need that math because you need to know when the modeling software is giving the wrong answer. You’re supposed to do quick and dirty calc by hand (ok fine I use mathematica) in a simplified system, then you refine with numerical software and compare the two. It’s shockingly easy to get the wrong answer with numerical CAD.
- starpilot 6y ago
  He buys the rocket motors. From his FAQ: > Do you make your own motors? > Nope, I use commercially available propellants. Usually black powder motors from Estes or APCP motors from Aerotech. For custom or more complicated builds, BPS.space outsources propellant work to other manufacturers, who can often achieve higher precision and predictability than any consumer setup. I learn best by experimentation, which works very well for software and electronics, less so for explosives and propellants. > I also got a C+ in chemistry during high school - designing and making rocket propellant is not a good idea for me :) It sounds like he makes the rocket housings then tweaks some parameters to make them fly.
  - albntomat0 6y ago
    As someone with experience on the model rocket side, the electronics part of the project is highly impressive, especially using thrust vectoring to get most of the way to landing. Still, there's a huge gap, IMO, between that and building SpaceX level avionics
  - robszumski 6y ago
    Watch one of his videos explaining how his flight computers work. If you still think he's just "making rocket housings" afterwards, thats fine. But watch a video first: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCILl8ozWuxnFYXIe2svjHhg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCILl8ozWuxnFYXIe2svjHhg
- Enginerrrd 6y ago
  I'd hire this guy in an instant over a rando with a degree and no experience. Engineering degrees are by themselves not very useful, but they are an indicator that you can learn and to an extent teach yourself you need to know to solve problems. This guy has demonstrated that he would probably be extremely successful in most any engineering role I can imagine having a need for, with the possible exception of needing consultation on some really bleeding edge theoretical stuff that would normally be best served by a PhD.
samatman 6y ago
Autonomous vehicles is maybe not the best example, with geohot, of all people, founding a self-driving car startup.

anotheryou 6y ago

In some vid he says he had the chance to go to spacex, but than wanted to continue what he's doing.

albntomat0 6y ago

What he's done is super impressive and cool, but has he acquired the necessary base knowledge to work on an avionics, propulsion, etc team at SpaceX? I'm not in any of those fields, but I'd have to imagine there's a large amount of background knowledge that someone with an aero or mechanical engineering degree has, that he hasn't picked up with model rockets.

NikolaeVarius 6y ago
Majority of engineers with a degree are useless right after graduation. Its a ton of random math that (most) of which you don't use again since you use modeling software. Source: Did Aero Someone doing this as a Amateur can damn well pick up whatever they need to.
- bsaul 6y ago
  Even at space X level of innovation ? I was under that impression that maths could still be useful when working at the very bleeding edge of an engineering field.
  - joshvm 6y ago
    Bear in mind that companies at the scale of Space X doing safety critical work tend to parcel up tasks fairly minutely. Everything is compartmentalised, tested separately and there are whole teams devoted to the large scale architecture and integration. There's a joke that back in the space race days, an engineer might be responsible for a single screw on the Saturn V (and you'd be damn sure if the thing blew up, it wasn't your screw that did it). Same thing happens with ESA and NASA contractors. There are lots of engineers who are basically building things to a spec and aren't what you might call innovating. I think someone who builds rockets to this level would be absolutely fine in an entry position. They just might need to get some of the theory first. Saying that, he clearly understands mechanical design and control theory. Didn't one of the chief engineers at SpaceX start out with model rockets?
    - mr_toad 6y ago
      This doesn’t seem to be SpaceX philosophy. See from about 3:25 where Elon discusses the problems caused by departmental structure, not questioning constraints, and ‘optimising something that shouldn’t exist’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDUOaqyup5s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDUOaqyup5s
- esmi 6y ago
  > Its a ton of random math that (most) of which you don't use again since you use modeling software. You absolutely need that math because you need to know when the modeling software is giving the wrong answer. You’re supposed to do quick and dirty calc by hand (ok fine I use mathematica) in a simplified system, then you refine with numerical software and compare the two. It’s shockingly easy to get the wrong answer with numerical CAD.
starpilot 6y ago
He buys the rocket motors. From his FAQ: > Do you make your own motors? > Nope, I use commercially available propellants. Usually black powder motors from Estes or APCP motors from Aerotech. For custom or more complicated builds, BPS.space outsources propellant work to other manufacturers, who can often achieve higher precision and predictability than any consumer setup. I learn best by experimentation, which works very well for software and electronics, less so for explosives and propellants. > I also got a C+ in chemistry during high school - designing and making rocket propellant is not a good idea for me :) It sounds like he makes the rocket housings then tweaks some parameters to make them fly.
- albntomat0 6y ago
  As someone with experience on the model rocket side, the electronics part of the project is highly impressive, especially using thrust vectoring to get most of the way to landing. Still, there's a huge gap, IMO, between that and building SpaceX level avionics
- robszumski 6y ago
  Watch one of his videos explaining how his flight computers work. If you still think he's just "making rocket housings" afterwards, thats fine. But watch a video first: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCILl8ozWuxnFYXIe2svjHhg https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCILl8ozWuxnFYXIe2svjHhg
Enginerrrd 6y ago
I'd hire this guy in an instant over a rando with a degree and no experience. Engineering degrees are by themselves not very useful, but they are an indicator that you can learn and to an extent teach yourself you need to know to solve problems. This guy has demonstrated that he would probably be extremely successful in most any engineering role I can imagine having a need for, with the possible exception of needing consultation on some really bleeding edge theoretical stuff that would normally be best served by a PhD.

samatman 6y ago

Autonomous vehicles is maybe not the best example, with geohot, of all people, founding a self-driving car startup.