Honestly, this thing inspired my imagination more than I could have imagined. I had so much fun that I ended up building dozens more embedded systems projects,

Honestly, this thing inspired my imagination more than I could have imagined. I had so much fun that I ended up building dozens more embedded systems projects, and eventually redirected my career more towards embedded systems, too. Embedded systems really let you interact with them in a tactile way, as you put it, that computer-based software does not. I found it irresistible. Jon's oldest child -- pictured on the web site as an 8-year-old -- is now a sophomore in college, majoring in engineering. I'd like to think the rocket had some small part in that, too.