[burpg] Thanksgiving

From: "D. Armor Harris" <davidh@xxxxxx>
To: "burpg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <burpg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2013 00:39:37 -0500
As we all get back to Boston and push towards the final stretch of the
semester, I would like to take a moment to pause and reflect on a few
things.

I was talking to someone a few weeks ago and I said "man, I just wish that
we had 20 people that we could pay for 20 hours per week each. With 20
hours/week from 20 people consistently, we'd be aiming for the moon right
now." In return they said "sure, but then they wouldn't be in it for the
rockets."

That's a pretty profound statement. That we're all in this not because
we're getting compensated for it, but because we love it. Because we see
the vision. We don't have all of the experience and the skills, we don't
have the know-how, but we have the passion. And upon reflection, I'll take
the passion more than the other three.

If we were a company, this would be the point in time where you would want
to invest in us. We're poised for a breakout. Over the next 90 days, we
could go from "the most successful amateur rocket project that's never
actually ignited a rocket" to arguably the world's leading undergraduate
aerospace project. If we play our cards right, we will demonstrate in the
very near future:

   - Electronic pressure regulation of a rocket fuel tank (historically
   it's all mechanical)
   - Wireless remote fueling and control of a launch vehicle
   - 3-DOF active control of a supersonic vehicle
   - Gas thruster control
   - A working, flyable high performance Q class hybrid rocket
   - A mutli-university cooperative effort achieving all of this

The technical achievements are certainly marvelous, but what has really
impressed me this year was that I'm not the solve driving force any more.
I'm able to leave for the night and two freshmen will stay later and keep
working. I'll walk into the shop and find people making parts. I'll get a
call from someone and they'll invite me to come check out the boards
they've gotten working. That's incredible to me.

People are taking this whole project and making it their own experience.
They're turning it into a movement, a shared vision as opposed to one
single person's dream.

That's what I've been impressed with, and that's what I'm thankful for.
Because if we're going to do this, it's going to require you guys owning
the project. Your initiative becoming the whole team's initiative, your
ideas become the team's shared brainstorming machine, your energy becoming
the team's power source. It's like Iron Man; all of the power comes from
the heart.

To see this happening even as I write this is probably more heartwarming to
me than anything that we could ever accomplish technically. It's not about
the rocket, it's about the team. And I'm so thankful to be with this team
and all of the amazing people that are a part of it.

Armor
-- 
David Armor Harris
Boston University Rocket Propulsion Group
davidh@xxxxxx
[burpg] Thanksgiving

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