I am an industrial designer with approximately 40 years, (80,000 hours), of work experience in mechanical and structural design. This experience has been predominately in material handling, that is: conveyors and processing equipment in the aggregate and forest products industries. I guess I’m suggesting that moving people, as in this transportation proposal, is also a material-handling job; it’s just that this material is more sensitive, easily bruised and sometimes cranky. It also has a self-mobile capability that other materials don’t, which has it’s pro’s and con’s. So far I’ve spent my life having fun discovering all of the variations, challenges and rewards of working on increasingly difficult projects, almost always by myself but within the employ of manufacturers or engineering companies which required, of course, much studying of all things mechanical, some electrical and copious amounts of structural analysis thrown in here and there. Unfortunately, I learned early to heartily dislike school, well, classrooms. I was the kid being constantly reprimanded for spending most of my time gazing out of the window, however, if there was an interesting subject I did well. To this window gazing I attribute my success as a designer, picturing in my head the solution to difficult problems before putting anything on paper. I guess most people can’t do that, that’s a recent discovery.

A profound aspect of my learning experience is that I didn’t respond very well to the “academic” style of learning; “read this, read that”, I, like most boys were and are still “tactile” learners; hands on, mind in gear, active, fun! The trouble with our society is that schools are designed and operated by academics, there’s not much insight into the other half of the population. Are you familiar with Rudolf Steiner?

After high school I spent 4 years in the Air Force, which quelled my earlier passion for airplanes. Since that time school for any extended length of time was not an option, life was too busy and full of possibilities. My favorite pastime was inventing things; there didn’t seem to be any classes on inventing or creativity, (I read several books on creativity that at the end it was clear the author had no idea what creativity is). I believe I’m qualified to teach that now. In the absence of any outside resources it was easy to put together strange devices to see if I could defeat the laws of physics, I couldn’t. Please understand, if I’d learned all of that stuff in school it would have kept me from that unrivaled hands on experience, I would have learned all of the things I couldn’t do and would have been too discouraged after that to try. Ok, that’s a rationalization, but I’m sticking to it! I have several patents on mechanical devices none of which have made any money. My first patent, on an electric screwdriver, cost me half a years pay. I thought all I needed was for someone to discover it and I’d have lots of money. It didn’t quite work that way. See what I learned? That didn’t deter my enthusiasm for inventing but I decided that I wouldn’t patent anything again until it was something I could manufacture. I have invented a dozen things since that I could manufacture and I actually started to manufacture a couple of them. I liked the inventing part but didn’t want to be a manufacturer or salesman, that’s just not me. During all of this time I’ve been working for manufacturers and inventing for them. I’ve received several patents for which I received $ 1 each and several pats on the back. That may sound like a meager reward, and it is, but I want to assure you that this is not a sad story for these employers furnish my playground with all sorts of interesting toys, (projects), that I never would have found by myself.

It’s been necessary for me to learn all of this stuff on my own since I couldn’t follow societies structure. When I was curious or needed more information about a subject I’d get a book. I highly recommend it, however, you must remember one of the sacred rules for this kind of work: it’s cheating if you ask anybody for help! I did take some engineering courses by mail that have been helpful but when they answered my current question I abandoned them. I’ll bet there are a lot of people out there following my steps, or maybe preceding my steps, in an effort to fulfill the desire to do something really significant just for the fun of it, pay really isn’t necessary although it certainly helps.

I’m also a sculptor, just for the fun of it.