The other night I was watching the experts on the funbox (tv) discuss the various ways they would stop the spewing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. As I listened to the experts (that no oil company feels compelled to hire) compete for “smartest man in the room” honors I realized that this is a friggin’ difficult situation. You’re trying to perform a very delicate procedure 50,000 feet beyond your physical reach while the environmentally concerned world is breathing down your neck.
As I took it all in it made me wonder, “What in the world could be harder than that?”. Then it hit me. This is what I’ve been doing for the last 18 months.
Stay with me here…
“perform a very difficult procedure” = Design and manufacture a machine that turns hydrogen and air into electricity.
“50,000 feet beyond your physical reach” = Instruct someone on the phone in India through that insanely complex procedure from your desk in New York.
“while the environmentally concerned world is breathing down your neck” = “while the environmentally/economically concerned investor is breathing down your neck”
Get it? I’ve been doing the mechanical engineering version of the deep-water jimmy-hat for the last year and half. The only difference being no ocean life is in danger, much less $$$ is being wasted and Geraldo Rivera doesn’t seem to give a crap.
Well, the cool part of my story is that we were able to cap our oil leak by finally delivering the design. The ironic twist is the moment we finished our product delivery Sales and Marketing came to the realization that they can’t sell it. So our entire program has been canceled.
Oh well, sometimes you have to work your butt off to find out that the world just wasn’t ready for something so cool. Plus that hard work always makes you smarter, stronger and more prepared for the next big challenge.
We know we kicked a$$ on this project and will gladly move on to the next challenge; Motive Power Fuel Cells.
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