What’s More Rock ‘n Roll Than Rock ‘n Roll?

I can hear it now. To open Solid Edge University we are going to hear either A) Space Odyssey by Elvis, or B) Rocket Man by David BowieElton John.

With all of the coincidences in this story, I should be playing the lottery this week. I promise this wasn’t a set up. Promise!

Solid Edge has recently announced the keynote speakers for Solid Edge University. One of them is Adam Steltzner, the mechanical engineer in charge of the team that landed the Mars Curiosity Rover on Mars. EDL (Entry, Descent, and Landing) was probably the sexiest part of whatever happens to the rover before it starts making discoveries.

So that’s pretty rock ‘n roll, if you ask me. But it turns out there’s much more. First, notice his hair cut. Yeah, that’s an Elvis cut if I’ve ever seen one. Plus, before dropping out of Berklee College of Music in Boston (about a half mile from the New England Conservatory of Music, which I dropped out of two years later), he had been a new wave musician (you remember the early ’80s, don’t you?).

Finally, Adam turned to mechanical engineering and found a purpose.

This story sounds familiar, because it is. The connection between music and engineering is so common, there has got to be something to it. I wrote a story about John Devitry, a rock ‘n roll inventor from Australia who came to be the CAD Administrator for the Space Dynamics Lab at Utah State. Mr. Devitry will also be speaking  at Solid Edge university.

Anyway, there’s a lot of space, and a lot of rock ‘n roll. And that sounds like a good time to me.

Still time to sign up.