Sharon-Weinberger-In.. - American Antigravity

usiness sector that wouldn’t exist were it not for the SBIR process. On the other hand, as you
point out, you have the stealth belt buckle issue.
But you have to understand why that exists. If you’re not solving a problem the military needs,
what good are you doing, and who will buy your fabulous technology? On the other hand, I
suppose if you want true innovation, you don’t want to overly limit proposals. Maybe the
solution is to strike a balance between the two: practical problems and far-reaching ideas.
AAG: What about over-engineering: the best example is NASA designing the space-pen with
a pressure-loaded cartridge to write upside down without running dry, while the Russians
effectively solved the same issue by issuing their cosmonauts pencils. Does the incentive to drive
large, financially-profitable defense-contracts lead us towards these Rube Goldberg style
approaches to solve everyday challenges, and has this been addressed at all in the defenseindustry?
Weinberger: That’s a good question, but I would reply with, “it depends.” When you’re
dealing with multibillion dollar weapon systems, you sometimes can’t afford for little things to
go wrong. On the other hand, you don’t want to create a billion dollar solution to something a
stick of gum can fix.
“We should never dismiss any idea out of hand as being fringe...
We should challenge orthodoxy and encourage free thinking.”
AAG: I'd like to focus on aerospace for just a second, because I've talked to Nick Cook over at
Janes a few times about industry trends, and he's very concerned that aerospace is going
through a period of profound decline right now. For instance, the average age of most aerospace
engineers is 55 years old, because the industry only produces refinements on mature
technologies, which means that young innovators go for the high-paychecks & creative
fulfillment of the IT industry rather than aerospace. Can you give us your thoughts on this
industry, and whether it's really in decline or not?
Weinberger: Cook is very correct. My brother for example, studied aerospace
engineering at Stanford about 10 years ago, and like most of his colleagues, went into computer
programming. That’s where the excitement was—aerospace wasn’t a fun or creative field to be
in. There’s going to be a big crisis as the current generation of aerospace engineers retires; I
don’t think anyone knows what to do about it. There needs to be a lot more funding for basic
research and development—that will help attract younger workers. But I don’t know if that’s
politically feasible right now. Where will the money come from?
How to fix it? I’m just not sure. Maybe we need simply to accept that IT, and not aerospace, is
the growth field. My guess is that for the aerospace industry to be reinvigorated, we’ll need the
next breakthrough in propulsion—that technology that really will effectively get us to Mars and
beyond. So, there needs to a big push into R&D, but I don’t see that money coming down the
pike.
AAG: Well as a professional who works across a variety of defense-related industries, which
ones would you say are really on the upswing right now? Can you give us an idea of what the
players & technologies are that are going to really be making an impact in 21st century defense?
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