Miles Killingsworth Interview:
1)
What was your reaction to hearing that you had won a scholarship?
I was incredibly honored and thrilled. The final stage of interviews was held in San Francisco for 15 western finalists, out of which 6 were chosen to be among the 18 scholars. It was such an amazing group of people--each with an incredible and unique story--that I was honored simply to be included among them. When I got the letter in the mail with the news that I had been selected, I really couldn't believe it--I had to read it a couple of times to make sure that I wasn't somehow mistaken.
2)
What country would you most like to study in as a Luce Scholar and what would you study or do there?
Of course, any country would be amazing, but I would most like to live in China.
Poised to become the world's most powerful single economy, China shows every sign of being the dominant national force of the 21st century, and I think that experience with their language and culture would prove to be an asset for anybody in any field. Additionally, I want to ultimately pursue a career dealing with global warming policy, and China-- which is currently fueling its rapid growth with greenhouse-gas-intensive coal power- will certainly play a central role in climate change policies in the coming decades. I would love to get an internship related somehow to environmental
policy, but more than anything, I think that the opportunity understand a little about the Chinese people and their culture would be immensely valuable.
3)
What are your career plans in renewable energy? What area of renewable energy or expertise are you pursuing in school?
I actually want to pursue a career in public policy, especially policies related to global warming. While this may sound like a big jump from astronautical engineering (my major) I don't really feel that this is the case-- technical abilities and awareness are playing an inreasingly important role in policy decisions. Global warming is an excellent example of this: to make intelligent policies toward global-warming mitigation requires a high degree of technical ability. Too many politicians and policymakers end up pushing policies and technologies that aren't feasible solutions as a result of their
technical illiteracy. This is manifested in things like the disproportionate funding of hydrogen fuel-cell research. From a technical standpoint, the hydrogen fuel cell car is so problematic that it will certainly not be a reality in the near future, yet its surface appeal allows it to recieve more attention and funding than other, less appealing but superior solutions.
In addition to the general technical literacy that my studies in astrounautics have given me, I was able to take a course with Dr. Browand called Alternative Energy Solutions (AME 599), which was a survey of technical information mostly pertaining to global warming. I also spend a lot of my time reading a host of news and other sources. The dynamic and complex nature of global warming requires the use of information from a broad spectrum of sources disciplines, and I do my best to learn as much as I can.
After my year with Luce, I plan on attending law school to study international law. I'm confident that my technical background will give me a unique and powerful perspective in the fight against global warming and its associated problems.
