From aerospace engineer to small business CEO – an R&D career in the private sector*

A personal career perspective is presented, beginning with the transition from academia to a large aerospace company, where the author learned that particle accelerator technology offers rich and diverse R&D opportunities. Next followed a transition to a small startup company and a fruitful period of research funding by the small business innovative research (SBIR) program. The accrual of some management and business development skills, and the beginnings of a personal vision for what a small R&D company could be, initiated the more recent transition from employee to entrepreneur and company founder. The presentation will conclude with a) some examples of how curiosity-driven scientific research can directly contribute to large-scale engineering projects and applied R&D, b) a brief comparison of federally funded research vs smaller-scale contract R&D services, and c) the benefits of bringing scientific computing to the cloud.