I am involved in a satellite project. It’s actually not such an alien thing to do. There are more than 50+ satellites currently under construction and ready to be sent all around the globe. All this is under the CubeSat project that was started by Califoria Polytechnic. My appreciation for such projects. There are also numerous others bigger satellites under development. So, how’s ours different?

We’re students. We’re all in one organisation. But we all live in different countries. So, what do we hope to do? Research – Construct – Assemble and Launch. Straight forward to listen to. Here’s the fun part. We build parts of the satellite in different parts of the world. So, one country builds the outer structure. The other builds internal structure, another solders the communications circuits and so on. Well, the satellite is no good in parts, is it? So, we bring it all to one place and we put it together. Take it to a launch pad and launch it.

We’ve been discussing it since 2005 as a technical project in which we can all be physically and not Internet-ly involved. Sending emails and IMs are now passe. Collaborate with others across the globe and build stuff.

I hope some car enthusiasts group from different countries can build a global car. They can release the manufacturing notes and let anyone with resources build a car for themselves. The experience of driving in a car you build is totally different and very very few people have experienced it. And don’t stick to cars either. Try to do this across other stuff as well.

All this is a great way to network. You know these people are serious and not just bluffing with you. Also, you get to meet new people. Learn to trust each other. Who knows, maybe one day we can have peaceful co-existence that we have been trying to achieve for the past 2000 years.