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He is a NASA rocket scientist, nuclear engineer and an inventor with over 100 patents. He also accidentally created the best selling water toy of all time—the Super Soaker.
First person he squirted with the Super Soaker:
"I don't actually remember the first person I squirted. You know I remember the first time I shot the gun and I gave it to my daughter and let her play with it. But I think the first memorable person was actually when I was at an office function when I was in the air force and my coworkers were there. I was a captain in the military at the time and this major who outranked me saw me holding the gun and said 'captain what is that?' I said 'it is my water gun sir' and he said 'does it work?' I said 'Yes, sir' and I turned and shot him right between the eyes. It was hilarious. Of course after that the whole picnic turned into a riot we were throwing water beer from cups and everything it was a great ice breaker we had a great time."
Favorite invention besides the super soaker:
"That is like asking what is my favorite child, haha. Actually, I have a hard time choosing. I can say that there are five or four top highlights: my robot that I built when I was in high school, of course, was a game changer for me. The Super Soaker, the Nerf dart guns, my invention on the Galileo spacecraft, the lithium battery technology that I'm developing right now, the solid state batteries as well as the lithium fuel cells. And of course, the heat engine - my engine that converts heat directly into electricity without any moving mechanical parts. So those are the things that are highlights. I can't say one is my favorite because they all have had dramatic impacts on my life."
Advice to kids who want to be inspiring inventors:
"My advice for kids who are inspiring inventors is to persevere. Don't give up your visions and the things that you want to make sometimes only you can see them. Only you can realize what potential impact it could have. When I built my first robot it was with an erector set and I think I may have been about 6 years old at the time."
