Feb 16 2024 54 mins
On todays episode of Futureneering I am joined by Michael Smart. Michael has spent his life dedicated to furthering research in hypersonics and scramjet technology. He spent 10 years as a research scientist in NASA Langley, and 15 years as a professor and chair of hypersonic propulsion at the University of Queensland. Michael has recently started a company called Hypersonix Launch Systems to commercialise his research and technology around scramjet-based propulsion systems. As cofounder and CTO of the brisbane based hypersonics startup, he is leading a team of 35 to tackle a bold and ambitious goal, which is to develop the worlds first reusable hypersonic vehicle, which will be used to further his mission of efficient and reliable access to space.
In this episode, Michael and I discuss his career so far as a hypersonics researcher, spinning off his company, the transition from academia to startups, what it takes to build hard things, the issue with commercialising deep tech in Australia and much more.