Zurbuchen, whose primary focus is solar physics, is intrigued by the invisible forces that fuel the scientific mind, especially religion—given his own experience:
“I think often about the interaction between religion and science. Religion can do two things—it can get an excitement in God as the Creator, however he did it—whether through a process of evolution or through saying something is just there—it can get that sort of excitement that can motivate in all the study of science and really become committed. This is the positive way. It can also do the opposite and say 'We have understood the glory of the Lord and we don't need to do anything about it because all we need to know is in the bible...’ I strongly reject the latter.'"
Thomas is responsible for calibrating and analyzing the data on a number of NASA’s satellites (some of which he helped build) and spacecrafts. Space travel and the innovations spawned by it is something Zurbuchen is extremely invested in:
“My PhD is in astrophysics and the two things that have always excited me about work are exploration and innovation. Exploration is a human urge. For me exploration of nature has two goals, the first one is to broaden our horizon—we're much better people for knowing what we have on earth, for understanding how big the universe is, and that has changed our view of it.”
He is also the chair of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan.
Take a look at his Blog to learn more.Along with the Entrepreneurship program and the University’s Phoenix Energy Institute, Thomas gets to tackle some of our most pressing contemporary issues:
“For example we've made a big mess out of our atmosphere, we have enormous gradients in income and poverty and we're relying on energy sources that are unhealthy for us in the long run. So if we could just ‘look under the hood’ many of these problems are related to engineering—and that's unbelievably exciting.“
One fundamental task is dealing with energy related crisis in a complex economy. Thomas thinks of most of the problem ("the lowest hanging fruit") as almost sociological or psychological: we could save energy, why don't we? Much of the research investigates energy storage, for example concentrations of solar light onto solar cells to make a more efficient battery, for starters. Other priorities are alternative energy sources to be deployed in more developing regions.
“What's important about this is to recognize that the solution relates to two major issues which are dominating overarching themes for future technology. The first is to minimize or eliminate the carbon imprint. The second is sustainability. Those two principles will be key in any future supply.”
He is keenly aware of being in Michigan— the state suffering the most from the down turn of the automotive industry:
“I think that solar energy has an important role in this, but it would be a mistake to think of it as the only solution—I think what we're going to see is a diversification of energy sources.”
With these looming environmental and economic issues, the idea of space travel seems like a colossal expenditure—but Thomas argues that it is necessary.
“Going to space is absolutely important right now in the context of understanding the earth. Also in terms of implementing some of these carbon trace adjustments as we go forward in dealing with our changing planet as one system.”
He argues further that many of the key tools we use today are spin-off technologies from the Apollo program—thermometers, GPS, computing and time-keeping devices:
“ I think that really forward looking, innovative exploration in space and elsewhere are the best triggers of human inspiration and innovation and to provide the tools that really change life on earth.”
