ENLP 3100

Complex Leadership Challenges

ENLP 3100 is a class in the Engineering Leadership Program (ENLP) at the University of Colorado, Boulder. While I am not a part of ENLP, I am taking this class to satisfy my Multi-Level Issues in Leadership course requirement for the Presidents Leadership Class (PLC). Each student who partakes in this class choses a complex issue at the beginning of the semester which is examined though a variety of different leadership perspectives, or lenses. The goal of this examination for the student to better understand the complexity of their chosen issue and to teach leadership in the process. Throughout the semester, students learn to understand, articulate, and communicate through a variety of different mediums and perspectives. The potential for growth in this class is unlimited; your final grade is not dictated by your first attempt. Each assignment is iterated upon multiple times to emphasize the importance of a flexible perspective. This website, or e-portfolio, is a demonstration of my work this semester.

My Complex Issue

As an aerospace engineer, I am fascinated with all things space. I think I have rightfully earned the reputation of ‘space nerd‘ from my classmates. Astronomy and astrophysics have been passions of mine for as long as I can remember! One of the first presentations I have ever given was in the fifth grade about black holes. For these reasons, I chose space as my complex issue. Everything in our lives is tied to space in one way or another, so in a way I chose the broadest topic possible! This decision afforded me terrific leeway to study topics that I found interesting while challenging myself to tie them back to space. Space is intricately tied to every aspect of our lives; from advancements in medical and sleep technology to the Global Positioning System in our pockets, much of what we take for granted has directly resulted from space research. The entire world and solar system as we know it was born billions of years ago from stardust, and to stardust we shall return again someday. We don’t live in the universe, we are a part of it. We are the way in which knows itself; I hope I have done it justice.

My ENLP 3100 Story

ENLP 3100 has been a transformational class. Analyzing the idea of space through so many different lenses was challenging at times. When starting the course, I thought the hardest part would be finding topics that related space to each lens. As it turns out, this was the easy part! I struggled to convey complex or technical ideas to a non-technical audience. Communication is extremely important in leadership and is often overlooked in engineering or technical fields. I quickly found out that important ideas don’t necessarily have to be shared through an essay or powerpoint presentation; other mediums like videos or graphics can be better at communicating certain concepts. While this might seem obvious, I think the important takeaway from this class is that we have many ways to communicate at our disposal. The skill is understanding which medium is best for our audience. ENLP 3100 gave me an excellent opportunity to experiment with different communication methods.

Individual Lens

To begin my research for this class, I considered some of the ways in which space effects us on an individual level. The number of ways in which humanity has benefited from a shared wonder of the cosmos is astounding. Specifically, the technology required to transport and sustain humans away from Earth is of a level so advanced that it wouldn't have a reason to exist if it weren't for space exploration driving its development. From medical advancements like the MRI machine to creature comforts like memory foam, we have the space industry to thank for countless inventions and advancements.

Interpersonal Lens

Humans crave interaction. Even the most introverted among us struggle in total isolation. A solid understanding of human interaction is pivotal in many leadership decisions. Humans are wholly unpredictable, and an understanding of how complex issues manifest on an interpersonal level, both private and professional, is invaluable. Space exploration isn’t unique in this sense; safely sending humans into orbit is only accomplished by teams spanning thousands or hundred of thousands of people. While little research exists on how aerospace engineers interact with each other specifically, a subtle relationship exists between astronaut and engineer. The astronauts trust the engineers with their lives just how we trust those who design our vehicles and bridges. When things inevitably go wrong, the negative mental health effects on engineers is staggering.

Organizational Lens

A mission statement can share a lot of information about companies, charities, or even individuals. There are hundreds of entities vying for their own section of space; the number of players in the marketplace lead me to believe that each must be unique in some way. To discover if this is true, I analyzed the mission statements from two very different organizations, NASA and NORAD. While the differences between NASA and NORAD are obvious, the two agencies are similar in unlikely ways.

Human Differences Lens

Natural differences that exist between people. While differences expected, the way in which we respond to these differences is often more important than the differences themselves. Astronauts are the best of the best; the individuals chosen by agencies like NASA are the brightest, most capable, and most respected in their fields. The selectiveness of this job lead me to believe that there are little to no differences between the way men and women are expected to operate while on the job. While this is true in some ways, I quickly discovered that the innate biological differences between men and women leads to unique workplace policies. The dangerous amount of radiation in space as well as the strange effects of microgravity leads to different standards for men and women in the name of their health.

Institutional Lens

I am a wholehearted proponent of space travel; in my opinion, agencies like NASA have created a tremendous amount good for humanity. It is hard to quantify whether or not this is truly the case, but it is undeniable that some people disagree with funding such endeavors. Space travel is incredibly expensive, it is easy to see why taxpayers call into question the $10,000 required to send ~1 kilogram into orbit. To better understand why people are against funding for NASA, I decided to write an opinion editorial advocating for an interesting change to the way space travel is conducted. While I do not agree with what I wrote in this essay, understanding the opposing argument and working to make compromises is an important skill every leader should possess.

Cross-Cultural Lens

Being able to quickly formulate and convey ideas is an important skill in any industry. While polished and rehearsed presentations are captivating, impromptu speeches can be more persuasive and seem more genuine; additionally, we don't always have time to refine a pitch deck and memorize a script when we need to make an impact. For this lens, we had thirty minutes to research a facet of our topic and then immediately record a five minute presentation. For this, I decided to focus on human navigation. If you're reading this webpage right now, chances are you have used GPS to navigate at some point in your life. While we are fortunate enough to have access to the Global Positioning System in our pockets, this lifestyle isn’t for everyone. An Aboriginal tribe in Australia known as the Kuuk Thaayorre are the best navigators in the world; they live their lives by the cardinal directions, not left and right. These people are an excellent reminder that our vocabulary shapes our lives more than we might think. The words we use shape our perceptions on everything from color and blame to the justice system and mental health.

System Lens

Science and engineering is riddled with causal relationships. Aerospace engineering in particular contains many cyclic causal relationships in which observations or measurements of one experiment inform the initial conditions of the next. One of the most famous space based experiments, the Hubble Space Telescope has been in operation for thirty years. Hubble has arguably given us more information about the origin of the universe than any other instrument. While the Hubble observation cycle is fairly standard, images and measurements taken are used to uniform future measurements, there are places where the cycle can be interrupted. These interruptions are used for everything from ensuring the tool is used properly to fast tracking time sensitive observations.

Student Choice Lens

The purpose of this lens was to explain some aspect of our topic, not just to talk about it. One of the fundamental constants of the universe is the speed of light. We rely on light to experience our world. Light travels at unimaginable speeds; while to some people might be able to comprehend how awesome 299,792,458 m/s really is, most of us struggle to comprehend such a number. I set out to create an infographic to put light speed into perspective. The infographic, titled “Light Speed”, compares the speed of light to everyday experiences like riding in an airplane and sending a text across the country.

Final Synthesis

For the final synthesis project of ENLP 3100, we were allowed to create anything that was related to our project in some way in order to serve as an accurate representation of our effort in the class. I created a video called “Per Aspera Ad Astra”, which in Latin translates to “Through Hardship To The Stars“. I have always been passionate about flight; this passion has lead me to study aerospace engineering in college, pursue my private pilot license, study space for this class, and to become a drone photographer. While I have been capturing images and videos with my drone for many years, I have never created a video which showcases multiple scenes.

Humankind has always been fascinated by flight. For centuries, brave inventors have tried to replicate the way of the birds, to no avail. It was only in the last century that our curiosity intersected our ability to create—we took to the skies. Humanity quickly realized that there is something magical about leaving confines of the ground; it creates an unnatural sense of wonder and curiosity unlike anything else. While there are many things in the natural world that create these feelings, nothing compares to soaring across the ground to which you were previously captured. Flight awards us the ability to see our Earthly home in its entirety; it allows us to shift our perspective to one bigger than ourselves.

I made this video to try and convey the magic of flight by showcasing every type of landscape Colorado has to offer. From the great planes to the mountains, “Per Aspera Ad Astra“ is a subtle story about the human journey of flight. We learned to harvest the power of wind which we later use this to explore the splendor of the landscape around us, both natural and of our creation.