I am envious of the MAKER technology that young people have at their disposal.

A young person can buy a Raspberry Pi computer which has 32,000 times the processing power of my first computer. The cost of my first computer was about 17% of my gross yearly income as a new engineer. Young people can buy the Raspberry Pi for the cost of 1 week of fancy coffee (less than $30).

Today a grade school student has access to capabilities that we old folks only dreamed about. There was a term as young engineers, we talked about, a “Santa Claus” machine. It would be a machine where you could imagine something and it would magically appear, just like a Christmas present. Today kids can have an idea, sketch it up on FREE software, and 3D print the idea into reality!

Today everyone has access to massive computing power, worldwide collaboration in open source software development, and the ability to inexpensively convert ideas into physical reality.

If a young person only had the technology available in my youth to work with, they would probably say what Mr. Spock said, “I am endeavoring, ma’am, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins.”

My hope is that the young people today seize this fantastic opportunity that technology is giving them and create a better world.

Imagine it. Build it!