"One of the dreams I had as a kid was about the first day of school, and being able to build and be creative, and it was the happiest day of my life. And at MIT, I felt like that dream became reality," says Ballesteros. Growing up in the suburban town of Spring, Texas, just outside of Houston, Erik Ballesteros couldn't help but be drawn in by the possibilities for humans in space. It was the early 2000s, and NASA's space shuttle program was the main transport for astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Ballesteros' hometown was less than an hour from Johnson Space Center (JSC), where NASA's mission control center and astronaut training facility are based.

Cars are becoming increasingly automated. Drivers already benefit from a wide range of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), such as lane keeping, adaptive cruise control, collision warning, and blind spot warning, which are gradually becoming standard features on most vehicles. Today's automated systems are taking over an increasing amount of responsibility for the driving task. It is expected that soon, sensors will take the place of human impulse, and artificial intelligence will substitute for human intelligence. This process is defined through various level steps, from low levels of automation where the driver retains overall control of the vehicle in level 1, to a fully-autonomous system in level 5.

One of the most frequently-used phrases at business events these days is "the future of work." It's increasingly clear that artificial intelligence and other new technologies will bring substantial changes in work tasks and business processes. But while these changes are predicted for the future, they're already present in many organizations for many different jobs. The situation brings to mind the William Gibson comment, "The future is already here--it's just not evenly distributed." The job and incumbent described below is an example of this phenomenon.