Steve Altes
| Steve Altes | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
November 13, 1962 Syracuse, New York |
| Nationality | United States |
| Education | S.B. (Aeronautics and Astronautics), S.M. (Aeronautics and Astronautics), S.M. (Technology and Policy) |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Occupation | writer, graphic novelist, engineer |
| Known for | humorous adventure essays, Geeks & Greeks |
| Spouse(s) | Diana Jellinek |
| Awards | National Medal of Technology |
| Website | stevealtes |
Steve Altes is an American writer and former aerospace engineer. He writes humorous essays about his misadventures.
Altes was born on November 13, 1962 in Syracuse, NY. He graduated from Fayetteville-Manlius High School in Manlius, NY in 1980. In high school, although his time in the mile "impressed no one," Altes once ran a track meet in clown make-up. In 2000 when Altes was inducted into the Fayetteville-Manlius Hall of Distinction as one of the high school's "notable alumni" he acknowledged the dichotomy in his career segue from engineering to entertainment, saying, "I owe a tremendous debt to those dedicated teachers for the serious half of my career. For the silly half, I’d like to thank all the class clowns."
Altes holds three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- S.B., Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1984; S.M., Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1986; and S.M., Technology and Policy, 1986.
In 1982 Altes was one of five in a MIT team on a forty-foot-long "bicycle" that set a world land-speed record for a human-powered vehicle. His master's thesis, "The Aerospace Plane: Technological Feasibility and Policy Implications," was reviewed by James Fallows in The New York Review of Books in 1986.
After college, Altes worked as a space policy analyst for the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment. He left Capitol Hill for a position as Program Control Manager for the Pegasus air-launched space booster at Orbital Sciences Corporation. In 1991 Altes was part of the Orbital Sciences team that was awarded the National Medal of Technology (the nation's highest award for technological achievement) by President George H. W. Bush for developing Pegasus. He is also a co-recipient of the 1990 Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Trophy for Current Achievement in Aerospace.
...
Wikipedia