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paulm
member for 10 years 8 months

biography

McNielson began his career with the Royal Australian Air Force as a trainee jet-engine technician, before coming to the attention of an advanced program working with experimental scramjet technology. McNielson’s skill in optimising engine performance well beyond design parameters earned him the respect of senior officers, one of whom requested that McNeilson follow him to a highly classified magnetoplasma engine program run by the US Air Force (USAF). McNielson was with the program for just over a year, during which time success proved elusive. The program was unable to produce enough thrust from the magnetoplasma process to propel vessels of the size envisaged by the USAF deep-space exploration program. The technology required to boost the performance of the engines (magnetic impulse acceleration) was discovered first by the ISDC’s fledgling deep-space program, which McNielson’s commanding officer was persuaded to join. At the request of this officer and after a rigorous recruitment process, McNielson also transferred to the ISDC.

previous experience