"Home Sweet Spaceship" might be the motto of designer, engineer, and space entrepreneur Susmita Mohanty. Mohanty, a firm believer that space training, travel, and living must consider humans over machines, is revolutionizing the future of space travel with her unique background and vision of the future. Mohanty's passion for space started during high school in Ahmedabad, India where the ancient city itself inspired her interest in design and her Father inspired her interest in technology. Her keen interest in design and science lead her to a bachelors degree in engineering, masters degrees in industrial design and space studies, and more recently a Ph. D. in architecture from the Lund Institute of Technology in Sweden. Mohanty then spent time on projects connected to Boeing, NASA, the Mir Shuttle, and the International Space Station before starting several of her own ventures including Moonfront, Liquifer, and Earth 2 Orbit.
Mohanty has been recognized with many honors. In 2005 she was the youngest recipient of the Women in Aerospace International Achievement Award...but even more impressive - from a pop culture perspective - was that she was voted one of San Francisco's Top 20 under 40 in 2004.
Key words from her personal manifesto may provide the best inside into her motivations:
Transcend. Shed. Embrace. Encourage Technology convergence. Collaborate across disciplines and cultures. Catalyze. Minimize, Maximize, Eliminate. Redefine, Address, Develop. Identify, Apply. Think Hybrid. Think Programmable. Think Holistic. Think Intelligent. Think Sustainable.