The real technical problems came because people working on the project didn't really follow my proposal at all, but set out to do other things instead of making a laser.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The main problem was a pacing problem. I had wanted the project to be about 20-30 issues, and I should have written it out as a full script beforehand.
It was strange, in a way, because there were no ideas involved in the laser that weren't already known by somebody 25 years before lasers were discovered. The ideas were all there; just, nobody put it together.
Well, it's very dangerous to project, but it's clear that the existing technology has some more years to go.
I'm certainly grateful that there were projects that I did that people responded to. It would be a nightmare if it were the other way around. But it's sometimes a little disheartening.
There was a second problem that was still not a technical problem... the project became classified. I couldn't work on it after having gone to all that trouble. I was considered a security risk, so I could not get a clearance.
There are some problems that technology can't solve.
Creating problems is easy. We do it all the time. Finding solutions, ones that last and produce good results, requires guts and care.
So if you're a customer today, the same person who came in to demonstrate the technology for you and helped you architect the solution before you bought it is likely going to be leading the team to help you do the implementation.
When I started on my research, I never expected I could invent the LED and laser diode.
But certainly the laser proved to be what I realized it was going to be. At that moment in my life I was too ignorant in business law to be able to do it right, and if I did it over again probably the same damn thing would happen.