After college, I plan to pursue a career in the satellite navigation field. I constantly describe GPS (a subset of the global navigation satellite system) as a technology that is in its "56k" phase. Before broadband, consumers accepted 56k as their fastest and most reliable source of technology used to access the internet, with no concerns of an upgrade, until that upgrade was available (i.e. broadband). The consumer accepts GPS in today's society as an efficient technology for navigation; however, this technology has yet to advance to its true potential.
The Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) of tomorrow will include a variety of navigation satellite constellations, provided not only from the USA, but also from Europe (Galileo), Russia (GLONASS), and China (Compass). These additional satellites to the satellite constellations, plus the higher power GPS signals, will give satellite navigation a range of new possibilities. The interoperability of the GNSS of tomorrow will not only be able to direct you from your home to the aisle in a supermarket where your favorite cereal is located, but it can also extend into helping solve many environmental problems. The technology can advance to a point where it can be used to locate, track, and allocate a nation's natural resources. Proper management of these resources not only protects sources such as forests, water, and land, but can also distribute natural resources nationally, regionally, or globally, which can prevent many reasons to go to war. It can also be used in "satellite-driven" automobiles, which will drive themselves along an accurately calculated trajectory, at constant speeds and safe distances from each other. The satellite driven automobile can drastically raise fuel consumption efficiency, which would alternatively provide cleaner air to breath. These are the advancements I am currently researching and plan to continue researching post-graduation.
