In this episode, Beth is in the studio and joined by Lynn McDonald, Microsoft Azure Space Lead, Asia Pacific. 

Shownotes: 

• Azure Space achieves lift-off in Australia – Microsoft Australia News Centre 
• Microsoft for Australian Space Startups | Microsoft Australia

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TRANSCRIPT For this episode of The AI in Education Podcast Series: 5 Episode: 6

This transcript was auto-generated. If you spot any important errors, do feel free to email the podcast hosts for corrections.

 

 

Hello everyone. My name is Beth Warl and you are joining us here today on the AI in education podcast. I am actually by myself today in that I don't have either Lee or Dan with me, so anything could happen, which is exciting and terrifying in equal measure. Um, usually we would reflect a little bit on what we had done over the weekend. and or over the last week. And um I must say now that I have a new puppy, I haven't had a very exciting life these last few weeks, but I did go and enjoy Top Gun. This is a movie that I wouldn't have necessarily thought I would enjoy, but I loved it so much that I want to go again and see it as soon as I possibly can. I am very, very excited to say that we are joined by our very own Top Gun today. Today, Lynn McDonald. Hi, Lynn. Thanks for joining us on the podcast. Hi, Beth. Thanks for having me. Um, I'm not a Top Gun, but I did see it twice in the same week. So, no judgment here. No judgment. I I must admit I had um I had watched the original just to remind me of um you know, the extensive narrative. Um but obviously in the in the time that the original was filmed and this latest version, you two things. the technology and the simulated experiences change but and yet Tom Cruz's face remains the same in terms of still looking about that is the magic of Hollywood is um but Lynn you um are the head of Azure space for Microsoft here in Australia um now we're going to get on and talk a little bit about what Azure space means in a minute but you yourself had a really interesting experience and career in the US military. So, I'd love to talk to you a little bit about that. But before we do, tell me Top Gun. You saw it twice in one week. How accurate was it to the experience that you had in the military, albeit in a completely different field? Did you Did you Were you drawn into the story? What did you think of the movie? You obviously liked it if you saw it twice. I did. I I mean, the flying scenes were absolutely incredible. It was So, the second time I stayed And I watched the um I watched through to the very last uh credit that rolled onto the screen. And um there was an extensive um engagement with uh with the Navy, with their public affairs, with their operators, uh with their fighter weapons school. Um so I was like, "Okay, yeah, they did their homework." Um some of the flying scenes were pretty um um well, they're just amazing and fun to watch. watch, but uh some of the um what they portrayed in the flying scenes, I was like, "Okay, they definitely um were spot on with uh the advising and um their interest in in capturing the reality of um the, you know, the operational environment." Uh so, um Oh, yeah. Um I could have sat through and watched it back to back the first time I saw it, but it's certainly made me, you're right, so much time has passed. Um, from the first uh to the, you know, Top Gun Maverick, Tom Cruz did manage to hold it together. Yeah. Way better than we have in a year. Frankly, it still looks the same. While I feel like I was, you know, 30 years older from when I first saw it, for sure. Uh, but, uh, it definitely made me quite nostalgic for, uh, my time in the military. I was in the Air Force, the US Air Force. Um, so, you know, a bit around the flying environment. Um, but I spent the majority of my time uh in space and satellite uh operations uh while I was in the Air Force for 23 years. But, uh, yeah, it was a wonderful career, amazing experiences, incredible responsibility, absolutely loved what I was doing uh with uh defense, space and satellite operations, space launch. Um I I really spent the majority of my career across the the space mission areas. Um but Top Gun absolutely wonderful, wonderful experiences and memories uh from my time in the Air Force. Um and you know, I'm now super happy to be a part of the Microsoft team. Uh every once in a while I do get a little nostalgic uh Top Gun, you know, I don't know, maybe there were some tears flowing here and there, possibly nostalgia, possibly the goofiness of some of the scenes. Um but yeah. Oh, that's amazing. So, Lynn, tell me um how did you end up in the military in the first place? Was that a calling that you had um you when you embarked on your career or did it happen almost by accident? Um possibly. possibly a bit by accident. I mean, I was in I grew up in California and uh you know, the schools there, the high schools did a pretty good job of keeping recruiters out of the schools. It's pretty liberal state and there wasn't uh at least where I grew up, there wasn't a a militant military presence. Uh I didn't have family in the military. My dad served in the army for four years during the Korean um during the on more, but he went to Korea. Um, but it really wasn't, you know, a part of the family. I didn't have a lot of exposure to it. Um, I did have a boyfriend in college who got into some financial trouble and instead of declaring bankruptcy went off to join the army. Uh, at least that's how my college brain recalls the scenario. So, he joined the army and drove tanks. And this was, you know, back pre- email days. Um, but I would get these letters about what he was doing, the missions, um, all of the camaraderie, the people he was meeting, um, all of the responsibility he was given. And I was looking forward to the letters to hear about what he was doing in the army more than I was looking forward to actually hearing from him. Typical college boyfriend experiences. Right. I I could not wait to hear what he was doing and it just sounded like such an amazing experience and uh you know I was studying business in university. Um the job market was a bit down. There wasn't anything that really drew me in um in the you know in industry. Um but I was really getting wrapped into these stories of um military the military experience. And so I went and spoke with a recruiter. Uh and uh I you know I think the Navy had been calling you know the recruiters call the the um call the homes and you know get in touch um when they you know know that you're getting to the age of considering and I think I had gotten calls from the Army recruiter. I'd gotten calls from the Navy recruiter. You know maybe if I would have known about Tom Gunn I would have called the Navy recruiter back but um uh I knew I probably wasn't a Marine. Uh and uh as you know, incredibly impressive bunch there. Um but, uh I thought, well, why isn't the Air Force calling me? So, I went and got in touch with an Air Force recruiter and uh I've got to give it to the recruiter. Um you know, they can be a bit, oh, right, sign the dotted line. Um but uh he really spent some time with me and and talked through like what do you want to do and and honestly at the time I didn't know what I wanted to do. I knew I just wanted to be a part of um this military experience and was super interested in the air becoming increasingly interested in the air force u with what I was finding out. And so I told him I'm going to go to I'm going to go to university uh or finish university and I'm going to join the air force. And uh you know he kind of talked me through the whole thing and uh and he said look I think you should look at um you know taking the path of the the officer training. And so he put me in touch with uh it's called reserve officer training corps that they have in many of the universities in the US. He put and so he put me in touch with the university's ROC um officer training program and uh as they say the rest is a bit of history. Well it's such an interesting story and I I do wonder I've spent a little bit of time recently with our defense team and also with the a team um in the US who are responsible for um reskilling and supporting military veterans into technology roles. So as I've started spending a lot more time with ADF um uh veterans and it is such an intriguing area to to have worked in. You can certainly see some of the qualities and experiences that you come out of that um industry with very very compelling um kind of experience. But tell me What was it that kind of changed your what what was what was the move from your military career into a career now with Microsoft? How did how did that happen? So I, you know, as I mentioned, I um was in the US Air Force for 23 years. I um had gotten to the rank of colonel. Had some amazing experiences leading up to that point. um oper in operations in command. I I really valued the command positions um and uh in command you're leading uh organizations that um where you have very specific responsibilities for the organization as a commander and and the people in the unit. Uh and I really treasured those experiences um and gained, you know, so much um so many valuable lessons learned in those um having those responsibilities as a commander. Uh um you know, but I I got to a point where you know, you you make these massive decisions over career and you know, where you want things to go and you look at things professionally and personally. And I really I I spent two years working through the decision to to retire um because I absolutely loved what I was doing. Um but I really had to evaluate where um I wanted to take some things in in my life and how I wanted to balance things again you know professionally and personally. I was also really interested to explore what was in industry and and look at you know the path beyond the military. So um you know after two years of of thinking through this you know you know when you know uh and in all those big life decisions. Uh you you know we all work through them in in different ways. Um but ultimately you know when you know and it it got really clear. I was like yep this is the time. And um you know I absolutely love um being a part of the space industry um you know in defense and now in um commercial industry. So I knew that I wanted to continue on um being a part of the the space. industry and contributing to this amazing uh community of um nerdy space uh experts uh and all the the different skills and personalities that come together in this really awesome industry. Um so I was just kind of you know exploring I knew it was time to move from um from the military and I was thinking about the next steps and um just kind of chewing on how I wanted to contribute what was important in terms of values and um you know my priorities for what I wanted to kind of pursue next. So I spent some time really kind of thinking through and evaluating that. Um meanwhile uh a very good friend of mine who is in the Australian Air Force uh said, "Hey um do you know Pam Melroy?" And I said, "Well, she's an astronaut. I don't know her. I'd love to know her." Uh He said, "I think you know I know her really well. I'm going to introduce you. I think I think you should you two should meet." She was really instrumental in the Australian space industry. Um I had done a bit of independent contracting consulting work um as I um was leaving the military. And in that consulting work, I was uh uh supporting a business that wanted to um start in the space industry, start a branch of their business in the space industry. in Australia. So it kind of evolved out of that and this discussion he said you know I think you should you should meet Pam Melroy. She was really instrumental instrumental in the Australian space and she was like gosh I'd love to meet with her. So I was connected to um to Pam uh she's in Washington got together for coffee and in that discussion um you know here's to the you know the value of networks. Um you know I've kind of learned over and over my the the value of of networks and and showing up as a as a good network um if you will and being a good good uh supporter of of networks for others. Um but uh I showed up to the um coffee meeting with with Pam and had a really interesting discussion about the industry, you know, different mission areas and uh she said, "Hey, give me, you know, send me a resume. And at that time, you know, I was just departed the the military and I had a glossy version of my resume in my purse at all times. Nice. So, I said, "Yeah, sure." Right. Always be prepared. Um, and so I, you know, whipped this uh resume out of my purse and she's like, "Okay, that's uh send it to me electronically." I was like, "Okay." So, uh, you know, uh, Yeah. So she was um had worked with our CTO uh who stood up the Azure space business in Microsoft. Uh she had worked with him in a previous role in DARPA and so you know he was building out the team and um I was connected to him and that's um where that took place and it was just you know when she said Microsoft I was like wow Microsoft that had not crossed my mind. Uh just hadn't crossed my mind because I was so focused on kind of you know defense contract roles um kind of standard roles that you know I was um familiar with from being in the military and but I was super intrigued by the Microsoft opportunity and then when I heard Microsoft was um building out new business in in space um one it completely made sense to me immediately when you think about it in terms of what Microsoft does in the way of compute and connectivity and big data. I just thought, "Yeah, absolutely. That makes sense." And holy smokes, can I be a part of this? Uh so, um yeah, so you know, through this, you know, this connection, uh through a good friend and and his network, it it opened up this completely new opportunity. It opened this door that I never would have considered. Uh and so that is what led me into Microsoft and um you know as I as I started to research the company um when I discovered this this opportunity, I was just like immediately and increasingly completely jing with the values of the company and I dug into um all sorts of course, you know, correspondents online and articles from Satia and just got a sense started getting a sense of the culture of the company. Um, you know, prior to getting set up with interviews and I just thought, "Oh, wow. This, you know, super impressed with um what I was learning about the culture and values of Microsoft." And um, you know, lo and behold, it's all true. Yeah. And it's such an important element of um of being satisfied and fulfilled. And you know, I wonder if it's especially so for people coming out of the military because that sense of purpose is is so ingrained from a military experience that you really want to I can imagine want to align yourself to an organization that has similar um values. So Lynn um can you tell me a little bit about Azure space and and is it as um has has been suggested in the past sort of irrelevant in that we've got so many PL problems on planet Earth. What the heck are we doing in space anyway? Or or do you see it very valid and relevant to solving some of those problems? Let's see. I can I'll start with your the second part of the the question first and then go back to what we're doing in Azure space. It is absolutely relevant. Space technology is absolutely relevant to what we're doing right here on Earth. Um there's so many different applications of space technology. We use space every day whether we realize it or not. From some of the more obvious things like GPS in my phone that helps me get anywhere anywhere these days. Um feel like I can't even walk up the street without having you know my uh maps app on. But uh to some of the more, you know, critical applications of space technology in the way of communication and applications of spaceorn data, of satellite imagery and being able to get uh you know, not only a broad uh geographic view for whatever business or operational use case uh you know, so applying space technology to applications right here on Earth is it's something that we we already do and may not even realize. But it's also incredibly essential whether it's um spacebor data, geospatial satellite imagery to make determinations about environmental decisions, sustainability decisions, business decisions, um and being able to make that at large scale and and make that that rapid um those rapid decisions. So I mean it's it's very much space technology is very applicable to right right here right now right on Earth. I know you know um there's a lot of discussion about um space exploration and um going back to the moon and going to Mars and that is all also um incredibly important um exploration and research and um you know expanding our our knowledge of of space and human um you know almost compatibility or or or looking beyond I know that Elon Musk is obviously looking for another planet I think is is that is he coming up with a plan B or is it more just setting a really ambitious goal to aim for just as the moon was ambitious all that all those many years ago? Well, I don't know really what Elon Musk is thinking and if I did um that would that would be pretty cool. But I think that um I think it's a really ambitious goal and I think that you know again it it really pushes the the limits uh to um help us think about our place in in space. Um and right you know I think the thing that I want to point out in in this is there there has been and there will continue to be many many advancements in technology in research across a number of different areas uh that will help us here on earth today and into the future. I mean there's medical exploration and discoveries that are taking place focused on uh how humans thrive and survive in space and that is affecting us you know our knowledge of we live and and thrive here on Earth today. I'll just take a quick example. There's a professor at an Australian university here that's doing uh quite a bit of work on uh researching cancer and how cancer reacts in space in zero gravity and um you know just very short on his his research um but is discovering that um you know cancer reaction to zero cancer cells reaction to zero gravity is that they begin to degrade very rapidly, dissipate and degrade very rapidly. So, we've seen this over time, just different technology advancements and research that can benefit here on Earth. Yeah, it's such an incredible area and and it's it's almost as if some of these things almost have an accidental benefit as well um to to advancing some of these some of the biggest challenges we face. And, you know, we spoke last week about um some of the sustainability things that Microsoft is doing at a global level and other companies as well. But um I do wonder if space and some of the work that you're doing in in the technology space space um will have a big impact on some of the on tackling some of the world's biggest environmental um challenges as well. Just purely from the perspective of having a holistic image, a holistic perspective on what's happening on the planet. Yeah, absolutely. Again, whether it's from um a spaceborn data perspective, uh using earth observation, geospatial data, um to understand the environment better and to watch change over time, uh whether it's, you know, degraded environments and understanding, um you know, how that's taking place that we can also look at it from an analytical perspective and understand where things may be headed. Um, you know, we've got incredibly powerful um data and AI capabilities that we can use to um take this data and under you know do predictive analytics whether it's from a sustainability environmental perspective or other you know business application um you know we are from an Azure space perspective uh developing uh technology around um four functional areas which are global connectivity geospatial analytics, Azure and space which is how do we take this incredible compute and advanced analytics capabilities out to onorbit platforms and then emulation and synthetics. Um this is how do we take uh we've got incredibly powerful gaming technology at Microsoft and emulation capabilities uh and we are um taking that and the ability to create synthetic data and bringing that together uh to create almost um a kind of a digital twin uh from a space perspective. Incredible. Um god. Yeah. Experience almost like a like through augmented reality as well. Is that is that or is it more from the data perspective? Yeah. So uh you know more from a a a data perspective. Uh we're taking payload satellite payload data in real time and creating it uh into an atscale emulation environment um so that you can uh almost envision an entire satellite constellation um and be able to apply analytics in that environment at scale. Um but you can absolutely apply augmented reality uh to to these um to these scenarios. as well. So, it really kind of So, I may end up on the moon by the sound of it. Well, one way or another, Lynn, I can see myself on the moon. It may not be real. Well, we've got some really neat uh use cases underway that are taking place on the International Space Station. Yeah. So, we uh have been working in partnership with HP and with NASA to run a number of uh use cases with Azure loaded on HP's uh spaceborn computer and we've been running some analytics uh advanced analytics use cases um for example we recently just did a use case around using computer vision with uh astronaut gloves and so what used to happen is astronauts would take hundreds of pictures of of their of their gloves which are an essential part of their their equipment and they'd send this information back to Earth and then it would get analyzed um by people to understand okay do we have wear you know you know too much wear on the glove is there a potential you know to um you know for the integrity of the glove to be compromised um all of that takes time you've got incredibly slow data rates you know going from the international space station back to Earth. Um, we looked at how can we take a picture of the glove, take computer vision, run models to detect what, you know, what what a, you know, I guess a healthy glove looks like, where what wear, um, is excessive, what's, you know, it would just it it's it's allowed us to rapidly characterize um, astronauts equipment and they can um, get a sense of where there might be issues in nearer real time and do that on board the the ISS. Um, so I think it's a really interesting example of using uh compute and using advanced analytics to push decisions out to to the edge. I mean, it's what we currently do from a terrestrial perspective. Uh, when you think about Azure edge capabilities and taking compute and analytics to the terrestrial edge. Now we're taking that out to uh to the ultimate edge and taking that out to space. I mean really this is about taking connectivity, compute and uh data and AI to to wherever it's needed and now including space and it's empowering the people for whom these decisions are going to be the most significant as well. So the astronauts can can be in control of their own equipment with information like that. which um I can imagine that use case is just one of probably millions that could be used to to do that. That's incredible, Lynn. It's, you know, I'm listening and feeling mildly annoyed because I'm sure you have the coolest job at Microsoft. Um and uh and I know that you've been building up a team of incredible talented people in the country. But I guess where we got connected was all the way um probably about a year ago and and we were talking about some of the challenges that you were finding in building your team of Top Gun um Azure space people here in Australia in particular in South Australia which is where I am based but um maybe you could just reflect quickly about some of the challenges you found in in building your team because I know you're you're looking at it from a couple of different angles uh diversity being one of them as well. Yeah, absolutely. So I uh arrived in Australia let's see February of last year uh and uh you know with the aim to build out the business here, build the team, build the strategy uh really you know bring Azure space um to Australia and and yeah bring it to life. And uh you know first things first I um I think I wrote the strategy on the plane ride over and in quarantine in the Sydney hotel. Um I had already been thinking I already been watching the industry here and and um engaged uh a bit from the US, but that that proved challenging with time zones and yeah and just really kind of the the opportunity and the amount of work there was to do. So um I was fortunate enough to be able to move here uh last year and um that's a bit of a story in it in its own. Maybe a separate podcast another time when that one. It was the Vegemite, wasn't it? It was the Veimite. The Veimite Jeremy here. Absolutely. Um tolerable with lots of butter. Uh so um yeah, so arrived here in February, you know, I had uh set set the strategy um had been watching the industry for quite some time. Uh knew what, you know, we were doing from a a technology engineering perspective in Azure space and um where I saw opportunities to partner uh and um and help enable the Australian um space community here. Uh but you know, first things first, I was to build out the team and uh so you know, incredible talent in in the industry here. Uh it's also a growing uh the Australian space industry is also a growing industry and continuing to evolve and it's it's rapidly evolving and it's been amazing to watch that rapid evolution. And like I said, there is absolutely incredible talent here in in the industry. And so I went out to build the team and you know, I saw right from the start it was, you know, incredibly competitive. It it was I mean, the pool is expanding, but it it was it was a pretty small um talent pool, right? U if if you're looking for specific experiences And I I really kept a broad perspective on um skill sets and experience and and what a person could potentially bring to to our team. Um but uh you know it it was a you know and as the industry is growing here of course many people are looking for for talent. So um it it was a bit competitive. Um but then I started looking at uh um diverse candidates and ensuring that I was looking at um you know all options for people to bring um talents and expertise uh into the picture as I was hiring the team and you know as I was looking for uh diverse candidates uh the the pool got small real fast um and you know I spent quite a bit of time looking across the nation working with our talent acquisition team And uh like I said, it just the pool got small fast and that really made an impression on on me um as I was hiring for the team and and kind of made that discovery. Uh you know, one I had already determined that um we needed to be a part of the growth of the industry. Yeah. And uh and part of that was the talent pool and and So uh you know I was thinking through how do we how do we support the growth of this industry and in supporting the growth of the industry including talent um how do we help build diversity um in this um in this growing industry. So that was you know really kind of the the first impression that I got. Um and I know we had a conversation I shared that observation with you and we just kind of continued to evolve that that discussion and uh um I know you could probably take the the rest of this discussion. Um I you and I had really kind of this shared passion about creating opportunities um and pathways for um you know for all people and including diverse talent into IT into the space industry. Um and so that you know conversation just really kind of evolved from there. Well, and it's um you know, I think it was the perfect time as well because we were looking at things that we might do to invest um in in this particular challenge and um uh spoiler alert I guess in terms of what we've done. Um so we we've recently had the opportunity to work with modus um and adeco to bring their um modus tech academy model to Australia which is like a super quick um skilling program that supports people to um either recent graduates or people who are returning to work or looking to pivot from another industry. Um so it supports them to get job ready skills in in new um job specific careers. So we looked at data analytics and we looked at creating a program specifically for women. Um and it's you know as um as a as we had the opportunity to focus here in South Australia, which is where the the Australian Space Agency was based. I I felt very passionate about creating opportunities for all South Australians to get access to this new industry of space. Um, and it isn't just necessarily the quintessential um sort of uh nerds um which I think was the word that you use, Lynn. Um you know, it's it's going to take lots of people from lots of different kinds of backgrounds to make the industry um successful and we know that in workforces that better reflect the societies in which they operate um are actually more successful anyway. So um yeah I think this is going to be a bit of an evolving um project in where we continue to work with the universities here in South Australia but also nationally and then look at the ways in which we can um connect women to the opportunities in the space um in the space industry, but I know that you've also done some really great and fantastic work in just connecting with women in the IT industry here in South Australia. Um, and I want to thank you and recognize you for all that work that you've done in terms of speaking to young women and girls in schools and speaking to women in the IT industry, but also that um incredible virtual mentoring session we did with the Office for Women. Um I I know that um it's a bit of a a a a side um well it's perhaps it's not a side hustle because it's part and parcel of your job but it may it's a it's a lot of work that you're you're doing to address this and you're doing an incredible job. Oh ditto Beth um I mean tech the tech start program uh you you brought that to life. You took our our conversation and identifying where there was a need and um and really just brought it to life with the the partners. And it's it's already been, you know, it takes it it takes every um you know, an issue isn't solved in a single moment. It it takes many moments of of um you know, kind of chipping away, if you will. And I know you and I talked about where do where do we start, right? If we're going to help with the Yeah. If we're going to help with the, you know, building out diversity in the industry and I know we're looking at the space industry and and it more broadly like where do you start because there's a whole pipeline from early years education to university to career and making sure that there's the right support network um for diverse people in their career because there are retention considerations there are you know making sure that people are in um supported for um their performance in terms of promotions. There are career changes. I mean there's a whole pipeline. I know you and I talked about where do we start? Uh and um you know we wanted to make we wanted to make an immediate impact and I think that was you know that was one area that was that we landed on with the tech start program which was how can we do one thing uh that will have the potential for immediate impact in the industry and uh and so I think that that's where we got with with Techart and and it's what it is you know we've we're creating yeah really you know practical microcredentiing um certifications in in areas that are of need in the space industry and um you know wrapping that with u industry mentoring networking with our partners from IT consulting and the space industry and it you know it creates that um you know the microsklling the exposure to the industry the opportunity to network um it's it's creating that that pathway and and the opportunity um I mean there's so much value even in creating a professional industry network uh so you know know off and running with the the tech start program. I know it'll it will evolve over time, but I think you know we had a tremendous response with what was it like over 200 women who applied to the first cohort. Yeah. Yeah. And um just had the first Yeah. first graduation and we we have our next cohort starting again in July. So it'll be another opportunity to to kind of test what we're doing. But Maybe if I could close out. I know that you missed the graduation event. Um and uh I I was um uh so disappointed that you couldn't see, you know, some of the women get up and talk about their experience, but there was one particular woman who um you know is so accomplished and intelligent and has just needed a little bit of confidence and reconnection with women in a professional setting. So she took some time off to have her children. And um and she told me afterwards actually that she was also um uh she also had um a battle with breast cancer during that time as well. And so she wrote a note to say that the Tech Start program has given her a third chance at life after she's, you know, had her career, had her children, recovered from breast cancer, and now she's she's landed an internship with um with one of our partners here. in Australia. And you know, I think one of the things that we find I personally think with skilling programs is that sometimes it's just so complex and difficult to know where to start that people don't start. I think you've got to start by starting and you know our program is only small at this stage but we we've started as you know by starting and we're learning as we go. Um so you know it's been such an exciting project to work with you um uh and yes to to bolder things. things for next financial year. But um if I can just close with a very controversial question and I'm I'm sure it's it's on the minds of everyone um thinking um about it. In fact, I have two questions. So I want to know a little bit more about what you think of Vegomite and then the other question is will I ever get to meet an alien in my lifetime? Is there intelligent life out there or even unintelligent life? I'm happy to I'm happy to meet that too. Oh, which is the harder question? Um, I love that. That's So, let's see. Um, like I said initially, anything can be solved with a lot of butter. Um, including Vegemite. So, um, my, uh, stepdaughter introduced me to, um, the the art of Vegemite on toast, and I noted that she had used nearly half a stick of butter. And and there was much discussion over um really veomite is it or is it just butter with a tiny bit of a speck of this salty whatever it is. Goodness, I think is the word you need. Goodness. It's certainly an acquired taste and I prefer it with lots of butter. All right. Well, I'm glad we've settled that one. Now, will I get to meet an alien then? Well, um I think you'll have to ask Elon Musk. that question also. Um, no, just kidding. Um, I I don't know. Um, I here's how I I view it. The I mean, you know, I think many of us have probably looked up at the the sky at night and just wondered and with awe and amazement and almost just in a way that's hard to process. And u I've I've actually never gazed up at the night sky so much as I have in in my time in Australia because if if you haven't viewed if you haven't viewed the night sky from the southern hemisphere from Australia just like it's I it blew my mind the first time I saw it. I was out here for work in Alice Springs about um 15 years ago and uh the team I was with pulled over in the middle of well I mean Alice Springs is the middle of nowhere but pulled over in the middle of nowhere at night and I got out and I they said look at the sky and I was complet completely blown away, speechless. And so I routinely go out like Milky Way gazing here. But um you know, when you think about we're we are one speck in this massive one speck h hurtling around one star, you know, of how many I don't even know if it's like trillions or gazillions or whatever the it is, but you know, we are one of so many in a mass and expanding universe. It's hard for me to imagine that we are the only um intelligent or potentially unintelligent life forms in this amazing universe. So um you know, wouldn't it be cool if if we could have that contact someday? But uh it's it's it's hard for me to think that we're the only uh the only ones in this universe that are um living our best lives. Yeah. Well, I 100% agree and look, we hold out hope that um you know, perhaps in 10 years we'll be talking about how um George Lucas had done such a lot of research to put together Star Wars just as we just as we uh have marveled at the research for Top Gun. Um and it may be that they are already here. So on that bombshell, um Lynn, it's just been so lovely to have the chance and the luxury of this time with you and I hope you enjoyed the conversation. I hope the listeners have enjoyed the conversation as well. We're super duper lucky to have Lynn in Australia, let alone part of our Microsoft family. Um, and she hasn't left um the Vegemite hasn't driven her away just yet. So, we're hoping and we will continue to watch with awe and wonder as you um grow your Azure space team and do this incredible work. Thank you, Lynn. Thanks, Beth. I I really treasure the time that I get to work with and and um discuss all these really interesting opportunities that we have here with you. So, thanks for this opportunity and um as always, it's a pleasure speaking with you. Thank you. Bye, everyone.