Chris Morales is not your typical student. He’s spent the past eight years as an F/A-18 Super Hornet Weapons Systems Officer. Now he’s a student finalist in the Bluetooth Breakthrough Awards.

“The F/A-18 is a pretty high tech fighter jet, but some of the technology lags behind even what’s available on the common smartphone. We typically use iPads to assist with everything from a fast-paced combat mission to just ferrying a jet from point A to B. They come in handy, but we still have to enter all the information manually on our iPads into the jet. Airline pilots do the same. But, what if we could control everything in the aircraft directly from our tablet or laptop? BlueFly would allow us to do just that.”

Bluefly is an integrated cockpit avionics system. Using Bluetooth® Smart technology, Bluefly allows pilots to use their mobile devices to instruct the aircraft to fly different routes, avoid inclement weather and even communicate with air traffic control. Pilots simply tap their finger to request take off or see visual depictions of system health during an emergency.

Chris fancies himself as a wannabe techie. He tries to keep up with the latest Silicon Valley news but his job takes up most of his time. But it was his fascination with technology which led him to fly F/A-18s. Now he wants to go back to school to pursue a career in venture capital.

“I love the idea of using technology to help people and make their lives easier. That is why I’d like to be a part of the tech community.”

Other things to know about Chris:

Getting ready to start classes—“I’m looking forward to taking courses on entrepreneurship and intellectual property law. It’s a new area of focus for me, and one I’ll have to master if I’m going to help start-ups get off the ground in the future.”

Sees himself as a partner in his own venture capital firm—“I really like the idea of using technology to solve problems, and I’d like to spend my life doing that. What draws me to venture capital is the ability to influence and assist multiple start-ups at one time. The more founders I can help, the better.”

(Credit: Nanci Taplett)