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Transcript Summary: Gary Sheng, Christian Elam, Lael Alexander (2025-06-09)

Key Topics​

  • NASA Leadership: Christian Elam's effort to get Dr. Christyl C. Johnson appointed as NASA Administrator.
  • NASA 2040 Project: Building a self-sustaining human civilization on the moon.
  • Technology & Manufacturing: Christian's counter-drone laser company and Lael's extensive manufacturing expertise.
  • Education Reform: Shared passion for overhauling the U.S. education system.
  • Potential Collaboration: Strong alignment between Christian's need for advanced manufacturing and Lael's capabilities.

Detailed Summary​

1. NASA Administrator Opportunity for Dr. Christyl C. Johnson​

Christian Elam revealed a major, recent development: Jared Isaacman, Trump's nominee for NASA Administrator, was unexpectedly "booted" before his confirmation. This created a strategic opening.

Christian is now actively positioning his close friend and advisor, Dr. Christyl C. Johnson, to become the new NASA Administrator. Dr. Johnson is the current Deputy Associate Administrator of NASA for Space and Technology, has been at NASA for 30 years, and was previously its Chief Engineer.

  • Christian's Role: Dr. Johnson has requested that if she becomes Administrator, Christian must join her as a political appointee and senior executive at NASA. His proposed role would be to create a new branch focused on private investment, connecting family offices, venture funds, and industry with NASA.

Christian Elam: "She was like, 'I will only be the new NASA administrator if you come and join me.' ... I would be a political appointee and senior executive at NASA. And she would want me to create an entire new branch out of NASA focused on private investment."

  • Historic Significance: If appointed, Dr. Johnson would be the first Black woman to lead NASA. Christian emphasized this would be a merit-based appointment, not a DEI hire, describing her as "the most capable person to be doing it."

Lael Alexander: "You don't have to say that on the calls with us... I'm looking forward to engaging her in some conversations because, uh, judging by the descriptive, it sounds like I'd be in a solid room with a like-minded individual."

  • Strategic Advantage: Dr. Johnson's deep technical expertise is seen as a key asset to execute on the administration's ambitious goals, such as getting to Mars.

Christian Elam: "Trump wants to get to Mars during his term... she's the person who can actually execute it because she was a chief engineer of NASA and there for 30 years building everything. So, you know, she's not just some outside billionaire appointee who doesn't know anything."

2. NASA 2040 Project & XPRIZE Collaboration​

Christian detailed the NASA 2040 Project, led by Dr. Johnson, which aims to build a self-sustaining human civilization on the moon by 2040.

  • International Partnership: 53 countries have signed onto the Artemis Accords, including the UAE, Egypt, and Australia (whose space agency Dr. Johnson helped create).
  • Open Door Initiative: For the first time, NASA has opened its labs and research facilities to the public. They have published 187 technical shortfalls and are offering $4 million and a NASA contract to companies that can solve them.
  • September Event: A major event will be held from September 9th-11th at Amazon AWS headquarters in Virginia, which is being hosted for free. The event will bring together the Milken community for funding and universities like Oxford for research.

Lael Alexander revealed he has deep familiarity with both the AWS facility and XPRIZE.

Lael Alexander: "I'm very familiar with that facility because I've been there for the past three years. Yeah, because I'm a part of, I was on Amazon's board for the past three years... XPRIZE, I'm pretty familiar with how those projects work out as well because I've been one of the contributors on the outside."

3. Lael Alexander's Background & Expertise​

Lael provided a summary of his extensive background, which resonated strongly with Christian's projects.

  • Siecom & China: Lael founded Siecom, a company that became China's largest ODM and was foundational to building out "Net Valley" in Shenzhen. The Chinese government eventually purchased the company.

Lael Alexander: "I'm the, I'm one of the founders of Siecom... It was the fastest growing manufacturing company in China from 2010 to 2016, which is why the China government purchased it. And which is also why I'm back in the United States."

  • Miracast Inventor: He invented the Miracast protocol for screen sharing in 2008, a foundational technology for modern wireless connectivity.
  • Manufacturing & Education: He built factories in China and a large school system in India (Hyderabad, Kalapoor, Pune) to create a workforce capable of executing his advanced technological ideas.
  • Current Focus: His primary work is in material science, particle science, and developing technologies around nitrogen, which he believes is key to creating atmospheres suitable for human life on other planets.

4. Synergy on Defense, Manufacturing, and Technology​

A significant overlap emerged between Christian's need for manufacturing and Lael's deep expertise.

  • Counter-Drone Lasers: Christian incubated a laser company for counter-drone applications. The U.S. Army has a demand for 6,000 units, representing $8 billion a year in potential revenue. However, manufacturing is a major challenge, akin to producing semiconductors.

Christian Elam: "Manufacturing them is quite difficult because it's like manufacturing semiconductors, you know, the technical expertise in it is very complicated."

  • Lael's Offer to Help: Lael immediately identified this as his area of expertise, having built anti-drone systems for Raytheon and countless automated manufacturing systems.

Lael Alexander: "You should really tap me in a little bit on some of these things. I mean, I don't know too many people in America has built as many manufacturing systems as I have in my little time on earth. I literally build those automation systems."

  • Space Food & Energy: Lael mentioned access to abandoned Texaco research from the 1960s on creating food sources from oil bars, a potential solution for long-duration spaceflight. He also pushed back on the idea of shutting down U.S. oil refineries, noting his work with Valero's Louisiana branch.

5. Shared Passion for Education Reform​

Both Christian and Lael expressed a profound desire to overhaul the American education system.

  • Christian's "Wrecking Ball":

Christian Elam: "I have, I want to take a wrecking ball to our current education system." He is working on this through two main avenues:

  1. Kids Online Safety Act: He co-authored this bill (passed Senate 91-3) to stop online content that leads to teen suicide. Crucially, it established the first-ever formal youth representation in a federal policy, with youth co-chairs on the FTC enforcement committee.
  2. Youth Caucus: He is expanding this effort to create a diversified youth caucus to provide input on all aspects of government, using his new national board seat at the YMCA as a channel.
  • Lael's "Wizard's Almanac": Lael is passionate about converting "libraries into laboratories." He has created a book series called the Wizard's Almanac, an encyclopedia-like set with one book for every element on the periodic table, designed to make fundamental science accessible and engaging.

Lael Alexander: "The periodic table is taught to everyone, but it's only taught with within two weeks of the school year... That's why we don't get 30% of students getting into our fields... I broke it up. I literally made a book for every element in the periodic table."

6. Next Steps & Collaboration​

The call concluded with a clear path toward collaboration.

  • Christian's Request: He is eager to get Lael's input on the manufacturing side of his laser company and other initiatives.
  • Lael's Invitation: He invited Christian to his 150,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Tulsa.
  • Gary's Role: Gary will serve as the coordinator, facilitating travel and logistics to ensure these high-impact conversations continue, including shipping Lael's Wizard's Almanac to Christian.
  • Immediate Follow-up: An in-person meeting in Tulsa is planned to explore the manufacturing collaboration in detail.