Latest news with #NextBigThingsinTechAwards
Fast Company
14 hours ago
- Science
- Fast Company
This entrepreneur made billions on crypto. His next frontier is outer space
Perched on a dusty high desert plain about 100 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, the Mojave Air and Space Port looks more like a final destination for aerospace experiments than a stepping stone to the stars. A field with dozens of decommissioned commercial jetliners bakes in the early morning sun–it'll eventually hit 110 degrees around noon–and the small shacks set between dusty roads and cracked pavement look mostly empty. But drive past cracked airstrips and barbed wire gates, and—with the right security clearance—you may be able to walk up and touch the exterior of the next orbital space station: a 2-ton cylindrical aluminum module built by the startup Vast. Called Haven-1, it currently hangs from a 50-foot-tall steel scaffold while it undergoes extreme pressure testing, one of many complicated engineering milestones it needs to hit before its planned launch in May 2026. Before engineers can install the module's instrumentation, electronics, and life-support systems, they need to repeatedly pressurize the structure to 2.4 times Earth's atmosphere to test its workmanship. Massive hoses hooked up to a trio of multistory liquid nitrogen tankers inflate the station—an isogrid metal shell that resembles a waffle cone—with nitrogen gas, like a kid's birthday balloon. Observers need to stand at least 236 feet away in case bolts or brackets burst. During a visit in May, workers were welding and reinforcing the steel scaffold to make sure the structure can withstand a grueling and aggressive series of stress tests that will see the cabin inflated and deflated 200 times in a row. Vast is racing against the clock to launch the world's first commercial space station—independently, in-house, and in record time. It's an audacious effort, made possible by the retirement of an icon: the International Space Station, a fixture of childhood imaginations and of humanity's exploration of space since its first section was launched in 1998. It's now set to be decommissioned in 2030, via a guided crash into the Pacific Ocean, and Vast wants to replace it. The extended deadline for Fast Company's Next Big Things in Tech Awards is this Friday, June 27, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
Fast Company
6 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
How to turn job hopping into a win on your résumé
Short-term jobs are common in today's employment landscape, so don't fret if you have a few brief stints on your résumé. Not only can such experiences at several organizations showcase the breadth of your experience, your ability to adapt to new corporate cultures is also a skill you can sell. But you do have to sell it it, and HR experts explain how to positively spin your employment scorecard and answer questions about your résumé that hiring managers may ask. Should you list all your short-term jobs on your résumé? Your résumé can be the first impression you make, so let it reflect an accurate history of your experience. 'Your résumé sets the tone for a transparent dialogue with potential employers,' says Jaune Little, director of recruiting services at Insperity who is based in Houston. 'Honesty builds trust, and trust is the foundation of any successful professional relationship.' From her vantage point as a recruiting executive, Little says today's career paths are less linear. 'Many professionals are taking on project-based or exploratory roles to build skills, broaden their exposure, or recalibrate their long-term goals,' she continues. This kind of career agility reflects curiosity and self-awareness but knowing how to frame them in a conversation or cover letter can be make or break, she notes. The extended deadline for Fast Company's Next Big Things in Tech Awards is this Friday, June 27, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
Fast Company
7 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
College students are getting new neighbors on campus: Their grandparents
At colleges and universities across the country, older adults are roaming the quads. These are not emeritus professors or late-blooming freshmen, though. They're residents, living in an increasingly common type of senior housing. A growing number of colleges and universities have started augmenting their campuses—and boosting their revenues—by building senior living facilities right alongside lecture halls and student dorms. Dozens of projects are either built or planned in and around campuses all over the U.S., from Stanford to Notre Dame to the University of Florida, providing a much-needed source of housing built specifically for the needs of older adults while creating new sources of revenue for colleges that are seeing their student enrollment numbers fall and their futures in doubt. They're also creating a surprising social synergy between two demographic groups that don't often mix: college kids and senior citizens. That unconventional pairing is becoming a draw for older adults, and making more universities think seriously about converting parts of their campuses from educational spaces to retirement communities. 'In the past, maybe people would move to Florida and retire from society. But now people want to stay engaged and involved,' says Cynthia Shonaiya, a partner at the architecture firm Hord Coplan Macht (HCM), which has designed several senior housing projects on university campuses, sometimes known as university-based retirement communities. 'Lifelong learning is something that is important to seniors nowadays.' The extended deadline for Fast Company's Next Big Things in Tech Awards is this Friday, June 27, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
Fast Company
18-06-2025
- General
- Fast Company
These 7 common email mistakes are making you look unprofessional
BY Before you hit send on your next email, pause for a minute. If you're like the average employee, you draft 112 emails a week, spending about five and a half minutes writing each one, according to this survey by Slack. If your messages go ignored or if the recipient requests clarification, you might want to consider how you're showing up in their inbox. Professionalism in email communication is important, says Dr. Laurie Cure, CEO of Innovative Connections, an executive coaching and HR consultant. 'Ultimately, we want our communication to reflect who we are, but more importantly, we want people to hear what we are saying,' she says. 'When they are lost in poor text, grammar errors, emojis that they do not understand, or a confusing message, we are left with misunderstandings that damage our reputation and credibility. It also requires more time to unravel and clarify messages that were not received as intended.' Whether you realize it or not, you're going to be judged by how you communicate—including your emails. Here are seven common mistakes that can make you look unprofessional. 1. You Get the Recipient's Name Wrong While it sounds basic, you start off on the wrong foot if you get the recipient's name wrong. Unfortunately, it happens all the time, says Alexa Rome, director of PR and Communications at Omnus Technologies, provider of IT support. The final deadline for Fast Company's Next Big Things in Tech Awards is Friday, June 20, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
Fast Company
11-06-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
Homebuyers face less housing market competition from investors right now
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert's ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. During the pandemic housing boom, real estate investors rushed in. With home prices and rents soaring—and mortgage rates hovering at historic lows—investor purchases surged. But since mortgage rates spiked in 2022, the investor landscape has shifted dramatically. The easy-money days are gone, and investors are now navigating a much tougher market defined by tighter margins, slower rent growth, and fewer cash-flow opportunities. To better understand how investors are adapting to the housing market, ResiClub recently teamed up with Stessa, an asset management and accounting software for real estate investors, owned by Roofstock. Investors who own at least one single-family investment property were eligible to respond to the Stessa-ResiClub Real Estate Investor Survey, fielded between May 20 and June 6, 2025. In total, 239 single-family investors/landlords completed the survey. Here are some of the findings: 45% of U.S. real estate investors say they plan to grow their portfolios in the near term. Nearly two-thirds of real estate investors (65%) say the most frustrating part of the buying process is finding deals that generate positive cash flow; that share is even higher among landlords based in the West (78%). Half of surveyed real estate investors (50%) said they'd accept a mortgage rate up to 7% on their next purchase. 58% of real estate investors say they self-manage their properties. 20% say they first look at off-market deal sources. When it comes to the search, real estate investors say Zillow is the most helpful platform, with more than 70% considering it 'very helpful' or 'somewhat helpful.' Big picture: Taking into account home prices, decelerated rent growth, and interest rates, many single-family real estate investors are hard-pressed to find new rental properties that generate enough cash flow in today's market. It takes more work now to find the needed returns. The final deadline for Fast Company's Next Big Things in Tech Awards is Friday, June 20, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
