Our third and final technology finalist from 2015 takes on our Q&A. Glenn Karlsson goes back to the 1800s to meet a pioneer, admires architecture in Berlin and tackles our future energy crisis.
Name: Glenn Karlsson
Job title: Project Development Engineer
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Company: GF Energy
BYPY category: Technology
1) If you could go back in time and have one conversation with one person, dead or alive, who would it be and what would you discuss?
Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He revolutionised engineering in the 1800s and had a really catchy name which most people will never forget.
I would want to discuss what gave him the passion and desire to become the first to achieve so many engineering feats and how he persevered through bad times to continue even when not all of his projects were successful and turned out the way he wanted.
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He was also recently voted in the 100 greatest Britons so this is definitely a man to look up.
2) Which single element of any city in the world that you have visited would you like to see transplanted into Birmingham?
I would want Birmingham to mimic the superb mix of old and new architecture in Berlin so it does not forget the elements and history of its industrial past and mix it together with the best modern infrastructure to lead the way as a beacon for the West Midlands in the future.
3) Which technological innovation would you happily see consigned to history and what would you like to see invented which doesn't yet exist?
Smartphones with anything less than four days of battery life - probably one of the most annoying things everyone has to deal with on a daily basis.
I would like to see invented a fully operational fusion reactor which uses the same process as the sun to produce energy.
This would provide almost unlimited amounts of clean energy to solve our future power needs as well as being one of the coolest technical projects the world would ever see.
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4) Think about who your ideal dinner guests might be but instead you can only invite their relatives. Who would you choose and what would you ask them?
My ideal dinner guest would be Tony Stark, more famously known as 'Iron Man'. If I had the chance to speak to his dad Howard I would want find out about his slick 1940s fashion style along with his ability to make something from almost nothing.
5) There are many 'National Days', some more obscure than others, but which one would you like to create that doesn't already exist?
National Make a Difference Day. Despite it sounding a bit corny, this would be a day when we could put aside the time to do something big or small to make a difference in our local communities.
This could be done with various approaches with the end aim of improving our communities for the better and getting people involved together.