Biographies of Suzanna Mak and Asa Denton:

 

Suzanna Mak is an experienced deputy district attorney, entrepreneur, and software executive. She loves dark chocolate, Downton Abbey and teasing her husband about his country of origin’s world-renowned space program.

Asa Denton, from England, has worked in London, Hong Kong and now Seattle designing and managing large software systems in the financial and technology industries. He loves DIY home improvement, chasing his kids around the yard, and besting his wife in squash, badminton and squash. They live in Seattle.

The Interview:

Hi Suzanna and Asa. Thank you for talking with us. First of all, how did you two learn about the Sentinel Mission?

Suzanna: I have known Ed (Lu) since we were both at Stanford, which is more than 25 years by the time of this publication… I know him to be solid, knock-your-socks-off smart, and in it for the right reasons.

Asa: Wow, you guys are old! I met Ed through my wife Suzanna, and he seems like your typical physics PhD/astronaut ex-Google/entrepreneur guy.

Suzanna: I trust Ed. We both see his brilliance, and want to support this intelligent and compelling pursuit.

What inspired you to become Founding Circle members?

Asa: My wife gave me a Founding Circle membership as my Christmas present—fantastic!

Suzanna: It was either that or bunny slippers. I went for “save the world” over warm feet. Seriously, we believe that Sentinel should be funded by an international governmental consortium, but that it will take private philanthropy to build momentum and awareness. We are proud to be part of this effort.

What aspect(s) of the Sentinel Mission do you find the most exciting?

Asa: Data—As a software architect I love the inherent challenges and potential benefits of extracting life-saving value from massive data sets. Astronauts and software developers saving the world, who doesn’t love that!?

Suzanna: That level of geekiness is over the top!  I love the profound universality of Sentinel’s goal—irrespective of your personal politics, religion, culture or geographic location, you can get behind saving the world and helping others.

Asa (agreeing): Yes! Universal in appeal and universal in application. It will take a large group of very talented scientists, engineers and developers to understand and apply the results of Sentinel’s mission. Tremendous international collaboration—real teamwork, not just lip service about the idea of teamwork—should happen as Sentinel’s data comes online.

Suzanna: Magellan is still remembered for the first recorded circumnavigation of the earth. With Sentinel, we will be mapping the paths of hundreds of thousands of known asteroids in space—this is the new frontier. Parting some of the mist hiding the world outside our world.  And for good purpose. Fantastic.

As new Founding Circle members, what does philanthropy mean to you?

Suzanna: Legacy should be more than what we do for our own selves and our own families. This is an opportunity to do good, by addressing a knowable and tangible threat to our civilization. That is powerful. Technology for technology’s sake is interesting. A mission to save the planet is riveting.

Asa:  What she said! Change takes leadership—Sentinel is leading the way on this, and needs monetary support. It is that simple. We are not professional philanthropists. We are people who want to help improve the world, and this meets all our personal criteria for using our money to do good.

Suzanna: It always takes a leap of faith that donations will be used as you hope—ROI in philanthropy is a challenge, and in some cases a paradox. With Sentinel we will see the end result within a few years after its 2019 launch. That is a tremendously satisfying prospect.

Thank you for your support, Suzanna and Asa.