14 DAY TRIAL // James Cameron has just been selected to be included in the Board of Trustees governing the X Prize Foundation. This organization manages challenges such as the Google Lunar X PRIZE, which is a competition to put a robot on the Moon by 2012.
Cameron, better known as the Academy Award-winning director of the blockbusters Aliens, Terminator, Avatar and Titanic, decided to join the Foundation on account of the goals it has.
The organization seeks to resolve some of the world's most pressing challenges by organizing competitions to encourage science and technology research, as well as innovation. Winners usually receive large sums of money for obtaining the desired technology or capability.
Cameron's participation was announced in a statement made on March 15, by the Chairman, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the X Prize Foundation, Peter Diamandis, Space reports.
“I am excited to have James Cameron joining our board. He's committed to envisioning and creating the future and does not take 'impossible' as an answer to solving the world's grand challenges,” the document reads.
As he takes over his responsibilities, the Hollywood director will be colleagues with an interesting list of people. These include scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs, who all work together to set the goals and rewards of each individual competition.
Among them are inventor Dean Kamen, Elon Musck, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Larry Page, the co-founder and CEO of Google, Arianna Huffington, the president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, and the first private female space explorer, Anousheh Ansari.
“Capturing the public's imagination is a key component of all critical exploration these days. We especially have to engage kids and the X Prize Foundation certainly does it,” Cameron explained.
“They really promote innovation and exploration in key areas and I'm honored to participate in the development of its initiatives,” the acclaimed director went on to say.
In addition to directing successful movie franchises, Cameron also worked with NASA in the past, helping the American space agency develop 3D imaging technology currently in use on Mars.
He also helped develop the digital 3-D Fusion Camera System, remotely piloted vehicle technologies, and state-of-the-art, underwater cinematography. His vision of the future might help inspire new and interesting X Prize Foundation challenges.