Wingsuits:
Canopies and Containers:
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Wingsuits:
Canopies and Containers:
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A Short Story of my Life I was born in Lucca in the Tuscan region of Italy from boomer generation parents. Like many people of their age, my parents were brought up with pre-war education during a post-war economically rampaging society. These baby boomers did not get the proper teaching needed to cope with a society far from the farming world of their parents and grand parents. Consequently, most people of my parents' age were so confused (still are) that it is truly a miracle that the cold war did not end up in WW III, yet! Fortunately, my parents did not make the mistake of imposing anything on me, including any of their beliefs. Up to school-years, I had a great childhood but at the same time I did not get too much attention leading to the creation of an inner world that has been keeping me entertained all my life. I did not make many male friends as a kid. I was never a competitive person and shied away from team sports or whatever the kids at the time were into. My only source of motivation has always been the self. My very first day of school was one of the biggest traumas of my life making me initially hate institutions, rules, and imposed beliefs. We were not allowed to question anything and pretty much all the learning involved being brain washed. I pretty much shut down myself while in school. I did not cause many troubles but at the same time I did not do a single productive thing making me one of the worst students in every class I have attended, from 1st grade to the senior year of high school across virtually all subjects despite my natural inclinations towards the sciences. My early passions were flight and natural observations. I used to capture, dissect, and look under my microscope many small animals and insects. Other favorite toys involved Lego, model airplanes, and many mechanical tools. As a teenager, I discovered sailing, windsurfing, and climbing which I pursuit with great passion including the teaching of them. In my late teenager years, I raced and wracked cars and motorcycles. I have always loved to adventure-travel and I have visited many countries but tried to steer away from mass-tourism. During my second year of College at University of Pisa, I decided I wanted to continue my education somewhere else being unsatisfied with the university system at the time, big surprise there! At the time, Italy still had the mandatory military draft making virtually impossible to leave the country for more than 1 year until the military duties were paid off. Despite the fact that I had already filed for an extension for that year, I went to the recruiting office asking to be drafted as soon as possible in the hope to free myself from what it felt slavery. Hence, in the summer of 1993 I was sent out to the regular Italian Army which bored me to death in just two days. Therefore, I decided to volunteer in the Paratroopers not knowing that the very first jump off a C-130 would forever change my life. Even though it was a static line jump with a T-10 round canopy, as soon as I left the door of the C-130 that morning of August of 1993, I realized that the air was where I felt most comfortable and more in touch with myself. After my military service was over, I left Italy and went to London England working as a waiter at night and going to school at day in order to learn English and start making a life on my own. I did not like London all that much, its lack of outdoor activities, the weather, and the culture. My view now is very different (the weather still sucks!). In 1995, I went to San Francisco on vacation. While there, I decided to finish my college education at Berkeley. In 1996, I moved to San Francisco attending initially Berkeley and then University of San Francisco where I graduated in 1998 with a BS in Neurobiology. My parents wanted me to become a dentist like my father. However, while at Berkeley I changed my mind and I decided to pursuit research in Neuroscience as my career which my parents have never understood for a long time. After my graduation, I started a Master in Computer Science understanding the benefits of knowing Informatics. To pay my bills I used to work as a motorcycle instructor. In the summer of 1996, another event changed my life once again. This event was a BASE jump off El Capitan in Yosemite. In 2001, I moved to Binghamton New York where I finished my Ph.D. in Systems Science/Intelligent Systems at State University of New York. My work there, as reflected by my dissertation, was Theoretical/Computational Neuroscience despite spending a few initial years performing brain surgeries on rats in the context of Behavioral Neuroscience. During those years as doctoral student I pursuit aviation, skydiving, parachute rigging, and BASE jumping on virtually every week-end and vacation. I also studied fluid dynamics, quantum mechanics, and aerodynamics without formal education. In 2005 I founded Nitro Rigging LLC. In 2006, I decided to start production of wingsuits of my own design being unsatisfied with wingsuits that were available on the market at the time. In 2008, Nitro Rigging expanded its line of wingsuits, canopies, and containers for skydiving and BASE jumping. Currently, I am the President of Nitro Rigging LLC and an adjunct Professor at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. I am also the founder and director of the BidonMaggot! Foundation, a non-profit foundation for the pursuit of wisdom. I live in Deland FL with my soul mate Martina Vidovic, a Professor of Economics at Rollins and fellow skydiver and partner in crime. I skydive, BASE jump, and sail on weekly basis.
I do not believe in God. I believe in myself. Do not hate me because I do not believe in your Gods. I believe in you just not in your beliefs, Nick Rugai
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