Curiousity almost killed the young Genteel, at the age of 18. During an experiment for a thesis in AP Energy Physics didnt work as expected. The experiment was for testing a material that didnt merely deflect radiation but actually converted it into a use-able energy... expected energy was a mix of 90 percent heat and 10 percent electricity...give or take 3 percent of the energy to the electricity as it was unclear if 100 percent of radiation from the laser pistol would be captured.
After doing pretest and other safety percautsions he started the experiment...during initial set up a safety system failed and trusting to his secondary stop gap which should have given him 2 minutes to stop the test ( adequate time for standard average of test stoppage was 30 seconds) he went to initiate shut down....to do this he had to step behind the target (poor planning), as he stepped behind the material the laser fired...causing him severe burns and the inability to grow hair...and the loss of his left eye. Lucky for him that his experiment worked partially though not enough to warrant any major interest in it....and that another protype needed testing, his left eye.
After the accident and seeing the results, and recovering of course, he was accepted into a top ten college where he presuded Energy transmission system studies (ie lasers, gav engines, etc.). Currently applying for an internship at the Holis system military base to advance research on a system that would take a percentage of energy from a laser strike or radiation from a laser would be converted into use-able energy for the ship in question.