Stephen Hawking Needs a New Assistant: Can You Handle It?

Stephen Hawking is Hiring

If you ever wanted to work for world-famous theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, now is your chance. The main qualification: you pretty much have to be like Peter Bishop from Fringe.

A key part of your job: maintaining Professor Stephen Hawking's one-of-a-kind wheelchair computer system (hardware and software), with which he speaks, moves, and surfs the web. You would also travel with Hawking on his speaking engagements, helping him prepare his lectures and making sure he can get from point A to point B (Stephen Hawking suffers from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). You would also have to field press inquiries.

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Professor Stephen Hawking's Wheelchair Computer: Can You Fix It?

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The key qualifications, according to Hawking's website:

• Ability to work under pressure
• Maintenance of "black box" systems with no instruction manual or technical support
• Computer literacy
• Electronics knowledge
• Ability to speak to a large audience
• Ability to show others how to use complex systems

New Scientist has a brief interview with Sam Blackburn, who did the job for the last five years. It's an interesting discussion on incremental upgrades in critical systems.

You would start February 20, 2012 or just after. It is a paid gig, funded by Cambridge. If you don't suck, you could stay on past the initial 12-month period. If you want to work for Stephen Hawking, then check out his site for more details. Good luck.

Oh, and to answer your next question, it's IBM-compatible.