Dr. Theodore Krenstein

Dr. Theodore Krenstein is a gifted, multi-talented scientist well known within the Third Imperium.

Description (Character)

Summary: Graz Redniz Chair of Computational Robotics at Rhylanor Institute of Technology (RIT) on Rhylanor (Spinward Marches 2716) (on sabbatical leave). Dr. Theodore Krenstein is a gifted, multi-talented scientist with interests ranging from anthropology to xenology and zoology, including most of the other “ologies” in between

History & Background (Biography)

Early Life

Theodore Krenstein was born on planet Rhylanor (Spinward Marches 2716) on Imperial date 173-1042. He is an only child, the son of an air/raft shuttle technician (hi father, Gadden Krenstein) and a psychologist (his mother, Jaeni Krenstein).

Theo (as his parents called him) often tinkered with the ruined gravitc sub-assemblies his father would bring home; from this he developed a deep interest in high-tech devices. From his mother, Theo developed an interest in the human mind.

Before Theo could read he would watch holo-videos from his mother’s library on the com-video network; his parents were amazed that he required so little programmatic simplification, Theo was a phenomenally bright child. Theo soared through school because of his rapid comprehension and total recall ability. But some subjects bored him and many classes progressed too slowly for him, so he day-dreamed a lot. Theo received five Imperial patents for ideas he devised while bored in class!

Theodore was accepted at RIT a week after his eighteenth birthday. This was no small feat since the Institute enrolls only the best minds in the Spinward Marches and Deneb sectors. An appointment by a respected scientist is required before RIT will even consider the applicant. A barrage of exams and tests follows the appointment. Krenstein polished off the tests with no difficulty.

Krenstein started to major in computer design, but after the first year, switched to computational robotics. He managed to compress 8 years of doctorate study into 6 years.

A career at RIT

After he graduated, Krenstein accepted a professorship in Robotic Science at RIT. A young co-ed in one of his classes caught his eye, even though her major was economics, she was captivated to hear him talk of the potential of robotics and artificial intelligence. After the close of the close of the school year, Sashii and Theodore were married.

Krenstein continued to further his career at RIT. After four years as a professor, he became Dean of the School of Robotics. After three terms as Dean, he was appointed to the Graz Redniz Chair of Computational Robotics, largely because of his work on the school’s new advanced pseudo-biological robot AB-100. During his time, Krenstein and Shashii had three children, a daughter, a son, and another daughter.

Krenstein is a prolific author, having produced dozens of articles and several books on various aspects of artificial intelligence, computers, and robotics. His writings, lectures, and designs are popular on many worlds throughout the coreward regions of the Imperium, and they are available in many forms; old-style paper documents, 2D video and 3D holo-video.

Work with the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service

Among his many pursuits, the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service has commissioned several designs from Krenstein and the RIT robotics team. for use in conducting detailed planetary surface surveys. During a test in 1090 on Pannet (Spinward Marches 2519), members of a disgruntled anti-technist group kidnapped Dr. Krenstein and threatened to kill him if the Scout Service didn’t meet their demands. A young scout named Dur Telemon was part of the all-volunteer raiding team that finally freed Dr. Krenstein; in fact, Dur was the first to reach the Doctor.

It was this incident that prompted the Doctor to construct his personal servant and bodyguard, whom he refers to as “Aybee”.

After the rescue

Krenstein was devastated when his wife was killed in a freak accident in 1098. The tragedy forced him to re-evaluate his future and had a large impact on his final decision to pull up roots and leave Rhylanor, RIT, and its memories behind; he has taken a two-year sabbatical from teaching in order to make forays through parts of Rhylanor and Pretoria subsectors.

Dr. Theodore Krenstein is now travelling the Imperium with his revolutionary experiment in artificial intelligence and robotic learning, Aybee Wan Owen.

References & Contributors (Sources)

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This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Gary L. Thomas. "Feature Adventure: Of X-Boats and Friends." The Travellers' Digest 01 (1985): 03.
• Gary L. Thomas. "Feature Adventure; Journey of the Sojourn Moon." The Travellers' Digest 02 (1985): 04.
• Gary L. Thomas. "Feature Adventure; Visit to Antiquity; Characters." The Travellers' Digest 03 (1985): 08.
• Gary L. Thomas. "Feature Adventure; Visit to Antiquity; Playing the Characters." The Travellers' Digest 03 (1985): 30.
• Gary L. Thomas. "Feature Adventure; The Gold of Zurrian; Characters." The Travellers' Digest 04 (1986): 06.