This was a fun read. Thanks for sharing your story. Love to see those who go out of the way to set themselves apart because it's who they are at their core. I'm sure whether you got accepted or not wouldn't change a thing on whether you'd try something similar again.
When (if) you retire and return to NZ, Dan, Predator Free NZ could probably use your skills for smart (species-recognising) cameras and self-resetting stoat and rat traps across our national parks.
Great read and echoes my conversion from web software to wholistic-product (which includes hardware).
I highly recommend reading Lila, by Pirsig too!
Nice project! Great execution.