Petty Officer, 1st Class Etienne Couture

Character Information

Gender		Male
Species		Human
Age		38

Physical Appearance

Height		1.83m
Weight		82kg
Hair Color		Auburn
Eye Color		Blue
Physical Description		While not the most physically imposing, Etienne does keep himself within the standard fitness levels for Starfleet. He has a contagious smile and a way about him that seems to draw people to him. His eyes are his most distinguishing feature and can seem to pierce through stone.

Family

Father		Captain Matthieu Couture, Retired Royal Canadian Air Force
Mother		Rachel Couture, College Professor
Sister(s)		Isabelle Couture, Starfleet Academy Cadet

Personality & Traits

General Overview		As a test pilot, Etienne needed to be sure of himself and of those he worked with above all else. He needed to trust the people around him to put him in something that would not fail, while trusting himself not to fail those who built the machine. He takes failure hard but takes care to build relationships with those around him. He outwardly tries to keep it light-hearted so those around him do not lose faith in him, though inwardly he struggles with the unknown. Almost paradoxically, exploring where no one has gone before is the greatest joy in his life. At heart, Etienne is a true explorer.
Strengths & Weaknesses		+ Loyal to those around him + Knowledgeable pilot +- Outside of the box thinker - Takes failures hard - Does not show true emotions quickly
Ambitions		At first, Etienne only wanted to pilot the best of the newest technology. But, after being an alternate pilot for warp engine test flights and chosen to pilot an NX class, there was no where else to go. Now, Etienne takes joy in being among the first to explore what has never been seen.
Hobbies & Interests		He loves reading as a way to open his imagination to places that once were or never existed at all. He also was a promising hockey prospect in high school and college, with a real chance to play professionally. However, real joy is gained from lying on the ground at night and looking up into the vastness that is space.

Personal History		Etienne was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His father was a Québécois while his mother was an American. They had originally met when Matthieu was briefly stationed in Nellis Air Force Base in during the formalization of joint command structures between the United States military and Canadian Armed Forces. They were quickly married and moved to Montreal once negotiations and joint training were concluded. As the family began to grow, Matthieu took on a role as a combat trainer while Rachel became a professor at the University of Montreal in physics. Both parents instilled in their children a desire to be better tomorrow than you are today and a yearning to not settle for the mundane. Etienne's childhood was fairly perfect. His favorite activity was getting lost in the woods or trying to find some new thing out in the "wilderness" of his suburban life. They had a tight-knit family. Etienne excelled in school but always dreamed of the skies. He would always keep an eye on the newest developments from the Vulcan presence on Earth. The biggest achievements of his young life, however came on the soccer field. However, his mind was always on the question of what else is out there? He wanted to be at the forefront of humanity's quest to join the galactic community. Riding his success on the pitch, Etienne was able to follow his real passion to the University of Toronto. He used the opportunity to major in aerospace engineering so that he could help the cause. While at the university, he was near the top of his class. He also joined the flight team. Perhaps bolstered by genetics, Etienne excelled and found a calling. He loved being in the sky as much as he loved designing the engines and tweaking systems to eek out better performance. The four years flew by before he moved on to graduate school in his native Montreal. Instead of focusing on atmosphereic flight, Etienne recognized that humanity's future no longer was limited to just the sky. Therefore, he switched to focus more on space travel and propulsion in his graduate program. As he neared graduation, Etienne's thesis on next generation warp bubble manipulation caught the attention of the former NX-Delta program in Boseman, Montana. While he missed the glory days of the program that laid the groundwork for the Warp V engine, it was still a prestigious post that came with a chance at something else. While none of the projects went down in the history books like Captain Archer's warp flight, the years spent in the testing grounds caught the attention of Starfleet. After a rather grueling warp endurance test flight, he was met by a couple of Starfleet officers with an offer he could not refuse. The offer was to join the newly minted Starfleet Academy. While courses were being developed for people of all skill levels, Etienne was able to enroll in the officer training program. It allowed his previous qualifications to serve as course credits, which left him with only the more military and survival aspects of the Academey to complete. The program was much more difficult that he anticipated, especially the Titan survival run. He did eventually graduate. His dream came true as he was selected to join the crew of the newest and cutting edge NX ship tp leave Earth, the Atlantis. Only time would tell what kind of adventures he would see.
Service Record		NX Atlantis, NX-class - 2356-Present - Helm Officer Starfleet Enlisted Training Program, San Francisco - 2355-2356 Warp Flight Testing Grounds Bozeman, Montana - 2354-2355 - Test Pilot and Research and Design École Polytechnique de Montréal 2352-2354 - Master's in Aerospace Engineering University of Toronto - 2348-2352 - B.A.Sc. Aerospace Engineering