Ezel Virem

Early Life & Education

Ezel Virem was born on February 18, 2352 in Trill’s capital city, Mak’ala, to parents with strong connections to the Trill government. Her mother, a doctor by trade, served as the Deputy Minister of Health, and her father worked as a Symbiont Guardian for the Trill Symbiosis Commission. As the eldest of three siblings, the responsibility of caring for the family often fell to Ezel. Despite their absence throughout Ezel’s childhood, her parents placed immense pressure on Ezel and her siblings to train for symbiont joining. Ezel spent the majority of her adolescent life either caring for her family or undergoing intense mental and physical training.

To further her credentials for entry into the Trill Symbiosis Commission’s initiate program, Ezel attended post-secondary school at the Trill Science Ministry. Her first act of rebellion against her parents was to pursue a degree in computer engineering, rather than the medical or scientific paths they preferred. Ezel’s strong work ethic and studious upbringing led her to graduate with high honors at the top of her class. After graduation, she was accepted to the symbiont initiate program. The positions her parents held gave them some influence over the selection process and, despite an unspoken guarantee of symbiont joining, Ezel quit the program after less than a year. Ezel’s parents, furious with her decision, disowned her and prevented her from returning home. She decided it best to leave Trill and join Starfleet, where she could decide her own future.

With a full education from Trill, Ezel was accepted into Starfleet’s Officer Candidate School in 2375. She learned how to apply her skills to work on a starship, although she knew from the early stages of her training that she’d prefer a position that allowed her to remain stationary and conduct research. After a year of studies, she earned her commission and was assigned to a starship – a requirement for all officers who wished to hold a position with Starfleet Research.

Starfleet Career

Early Service (2375-2380)

Ezel joined the crew of the Nebula-class USS Tempest in 2376 as an engineering officer. Ezel’s responsibilities aboard the Tempest included maintaining the ship’s computer core, fixing holodecks, and occasionally assisting with damage control. Spending most of her time alone, Ezel treated the Tempest as a stepping stone for her career. While not a prestigious assignment, the Tempest allowed Ezel to train in different specialties and gain knowledge of various Starfleet systems. Ezel was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade and left the Tempest after one year.

Recruited by the ship’s chief engineer, Ezel joined the Sovereign-class USS Britannia. Ezel’s official title was engineering officer, but she trained directly with the ship’s chief engineer and worked as an unofficial holoprogramming specialist. She created several holographic training programs for the engineering department, including damage control drills, research simulations, and more. She became known on the crew as the “head of holopgramming,” overseeing the maintenance and use of the ship’s holographic systems.

Jupiter Station Holoprogramming Center (2380-2385)

In 2380, Ezel joined the Jupiter Station Holoprogramming Center as a staff engineer. With her record developing training programs for the Britannia, Ezel was first assigned to help Starfleet Academy instructors create simulations for their cadets. She traveled between Jupiter Station and Earth, developing relationships with professors and admirals in Starfleet Research. Ezel specialized in the development of flight simulators, designing models of computer interfaces and piloting environments. One of her flight simulations was used to assess pilot trainees – both at the Academy and throughout the fleet – before they received credentials.

Eventually, Ezel was invited to join the Holoprogramming Center’s flagship project: the development of medical holograms. She was assigned to the emergency medical hologram (EMH) team and primarily worked on the program’s machine learning abilities, expanding the hologram’s logic and interpersonal subroutines. While the majority of the project focused on the long-term medical hologram (LMH), the emergency medical hologram (EMH) was still the standard throughout the fleet, especially in smaller vessels as it required less resources to maintain.

Information Systems Research Center (2385-2400)

After the destruction of the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards in 2385, Starfleet Research lost many of its development labs and Jupiter Station was tasked with filling the void. It opened the Information Systems Research Center (ISRC) and became the Starfleet’s leading computing research lab with direct control over the development of LCARS. Due to Ezel’s work with holoprogramming and simulated interface designs, she was one of the first engineers recruited to join the new research center.

Ezel became a senior staff engineer on the LCARS holographic interface design team. The ISRC had an ambitious plan to develop a hybrid holographic interface for the new version of LCARS. Ezel focused on developing the shipboard system, spending six years researching humanoid-computer interaction (HCI), writing guidelines on best practices for holographic user interfaces, and designing a production interface for LCARS. She became the principal engineer of the LCARS project in 2388, with direct creative control over the system’s design and development. In her new position, she traveled to various shipyards across the Federation to supervise the system’s implementation. She led several teams of engineers and personally mentored dozens of engineers. The first version of the new LCARS went into production with the Inquiry-class in 2390.

In 2393, Ezel was promoted to Captain and was offered a position as deputy director of the research center. She accepted on the condition that she be allowed to continue working on the interface, which required further updates after field testing. Her new role gave her significant influence over the system’s implementation, and she worked closely with her counterparts in the Starship Design Bureau to integrate the system into future starships, including the Sagan-class.

Once she laid the groundwork for implementation throughout the fleet, Ezel accepted a position as the center’s director. She oversaw the center’s day-to-day operations and initiated new projects that would modernize hand-held versions of the LCARS. While no longer directly involved in the center’s development programs, Ezel spoke at several conferences to highlight the research conducted at her center. In 2398, she became a Fellow of the Daystrom Institute of Technology, an honor given to engineers who are recognized as the best and brightest innovators and technologists in the Federation. She also created and taught Advanced Humanoid-Computer Interaction at Starfleet Academy, the first in-depth course on the subject taught to bachelor’s degree students.

Fourth Fleet Corps of Engineers (2400)

Although she enjoyed her work with Starfleet Research, Ezel’s ambition led her to seek new opportunities. Her accomplishments with LCARS guaranteed her a promotion, and she was allowed to select her new assignment. In 2400, Ezel became Director of the Fourth Fleet Corps of Engineers with a promotion to Rear Admiral. The Fourth Fleet was Starfleet’s premier exploration unit and was among the first to receive vessels boasting Ezel’s holographic LCARS, allowing her to continue her involvement with the project while also demonstrating her ability to lead an entire engineering corps.

As Chief of Engineers, she directly oversaw all engineering projects in the fleet, including research labs and fleet yards. While no longer serving under the ISRC, she joined the center’s steering committee and continues to provide guidance and oversight for LCARS development. She also continues to teach cadets, offering her humanoid-computer interaction course at Starfleet Academy’s Mellstoxx III campus.