Saul Griffith, PhD

is the Chief Scientist at Other Lab. He has multiple degrees in materials science and mechanical engineering and completed his PhD in Programmable Assembly and Self Replicating machines at MIT. He is the co-founder of numerous companies, including Optiopia, Squid Labs, Potenco, Instructables.com, Howtoons and Makani Power. Saul has been awarded numerous awards for invention and was recently named a MacArthur Fellow. Saul holds multiple patents and patents pending in textiles, optics, nanotechnology, and energy production. He also co-authors children’s comic books called Howtoons, about building your own science and engineering gadgets, and is a technical advisor to Make magazine and Popular Mechanics. He rarely wears shoes and has holes in most of his pockets.

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James McBride, PhD

Jim McBride holds a PhD in physics from MIT, and was a Postdoctoral Associate at the MIT Media Lab. His training spans across various domains, from quantum computing, to large scale simulations of self organizing wireless networks, to actually building computational clusters and financial trading systems. Most recently, Jim co-founded WattzOn Personal Energy Audit, a new, free, digital application that allows users to more broadly understand their real energy footprint.

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.Jonathan Bachrach, PhD

researches and invents within the fields of renewable energy, programmable matter, robotics, programming languages, and art making platforms. Together, his artistic and research practices form a scientific examination of mind, body and society. Before Other Lab, he was a research scientist at MIT for 8 years, held postdocs at Stanford and ICSI, and was a researcher at IRCAM in Paris, developing new musical platforms. He studied cognitive science, computer science, and visual arts, receiving a BS degree from the University of California at San Diego and MS and PhD degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His artwork has been shown around the world, most recently with Michael Gandolfi and Boston Musica Viva at Boston University, Siggraph in LA, Image Radio in the Netherlands, and with Snappy Dance Theater in Boston. He once made macaroni and cheese with vanilla ice cream.

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Nick Dragotta

is the co-founder, author, and artist of Howtoons. Nick is also a freelance comic book artist, having done work for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Cartoon Network. in 2006, Howtoons was included in the Cooper-Hewitt’s National Design Triennial, recognized for its inventive way of integrating instructions into storytelling. Nick eats pencils for breakfast and erasers for lunch.

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Ingrid Dragotta

is the lead designer and product manager of Howtoons and designer for 323D. She received her BFA in product design from Savannah College of Art and Design and is currently working on an MBA in design strategy at California College of the Arts. Having gotten her start at New Balance as a kids’ shoe designer and then joining Hasbro to create toys, she plays an integral role in connecting to users, be it through comics, outreach, or the next avenue of expression. As a child, she sold her mom’s jewelry for potato chips.