Wil McCarthy

Engineer, novelist, and journalist, Wil McCarthy is a former contributing editor for WIRED magazine and the science columnist for the SciFi channel. Wil is a lifetime member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and has been nominated for several awards. Previously, he was one of those "guidance is go" people for Lockheed Martin Space Launch Systems and later an engineering manager for Omni-tech Robotics.

Wil is currently the Chief Technology Officer for Galileo Shipyards, an aerospace research corporation with projects ranging from rockets to high-altitude balloons to quantum nanoelectronics. His nonfiction bestseller, HACKING MATTER, describes the ongoing research by major corporations and university laboratories into quantum-dot based "programmable matter", promising enormous changes in both technology and society.

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  • Quantum Dots

    Engineer, novelist, and journalist Wil McCarthy discussed microscopic devices known as "quantum dots" which can act as programmable matter. The technology works by herding electrons into artificial patterns that form new atomic structures, he explained.More »
  • Programmable Matter

    An aerospace engineer, sci-fi novelist and science columnist, Wil McCarthy was Art's main guest on Friday night. He discussed forthcoming technologies involving "programmable matter," which could take the form of "quantum dots," which are similar to transistors but much smaller....More »