Neil Gershenfeld is a Professor at MIT and the Director of the Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), an interdisciplinary initiative exploring the boundary between computer science, physics, and engineering through digital fabrication and computational design. He received his BA in Physics with High Honors from Swarthmore College in 1981 and his PhD in Applied Physics from Cornell University in 1990, where he was advised by Prof. Watt Webb. His early career included positions as a technician at Bell Labs (1981-1983, 1984), Visiting Scientist at the San Francisco Laser Center (1983-1984), and Junior Fellow at Harvard University's Society of Fellows (1989-1992). Since 1992, he has been a Professor at MIT in the Program in Media Arts and Sciences, leading CBA's efforts to break down boundaries between the digital and physical worlds.

Gershenfeld's research spans quantum computing, digital fabrication, the Internet of Things, and personal fabrication technologies, with applications from museum exhibits to rural development projects worldwide. He is the founder of the global Fab Lab network, now comprising over 2500 labs in 150 countries, director of the Fab Academy for distributed education in digital fabrication practices, and chair of the Fab Foundation. His influential books include Designing Reality (Basic Books, 2017, with Alan Gershenfeld and Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld), Fab: The Coming Revolution On Your Desktop—from Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication (Basic Books, 2005), The Physics of Information Technology (Cambridge University Press, 2000), When Things Start to Think (Henry Holt, 1999), and The Nature of Mathematical Modeling (Cambridge University Press, 1999). Recent publications feature works on self-reconfigurable robots, computational metrology for materials, and diamond rotors for NMR spectroscopy. Among his honors are membership in the National Academy of Engineering, Fellowships of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical Society, the Mario Pani Award from Anahuac Mexico University, the Irwin Sizer Award for Most Significant Improvement to MIT Education, and honorary doctorates from Swarthmore College, Strathclyde University, and the University of Antwerp. He co-founded the Interspecies Internet and the Science and Entertainment Exchange.

Professional Email: gersh@cba.mit.edu