Contributors

“A fan of the noble undertaking, the success snatched from the jaws of defeat, and the spectacular failure,” Gever Tully (Design Build Prize) is “chaotically productive, fanatically messy, and prone to flights of fancy.” While he once wrote code for 72 hours straight, the founder of Tinkering School now spends considerably more time working with his hands. He lives in Montara, Calif., with his “lovely wife and collaborator, Julie Spiegler,” and their dog, Daisy Love Cracker. Proving that committed tinkerer is not an oxymoron, he admits that “my favorite tool is my brain, my second favorite are my hands, and after that it’s a toss-up between the plasma torch, the laser cutter, and the pocketknife.”

As a kid, Tarikh Korula (Pixelmusic 3000) would hack (and break) his video games, alarm clocks, joysticks, and CD players. As an adult, he finds himself trying to explain why he still does those things. He’s managed to further complicate matters by getting his hands dirty in sound art, media reform, and small business. In 2004, Tarikh and Josh Rooke-Ley founded Uncommon Projects with the intent to make a living by answering some of these conundrums. uncommonprojects.com

Amy Crilly (3D Movies photography) is a Jersey girl by way of San Diego. She’s been studying photography ever since she discovered her love for it. Amy earned a B. A. from California College of the Arts in the San Francisco Bay Area and began her professional career as a photo editor at Wired magazine. After three years producing shoots for other photographers, she decided to give it a go herself, so she packed up her husband and moved to Los Angeles, where she now shoots for numerous publications and clients. amycrilly.com

When Brad Graham and Kathy McGowan (Evasive Beeping Thing) aren’t inventing, consulting, or knee-deep in electronics, robotics, and bike-building, they enjoy the outdoors, especially “biking, camping, fishing, and concocting Atomic Zombie and Evil Genius ideas by the campfire.” They’re currently working on a heavy-duty outdoor security robot, a retro arcade game for hobbyists, and more Atomic Zombie bikes: recumbents, trikes, choppers, and an electric motorcycle. Robotics advice? “Never build a bot you can’t outrun!” atomiczombie.com

John Mouton (Baja Buggies) is an applications engineer with Microchip’s Security, Microcontroller, and Technology Development Division (SMTD). He ensures that Microchip’s products meet silicon validation specifications, works with customers on design projects, and helps to develop and demonstrate product applications. He spent four years in the U.S. Air Force and five years in college, completed a co-op program with Advanced Micro Devices, and worked with high-voltage power products at 3M. His advice to engineers? “Be versatile, have fun with everything you do, and always continue learning. Because when you’re green, you grow, and when you’re ripe, you’re rotten.”

Ed Troxell (editorial intern) is a communications major at Sonoma State University who signed up for a photojournalism class “not knowing what to expect,” only to become photo editor and a contributing photographer for the school newspaper. He’s interned at the North Bay Bohemian, where his very first assignment was a hit, and had his photographs published in the San Francisco Chronicle. When he’s not fact-checking or proofing articles at MAKE, Ed likes scary movies, traveling, heading out to clubs, and BBQing. He just built a backyard bar from scratch.

10 Make: Volume 14