Michael Roukes, TEDxCaltech co-organizer, is the Robert M. Abbey Professor of Physics, Applied Physics, and Bioengineering at Caltech.  He was founding Director of Caltech’s Kavli Nanoscience Institute (KNI), and currently serves as its co-Director.  Michael co-founded and is co-Director of the Alliance for Nanosystems VLSI (very-large-scale integration), a vital collaboration between KNI researchers and counterparts at CEA/LETI in Grenoble, France – the site of a $B-scale semiconductor research foundry.

He holds a Chaire d’Excellence in Nanoscience from the RTRA, a multi-university/institution Grenoble consortium. Michael’s scientific interests range from quantum measurement to applied biotechnology – with a unifying theme of nanosystems VLSI and applications. In the early '90s he founded the field of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), and has since published broadly on nanoscience, lectured at most major research centers worldwide, and is active on many national and international committees promoting these fields. In 2010, Michael received a National Institutes of Health Director’s Pioneer Award, reflecting the evolution of his research toward the life sciences.