About the Author

Joshua M. Pearce is the Richard Witte Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and is cross-appointed in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Michigan Technological University, where he directs the Michigan Tech Open Sustainability Technology (MOST) Lab (www.appropedia.org/MOST). He is a Fulbright–Aalto University Distinguished Chair alumnus and is also currently a visiting professor of photovoltaics and nanoengineering at Aalto University in Finland, as well as a visiting professor with the Research Team on Innovative Processes (ERPI) at the University of Lorraine in France. Pearce’s research concentrates on the use of open-source-appropriate technology to find collaborative solutions to problems in sustainability and poverty reduction. It also encompasses areas of electronic device physics and materials engineering of solar photovoltaic cells and RepRap 3D printing, and includes applied sustainability and energy policy. His research group is well-known for releasing innovations with open-source licenses that eviscerate the cost of science. Pearce’s work is regularly covered by the international and national press and is continually ranked in the top 0.1 percent on Academia.edu (mtu.academia.edu/JoshuaPearce). He is also the faculty advisor for the Michigan Tech Open Source Hardware Enterprise. In addition, he is founding co-editor-in-chief of HardwareX, a journal dedicated to open-source scientific hardware, and author of Open-Source Lab: How to Build Your Own Hardware and Reduce Research Costs (www.appropedia.org/Open-source_Lab).