W. Daniel Hillis

W. Daniel (Danny) Hillis is Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of Applied Minds, Inc., a research and development company creating a range of new products and services in software, entertainment, electronics, biotechnology and mechanical design. The company also provides advanced technology, creative design, and consulting services to a variety of clients.

Previously, Hillis was Vice President, Research and Development at Walt Disney Imagineering, and a Disney Fellow. He pioneered the concept of parallel computers that is now the basis for most supercomputers, as well as the RAID disk array technology used to store large databases. He holds over 40 U.S. patents, covering parallel computers, disk arrays, forgery prevention methods, and various electronic and mechanical devices. Danny Hillis is also the designer of a 10,000-year mechanical clock and the author of The Pattern On The Stone: The Simple Ideas That Make Computers Work (ScienceMasters Series). Recently, Mr. Hillis was the winner of the Present - Technology, Information & Society category of the Dan David Prize for accomplishments that are shaping and enriching society and public life in the present time.