I've been designing contraptions since I was 12. One early contraption I made was designed to turn a room light on when dark, nearly burned the house down! It also stunk the house up since its selenium rectifier overheated big time which is a real no-no.
I've learned a lot since then...thank God! Since I became interested in electricity about the time I started to crave hot dogs roasted on an open fire, I went to the Illinois Institute of Technology and received a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. After that I started to turn out the electronic contraption designs and their prototypes at a furious pace. Many of these designs I had published in many electronic magazines such as Popular Electronics, Radio-Electronics, Modern Electronics, etc. etc. etc. and I am still doing it. My aim now is to instill in the viewer an interest in electronics AND knowledge of it as well. I firmly believe interest and motivation comes before knowledge--just look at the movie "October Sky"!