Meet the teams battling to get their egg closest to the X…

Left to right: Glynn, Leila, Jeff, James, Dustyn and Jim

The Orange Team
Glyn Hughes from Lancashire
Glyn is an inventor and ex-policeman. He is an independent researcher in prototype development for a lot of companies in renewable energy and heating and has designed and invented one of the world’s cleanest burning wood stoves for heating homes. Inspired by his ex-neighbour, Fred Dibnah, Glyn has also invented a special helmet used by Greater Manchester Police.

Dustyn Roberts from New York
Dustyn is a robotics expert with a Masters in Biomechanics and Movement Science; Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and a double major in Biomedical Engineering. Dustyn is currently designing a drilling robot for interplanetary deep drilling, has directed the assembly of a Mars lander subsystem, and is helping design a sample manipulation system for the MSL 2009 mission. Dustyn is likeable, relaxed, sporty, outgoing, and very smart!

Jeff Lieberman from Massachusetts
Jeff is a mathematician and performer who is also a graduate resident tutor at Bexley, part of the prestigious MIT in the US. Jeff is currently developing a process to teach and relearn motor learning skills such as dance and sports through a wearable robotic suit. He has also made four species of robot flower which generated music and lighting based on the behaviour of the viewer! Jeff is a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and in Media Arts and Sciences, focusing on Robotics. He is also a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Physics with a minor in Music. Jeff performs as part of a musical improvisational duo called GLOOB(IC) who begin with silence and build up complex loops and arrangements as they go along.

The Purple Team
James Tongue from the West Sussex
Silent film villain look-alike, James is also the friendliest, most genuine, enthusiastic drag-bike racing person you could hope to meet. Studied Mechanical Engineering and although he describes himself as a self-employed carpenter and joiner, his experience covers designing and building MRI scanners to magnets for nuclear particle accelerators for CERN and the aforementioned world record breaking drag racing motorcycle. Not bad for a man whose workshop is his garden shed…

Jim Dyke from Sussex
Mathematician, Philosopher, and all round nice-guy; Jim has degrees in Philosophy and Evolutionary and Adaptive systems so knows where we came from literally and figuratively. He is currently working towards a PhD within the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics in Sussex. They are researching dynamic robot walking. Jim describes himself as a “classic garage tinkerer and Lego brain” and like Dr Evil, has also dabbled in rockets and lasers.

Leila Hasan from San Francisco
Leila works for NASA on panoramic imaging robotics. She holds a Masters and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from MIT. She is currently a consultant for a mechatronics design firm working on circuit design for solar powered lighting modules. The lead engineer on a real-time imaging thermal cycler, she engineered the automation and instrumentation for the Living Chip, a screening system for genomics and drug discovery.

The teams' efforts will be overseen by two experts, Kal and Ian:

Kal Spelletich is a “performance scientist” originally from Iowa but now settled in San Francisco. He is number seven of nine children and was born in an elevator. He was expelled from Junior High School at 15 and at various times before enrolling at the University of Iowa was a dishwasher, cook, carpenter, auto mechanic, silk screen printer, entrepreneur, labourer, street scammer, plumber, grocery store worker, salesman, teacher, carpenter, stagehand, and fix-it guy. Kal discovered his passion for art and technology while at University and is interested in the link between Art and Technology or “Art that does things”. He is the founder of SEEMEN, the art workers militia guild, who give performances of machines that can "lift, spin, engulf in flames, measure human bio-inputs (heartbeat, respiration, movement, proximity, skin conductivity, voice stress monitoring)”. Kal has built over 100 machines and robots and regularly scours junk yards and dumpsters for industrial items whose technology can be reapplied.

Ian Johnston is an academic engineer; applied mathematician and inventor. He was born and grew up in Glasgow, is married to Jane, with one son Alexander, three cats (Grimble, Pipsqueak and Jemima) and more classic cars than he cares to contemplate, some of which work. After graduating he started research on artificial knee joints. After a couple of years he ran away from academic life to enter full time training as a ballet dancer - returning to the fold a year later when money and talent ran out simultaneously. He is still an active amateur dancer and performs in any show willing to have him. Since 1991 he has worked for the Open University as a Staff Tutor (lecturer) in Technology. His two most famous inventions are the world's most flippable drinks mat, the Aeromat, designed in 2003, and the Technotowel in 2004, which is a bath towel that doesn't fall off when you answer the door to the vicar after a shower. Neither of these have made it into production yet, but he remains open to offers.

Since November 2005 he has been seconded to work as Director/CEO of the Active Training and Education Trust, an educational charity which runs residential holidays for children. Of his on-screen Partner, Kal, Ian says: “Kal's great fun to work with. I think it's because he builds robot sculptures - to him, machines and mechanisms are alive with their own characters and poetry. He gets passionate about what should work - and somehow the problems and impossibilities vanish and it does work!”

And, in case you're wondering...
Why are the teams proud to gather under the "geek" banner?

The dictionary describes a Geek as “a person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits” or “a carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre acts”. Battle of the Geeks combines these two traits perfectly. The teams are experts in their fields and are determined to complete the tasks set. These people are the cream of their crop and didn’t get where they are without being single-minded and accomplished. The same traits required to be a success in BOTG. Flamboyance isn’t a trait usually associated with engineers and academics but Kal Spelletich and Ian Johnston, the resident experts on BOTG, aren’t your usual engineers or academics either. Kal is a performance-scientist from San Francisco and builds fire-breathing robots for interactive shows across America. Ian designed the world’s most flippable beermat and is a trained ballet-dancer. Performers? Certainly. Bizarre? Possibly. Inspirational? Absolutely.