Robert A. Metzger is a research scientist in the area of semiconductors, high-speed telecommunication, and datacommunication devices. He has held distinguished teaching and consulting positions with Hughes Research Laboratories and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a Nebula Award nominee for Picoverse, and the author of a number of novels and short stories. He has also contributed numerous pieces to "Wired," and is co-founder of a technical trade journal, "Compound Semiconductor,