Saul Griffith

Saul Griffith (born 1974) is an Australian–American inventor and renewable electricity advocate.^[1] He is the founder or co-founder of multiple companies, including Otherlab (where he is currently CEO), Makani Power, and Instructables.^[2]

Saul Griffith
Griffith in 2008
Born	Sydney, Australia
Alma mater	University of New South Wales (B.MET.E) University of Sydney (M.E.) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD)
Known for	Energy conservation, Howtoons
Awards	MacArthur Fellowship (2007)
Scientific career
Fields	Material science

Education

In 2000, Griffith graduated from the University of Sydney with a Master of Engineering degree.^[3] He won a scholarship to MIT Media Lab to study towards a PhD that he completed in 2004. The subject of his PhD thesis was "self-replicating machines". They were one of the first instances of artificial replication being demonstrated using real physics.^[4]

Projects

Griffith is the co-founder and CEO of OtherLab, a research and development company working on computational manufacturing and design tools^[5] and applying those tools to projects such as inflatable pneumatic robots and prostheses,^[6] novel approaches to heliostat design,^[7] and applications of computational origami to the design of pressure vessels (e.g. for compressed natural gas) in arbitrary shapes.^[8] Otherlab's R&D is guided by a vast map of energy flows in the US economy,^[9] which they use to identify key leverage points in building a more sustainable energy economy.

Griffith used this energy flow mapping for Rewiring America, a nonprofit organization working on electrification.^[10] He argues that the United States can create 30 million jobs, save consumers money, boost energy resiliency, and accelerate achievement of a net zero economy.^[11][12]

Previously, he was a co-founder of Squid Labs,^[13] and its spinout companies and projects Makani Power,^[14] Instructables, Wattzon, HowToons, OptiOpia, Potenco, Sunfolding, Other Machine Company and Monkeylectric.^[15][2]

Saul Griffith giving a talk at Poptech 2008

Personal life

Griffith used to live in San Francisco.^[16] As of 2022, he has relocated to Australia, living in Wollongong.^[1]

He is married to Tim O'Reilly's daughter Arwen.^[17] He has two children.^[18]

Griffith's mother is a wildlife artist, early Greenpeace activist and printmaker, while his father is a retired professor.^[10]

A portrait of Griffith by artist Jude Rae was highly commended in the 2022 Archibald Prize.^[19]

Publications

• Electrify: An Optimist's Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future (2021). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT University Press. ISBN 978-0-262-04623-7 (Hardcover edition) ISBN 978-0-262-54504-4 (Paperback edition)
• The Big Switch: Australia's Electric Future (2022). Collingwood, Victoria: Black Inc. Books. ISBN 978-1-76064-387-4 (paperback edition).
• The Wires That Bind: Electrification and Community Renewal (2023). Quarterly Essay 89. Collingwood, Victoria: Black Inc. Books. ISBN 978-1-76064-420-8 (paperback edition).
• Plug In! The Electrification Handbook (2025). Collingwood, Victoria: Black Inc. Books. ISBN 978-1-76064-515-1 (paperback edition).