Caltech Alum Named to Top UK Post

09/22/2009 Caltech alum David MacKay, PhD '92, has been appointed chief scientific advisor for the United Kingdom's Department of Energy and Climate Change. MacKay is currently a professor of natural philosophy in the physics department at Cambridge University and is author of the influential book Sustainable Energy—Without the Hot Air.

He is internationally known for his research in machine learning, information theory, and communication systems, including the invention of Dasher, a software application for communication that is especially popular with disabled people. He has taught physics in Cambridge since 1995. Over the years MacKay has devoted an increasing amount of time to public teaching about energy.