News Writer:
Cynthia Eller
Carver Mead prepares an experiment in which a magnet levitates over a high-temperature superconductor.
Credit: Lance Hayashida
A National Medal of Technology recipient in 2003, Mead is celebrating his 80th birthday on May 1, 2014. He remains as passionate today about science and engineering as he ever was ("There isn't really a time when you're too old to have new ideas," he says).