K. Eric Drexler
From SolarSailWiki
Web page: http://e-drexler.com/p/idx04/00/0404drexlerBioCV.html
Eric Drexler invented the high performance solar sail for his MS thesis at the MIT department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. His current field of research is in nanotechnology, as chairman of the Foresight Institute and author of Engines of Creation.