Jay Silver

Dr. Jay Silver is the Founder and CEO of JoyLabz/Makey Makey, a company that produces innovative products that empower individuals to become agents of creative change. He is credited with inventing popular creative platforms such as Drawdio, recognized as one of Time’s Top 15 Toys for Young Geniuses, and MaKey MaKey, which was successfully crowdfunded with $500,000 on Kickstarter. CNN has described him as a leading proponent of the Maker Movement.

The Maker Movement represents a resurgence of the DIY (do it yourself) and DIWO (do it with others) ethos, focusing on whimsical, entrepreneurial, and educational projects. This global phenomenon is most vividly showcased at the numerous Maker Faires held worldwide. Silver was the first Maker Research Scientist at Intel and has played a pivotal role in nurturing this community.

Silver studied electrical engineering at Georgia Tech, where he was named Engineer of the Year. He earned a master's in Internet Technology from Cambridge University as a Gates Scholar and holds a master's and a PhD from the MIT Media Lab, where his research earned him a National Science Foundation Fellowship and the Lemelson Prize for inventiveness. His PhD thesis, titled “World as Construction Kit,” reflects his philosophy on the potential for everyday objects to facilitate learning and creativity. At MIT, he also taught a popular course named "Radical Design for Learning," which encouraged designing iterative learning situations with a focus on experiential and nontraditional learning modalities.

Silver has developed Scratch, an online programming language that has introduced millions to coding. His inventions have been licensed and productized by numerous electronics and toy companies, and his company, JoyLabz, achieved $2 million in revenue in its first year, continuing its significant growth thereafter. He has been inducted into the permanent collection of MoMA and has exhibited artwork at prestigious venues like Ars Electronica and NT MOFA.

Silver has spoken at global platforms including TED, PopTech, and at corporate events for companies like Google. He has also worked for diverse organizations ranging from Lincoln Labs to UC San Diego. Additionally, he serves on the board of directors for Maker Ed, One Day on Earth, and Sunseed Food, and actively engages with teens at Not Back to School Camp, promoting the importance of romanticism in his educational philosophy. Silver’s impact as an innovator in technology and education continues to resonate across multiple platforms.