Mitch is a San Francisco-based hacker and inventor, best known for inventing TV-B-Gone remote controls, a keychain that turns off TVs in public places, he was also co-founder of 3ware (a SillyValley RAID controller company), did pioneering work in Virtual Reality at VPL Research, invented the NeuroDreamer sleep mask, and created the Brain Machine, one of MAKE Magazine's most popular DIY projects. He has contributed to MAKE Magazine, has written for 2600, and for the last several years has been leading workshops around the world, teaching people to make cool things with microcontrollers and teaching everyone to solder. He is co-founder of Noisebridge, and President and CEO of Cornfield Electronics. He is about to launch his latest project: NeuroDreamer sleep mask, to help people rest, and help people lucid dream.
Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_Altman
TEDxBrussels talk: "The Hackerspace Movement":
http://www.tedxbrussels.eu/2012/speakers/mitch_altman.php
Geeks & Depression panel at 28C3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnfOOoTOrDE