Steve Roberts has been immersed in microprocessors and embedded controls since the early '70s, when he built one of the first 8008-based personal computers. He published a text on microcomputer engineering and continued in a general freelance consulting and magazine writing vein until 1983, when the combination of chronic restlessness and midwestern torpor launched him abruptly into the technomadic life. To the horror of friends and family, he sold his suburban house, moved to a recumbent bicycle, and began a 17,000-mile bicycle trip around the US - stopping now and again to write books about the adventure or rebuild the substrate. The third version of the bike sported 72 watts of solar panels, a network of on-board computers with handlebar chord keyboard and head mouse, heads-up display, satellite Internet link, 105 speeds, ham shack, and other goodies. As there was a SPARC on board, Steve had to learn how to ride a unixcycle. But by 1991, asphalt was losing its appeal and Steve started schlepping his 580-pound BEHEMOTH around the country on speaking tours via diesel mothership while working on the design of his next escape pod. Work on the bike's aquatic successor began full-time in 1993 and filled the following ten years. Now flickering to life in his Camano Island, Washington laboratory and undergoing a series of rigorous test mini-expeditions, the Microship project is based on a pair of canoe-scale amphibian pedal/solar/sail micro-trimarans with on-board Linux servers, live telemetry to a public server, video production tools, a complete suite of communications resources, deployable landing gear, and 480 watts of peak-power tracked solar panels per boatlet. Steve still earns a living by speaking and writing about his adventures, and is available (with or without the machines) for keynote bookings and show appearances.

Appearances & Speaking Engagements

Last Updated: Oct 6, 2003

Corporations Palm (3Com), Santa Clara, CA -- Sep 7, 2000 Qualcomm, Boulder, CO -- Aug 29, 2000 DraCo, Boulder, CO -- Aug 28, 2000 Life Fitness, Chicago, IL -- Aug 10, 2000 Tellabs, Minneapolis, MN -- Aug 4, 2000 Quantum, Colorado Springs, CO -- May 1999 Cabletron, Monterey, CA -- Feb 1999 MBARI, Monterey, CA -- Cabletron Goverment Users Group conference, Richmond, VA -- Jun 7, 1998 Aerovironment, on-site talks, Monrovia & Simi Valley -- Apr 17, 1998 H-P Semiconductor Test Division, Coronado, CA -- Apr 14, 1998 Natural Microsystems, Boston, MA -- Sep 18, 1997 Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, CA -- Sep 10, 1997 Hewlett-Packard Labs, Palo Alto, CA -- Aug 29, 1997 Apple Advanced Technology Group, Cupertino, CA -- July 19, 1996 Aspect Telecommunications, Napa, CA -- Jan 17, 1997 Aspect Telecommunications, San Francisco, CA -- May 9, 1995 IBM, Santa Teresa Labs, San Jose, CA -- Apr 4, 1995 Argonne National Labs, Chicago, IL -- Nov 30, 1994 Hewlett-Packard, New Orleans, LA -- Nov 9, 1994 Sony, San Diego, CA -- Oct 7, 1994 Monterey Bay Area Research Institute, Monterey, CA -- May 21, 1993 Qualcomm engineering lecture, San Diego, CA -- Apr 23, 1993 Autodesk, Sausalito, CA -- Apr 9, 1993 Digital Ocean, Overland Park, KS -- Mar 29, 1993 Motorola Automotive, Northbrook, IL -- Mar 16, 1993 American Radio Relay League, Hartford, CT -- Mar 9, 1993 Reflection Technology, Waltham, MA -- Mar 1, 1993 Sun Microsystems at UNC, Raleigh, NC -- Feb 24, 1993 AT&T (Engineers' Week), Shreveport, LA -- Feb 16, 1993 Microchip Technologies, Chandler, AZ -- Feb 3, 1993 Cascade Designs, Seattle, WA -- Sept. 15, 1992 Thinking Machines, Cambridge, MA -- July 16, 1992 BBN, Cambridge, MA -- July 15, 1992 XEROX, Rochester, NY - June 3, 1992 Soft Systems Engineering, York, PA -- May 27, 1992 National Science Foundation, Washington DC -- May 26, 1992 Hewlett-Packard, Corvallis, OR -- Mar 4, 1992 Sharp Electronics, Vancouver, WA -- Mar 2, 1992 Fluke, Everett, WA -- Feb 27, 1992 Microsoft, Redmond, WA -- Feb 26, 1992 Grass Valley Group, Grass Valley, CA -- Jan 24, 1992 Qualcomm, San Diego -- Jan 16, 1992 Fermilabs talk and video, Batavia, IL -- Aug 6, 1991 Bell Laboratories, Naperville, IL -- Aug 5, 1991 Apple Computer, Cupertino, CA -- June 4, 1991 Qualcomm, San Diego, CA -- March 22, 1991 Sun Microsystems weekly open house -- 1990-1991 Ampro Computers, Sunnyvale -- Dec 7, 1990 Sun Microsystems seminar, Mt. View, CA -- Oct 11, 1990 Sun Microsystems Offsite Meeting, Cupertino -- Aug 15, 1990 IBM Santa Teresa Labs seminar, San Jose, CA -- July 13, 1989 Sun Microsystems, Mt. View -- June 28, 1989 Olivetti Research Center, Palo Alto -- June 7, 1989 IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose -- Apr 3, 1989 Xerox PARC (Einstein's B-day), Palo Alto -- Mar 14, 1989 Autodesk, Sausalito, CA -- Jan 23, 1989 Hewlett-Packard, Sunnyvale, CA -- Dec 9, 1988 Chips & Technologies, San Jose, CA -- Oct 28, 1988 Xanadu, Palo Alto, CA -- Oct 25, 1988 Information Access, Foster City, CA -- Oct 21, 1988 Hewlett-Packard, Corvallis, OR -- Oct 4, 1988 REI, Kent, WA -- Sept 30, 1988 AEA, Lynnwood, WA -- Sept 21, 1988 Icom America, Bellevue, WA -- Sept 20, 1988 Traveling Software, Bothell, WA -- Sept 19, 1988 Hewlett-Packard, Vancouver, WA -- Sept 16, 1988 Larsen Electronics, Vancouver, WA -- Sept 8, 1988 Handheld Products, Charlotte, NC -- March 22, 1988 GEnie & Solarex cooperative press event, Rockville, MD -- Oct 9, 1987 Dialog Information Services press conf., Palo Alto -- May 11, 1987 Apple Computer, Cupertino -- April 29, 1987 Hewlett-Packard, San Jose -- April 28, 1987 Intellicorp, brown-bag luncheon, Mt. View, CA -- April 22, 1987 Hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto -- April 1, 1987 Hewlett-Packard Brown Bag Luncheon, Corvallis, OR -- Nov, 1986 Universities Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA -- Sept 24, 1996 Stanford, Palo Alto, CA -- May 15, 1996 University of Houston, Houston, TX -- Nov 4, 1994 UCSD, La Jolla, CA -- May 3, 1993 and many ongoing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA -- Apr 27, 1993 UCLA, Los Angeles, CA -- Apr 19, 1993 Miami University, Oxford, OH -- Mar 11, 1993 Southern Methodist University (CS), Dallas, TX -- Feb 12, 1993 Cal State University, Fresno, CA -- Nov. 5, 1992 MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA -- July 17, 1992 Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA -- June 1, 1992 University of Nevada (ACM), Reno, NV -- April 16, 1992 Evergreen College, Olympia, WA -- Feb 24, 1992 Cabrillo College, Soquel, CA -- June 22, 1990 UC Davis (Advanced Executive Program speaker), Davis, CA -- May 11, 1990 University of Maryland, IHPVA Symposium, College Park -- Sept 26, 1987 Stanford Mechanical Engineering Design Forum -- Feb 27, 1987 Trade Shows and Special Events West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium, Pt. Townsend, WA -- Sep 21, 2003 Linux Lunacy Geek Cruise, Eastern Caribbean -- Oct 24-31, 2001 ACM1 Expo, Santa Clara, CA -- March 10-13, 2001 Java Jam Geek Cruise, Western Caribbean -- Nov 4-11, 2000 Usability Professionals Association Keynote, Asheville, NC -- Aug 16, 2000 SolWest Energy Expo, John Day, OR -- July 29-30, 2000 Perl Whirl Geek Cruise, Inside Passage to Alaska -- May 29-Jun 5, 2000 Renewable Energy Expo, Arcata, CA -- April 25, 1998 Asilomar Microcomputer Workshop, Monterey -- April 22-24, 1998 Association of Computing Machinery ACM'97, San Jose -- Mar 1-4, 1997 DECUS, San Francisco, CA -- Dec 7, 1995 Email World and Internet Expo, Boston, MA -- Nov 28-30, 1995 Excellinet Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA -- Dec 18, 1995 Da Vinci Days, Corvallis, OR -- July, 1995 Hewlett-Packard International Sales Mtg, New Orleans, LA -- Nov 9, 1994 LBMS Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA -- Oct 19, 1994 Northern Telecom Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ -- May 17, 1994 Novell, MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV -- May 2, 1994 Los Angeles Computer Fair, Pomona, CA -- Mar 18-20, 1994 Mobile World Expo, San Jose, CA -- Nov, 1993 Telecommunications Association speech, Portland, OR -- May 11-12, 1993 Telephone Pioneers of America conference, Newport Beach, CA -- Apr 16, 1993 PacBell Texpo, 11 speeches in show booth and video, SF, CA -- Apr 6-8, 1993 Talcott Mountain Science Ctr, live satellite bc, Avon, CT -- Mar 8, 1993 Mobile Computing Conference, two talks, Boston, MA -- Mar 3-4, 1993 Hackers Conference, Lake Tahoe, CA -- Nov 6-8, 1992 Comten talk, Monterey, CA -- Nov 2, 1992 Interop Fall, session chair, San Francisco, CA -- Oct 26-30, 1992 Pacific Sea Kayak Symposium, Port Townsend, WA -- Sept 18-20, 1992 Outdoor Retailer Expo West, Reno, NV -- Aug 17-20, 1992 Atlantic Coast Sea Kayak Symposium -- July 10-12, 1992 Interop Spring, Washington DC -- May 18-22, 1992 Idea '92 speech, San Jose, CA -- April 14, 1992 Seattle Bike Expo, Seattle, WA -- Feb 28-29, 1992 San Diego Electronics Show, San Diego -- Jan 13-15, 1992 IHPVA championships, Milwaukee, WI -- August, 1991 WESCON (with OrCAD), Anaheim, CA -- Nov 13-15, 1990 Embedded Systems Conference, San Francisco -- Sept 28, 1990 Solar Energy Expo, Willits, CA -- Aug 12-13, 1990 Soviet Silicon Summit, Santa Clara, CA -- June 8, 1990 Systems USA exhibit, San Jose, CA -- Feb 13, 1990 Mac '90 (BMUG), Berkeley, CA -- Jan 30, 1990 COMDEX (with Cirrus Logic), Las Vegas, NV -- Nov 13-17, 1989 Portable Computing /89 featured speaker, Santa Clara -- June 1, 1989 West Coast Computer Faire (with GEnie) & speech, SF, CA -- Mar 17-19, 1989 SF Chronicle Outdoor Fair public clinics, SF, CA -- Mar 3-5, 1989 SF Chronicle Great Outdoor Fair keynote address, SF, CA -- Mar 3, 1989 Long Beach Bike Show (with IHPVA), Long Beach, CA -- Jan 5-8, 1989 COMDEX (with Chips & Technologies), Las Vegas, NV -- Nov 14-18, 1988 Computer Using Educators conference, San Jose, CA -- Oct 22, 1988 Hackers Conference, Saratoga, CA -- Oct 7-9, 1988 Experimental Aircraft Assoc Fly-In, Oshkosh, WI -- July 30-31, 1988 American Library Association conf, New Orleans -- July 9-12, 1988 COMDEX Spring -- booth and media demo, Atlanta -- May 9-12, 1988 PC Forum party appearance, Naples, FL -- Feb 24, 1988 Smithsonian Mall, IHPVA exhibit, Washington DC -- Sept 24, 1987 West Coast Computer Faire Exhibit, San Francisco -- March 28, 1987 Expo '86, Vancouver BC, Canada -- August, 1986 (1-week display) National Online Meeting, New York, NY -- May, 1986 COMDEX (with Hewlett-Packard), Las Vegas, NV -- November, 1984 Carolina Computer Expo, Charlotte, NC -- October, 1984 Hamfests Huntsville Hamfest, Huntsville, AL -- Aug 19-20, 2000 Pacificon '97 banquet speaker, Concord, CA -- Oct 18, 1997 Pacificon Hamfest, Concord, CA --Oct 18, 1996 ARRL SW Division Convention, San Diego, CA -- Aug 26-28, 1994 Dayton Hamvention with PacComm and Icom, Dayton, OH -- Apr 24-26, 1992 Monterey Winterfest 90 (hamfest), Monterey, CA -- Jan 20, 1990 Shasta Spacecon seminar (satellite comm) -- Mt. Shasta, June 17, 1989 Pacificon, San Jose, CA -- Oct 15, 1988 ARRL National Convention, Portland, OR -- Sept 10-11, 1988 Dayton Hamvention booth and speech, Dayton, OH -- April 29-1, 1988 Charlotte Hamfest, Charlotte, NC -- Mar 19-20, 1988 Orlando Hamcation -- March 11-13, 1988 Sarasota Hamfest, Sarasota, FL -- Feb 20-21, 1988 Tropical Hamboree exhibit, Miami, FL -- Feb 6-7, 1988 Dayton Hamvention forum, Dayton, OH -- April, 1986 K-12 Schools Welty Middle School, New Philadelphia, OH -- Nov 18, 1994 Soquel High School, Soquel, CA -- Feb 12, 1990 Loma Prieta High School, Santa Cruz, CA -- Jan 16, 1990 St. Andrews School; K-12 in 2 groups, Savannah, GA -- Dec 11, 1987 Bacich School, Kentfield, CA -- Feb 3, 1987 Local Events and Clubs Seattle Perl Users Group, Seattle, WA -- Dec 17, 2002 Computer Museum History Center, Mt. View, CA -- Sep 6, 2000 Northwest Multihull Association, Seattle, WA -- Puget Sound repeater Group, Seattle,WA - Feb 7, 2000 SVFIG, Silicon Valley Forth Interest Group, Santa Clara, CA -- Aug 24, 1996 San Diego Macintosh Users Group, La Jolla, CA -- June 1, 1994 Marine Technology Forum, Monterey, CA -- May 25, 1993 Ocean Technology Forum, Scripps, La Jolla, CA -- April 27, 1993 Quest Outdoors demo, Louisville, KY -- Mar 13, 1993 Mensa Meeting, Mt. View, CA -- June 23, 1991 Technology Center exhibit, San Jose, CA -- ongoing Apple Professional Exchange (APX) talk, Palo Alto -- Nov 7, 1990 Online Conference featured guest (WRITERS), GEnie -- May 13, 1990 Computer Swap, Santa Clara, CA -- Sept 9, 1989 Almaden Cycle Touring Club talk, San Jose, CA -- Sept 6, 1989 Santa Cruz County Amateur Radio Club -- August 25, 1989 Lupin Naturist Club, Los Gatos, CA -- August 5, 1989 LCARC (ham radio club), Cupertino, CA -- May 17, 1989 Pacific Packet Radio Society talk, Redwood City, CA -- May 2, 1989 Outdoor Living Show, 3 speeches, Pleasanton, CA -- Apr 28-20, 1989 Am. Socy of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) talk, Dublin -- Apr 27, 1989 Silicon Valley Comp. Soc. feature speaker, Sunnyvale -- Apr 12, 1989 Halted in-store clinics, Sunnyvale, Sacto, Santa Rosa -- Apr, 1989 Town & Country Bicycles open house, Milpitas, CA -- Apr 1, 1989 Foothill Flea Market, Los Altos, CA -- Mar 11, 1989 Icom Day at Ham Radio Outlet, Burlingame, CA -- Feb 18, 1989 Software Entrepreneurs Forum appearance, Palo Alto, CA -- Feb 13, 1989 Aardvark Bicycles grand opening, Sunnyvale, CA -- Feb 4, 1989 REI public clinic, Carson, CA -- Jan 4, 1989 Vancouver Bicycle Club appearance, Vancouver, WA -- Oct 2, 1988 Bainbridge Island Reading Group, Bainbridge Isl, WA - Sept 27, 1988 Bozeman Amateur Radio Club talk, Bozeman, MT -- Sept 1, 1988 Anaconda Rotary Club talk, Anaconda, MT -- August 30, 1988 Anaconda ham radio club, Anaconda, MT -- August 28, 1988 KIPCUG speech and bike demo -- Louisville, KY -- May 4, 1988 Kentuckiana Mensa Monthly Gathering, Louisville -- April 9, 1988 Hawley-Cooke Bookstore autograph event, Louisville -- April 9, 1988 Amateur Radio (ARTS) Club speech, Louisville, KY -- April 8, 1988 The Book Collection autograph event, Greensboro -- April 2, 1988 Greensboro Mensa & Ham Club joint dinner -- April 1, 1988 Horizon Books autograph event, Charlotte, NC -- March 26, 1988 Florida D.O.T. media event, Tallahassee, FL -- March 1, 1988 Orlando Science Center -- March 10, 1988 Winter Rendezvous guest appearance, Homestead, FL -- March 7, 1988 GEAR Down bike rally, Mt. Dora, FL -- Feb 12-14, 1988 Frontenac Flea Market, Frontenac, FL -- Jan 30-31, 1988 Titusville Amateur Radio Club, Titusville, FL -- Jan 26, 1988 Cape Fear Amateur Radio Society, Fayetteville, NC -- Nov 16, 1987 North Carolina Bicycle Club dinner speech, Cary, NC -- Nov 3, 1987 Electronic Museum Amateur Radio Club, Mt. View -- May 1, 1987 Nuclear Weapons Freeze, sponsored demo, Palo Alto -- April 26, 1987 Prima Vera Century, special exhibit, Fremont, CA -- April 18, 1987 Kiwanis Club Luncheon, Palo Alto -- April 6, 1987 Palo Alto Amateur Radio Association, Mt. View -- April 3, 1987 Healing Our World, sponsored address, Palo Alto -- March 10, 1987 Western Wheelers Bicycle Club, Palo Alto, CA -- March 4, 1987 San Clemente Public Library, San Clemente, CA -- April, 1985