Before joining Olin College in 2006, Mr. Neal was engaged in various aspects of research, development, and manufacturing of superconducting, magnetic, and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) devices. Mr. Neal received his S.M. in Electronic Materials from MIT, where his research was on the processing and characterization of superconducting thin films. He also graduated from Washington State University with a B.S. in Physical Metallurgy. Mr. Neal has been a member of three start-up companies, developing high temperature superconducting wire, thin film superconducting devices, and MEMS devices. He was also a materials scientist for the former Superconducting Supercollider Laboratory studying eddy current losses in superconducting magnets and magnetoresistance in steel beam tubes. He has also been a vacuum process engineer in a high volume manufacturing facility producing thin film recording heads.