“MythBusters” Star Grant Imahara to Give Behind-The-Scenes Look on Sept. 17 at ISU

From ISU News Service

Grant Imahara, an original member of the build team on Discovery Channel’s  “MythBusters,” will speak about the popular science TV show during a presentation at Iowa State University, Saturday, Sept. 17.

His talk, which will include clips from behind the scenes, will be at 7 p.m. in Stephens Auditorium. Doors open at 6 p.m.

The presentation is free and open to the public. It is the opening event for Engineers’ Week at Iowa State.

“MythBusters” is a science and technology television series that takes a lighthearted look at modern misconceptions and bizarre claims of urban legends. Imahara and other cast members devise entertaining experiments that test the myths.

Before joining “MythBusters,” Imahara was an animatronics engineer, model maker and official R2-D2 operator for George Lucas’ special effects shop, Industrial Light & Magic. Imahara worked on several movies, including “Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace,” “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” and “The Matrix Reloaded.”

And he developed a custom circuit to cycle the Energizer Bunny’s arm beats and ears at a constant rate. Imahara also wrote the book, “Kickin’ Bot: An Illustrated Guide to Building Combat Robots.” His own machine, Deadblow, is a former BattleBots champion.

Imahara graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.

Imahara’s talk is cosponsored by Engineers’ Week and the Committee on Lectures, which is funded by the Government of the Student Body.

More information on ISU lectures is available at http://www.lectures.iastate.edu, or by calling 515-294-9935. More information on Engineers' Week 2011 is available at http://www.engineering.iastate.edu/eweek/.