Acquiring preemptive knowledge about emerging technologies is the best way to ensure that we have a say in the making of our future.

Source: "Play with Smart Materials." TEDGlobal 2012. Jul. 2012. Conference Presentation. Additional Information: This quote from TEDGlobal Fellow and co-founder of openMaterials.org, Catarina Mota, means that learning about and experimenting with new technologies before they become mainstream helps people shape the future. Says Mota, we can't shape what we don't understand, and the things we use that we don't understand come to shape us. The quote is from Mota's 2012 TED Talk about "smart materials." Some of these materials, which Mota experiments with for a living, include high-tech composites such as piezoelectric structures that react to voltage and shape-memory alloys. Watch the full TED Talk here: Catarina Mota - Play with Smart Materials

“Play with Smart Materials.” TEDGlobal 2012. Jul. 2012. Conference Presentation.