New Media Artist

I'm new to new media so I'm not familiar with any of the " hot" or best people, but I kept intersecting with work by a pretty famous local hero, John Maeda. He's a mega superstar of MIT fame, but what drew me toward him was his thinking. He's a graphic designer, software engineer, scientist, professor, all rolled into one seemingly "normal" guy. I just found out he lives in my town, and I can actually picture he and I having an amazing discussion on design, where I sit there in total agreement with him because he would explain things in a way that, I, a total novice, could understand.
His background is MIT and Japan (PhD). In June 2008, he will assume the position of president of RISD. ( Wikipedia) In 1999 he was named one of the 21 Most Important People (Designers). In 2001 he received a National Design Award for Communication Design.
What I like most about John is that he is helping to make "design" and "technology" easier to understand by the non-technical people out there in the world. He takes complex concepts and ideas and s-i-m-p-l-i-f-i-e-s them down to the bone.
I would imagine that his mind works like a spark plug in your cars engine, popping new thoughts and ideas into his head that he immediately sits down to figure them out. He can simplify these concepts for "us" to understand. I like what he's doing and the way he's doing it!