(in 1990) it was a sort of geek extravaganza... and the project had about 150 corporate sponsors, 45 volunteers, and almost continuous mainstream media coverage. It became self-supporting, then segued through the ’90s into the Microship project—an amphibian pedal/solar/sail micro-trimaran with similar technological overlays. This series of articles is not about any of that. What I intend to do here is to share the methods I used to pull the whole thing off without having a job or money in the bank. In these days of faltering economy, such techniques are more relevant than ever. Before we get into the nuts and bolts of corporate sponsorships and media manipulation, though, I want to give you a brief introduction to Gonzo Engineering, exploring the kind of lean, intuitive, art-and-engineering thinking that is necessary to proceed rapidly despite scarce resources. As I said, this kind of adventure is not for everyone—mainstream R&D has little room for such social engineering, and if you’re just carving out a niche as a freelancer, most of this is a bit over the top. The readers who will benefit from this information are those who are trying to pull off the impossible with an insanely audacious project, do an end run around traditional linear approaches to product design, or explore that strange territory best summarized by my old friend David Berkstresser in his immortal observation: There’s glory in using inappropriate tools. You can tell you’re pushing a new frontier when all available tools are inappropriate. If any of that sounds deeply familiar, the experience I’m going to share with you will pay for itself very quickly. The Microship, the result of an 8-year development project involving extensive sponsorship, students, and volunteer teams. This is an amphibian pedal/solar/sail micro-trimaran with retractible wheels, hydraulic systems, 480 watts of peak-power-tracked solar panels, and zippy performance under sail. BEHEMOTH, the Microship, and the later Nomadness project are all documented at microship.com. What Is Gonzo Engineering? If you probe the interstices of an industry increasingly dominated by Big Business, you’ll discover a microculture of hackers motivated by the mad bliss PragPub January 2013 28