Steve Thompson
Shop Manager

Steve Thompson grew up in rural Southern California on a steady diet of sun-warmed oranges. He has been working in fabrication shops since he was eight, helping his grandpa restore old cars, welding furniture out of horseshoes, and making jewelry out of scrap metal. Steve studied physics and philosophy at UC Irvine, then lived on a educational farm in West Marin for six years designing and fabricating small dwellings. He has built artificial neural networks that morphologically classify galaxies and raised farm animals from birth to slaughter. He has counted neutrino decays and surfed one of the most dangerous waves in the South Pacific. Steve came to Stochastic after helping design and build the Tactile Dome at the new San Francisco Exploratorium, where he continues to collaborate with artists, build exhibits, and play with science.