Michael Aaron Nielsen (born January 4, 1974) is a quantum physicist, science writer, and computer programming researcher living in San Francisco.

Received bachelor's degree from Northern Arizona University. Worked for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the intelligence community. Attended Stanford University, earning Masters and PhD in computer science. Co-founded Illuminics Systems and developed OpenFlow. Doctorate received from Northern Arizona University in 2017.

Computer programmer and video game developer. Co-founder of id Software and lead programmer of iconic games such as Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake. Made innovations in 3D computer graphics, including Carmack's Reverse algorithm for shadow volumes. Former CTO of Oculus VR and currently working on his startup, Keen Technologies.

Bloomberg Opinion writer. Founder, TestAndTrace.com. He was an assistant professor of finance at Stony Brook University, and he blogs at Noahpinion.

CEO @BankMercury. Investor: @RappiColombia, @Airtable, @momentusspace, @SubstackInc @joinClubhouse, 100+. DM for question on @BankMercury or my rolling fund

No, I didn't write what you imagined I wrote. I wrote what I wrote. Hates durian.

Lover of intellectual and athletic adventures. California global policy wonk. Data sophist by trade. Senior Research Analyst @MoveCAFWD.

Social impact measurement @DeepMind. Interested in AI, economics, science and innovation, philosophy, methodology, sci-fi, python. Before: @SPRU, @nesta_uk