While other eighth-graders were out playing soccer, Ray Blanco was in his basement learning how to build what's called a "Wilson Cloud Chamber"—a super-cooled device for detecting particles of ionizing radiation. These days he is an expert in advanced robotics, avionics, genomics and biotechnology. Blanco was raised in Miami, Florida, after his family fled Cuba in the 1960s. He is coeditor of Technology Profits Confidential and contributes to Breakthrough Technology Alert and Penny Sleuth.