(left, above, right): Breaking Wave installed at
Biogen-Idec in Cambridge, MA, in collaboration
with Plebian Design. Images courtesy of Hypersonic.
Starting a design studio specializing in aesthetically pleasing machinery was not Washabaugh’s life-long plan, but in retrospect it seems
like a perfectly logical step. “I grew up making
things,” Bill told SciArt in America in an interview, “and I was always interested in airplanes.”
After studying aerospace engineering at the
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Washabaugh worked for Boeing, headquartered in
Seattle, as well as Genie Industries, a robotics
company. At Boeing, he worked on Airborne
Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft
(the planes that have enormous, circular antennae on the upper part of their fuselages) but
soon realized he did not want to work with the
military. “Boeing was slow-moving,” Washa-
SciArt in America December 2014
baugh said, “and I wanted to work more creatively.”
Moving to New York City was the next step
in Washabaugh’s quest to make a career blending technology and creativity. He began by
freelancing and soon found that Hypersonic
was growing organically from his efforts. These
days, Hypersonic consists of six people, including Washabaugh, all of whom have backgrounds
in art, mechanical engineering, or both. What
exactly do they do? “It’s hard to say,” says
Washabaugh. “We make interactive sculptures
and environments that are a combination of
science and art.” When asked about the process
that leads to the development of these projects,
Washabaugh attested that it helps to know the
13